Alice sat in the lobby of the hotel waiting and watching. She had been sitting in the same place for three days and had seen Rainer Stevens at least half a dozen times without gathering up the nerve to talk to him. How did one approach a famous international news correspondent who also freelanced for some of the most famous publications in the country or even the world for that matter?
She had to talk to him soon because staying in the same hotel as him was eating up her minuscule savings and she could not, in good conscience, loiter. This meant that she had to actually be a paying guest of the hotel and Rainer Stevens traveled in style, otherwise she would have never stayed in such an expensive hotel.
Alice gave a little sigh looking over her shoulder to make sure he hadn't slipped in another way when she wasn't looking. The only good thing about staying in a hotel this upscale was that the hotel employees were tactful and never assumed to question anything a guest did; like sitting in the lobby for two days straight.
The reason she was stalking Rainer Stevens was to gain access to the writer Steven Douglas. Alice had to get an interview with the famous author, her doctoral dissertation depended on it. The problem was that Steven Douglas was a recluse. He had only given one interview in his fifteen years of writing and that had been to Rainer Stevens who was known for getting the interviews that no one else could. She was hoping to convince him to give her Douglas's publicist's information and also put in a good word for her.
She had chosen the subject of Steven Douglas's works and how they all covertly carried themes of modern current events throughout their story lines as a subject for her dissertation. Douglas had been able to express his views in such a way that the reader was so entertained that they didn't realize that he was making a decisive and complete political statement.
She wanted to have her dissertation done by fall because that was when she was scheduled to start teaching at a university in New York and since it was her first teaching position she didn't want anything to interfere with it.
Alice also had other motivators besides her actual dissertation, she had been working her way through school for the past eight years as a receptionist for a small magazine and the editor had promised her a nice sum if she could get an interview with Steven Douglas, a sum that she was counting on to see her through the summer.
It was a long shot she knew but she needed the interview otherwise she would have to begin again on the dissertation which meant a whole year of rewriting, and if she didn't get paid for the interview then she would have to do the one thing she had sworn she would never do. Ask her parents for money to see her through until the fall.
Her parents were always pointing out her faults and comparing her to her sister, they didn't do it to hurt her and in their minds they were encouraging her to try harder to up her game.
She pushed all of these very stressful thoughts from her mind and settled in with her favorite Steven Douglas book, deciding to wait all night if that is what it took, but no matter what she would talk to him the next time she saw him.
*******
Alice slowly opened her eyes to a pair of shocking sky blue ones, blinking slowly she found herself unable to turn away. They were nice eyes that had a look of caring to them and they crinkled a bit at the corners which meant they laughed a lot. She gave a slow warm smile in response and feeling comfortable and safe she started to close her eyes again on a sigh. What a lovely dream she thought just before she heard a warm low laugh which caused her eyes to fly open.
"What, where, who?" She braced herself becoming tense. The eyes backed off a bit and she saw the face attached. It was him, it was Rainer Stevens and boy was he gorgeous, no wonder women went nuts for him. He was close enough for her to see that his reddish blond hair had been well cut so that it lay in short thick waves and the golden red stubble that covered his very strong square jaw was a sharp contrast against his tanned skin and perfect white teeth.
She nervously licked her lips noticing that he followed the movement with his eyes.
"You forgot when, why and how." He teased lightly handing her back her book.
Alice looked around her realizing that she must have fallen asleep in the lobby. It was well past dark and the only people besides the two of them were the cleaning crew and the night desk clerk.
"Ummmm..." she hesitated as shifted in her seat. "You're Rainer Stevens."
He grinned again. "That's what my family tells me."
"Oh...that sounded stupid. Of course you know who you are it's just..."
"Just what?" he encouraged sitting on the couch next to her spreading his long legs out in front of him, acting as if he had all night just to sit and talk to her.
He was wearing shorts and she found herself studying his long muscular legs right along with him as he flexed his toes in their flip flops.
"I've been waiting to talk to you." She rushed not wanting to lose his attention.
He turned his head to look at her raising an eyebrow while waiting for her to continue. He was sitting so close to her and it felt strangely intimate to be in each other's personal space as if they were old friends. She could feel the sleeve of shirt where it brushed her arm as well as the heat that radiated off of him.
"You see I am writing my doctoral dissertation on Steven Douglas."
She felt him tense. "Please, just give me five minutes." She reached out and grabbed his arm without even realizing it. He looked down at her small hand on his arm and following his gaze she realized what she had just done which caused her to quickly jerk her hand away while blushing.
"Sorry, but you're the only one who has ever interviewed him and I was hoping you could tell me how I could interview him as well."
She felt some of his tension ease at her explanation.
"Sorry I can't help you." He stood up in one swift movement, his relaxed posture gone in an instant.
"No, please, if you could just give me his publicist's number or some way to contact him." She reached out and grabbed his arm again desperate to keep him from walking away before he gave her what she needed.
"Look I was lucky to get an interview with him in the first place so I know he wouldn't consider doing another. It would be a waste of your time to try." He threw his bag over his shoulder and walked away without a backwards glance.
Alice sunk into her seat despondent.
That was it then. She could think of no other way. She felt the tears start behind her eyes and she wanted to get to her room before they started. She hadn't cried since she was a girl. She had realized early on that life wasn't always fair and normally she accepted that fact without too much disappointment, but this was different, this was her future, this was her passion.
She got up with her head down and blindly walked towards the elevator. It seemed to take forever to arrive and when it did she moved into it on automatic pilot pressing the button for her floor. The doors were just about to close when a hand shot out to keep them from closing.
Alice didn't even bother to look up. All she wanted was to get to her room, to regroup and come up with another plan after a good cry; a cry that she realized had been building up for years.
"You forgot your book." A familiar voice said. She looked up giving him a weak smile. "Thanks."
She took the book her fingers brushing his but when she went to pull her hand away from his he grabbed it, book and all.
"I didn't mean to upset you." He said softly.
"It's all right it's not the first time I've been disappointed and I doubt it will be the last." She tried to pull her small hand out of his large one but he wouldn't let it go. She tried to ignore the heat that was shooting up her arm because the last thing she needed was more to process and think through.
"I'm sorry but I know that he won't give you an interview." Rainer put his other hand under her chin and lifted her face to his and she knew that he could see the tears in her eyes, but all Alice could think about was that his eyes were so familiar and kind and his hand on her chin was so gentle.
"It's O.K. don't feel bad about it. I'm sure that if you're sure then it's a sure thing."
"You're telling me not to feel bad when I have upset you?" He looked perplexed.
Alice shrugged. "I would hate to think that I made anybody feel bad."
He gave her and intent look at her comment not saying a word until the elevator stopped on Alice's floor.
"Look," he held the door open as she passed. "Let me think on it overnight. Have breakfast with me in the morning?" he invited.
Alice's heart felt a little leap of hope.
"Really," she gave him a sweet smile not realizing how much hope shone from her eyes.
"Meet me in the dining room at eight o'clock." He suggested in a low voice.
She nodded her grin growing as the tears she had been fighting dried up and her heart lifted a little more.
He returned her grin, "One thing, can I at least know your name?"
Alice's hands flew to her mouth. "Oh, how rude of me. Alice Grant." She supplied holding out her hand.
Rainer took it giving it a squeeze that she felt her heart mimic. He flashed her a mischievous grin that made her knees go a little weak. Oh boy, no wonder he was an international star. "Until tomorrow morning," he said stepping back into the elevator.
She stared at him transfixed until the doors closed.
*******
Rainer shook his head as he rode the elevator up to his floor thinking that his trip just got interesting. He had come to Dallas for the first leg of research for series of articles about old Texas ghost towns. One of the Texas magazines he freelanced for had asked him to write them and he had been researching a few that were in the Dallas area all day so he was exhausted. The last thing he expected to see was a little waif in the lobby fast asleep.
The staff at the hotel seemed to have no interest in disturbing her so he felt obliged to wake her. He had fallen asleep in some uncomfortable places before and he knew he was always sorry for it when he woke up.
When she had first opened her eyes she had looked at him with complete trust, just like his little two year old niece did, and it had given him the feeling that she needed protecting.
Letting himself into his room he didn't bother to turn on the light as he started to empty out his pockets. When she had mentioned Steven Douglas every alarm bell had gone off in his head. That was a secret that he kept very close. Only two other people, his older brother Bryce and his editor, knew his pen name. The fact that she had tracked him down had come as a complete shock even if it was because he was the only one to ever have interviewed himself.
She was either really bad at covering her innocence or really good at playing innocent. He still hadn't worked out which it was yet.
He had felt that he had no choice but to invite her to breakfast. He had always been a sucker for tears and if feeding her breakfast somehow made up for making her cry then it was the least he could do. Rainer only had one sister, Lizzy, who never cried so he had very little experience in dealing with crying women.
Walking over to the window that provided a panoramic view of the city below him he tried to arrange a schedule in his mind. He hadn't been home to Texas in a few months and he would have to find some time during this trip to visit with his family.
The first thing was a good night's sleep because tomorrow was another busy day. He had to be in London in three weeks so he was hoping to get all of his research and traveling done before then. Rainer was still at a loss for how he would fit it all in the minimum time allotted. If anything, today had shown him that it was going to be pretty close to impossible.