Even if we live to be a hundred, I will still wish for more time.
And more nights like these.
Chapter Seven
Danny
Present Day
* * *
“There is no instinct
like that of the heart.”
-Lord Byron
* * *
I don’t want to believe this trip is cursed, but the universe is making some pretty compelling arguments.
First, Sam and I both have our phones stolen. Then the rental car ends up being twice the price Sam was quoted online, due to a bunch of bullshit fees. And when we finally get to our hotel, after getting lost in downtown Auckland for nearly an hour, we discover our reservation was for the night before.
Sam forgot to add on the extra day we lost while we were flying through a dozen time zones, but her card has already been charged, the hotel won’t refund the money, and the excessively unhelpful man behind the counter seems to enjoy assuring us that The DePaul has no rooms available for tonight.
* * *
We head out the door onto the sidewalks of downtown Auckland and for the rest of the afternoon we wander from hotel to hotel, but it’s fashion week and all the hotels are booked. Finally, just as the winter sun is sliding behind the rooftops around five o’clock and the cool air is acquiring a bite, we find a studio with a loft bed at a boutique hotel near the bay.
Sam plunks down her card just as the woman behind the desk says the charge will be five hundred dollars, plus tax.
I snatch Sam’s Visa back fast enough to give the clerk whiplash.
“Thanks, but that’s way over our budget.” I shoot the brunette my most winning smile, the same smile I use to put nervous wives at ease before I take their husbands on camping expeditions where they’ll sleep suspended from ropes anchoring them to the sheer face of a mountain. “Do you have a student discount?”
The woman’s forehead wrinkles sympathetically as she shakes her head. “No, unfortunately, we don’t. On a normal night, I might be able to knock a bit off since you’re renting late in the day, but with it being fashion week…”
“I understand,” I say, smile still in place, grateful that she seems more helpful than the douche who practically kicked us out of the first hotel. “Would you know if there are any youth hostels in the area? Our phones were stolen so we haven’t been able to do an internet search. We just need a place where we can get a bed for the night, even if we can’t find a room.”
The clerk nods. “There’s a YHA about ten minutes from here. Would you want me to call them for you and see if they have beds available?”
“That would be amazing,” Sam pipes up from beside me. “Really. We would appreciate it so much.”
“Of course,” the clerk says as she backs away. “Just let me pop into the office.”
Sam sags against the desk as the brunette disappears around the corner. “I’m so sorry, Danny.”
“Don’t be sorry.” I put my arm around her shoulders and give her a cheer up squeeze. “We’ll find somewhere to sleep, and wake up tomorrow to a new day.”
Sam sighs. “I thought I had everything planned. I can’t believe I forgot about the time change.”
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
She looks up at me, but I can’t tell if I’ve made her feel any better. She’s so exhausted her eyes aren’t giving her away the way they usually do. “Well, I promise I won’t make any more. The rest of the trip will be flawless. I’ll double check all the other reservations as soon as we get settled.”
“It’s okay,” I assure her. “Really, Sam, when have you known me to get mad about stuff like this?”
“Never, but I still feel terrible,” she says, biting her lip before she adds in a small voice. “Do you think the fates are against us?”
“No,” I say, as the clerk returns, an encouraging smile on her face.
“You’re in luck,” she says. “They don’t have any private suites available, but there are beds free in both the male and female dorm rooms. They’re holding one for each of you. I told the gentleman at the front desk you’d be over in a few minutes.”
“Thank you so much,” I say, too relieved that Sam and I won’t be sleeping on the street or in the back of our tiny rental car to be too bummed that we won’t get to share a bed.
Sam’s obviously beat anyway. I’m dying to be alone with her, in a place where we’ll have the privacy to talk and finish what we started on the plane, but right now I’m grateful for a sign the universe has decided to have mercy on us.
No matter what I said to Sam, until this scrap of good news I wasn’t sure how the fates were feeling about our trip.