No Reservations (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter 18

2016

After the night Ryan got ridiculously drunk, there's a definite thaw in his attitude towards me. This is a huge relief, as I worried it would go the other way. It certainly had the potential to do so.

At first, I wouldn't say that he goes out of his way to speak to me or interact with me; it would be more when necessity - ie the job - requires it. But the frostiness that had lingered that first week is gradually melting, much like the snow on the mountains surrounding us as spring starts to descend. He is warming to me again and, despite everything that had went on between us, that's all I'm looking for. I want the old Ryan back. Actually, no, I don't want the boy version back anymore. I'm longing for Ryan 4.0 - the gorgeous man who actually means it when he smiles at me.

And Ryan 4.0, I believe, is starting to emerge from Ryan 3.0's guarded cocoon.

As the days turn into weeks, and the weeks begin to pass, I'd almost say he actually starts to seek me out. It's always still work-related, of course, but he'll appear where I am in much the same way he used to avoid doing so. I find myself cataloguing the interactions in my head, the way I used to do in my diary.

9/02/16 - he actually laughs at a stupid joke I make. I mean, he says "that's literally the worst joke I've ever heard, Iona," immediately afterwards . . . But he still laughs.

11/02/16 - I catch him watching me while I'm helping out in the bar. He blushes and glances away, just like he used to do at school. But after a second he looks back at me and the shy smile on his face is like being handed a massive bar of Galaxy chocolate after a week on a juice fast. I grasp onto that smile like a lifeline.

12/02/2016 - What I'll call "the kitchen incident". Oh good Lord . . .

Will I go into a bit more detail than that? Of course I will. Whether you want me to or not.

Ironically, this is Valentine's Day weekend. When I check my diary later, I realise it was 17 years ago exactly that I attended that party and had my first kiss with Gary-not-Ryan. These sort of coincidences never fail to amaze me.

Valentine's weekend is, naturally, a big weekend for the hotel, with lots of couples wanting to escape for a romantic stay. How very cliché - I'd rather go away a different weekend where the room prices are cheaper and I don't have to eat off a limited "Valentine's day" menu that costs three times more money. But that's just me. Cynic, remember? And I've never been a fan of Valentine's Day anyway.

In fact, I was once dumped on Valentine's day. Right after the guy had just rolled off me in bed.

Yep. There's so much you don't know about me.

Anyway, because it's a big weekend and the hotel is at full capacity, Ryan and I have agreed between us to both work the whole weekend, and stagger our shifts so we're covering longer days than usual. I'm doing the early shift and he's on late shift, finishing at ten. And we'll be on call anyway if required outside of our shifts as we won't be leaving the hotel site.

You'd think there wouldn't be much in the way of emergencies in hotels on V Day, that folk would be too loved up to cause any bother. That's not the case though. Once I worked in a hotel where the wife broke her arm because she had rubbed too much essential oil onto the husband during a pre-sex massage and then slipped right off him onto the floor when they started to actually do the deed. I've heard so many similar tales too from other folk I've worked with over the years. Lost the key to the handcuffs. Got something stuck somewhere they shouldnt. Some couples go nuts on Valentine's day, especially when they're let loose in a hotel room unsupervised; it's like their equivalent of the full moon, I guess.