Conference Margaritas

The conference was the same as every year, not necessarily boring, but predictable. Informative. A good enough time. People got to stay in a nice hotel for free, a week away in a different city. Simon scanned the faces in the crowd, many of the same ones he briefly saw last year too. Until his eyes landed on a new face. No, he’d never seen her before.

Scott observed this woman. She watched on with big eyes, warm brown irises that flickered with joy. Her dark curly hair shone under the ceiling lights, looking ready to bounce around at the slightest tilt of the head. Her face was beautiful in a way Scott couldn’t place his finger on… not in an unattainable way… just in a very real, very grounded way. Her body was petite and her dark shirt clung to her frame.

She glanced to the side and saw Scott looking at her. His eyes popped open and he was going to look away but suddenly his neck didn’t work anymore. She smiled, thankfully. And then to Scott’s surprise, her mouth opened, her lips silently saying, “Hi.”

When the presentation was over with, Scott talked to a few of the people he remembered from last year, and then made his way to the bar to get a drink. Suddenly, a presence came up to the bar to his left. The woman. She stared at him.

“I guess it’s my turn to say hi.” Scott smiled sheepishly.

“Well hello.” She smiled back. “I’m Mina.”

“Scott.”

“What are you drinking?”

“Don’t know. Was trying to get the bartender’s attention.”

Mina scanned all the available liquors. Her eyes landed on a bottle of tequila. “Tequila.”

“I haven’t had tequila in so long.”

“I don’t usually drink it alone. But I love margaritas.”

“Me too! It’s been a while.”

“Is that a sign that we should get margaritas then, Scott?”

“I don’t know, I feel like they hit me hard.”

“All the more reason to get them.” Mina leaned into Scott’s arm and he felt her soft skin on his. A shuddering breath came out of his mouth and Mina soon flagged the bartender down and ordered margaritas for both of them.

They found a table to sit at with their drinks and talked about everything and nothing and laughed and laughed. Scott could feel the margarita hitting him hard, but it felt so good. Mina must have read his mind because she spoke those exact words. Then, she said they should get another. How could Scott say no to her? Mina stared at Scott for a moment, neck craned back to look up at him, several inches taller than her, his hair even adding another couple inches as it poked up in a messy, styled way. And then she grabbed his hand and led him to the bar.

In a whirlwind, they had a second margarita each, spoke more, exchanged stories, and then were dashing out of the room, finding an elevator, and down a hall on the 12th floor. Mina led Scott into her room and the two collapsed on the bed, kissing passionately. She smelled like citrus fruit… and flowers… maybe lavender. Her skin was sweet and Scott savored every moment. Mina ripped his shirt off and grabbed him by the back, pulling him close. Scott’s chest tightened in a good way, his whole body heating up.

Mina pulled her shirt off as Scott unbuckled his belt. She disrobed faster than he did, even with more things to take off. Soon, not a thread of fabric between the two, and their skin pressed against one another. Scott felt her bare chest against his, the warmth of her body heating him up further, and while she kissed him again, she climbed on top of him. He held her tight to his body, not an inch of daylight between the two, hands supporting her as she sat in his lap. They moved rhythmically, as if they should have been together forever. Mina leaned back, head pointed to the ceiling, and Scott kissed her neck and her chest, pulling a moan out of her and sending her diving forward onto him again. He held her firmly with his hands, squeezing so hard he nearly made fists. Scott stared into Mina's eyes and she stared back into his as they rocked back in forth, mouths both slightly open, no words spoken, just shaky breath escaping.

It was a whirlwind from the conference room to the hotel room, but the hour in Mina’s bed was in slow-motion. The two moved at the same speed, and even when they moved fast, time crawled slowly on. They fell asleep in the bed, exhausted.

The next morning they woke up and Mina mentioned that she had certain presentations to go to, and they weren’t the same as Scott’s. They were going to be starting soon so she had to rush. Mina told Scott to meet her back at her room around 6 if it worked. Scott said it did. He planted a long kiss on her and then she reiterated she really was running late. He went back to his room, showered, and got ready for his day. Scott was definitely present for the presentations he was supposed to go to, but he couldn’t pay attention to a word in any of them. He just thought about Mina. He was in such a rush because Mina needed to hop in the shower immediately, he forgot to get her number. No worries. He knew her room number. 1214.

After this day of the conference was over for Scott, he went back to his room and applied deodorant, checking his appearance to make sure he looked OK. And then, a voice came on over the speakers in the halls with an alerting sound. “Attention, everyone in the building, we need you to vacate with all your belongings immediately. This is not a drill.”

Scott was on the sidewalk in front of the hotel with all his stuff with thousands of others. He scanned the crowd for Mina’s face but couldn’t find it. They waited for a while before someone from the hotel came and spoke to everyone, apologizing for the inconvenience, but saying that there was a health concern in the hotel that needed to be addressed. However, they had spoken with other hotels in the area, and with no extra charge, were going to have everyone moved to a room in one of two different hotels.

Scott was shocked… and depressed. This couldn’t be! He was given his hotel and his room number. As he traveled there, he kept scanning the crowds, all the others changing hotels. He hoped he’d see Mina somewhere but never did. He made it to his hotel, still scanning all the while, checking, taking the elevator up, heading to his room. He never saw Mina.

The next day, the conferences were held in this new hotel. Scott still never found Mina. He had no idea how to find her… if she was even in this hotel. This was a cruel twist of fate. But Scott decided he needed to take fate in his own hands.

After the last conference, he found an empty hallway and strayed away from the crowds of people, snuck down, checked behind him to assure no one was around, and yanked a fire alarm down! He quickly escaped into a stairwell and popped down to the floor below. The alarm was going off and everyone was vacating the hotel, so Scott joined them, pretending to be surprised as well. Another huge crowd of people out on the sidewalk, waiting to be told what was going on. Scott searched the crowd frantically. She had to be here. She just had to.

But he couldn’t find her. After a half an hour, someone from the hotel spoke to everyone stating it was just that a fire alarm had been pulled, but nothing had happened. Everyone was welcome to come back in. Scott waited. He waited for every last person to pass him so he would be the last one in, and would see everyone. None of them were Mina.

The last few people meandered in, passing by Scott on the sidewalk, carrying a cool and unforgiving breeze with them. In their wake, nothing left, just a sidewalk leading out to a street.

Cars passing by. Pedestrians walking on the opposite sidewalk. Nothing here on this sidewalk.

A half-filled trash can... and a suitcase. And someone crouched behind the suitcase suddenly standing up. Mina.

Scott rushed over to her. “You're here!”

“Oh my God! I was hoping I’d find you somehow! What a crazy twist of fate! The fire alarm…”

“Eh, that wasn’t fate. That was me.”

Mina gasped and then laughed.

“I had to see you again.” Scott said.

“This time I’m giving you my number.”

After they exchanged numbers and were sure they were saved in their phones, they headed back into the hotel. Mina was on the 12th floor again. Not room 1214. Room 1215.

“I should’ve just checked the 12th floor.” Scott laughed.

“Well, you’re here now.”

Mina led him back to her room again, and the two were overtaken by that same pleasant buzz they had last time. Only there was no alcohol in their system. It was just the two of them. Scott pushed Mina onto her back and pushed towards her, not wasting a second, needing to taste the lavender and citrus on her lips again. Needing to feel her skin against his, the curves and bumps and dips pushing into him as she breathed heavily and hot breath warmed his ear. Mina’s dark, curly hair bounced like it was alive and Scott kissed her forehead, and then lowered his head to kiss her lips again, locking with them, holding them there as they both struggled for air and their hearts pounded. As breathy words escaped and then turned into gasps and groans. As the blankets beneath them were yanked in different directions and pulled and rolled and wadded up, pillows falling off the shaking bed, their fingers intertwining and eyes staring back at one another again.

They fell asleep. They awoke in the morning, half-expecting to need to rush, but they awoke so early that they were able to lay there and enjoy the morning together.

“The hotel must have cameras in the hall.” Mina said suddenly. “You think you’ll get fined or something?”

“Can’t fine me if there was an emergency.”

“What emergency?” Mina laughed.

“Had to find you.”

“I don’t think they’ll allow that.”

“Fire?”

“There was no fire.”

“I felt hot. Thought there was a fire.”

Mina laughed and rolled over to hug him, every inch of her body pressing tightly against his, and then she just stayed there as he wrapped his arms around her.

“You feel hot again?” Mina asked.

“I do, should I go pull another fire alarm?”

“You’ll probably get arrested if you do it twice.”

“And just once?”

“Sizeable fine, pretty sure.”

Scott looked down at her and beamed. “Eh, worth it.”

**************

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