The desk clerk finished processing our check-in and handed over two plastic key cards. She briefly explained the breakfast hours and the various conference room locations.
August walked away toward the elevators, still smiling as if he had won.
I stood there holding our luggage, trying to remember how to breathe in a normal rhythm again.
“You really didn’t have to do that,” Mireya said in a quiet voice.
“I’m well aware of that.”
“I could have just stayed with?—”
“No, you could not have done that.”
“And why exactly is that?”
I couldn't tell her the truth. I couldn't say that August had obvious ulterior motives or admit that the mere idea of her staying in his private suite made me want to smash my uncle’s face.
So I kept all of those thoughts buried deep inside.
“Becausewe'recolleagues,” I said instead, leaning on the same lame excuse. “It makes much more sense for us to stay together.”
She studied my face intensely, looking for some hidden meaning in my eyes. But I forced myself to keep my expression neutral.
“Okay,” she yielded.
We walked toward the bank of elevators in silence while other conference attendees moved past us, talking and laughing with comfortable ease.
We stood three feet apart, saying nothing until the elevator arrived. Our bags sat between us on the floor, creating necessary physical distance.
The doors slid shut with a soft chime. I pressed fourteen and watched the numbers climb.
Mireya stood against the opposite wall, her reflection visible in the polished brass panels. She was staring intently at the floor, her hands twisting together in a nervous habit.
She was clearly anxious.
That made two of us.
"This doesn't have to be weird," she blurted.
I looked at her. "It's not weird."
"You just grabbed our bags and told him I was staying with you like you were claiming property."
"I was preventing an uncomfortable situation."
"With August?"
"Yes."
"Because we're just colleagues."
"Exactly."
“Right.” She let out a long, shaky breath. “That’s definitely the only reason you did it.”
The elevator finally reached the fourteenth floor and we stepped out into the quiet hallway. The carpet was thick under our feet, and the lighting was dim and muted.
Our room was located at the very end of the long corridor. 1447.
