The next morning the two women woke later then planned, both blissfully tired from a night of tender lovemaking. Standing in the shower, Kerry smiled as she gazed at her new gold band, musing that last night has essentially been their wedding night, and this trip their honeymoon. Since the ring exchange she hadn't been able to wipe the dopey grin off her face, she was that happy. As a matter of fact she couldn't remember a time when she ever felt this happy. It was a pretty new and scary feeling. Scary for the people she worked with anyway. Unless something happened on this trip to break her good mood, she'd still be on this high well after returning to work.
Kerry Weaver in a good mood? She laughed inwardly as she could just imagine her coworker's reactions. She could hear Frank now, leaning close to anyone, and in a hushed tone ask if they should be worried. Yes, she would defiantly send them all for a loop.
Finishing her shower and dressing, she made her way to the kitchen where Sandy had just finished preparing a breakfast of eggs, toast and fried potatoes. It smelled heavenly. The two ate in comfortable silence, both apprehensive and excited over their trip. Arrangements had been made for Stinky to stay at the firehouse, knowing Sandy's buddies would take good care of the mangy old dog, and mail was being collected by a neighbor. Kerry had seen to all of this, managing the tasks in the same way she ran the ER: quickly and efficiently, and Sandy had to laugh at her no-nonsense approach to everything.
After breakfast, and Sandy's shower, they packed up the car and started on their way. Kerry took the first driving shift, as she knew the longer she stayed in the car, the more cramped her leg would become, and then driving would be next to impossible.
The day went by pretty uneventfully. As predicted, Kerry's leg had cramped up rather badly, and she spent most of the time alleviating the pain by reclining the passenger seat which allowed her to stretch her legs a bit. Unfortunately that left Sandy with most of the driving. They drove for as long as possible, though Kerry's need for frequent rest stops made the normally 13 hour drive take much longer. But that was fine for both of them, as they enjoyed just spending the time together.
Around eleven the first night, Sandy's droopy eyelids had forced them to stop and seek out a place to spend the night. They had settled on a fairly nice little inside-access hotel that looked pretty clean and up-kept. Finding an empty spot to park, they unloaded the necessities, and entered the lobby together.
The place was your usual run-of-the-mill road side hotel. While it was very clean for what it was, it certainly was no Hilton. The floor was covered in an ugly beige tile and the walls were all painted out white. It reminded Kerry too much of County. The lobby was fairly small, but the set-up was rather comfy. A larger fireplace adorned the back wall, and in front of it were three beige sofas arranged in an open square. At the center was a large mahogany coffee table with a smattering of books and magazines. There were a few fake plants scattered in various places around the room, and cheap department store paintings covered the walls.
The two women stood at the empty desk and Sandy tapped the small service bell for assistance. From the back room an unhappy grunt could be heard before the clerk appeared, looking mildly irritated. Their attention was immediately drawn to his colorful outfit, which screamed 'pimp'. Aside from that, he was the spitting image of John Waters, complete with the pencil drawn moustache. Thin black eyebrows sat atop a long face, and his thinning black hair was slicked back. Sandy smiled to herself as she thought he alone kept the hair gel companies in business. As he approached he took a good two minutes to appraise the two strangers before sniffing his pointy nose in cocky arrogance.
"How can I help you?" he asked in a rather unpleasant, squeaky voice. His tone let them know they had just interrupted something important. Sandy guessed he had probably been back there trying to get the porn channel in focus on the small TV she could see just over his shoulder. She had only been around this guy for not five minutes and he had already managed to piss her off. She was just getting ready to let him know that, too, when she felt Kerry's hand on her arm. Looking over at her partner she could see her amused, yet pleading expression. She could tell by the way Kerry was leaning on her crutch that she was still in pain, and the sooner they got a room, the better. Sandy bit her cheek and, plastering on a brilliant fake smile, made a show of reading the clerks name tag.
"Well, Burke," she began "I think it's quite obvious how you can help us. We would like a room. You do rent rooms here at this hotel, do you not?"
"Of course," Burke hissed, narrowing his eyes a bit "Though I'm afraid we don't have any vacant doubles, or adjoining singles."
Sandy could hear the challenge in his words and, with eyes flashing, hissed right back "One single will be fine. And we don't need a cot either."
Burke paused a moment, taking in the implications of Sandy's words. Then he eyed both women before raising an eyebrow and grinning rather lasciviously. The two women rolled their eyes in unison.
After that he had been more then happy to help them. He had quickly checked them into a room, and, with a wink, let them know that, should they need assistance with anything, he would personally see to their needs. They had politely thanked him, though making it clear they would not need anything from him, then headed for their room.
Once inside, Sandy engaged all the locks, including the slide chain, and then for good measure wedged one of the heavy chairs underneath the door knob. Seeing the odd look Kerry cast her way, she reasoned with her.
"Gomez down there seemed a little too friendly, and knowing he has access to the master key…I feel safer this way." Then she straightened up and continued, "Not that I couldn't take him or anything."
"I know sweetheart, you'd wipe the floor with him," Kerry mockingly soothed as she kicked off her shoes and stretched out luxuriously across the bed. "I assume now you plan to check the room for bugs and hidden cameras?"
"Of course not," Sandy replied as she launched herself onto the bed next to her wife. "From the way our good buddy Burke pushed for us to take his 'Best Suite', which of course I'm assuming is code for 'Lesbian Room of Love', I'm guessing all the surveillance equipment is in there."
Both women chuckled.
Later they had both changed into their sleeping attire and crawled back onto the bed, this time under the covers. Sandy lay facing the door, still somewhat cautious, while Kerry curled up behind her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling the firefighter tight against herself. Moments later they were fast asleep.
The incessant beeping of Kerry's watch alarm woke them both up. The sunlight persistently tried to find it's way through the closed curtains, causing a bright glow all the way around the window. They lay there for a few minutes just enjoying the perfection of the moment until they heard a door down the hall slam and an army of people laughing and carrying on go by.
"We should probably resume our journey," Sandy whispered as she rolled over to give Kerry a good morning kiss.
An hour later, freshly showered and dressed, they loaded up their stuff, checked out, and were on their way. A quick stop for breakfast and they were back on the road again.
"I think Burke was sad to see us go," Kerry mused aloud as she fiddled with the radio.
"I think Burke was sad we didn't stay in his 'Best Suite'," Sandy giggled.
Kerry settled on a station and rested her head back against the seat. Turning slightly she studied her partner's profile.
"So why is it that your family lives in New York and you live in Illinois?" she asked after a moment.
Sandy thought a bit before replying. "I moved because of college, and stayed because of a girl." She paused, then continued, "Even though it didn't work out with the girl, I had already established a life in Chicago so I decided to stay."
Kerry was quiet a moment. Reaching over and grabbing Sandy's free hand, she brought it to her lips, then cradled it in her lap. "I'm glad you did," she smiled.
"Me too," Sandy echoed, smiling and giving Kerry's hand a gentle squeeze.
End Part Two.