The Final Choice

13

When we walked inside the hotel, all of those thoughts left my mind. None of it mattered anymore. I was overwhelmed with how beautiful it was. Like, classy, rich rich beautiful. I immediately felt out of place, but was too stunned to look away.

It was just so...white. Gleaming white. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, their light gleaming off the bronze trim and designs on the columns. I felt like I was in some museum or something. 

"Holy Shit," Denise murmured, looking up at the dozens of chandeliers. 
"This is insane." 

"This is awesome!" Katrina exclaimed, bouncing on her toes a little. "Why haven't we ever been to this hotel, Sam?" His blue eyes widened with uncertainty. "Um, because we live here now," he replied. 

"BEFORE we moved here, dumbass," she giggled, as she swatted his arm. "I really thought these types of hotels would be all overly touristy or something, but this is nice! I wonder what the rooms look like." 

"Let's find out," Denise said, grinning at her. They walked faster than the rest of us, straight to the check-in desk. A woman, maybe in her 40's, with her blonde hair pulled tight against her head in a neat bun, stood. She wore a white suit that almost made her blend in with the whole motif that the hotel had going on. 

"Hi, welcome to Paris. What's the name?" she asked, in a voice coated with sugar. 

Denise gave her name and the name of her company. I still hadn't said a word. I wasn't sure why, except that maybe I was overwhelmed with everything. And extremely nervous. There were a ton of words in my head, but they didn't want to make their way out of my mouth. 

The lady behind the desk found Denise's name, passed us our room keys, and directed her to the meeting room, where she could pick up her company itinerary. "This way," Denise said, leading the way. When we turned to follow her, Colby's hand brushed against mine. 

It almost felt like his skin burned me, sending an electric shock through my hand. I gasped and jerked away, catching his eyes as I did. "You okay?" he asked, concern coating his voice. 

I nodded, as my the heat rushed to my cheeks. "I'm fine. I think you shocked me." I giggled nervously, convincing myself that it was just a static shock. Stop being weird, Callie! Jesus, what was wrong with me?

He shot me one of those breathtaking smiles, then bumped me with his shoulder. "I missed you, Callie," he said, softly. "Missed you too, Colby," I whispered. We fell silent again and stopped abruptly, when the others stopped in front of a set of white double doors. 

I could see tons of people through a small glass pane, filling up the circular tables that were set out. A woman with long brunette hair, wearing a smart blue business skirt suit, stood on the podium at the front of the room. 

"Looks like I might be a little late," Denise said, nervously. Her eyes flitted to mine, then back to the small window. "I should probably go in alone. Looks like orientation or something."

She turned back to face us and smiled at me. "Wanna just get these guys to help with bags and go ahead up to the room? I can meet you there when this is over. It shouldn't last any more than a half hour probably."

I wanted to scream the word "NO" at her, because I was not comfortable in this situation. My anxiety was trying to rear it's ugly head. Yes, I knew Sam and Colby, mostly Colby, from school, and yes, they had come down about two years ago, and yes, we still talked on the phone sometimes, but this was different. 

I was in a new place, somewhere I really didn't fit in, with people that I barely knew, and my best friend was leaving me to fend for myself. Damn it.