Page 45 of Housekeeping

24

Laura

My nerves started to get the better of me as I threw the knitting aside. It was mostly done. All that was left was the bottom of the hat, then I could add it to the new pile. Usually, I would use my day off to knit and watch some TV because I only ever got the one day off a week.

It was half an hour past noon, but I figured it was enough time. I got up and packed my things away. I hesitated a little in my room, not sure if I was supposed to take anything with me. In the end, I picked one of my small purses and put in some money, my cards, and my phone. Then I left the apartment.

I took the walk plenty of times, usually every day when going to work unless it got too cold out, but today the distance felt especially great. I practically jogged most of the way there and stopped a way off from the hotel to catch my breath. I looked down at myself, feeling a bit self-conscious. This was probably the dressiest I’d ever looked near the hotel, in a pencil skirt that tied at the waist and went down just a bit above the knees, and a white blouse with a black polka dot collar, with frills down the front.

What if someone I worked with saw me?

It probably won’t happen, I tried to psych myself up. Most of them have time off too, or they’d be working. So there was no reason why they should see me, right?

I couldn’t steer clear of all the staff.

“Jessi lives here,” I said aloud to myself, a little surprised I’d forgotten this fact. Jessi had been given a small room at the hotel that she’d stayed at. It wasn’t a consideration that was given to just anyone, and it cut quite a bit out of her salary every month to stay there, but her place was at least better looking than mine.

If anyone asked, I could just say I was visiting my friend. She’d back me up.

With a deep breath, I walked into the hotel. I kept my head down, fingers holding tight to the straps of my purse. I was so tense, feeling like I might be stopped on the way, but no one stopped me when I got to the elevator. It was one of the few times that I wasn’t using the staff elevators, and even as I breathed a sigh of relief when the doors closed, leaving me alone, I couldn’t help but still be anxious.

When the doors opened on the right floor, I practically ran to Mason’s door, then hesitated some more before knocking on it. He only took a moment to answer the door though, grinning when he saw it was me there.

“Hey. I almost thought you wouldn’t make it.”

I frowned. “I’m not that late, am I?”

“Nah. I just had a visitor I wasn’t expecting, so I got a little impatient waiting for you to get here.”

I froze, then peeked around him. “Visitor…?”

“Don’t worry, he’s gone and he won’t be coming back. Give me a minute, and we’ll head out.”

He left the door open as he walked further into the room, and I took it to mean I could wait inside. I stayed right by the door after I closed it behind me. He only took a minute, coming back while pulling on his coat.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked as he let us out of the room. “I thought you were going to make me something?”

I was a little anxious walking around the hotel with Mason, in case anyone else saw. His big frame stuck pretty close to my side, so I hoped most people would just be looking at him and ignore that I was right there. He had that kind of presence.

“I didn’t say I was going to cook you anything. At this point, it would be fairer if you cooked me a meal first.” He arched an eyebrow at me, and I felt my face flush.

Right. I’d forgotten that he’d cooked for me three times already. I just didn’t think anything I could make could be up to his standards.

“So, what are we doing now?”

“Right now, I’m taking you out to eat. It’ll be a surprise where. I thought we could both benefit from a day spent outside.”

I didn’t say any more and followed after him. We made our way outside the hotel, stopping at his car. He opened the door for me, then walked around to his seat. He put on some music for the ride, and I hummed along to the songs I knew as we spent the time mostly silent. I was curious about where exactly it was we were going.

By the time we got there, passing a post that let me know I wasn’t wrong in my thinking, I was gaping.

“Mooresville? To a restaurant on Lake Norman?”

The lake was a huge one, and manmade from what I knew, created by Duke Power to supply energy to North Carolina. It was still used for the same reason, but the artificial waterline had created a boom in lake-front properties and shops catering to an upmarket crowd. The lake was also used for water sports like sailing, and even had a few showboats for dinner and entertainment on the water.

I’d heard of it ever since I got to North Carolina, and I’d always been curious about it, but never enough to make my way there. Especially since the shores were now polluted with lake houses that were pretty much McMansions for the rich. I’d heard there was a public shore where people could go and admire the sights, but I’d never had enough courage to go there.

Mason, of course, didn’t take us to the public area. He took a turn somewhere, and I noticed how much closer we were getting to those expensive looking houses.