Monday, November 21, 2016

End 1

Zöe straightened her hair in the mirror.

“Ugh,” she thought, “I look tired.  I need to cut this short and get some sleep.”

Zöe couldn’t remember the last time she had a good sleep, what with work being crazy for the past couple of months and now this long conference.

Poor Ryan, he deserved better having rescued her from Coffee Guy and been, well, just perfect tonight.  No matter, Zöe was fading fast and it was time to go before she turned into a pumpkin.

Zöe got back to the table just as the dessert they were going to share arrived.

“Everything OK,” Ryan asked?

“Not really,” Zöe said mostly truthfully, “I think everything just caught up with me and I’m fading fast.”

Ryan pulled out his phone and cued up the Uber app.

“What are you doing,” Zöe asked?

“Getting you back before you turn into a pumpkin or something.”

Zöe looked startled.  “What, did I say something wrong,” Ryan said?

“No, no,” Zöe said, “it’s just that I was thinking of … never mind, it’s not important.  Yes, I would like to go if you really don’t mind.  It’s been a lovely evening…”  She trailed off.

When they got back to the hotel Ryan reassured himself that Zöe was going to be OK, then asked, “When is your flight out in the morning?”

“Ten o’clock,” Zöe answered, “You?”

“All I could get was a 6 AM flight.  Yeah, I’m out way early.  Tell you what, I’ll call you when you get back, OK?”

Zöe stepped into the elevator, turned and said, “Yeah, that would be nice.”


The doors closed.

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