Starting Over
By: December
Chapter 1 – Arrival
Baltimore, Maryland in the United States of America. To be honest, it wasn't a place that Abby ever thought she'd be excited to see. Not that she had a problem with Baltimore, per se. It just wasn't a place in the States that was talked about in Canada. Everyone had heard of places like New York City (especially after that horrible terror attack), Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Las Vegas. Since she had lived with hockey fanatics when she was married, she had also heard a lot about Boston and Buffalo. Given that her family was originally from Windsor, she knew a little bit about Detroit, Michigan as well. But Baltimore? It wasn't initially on her radar.
Whether Baltimore was a known quantity or not, the moment she stepped off the plane, Abby was excited. She was a co-presenter at an international academic conference in her discipline, all because of that research assistant ad she answered. She had originally applied to the research position with the well known professor to help keep her mind off the fact that her marriage hadn't lasted. Although she never said it aloud, part of her believed that since she had failed at marriage, she was not allowed to fail at this higher education thing. Once she got into the research, however, she was surprised to find how much she enjoyed it, as marine biology wasn't what had drawn her to biology in the beginning. She also, apparently, impressed the professor because he asked her to co-present with him. In fact, she was going ahead to coordinate their efforts at the conference, since he could only fly out the day they presented and then he had to leave a few hours after their presentation.
At first, she worried the cost would keep her from going. It involved flying to another country, staying there for days, and when she added in the conference registration and feeding herself while there, the overall bill looked to be pretty high. Luckily, between a travel grant and the department, she was able to fly to the conference, register, stay in the hotel, and eat without any cost to her. It was good thing since she had decided to attend school full-time and was living on loans and savings.
Then, she thought that her responsibilities to her children would keep her from going. The conference fell during her weekend with them, after all. It was that fact, and the fact that she felt guilty that this wasn't the first fact to occur, which almost compelled Abby to turn down the opportunity. George had been amazing about the whole thing, however, agreeing to rearrange his plans so that Abby could take the children the weekend after the conference. He even seemed to understand and not hold the reason for Abby rescheduling against her. She wasn't sure if her children were as understanding, but she had decided to jump that hurdle when she returned to Canada.
So, there she was, in a cab with laptop and a suitcase, on her way from BWI to the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel. Actually, by the time she had that thought, her cab had pulled up to the door. Paying the driver and thanking him for helping her with her bags, she walked into the lobby. A lot of people were arriving. Abby couldn't tell who was there on vacation or business – at least not in all cases. A few of the high powered types in suits with cell phones attached to their ears clearly saw Baltimore as a working venue; however, academics were notoriously harder to spot. For example, the woman two people ahead of her in line, wearing the comfortable looking black travel knit outfit, could be here to present on some breakthrough in genome research or marine biology … or she could be here on vacation. October vacations may be out of the ordinary, but not unheard of.
As Abby finally stepped up to the desk to check in, she noticed one of those corporate types fly by her. Clearly a member of some hotel loyalty program, he walked right up to the special check-in area next to her. He was striking. Brown hair, but not flat or unattractive. He was wearing a well-tailored suit that Abby bet was a designer one. He probably had a sports car, maybe to make up for the slight graying she could see in his hair from where she stood. She briefly wondered who he was, but decided it wasn't important.
"Hi," Abby smiled at the young girl behind the desk. "I'd like to check in, if it is not too early?"
"No, ma'am," the girl behind the desk smiled. "What is the reservation under?"
"Lawson-Venturi. Abigail," Abby replied.
Of course, given all of her excitement and hurdles that she had jumped through successfully to date, there would be a problem with the room.
Starting in the different place, arriving at the same time, with similar result…
Baltimore in October. It might not be Dennis' first choice for this particular annual international law conference, but it was the first venue in a long time that made sense. For some reason, the planners of this meeting usually made awful decisions about where the annual meeting should be. For example, there was the year they planned it for Vegas in August. Or the time they planned it for West Palm Beach during hurricane season. He didn't go that year, which was a good thing, given the hurricane that hit West Palm that week. Nothing, however, topped the year they decided to have the meeting in Juneau, Alaska in January. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to meet in Alaska at any time that wasn't in the summer was beyond Dennis. Baltimore as a venue was a relief...and a nice break as a New York fall was just a little cooler than a Mid-Atlantic fall.
Of course, one of the reasons Dennis might have been in a strange mood about the conference this year was all the crap he had to go through to get there.
First, there was the assistant problem. His normal legal secretary, Janine, was on vacation. That wasn't necessarily a problem. Although Janine was a great asset to the firm and a godsend for him, Dennis didn't begrudge her time off. She, in fact, was usually pushing him to take a break – when she wasn't reminding him about Casey's birthday or Lizzie's soccer tournament. With that last big case they just wrapped up, Janine deserved a vacation and she always left good notes and instructions for the temps who would fill in for her while she was gone.
The problem was the temp the agency sent. There was no way the girl was old enough to legally work! She claimed that she was nineteen, but she looked Elizabeth's age and reminded him so much of a nervous Casey that Dennis was afraid to correct her. For the last week, he'd been walking on eggshells around this temp and, unfortunately, because she was a temp, his travel plans were not what he expected.
Then, there was the flight. Instead of a direct flight out of JFK in New York to Baltimore Washington International Airport, the temp put him on a flight out of Newark that connected in Cincinnati before arriving at BWI. He hated connecting flights, but, when asked about it, she'd gotten a panicky look in her eyes that reminded Dennis so much of his eldest daughter that he insisted it was okay. He also felt another dose of guilt of having to miss Casey's last dance recital a few months ago because of a case he was working on at the time.
And finally, there was this exchange. After he landed in BWI, he pulled out his cell phone and called the office.
"Arnold and Porter, Dennis McDonald's office. This is Tracye. How can I be of service today?"
"Trayce, it's Dennis."
"Oh, Mr. McDonald," the flustered temp almost stuttered. "Is there a problem?"
"No, no. No problem," Dennis quickly reassured the temp. "I just landed at BWI. Are there any messages for me?"
"Um…Yes," Dennis heard papers rustling on the other side of the phone. "A Mr. Partwalk called about the expansion deal in France. A Ms. Atwell called about a contract dispute in Vancouver. Your ex-wife called to remind you about Elizabeth's soccer game next week, something about the regional tournament-"
"Crap. That's next week?" Dennis hated disappointing his girls, but he was afraid he was about to do it again.
"Oh! Did I do something wrong?" the 'nervous Casey' voice of the temp stammered through the phone.
"No, no," Dennis sighed. "Just make a note of it on my calendar and email to me so I can check the date in my Blackberry. Any other messages?"
"No, sir."
"Good," Dennis let out the breath he was holding. "So, where is the rental car?"
"…Excuse me, sir?"
Realizing that question wasn't clear, and how used he was to Janine, Dennis rephrased the question. "Which car rental agency should I go to pick up the car waiting for me at BWI? I'm sorry I didn't think to get that information from you while I was in New York."
"Oh," a quiet and worried response met Dennis' clearer questions.
"Case – I mean, Tracye. You did rent a car for me, right?" Dennis asked quietly.
"Well, you see, when you said you needed a car, I thought you meant like a car and driver or something. So I was asking around the office and I found a name and…well, someone should be there to meet you."
Dennis stopped and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. A few seconds later he opened his eyes and started to pay attention to all the people moving around the airport. As he was standing in baggage claim by this time, he looked around and saw what must be his ride. Some college student was there in a uniform with a sign that read "Mr. MacDonald". The stupid company didn't spell even his name right. Of course, that might have been Tracye as well. "Shit." Dennis was really hoping to have wheels to drive around Baltimore instead of being trapped, having to do things in walking distance or that had taxi service available.
"Did I make a mistake, Mr. McDonald?" a more panicked Tracye asked in a high pitched voice. Dennis would bet money that she would need a paper bag to breathe in after this conversation was over.
"No, it's fine. I wasn't clear. Thank you for making sure I had a way to the hotel, Tracye."
"You're welcome, Mr. McDonald."
"I'll call to check in when I get to the hotel and have Internet access."
"Absolutely, Mr. McDonald."
Wanting to help Tracye feel a little better about the whole exchange, since she sounded so much like a disappointed Casey, he added, "Could you pull the Magna file for me in the meantime? I might have a few questions about it when I call in."
"Of course, sir. It will be all ready when you call."
"Thank you, Tracye," Dennis said. "I do appreciate all you've done," Dennis added the social lie in hopes that it would help Tracye calm down a bit.
"Of course, sir," the temp replied, sounding almost professional and closer to her claimed age of nineteen.
That was thirty minutes ago. As the car arrived at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, Dennis was on the phone with one of the firm's partners. While at the conference, the partner wanted Dennis to touch base with the Baltimore branch of one of their clients; supposedly, there was some sort of issue. Dennis had hopped out of the car, still on the phone with the senior lawyer. He'd grabbed his travel bag and had his laptop on his shoulder as he breezed up to the rewards counter. Today he was very thankful for priority check-in, as he didn't think he could patiently stand in a line at that point.
"Welcome to the Sheraton, sir. How may I assist you?"
Ending his class with the partner, Dennis managed a smile for the young man behind the rewards check-in counter. "Yes, I'm here to check in. The last name is McDonald."
"Okay, one moment sir."
As Dennis waited for the young man to pull up his reservation, he noticed a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Red hair, actually. Dennis turned a bit to see a pretty red-head about his age checking in next to him. She seemed a little excited to be there, so he thought she might be on vacation. Then he noticed the laptop case hanging from the shoulder strap on her left side. So she was there for business. She didn't look familiar, though. Was she a new lawyer? Younger than he'd thought?
"Yes, Mr. McDonald. I have you reservation here. You are checking out on Monday morning?"
"Correct," Dennis confirmed, still paying a little more attention to the woman next to him than the hotel worker.
"Okay, I have you in a double on the fifth floor-"
"A what?!" Dennis whipped around. He couldn't have heard that correctly. Maybe it was time for him to pay attention to the check-in process.
"A double, sir," the young man repeated, looking a little subdued. Dennis really hoped he hadn't shouted at the boy.
"But, I requested a king," Dennis replied in (what he hoped) was a calmer voice. At least he was sure Tracye would have requested a room with a king bed.
"Let me check our records," the flustered young man said as he typed a few things into the computer in front of him. The pause in conversation allowed Dennis to hear part of the conversation next to him.
"What?" the red headed woman asked the girl checking her in. "But I asked for a king room."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we are currently all out of king rooms. It is possible that one might open up later this evening-"
"Mr. McDonald?" the young man assisting him had stopped typing. "Looking at our records, we didn't receive a special request for a king room at the time the reservation was made. I checked our availability and, unfortunately, we don't have a king room available at the moment-"
"So, no king room?" Dennis sighed.
"Well, if they are telling you that, it must be true," the red head next to him broke into their conversation. Apparently, she was listening to his exchange as well.
Dennis turned to face her, "It appears so. So, what do we do now?"
The woman chuckled. "Well, I have to take it. I'm on someone else's largesse, so I can't afford to be choosy."
Dennis laughed in return. "I'm in a similar boat. Everything I need is near this hotel, I don't have a rental car, and I don't want to give our finance department duck fits. But what do we do with our extra beds?"
"Well," the red head paused to thing for a second, "I suppose I could put my laptop and the stuff for my presentation on it."
"Extra storage? Nice idea," Dennis smiled.
"I try," the woman outright laughed that time. "So, we should check in?"
"We should check in," Dennis agreed and he turned back to the young man helping him. The check-in process went smoothly from that point on for both of them, it seemed. Dennis would admit, if anyone asked, that he did try to overhear the woman's room number, but hotel worker's spiel about the fitness center masked that information. Dennis did see her pay for the room, however. Given her nervousness in handing over the credit card for the room, she was clearly there on some corporate sponsorship. Dennis bet that the Visa was a business one.
The borrowed card and red hair intrigued him, so Dennis found himself waiting for her to finish and walking with her to bank of elevators to the rooms. Wanting to find out a little more about her, he found himself asking, "First time in Baltimore?"
"Actually, yes," the woman smiled. "It's beautiful."
"You'll have to check out the Aquarium while you're here. It's not that far from the hotel and worth the admission."
"Thank you. I will." She laughed after a beat. "Given my interest, that could almost be justified as work!"
"So, are you here for the legal conference?" Dennis asked, wondering about the reference to going to a popular attraction being work.
"No. I'm co-presenting at the biology conference. I take it you are a lawyer and not an academic, then?" the woman answered.
"Guilty," Dennis realized that reply was a little cheesy. "I hope you won't hold it against me?" He hoped the question came off as charming and not creepy.
"No….I have a thing for lawyers," the woman seemed to add as an afterthought.
"Law and Order addiction to Jack McCoy?" Dennis asked.
Luckily the woman laughed at that instead of looking at him like he was crazy. "As interesting as Jack McCoy can be, my personal interest is a little more mundane than that. But does invoking Jack McCoy usually work for you? I mean, your name isn't Jack, is it?"
"No. I'm Dennis," he introduced himself, offering his hand.
"Abigail," the woman replied as she shook his hand.
"So, Abigail, any big plans tonight for a Law and Order marathon or conference obligation?"
"I don't even know if I can catch Law and Order on the TVs in the hotel," Abigail laughed, "but after I pick up my conference materials, I don't have any big plans or must see TV to catch. Why?"
"Well, why don't you meet me for drinks tonight? In Morten's. I can give you all the tips on getting the most out of Baltimore." Dennis was shocked at what he has just offered. Or, to be more honest, of what he had spent the last part of the conversation setting up. Did he really just ask this Abigail out? What was he thinking? He didn't even know her last name! And how would she take it? It did seem a little like stalking behavior, which wasn't a good thing. The most telling thing was how out of practice he was. This whole exchange was almost as bad at the line he used on Nora back in college.
Abigail blinked a few times, clearly surprised. At that point, the elevator directly behind her binged and the door open. Just when Dennis was expecting an awkward, "no thank you," Abigail blushed and said, "Okay. What time?"
"What about eight?" Dennis found himself holding his breath. Was this actually working?
"Eight is fine. Where should I meet you?"
"How about here in the lobby?" Dennis rushed his reply, relieved. It would have been embarrassing if she had turned him down.
"Great. Well, I'll see you at eight tonight, then."
"See you at eight."
With that, the red haired Abigail stepped between the closing elevators doors with her luggage. Dennis decided that he would wait for another elevator to take him to his room instead of crowding onto that one with Abigail. He didn't want to push his luck.
As he waited, Dennis realized that he probably owed Tracye some flowers. Sure, all of Tracye's missteps had caused some problems, but, in the end, Dennis found himself thankful. There was no way he would have arrived here, a mere hours before his first date since his divorce, if it wasn't for Tracye not requesting a king bed like she should have.
- to be continued -