She nodded and rolled her head back over and said, “I’ll just stay here and relax.”
“Good deal,” he murmured. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” And, with that, he headed out. He made his way down to her room to see the manager there, with the cleaners.
The manager looked up and frowned.
Noah shrugged and said, “We need to see if any of her clothing and work materials are salvageable,” he said, pointing to the suitcases and the items strewn around.
The manager immediately nodded. “Let’s hope so,” he said. “I just don’t have a clue what this is all about.”
“No,” Noah said, “you just have to wonder what the purpose of destroying things is.”
“Exactly.”
Noah went through her clothing. Several items were still intact. One of the suitcases was okay; another one had the corners bashed in, and several dressier evening outfits were still hanging in the closet, and her briefcase was on the floor. He looked for shoes and found a couple pairs. He packed up what was usable, then looked at the rest and asked the manager, “What will you do about this?”
“I’m not sure what I can do,” he said. “Our insurance will cover it obviously, but we have to get an idea of value.” He continued, “What we do is a settled amount. I can talk to the boss,” he said, “but I don’t know.”
“Good enough,” Noah said. “Let me take these back to her and see what else she’ll need to round out her clothing. She’s speaking tonight at the conference, which is the priority for the moment.”
“Good,” he said, “I wouldn’t want her entire visit to be a waste.”
“Me either,” he said, shaking his head. “The whole thing has been very traumatizing for her.”
“I’m sure.” And the manager was all solicitous sympathy.
Noah quickly made his way back upstairs and carried her things over to the bed, where she lay with her eyes closed. He hesitated.
“I’m not sleeping,” she said. “I was trying to find a way to get back some of my balance.”
“Did it work?” he asked, in a conversational tone, as he lifted the suitcase.
She looked at the suitcase and smiled. “So not everything was broken?”
“The other suitcase is.”
“Of course it is,” she said. She sat up, took a look at what he had brought up, and said, “Well, I can wear one of these dresses tonight,” she said, frowning at the items. “But I need to go shopping.”
“Where?”
“Someplace to get underwear, for a start,” she said, looking at what little was in the suitcase. “And a couple daytime outfits.”
He pulled out his phone, called Ice, and said, “Where should she go shopping?” At that, he handed the phone over, and the two women chattered back and forth. Eventually the phone was returned to him.
Ice said, “Take her to Hanna Andersson.”
“Good enough,” he said, ending the call. He looked at Di, smiled, and said, “Now?”
“Yes, please.” She hopped up, walked over toward the door, and looked at him, as if asking if he was coming.
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, now it is.”
“Yep.”
“I thought you wanted food.”
“I do, but I think we’ll go out and have it.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’m glad you’re making the decisions now.”
“Well, somebody has to.”
A bit of her old spitfire self was a welcome sight. He grinned and walked her to the elevator, then out and into the vehicle.
As she walked out, she said to him, “I know it’s not their fault, but I really don’t want to stay in this hotel again.”
“Let’s get you through this right now,” he said, “and surely we can find something better afterward.”
“Well, I was supposed to go to Ice’s for the weekend anyway,” she said.
“Yeah, I heard you two talking about that earlier,” he said. “That’s good.”
“Is it though? Or am I just bringing trouble to them?”
“Which is where it should be,” he said calmly. “Think about it. It’s their trouble anyway, not yours.”
“Well, I can’t really think of it as their trouble,” she said.
He sighed. “Then don’t think about it at all.” He looked up the Hanna’s store in his GPS, confirming it was a women’s clothing store. “Okay, let’s go,” he said. It took a little bit longer to get to the parking because he had come in off another entrance, but eventually he got parked and hopped out with her.
She looked at him hesitantly.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Well, you don’t really want to come in here,” she said, with a wave of her hand at the store.
“Why not?” he asked curiously.
She stared at him. “Well, it’s women’s clothing, for one.”
Frowning, not really understanding, he asked, “Is that supposed to be something I’ll avoid?”
“Well, most guys do,” she said, looking up at him curiously.
“Well, I’m not most guys, and I’m looking after you, not you in the clothing,” he said, “so lead on.” She hesitated, then turned and walked into the store. And he wondered just what she was thinking. He picked up his phone and sent Ice a text. So when aren’t men welcome in a dress store?
She sent back a smiling emoji. And a note. Depends on the woman.
Well, she doesn’t get a choice.
No, in this instance, she doesn’t.
With that, he walked into the store behind her.
Chapter 5
This perverse sense of humor rising inside Dianne was just up to mischief, so she dragged him through the entire store. And then on to a lingerie store right next door. She did find a couple pieces, not quite enough to make her happy, but enough to get through her conference. By the time she was done, he was looking a little grim around the lips. She teased him, as she walked out of the lingerie shop. “There. That was fun, wasn’t it?” He just rolled his eyes at her. She stopped, looked around at the mall, and said, “Where can we get food?”
“How about the burger joint down the corner there?” And he pointed.
She winced at that. “That will give me enough cholesterol for the whole year.”
“For just one meal? I wouldn’t worry about it.”
She shrugged and said, “Well, maybe they have a salad.” They headed toward the burger joint and sat at the far end, under an old-fashioned ceiling fan with great big leaves as blades. It was nice and cool. The waitress brought coffee, and they quickly ordered burgers, and Di had a salad on the side. She kept checking her watch, but it seemed like the time was going really slow.
“What time do you have to be there?”
“I speak at seven,” she said, “and dinner is set for six.”
“It starts at six?”
“Yes, it’s one of those events where we go in and find our seats, the meal is served, and then, when it’s time, we get up individually for our turn to speak.”