Page 15 of February

Monica checked her watch and decided she still had at least an hour until she needed to leave, so she removed her business suit, which hadn’t gotten wrinkled on the plane, to her surprise, and lay down over the comforter in her matching bra and panty set. She only meant to close her eyes for a minute, but when they finally opened, she noticed she was wrapped in the comforter now, and the sun seemed a whole lot lower than it was supposed to be.

“Shit,” she said, jumping out of bed.

She checked her watch and realized that she’d napped for two hours. Having run into the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair, which had been perfect before, now looked like she’d slept on it for a day and a half,andit was frizzy. Monica tried to tame the brunette strands and remembered about that anti-frizz ask she’d made of her assistant. It hadn’t been at the counter when she’d checked in and still wasn’t here.

“Yes, Miss Arnette?” her assistant asked, picking up.

Monica rushed around the bathroom and tried to fix her lipstick while also still brushing her hair.

“Where is that anti-frizz stuff I asked you for?”

“It should be on its way. I asked the pharmacy to deliver it to the front desk, but they don’t normally deliver, so I had to ask them to do it just for you. They said they’d have it to you within a few hours.”

“Well, it’s been a few hours,” she replied. “Did they call you wondering where I was?”

“The pharmacy?”

“No, the people at Southern Hospitality Greetings.”

“Oh, no. Were they supposed to?”

“I’m late for our meeting.”

“They haven’t called. Would you like me to call them and let them know you’re running behind?”

“No,” Monica said as she picked up the phone off the counter and carried it into the bedroom, where she dropped it onto the bed and picked up her pants from the chair she’d draped them over. “Can you order me a car, though?”

“Sure,” her assistant replied.

“And they really haven’t called or emailed? I’m at least an hour late.”

“Nothing that I’ve seen, no. Did they callyourphone instead?”

“They have the office number, not this one,” Monica replied.

“Well, I could call them to see if they meant to cancel, if you want.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be downstairs in ten minutes.”

“The car will be there waiting for you.”

“Great.”

Monica readied herself as best as she could and slipped into her heels as she made it to the door. Two minutes later, she was in the lobby.

“Oh, Miss Arnette, we have a delivery for you,” the front desk agent said.

“Perfect timing,” she replied under her breath. “Would you mind having it brought up to my room?”

“Of course, Ma’am.”

There was that ‘ma’am’ again. The door was opened for her by the doorman, who greeted her with a kind smile. The doormen in New York did the same because their jobs in the high-end buildings of the city depended on it, but this manseemed to have a genuine smile as he asked her if she needed a cab called.

“No, thank you. This is my car,” she said as she pointed to the town car that had just pulled up in front of the building.

“Have a nice afternoon,” the doorman said in response.

The chauffeur got out of the car just in time and opened the door for her. Monica climbed in and reveled again in the air conditioning.

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