Snowfall

After lengthy discussion Pam agrees to come back to my hotel room, but only with the firm stipulation that what happens there is not going to be what usually happens between a man and a woman in a hotel room.

And, really, it’s because neither of us can bear to end our conversation, which has been extraordinarily vital and engaging – not a complete surprise – even when we were at loggerheads back in the day there was a weird, volatile chemistry between us. We always had something to say to each other, even if it was just volleying insults back and forth.

The change in location doesn’t seem to affect our rapport, and we go on talking, sitting there at the round hotel table in the uncomfortable hotel chairs, stopping every so often to raid the mini bar.

After a long time there’s a pause, and I realize that it’s gotten quite late and we’ve both drunk more than we intended to. I stand up to stretch out the stiffness and walk to the window.

Damn, look at that, I say. The snow which was just beginning to fall when we pulled in has continued furiously, and the lot is already covered in huge snowdrifts. Nobody is going anywhere tonight.

She comes up beside me and holds back the curtain. Wow.

I touch her arm and our eyes meet.