written for writerverse Challenge 9: Luck o' the Irish. My three prompt words were: hotel, acceptance, expire
This is a 'missing scene' from the movie
He paces restlessly in the nicely appointed lobby outside the hotel's conference room. The prickly humming along his skin and inside his muscles makes him think that that maybe he should have skipped that third cup of coffee this morning. Too late now, he thinks as he increases the tempo of his pacing, trying to burn through the caffeine jitters.
He's going to need the underlying adrenaline rush, though, to get through the next couple of hours. He's never particularly cared about gaining the acceptance of his peers. Which is a good thing, since he is probably about to throw it all away, he muses as he grasps his handwritten notes tightly.
He stops short in front of a vending machine and fishes some coins out of his pocket. Maybe some food will help. He decides on the little orange crackers with peanut butter; they were never fresh to begin with so he doesn't have to worry if they have passed their Expire By date.
The first bite crumbles to dust in his mouth and he wishes that he had more coffee.
He drops the packet into the nearest trash can and is just starting to re-arrange his notes for the fourth time, when the door opens.
"Dr. Jackson, they're ready for you."