Page 39 of A Lot to Unpack
Jordan handles the check-in, chatting easily with the concierge while I hover by the tree, unable to resist snapping photos already.
Jordan joins me, followed by a hotel employee pushing a golden trolley. He loads our bags onto it before escorting us to the lift.
‘So, romantic getaway?’ he asks, pressing the lift button, in an attempt to make small talk with us while he shows us to our rooms.
I open my mouth, then close it again. I don’t know what to say.
‘Probably not,’ Jordan replies, beating me to it. ‘She’s my colleague. We’re here on business.’
‘Oh, my bad, sorry,’ the man replies.
‘Not a problem,’ Jordan reassures him.
Colleague, that’s interesting. Not assistant. Not employee. I don’t know what it means, it’s just… yeah… interesting. Like we’re equals.
The lift doors open and we step out into the corridor. I still can’t believe I’m here, with Jordan, doing what I’m doing. I mean, who do I think I am? I know who Paige thinks I am, some kind of super sleuth. A sneaky tactical operator – probably a master of disguise. I mean, she must, to have so much faith in me. Perhaps I’m not as crap at job interviews as I thought. I clearly impressed her. Then again, it wasn’t doing the interviews I was struggling with, it was getting them in the first place.
I still have no idea how I’m going to do this. I haven’t been more than a matter of feet away from Jordan since he boarded the plane, but the contract must be tucked away in his bag somewhere, just like the one Paige gave me is tucked away in mine. Really what I need him to do is fall asleep, in an armchair,with his hand ever so lightly gripping it, so I can sneak in and swap it, without waking him, like I’m in an old TV show. Like it’s the perfect crime. He’s not going to carry it around with him, though, is he? I suppose I should be grateful that they’re dealing in physical copies or contracts and not digital ones, because I am without a doubt a worse hacker than I am a private investigator, and I’m clearly a terrible, terrible private investigator.
‘Here we are,’ the hotel employee announces, unlocking a door. He steps aside to let Jordan by. ‘You too, ma’am,’ he prompts me.
‘Oh, right, okay,’ I reply.
Christ, tell me we’re not sharing a room. Sure, it would make finding and swapping the contract much easier, but I cannot share a room with this man. Oh, God. And there’s only one bed – a big one, but only one nonetheless. This can’t be happening.
‘We’re supposed to have two rooms,’ Jordan points out – clearly he doesn’t want to share a room with me either.
‘Yes, of course,’ the man replies. ‘Two rooms with an adjoining door. Right here.’
The hotel employee reaches out towards a door I hadn’t noticed and unlocks it.
‘Ma’am, your room is through here,’ he tells me.
‘Why do we have adjoining rooms?’ Jordan asks him.
‘That’s what was booked, sir,’ the employee tells him.
‘Interesting,’ Jordan says. ‘She can’t have meant to do that.’
We both look to him.
‘Sorry, just thinking out loud,’ Jordan replies. ‘So, it locks, right?’
‘Yes, sir, it locks,’ the man tells him. ‘It’s basically two separate rooms, with separate bathrooms, phones and so on. The door locks on both sides.’
‘Well, that’s okay then,’ Jordan tells him. ‘Thanks. Here, I have your tip.’
As Jordan pays the man for his help I saunter into my own room. An adjoining door, that’s handy. Getting back through it though, that might be a problem.
I don’t know why I was expecting my own room to be less spectacular than Jordan’s. They are next door to each other. Maybe it was the adjoining door that threw me, like this might be a small connected room for the help or the kids. But no, it is exactly the same as Jordan’s. Just as big, as luxurious – and it’s all mine.
This place is nice – really nice. Easily the nicest place I’ve ever stayed in. I dread to think how much it costs, and how much the first-class plane ticket cost, and I’m well aware I’m only getting such special treatment because this is how Jordan does things, and Paige wants me on Jordan, as much as I possibly can be. I shouldn’t get used to it… I could though. I really could.
It’s a big, bright and spacious room. So light and airy, but super cosy too. I can’t believe I’m going to have this big bed to myself – you could easily fit four of me in there (but three more of myself wouldn’t be my first choice of bedmates. Having my own voice in my head, once, is more than enough).
I walk over to the window, slowly, allowing the view to reveal itself a bit at a time. I pull the heavy curtains all the way back, exposing the whole window, revealing that view – Central Park.
We’re on the Upper West Side and, from way up here, you can see everything. It’s so strange, the way the park stretches out, so flat and so massive, in the middle of the city. The trees are bare, having dropped their leaves for the winter, but it makes the scene no less beautiful. I can see so many people, all buzzing around, seeming so busy, probably working, Christmas shopping, sightseeing.
