Wallflower In Bloom Read Free

squeezed some toothpaste onto my toothbrush, and ponied my way back to the carry-on.
    It’s not like I’d never kept an events person waiting before, but I was pretty sure I remembered this one saying I was her last appointment and I didn’t want to miss her. I brushed my teeth with one handwhile I rummaged for something to wear with the other. I pulled out some overpriced black stretchy travel wear. I found a scarf I hoped was funky enough that maybe the wrinkles would look like they were supposed to be there.
    My clean undergarments seemed to have disappeared, so I settled for twisting my bra back to center and gave a tug to the baggy old underpants I’d chosen for flying comfort rather than flair. My fingers tore a hole through the worn cotton fabric. When I opened my mouth to swear, toothpaste drizzled from one corner.
    My door beeped.
    The handle turned.
    A man walked in.
    I heard a loud scream and realized it was coming from me. Toothpaste mixed with saliva was pouring down my chin like a waterfall.
    The man put up his hand like a stop sign.
    I screamed some more.
    He scrunched his eyes closed and reached behind him for the doorknob.
    “My bad,” he said as he backed out of the room.

 
    You don’t have to be a winner to start, but you have to start to be a winner .
    A s soon as I’d chained the door and spit the toothpaste I hadn’t managed to swallow into the sink, I dialed the front desk.
    “A man just walked into my room,” I yelled.
    “Probably maintenance,” a voice said.
    “He had a suitcase!” I screamed. “A hunter green suitcase. On rollers.” My throat was really starting to hurt from all this screaming.
    “Oh.” It sounded like the jerk who’d checked me in.
    I waited.
    “Oh?” I finally said. “A man walks into my room and all you’re going to say is oh ?”
    “The computer must have messed up. It does that sometimes.”
    I had a lot of respect for computers and I hated it when people blamed them for their own personal shortcomings. I shook my head. The movement cleared my brain enough to remember my appointment with the events person. I stretched the cord as far as it would go and pulled on my stretchy black travel outfit with the hand not holding the phone.
    When I brushed my hand over my hip, the flesh freed by the rip in my underpants bumped out like a tumor. I swallowed back another scream. I decided to dump out my suitcase in order to findunderpants, and when I finally did, I began to undress and dress my lower half again.
    “You’re both going to have to come down and get new key cards,” the voice in my ear continued.
    “Why do I have to get a new key?” I held the phone in the crook of my neck while I finished pulling up my pants. “I was here first.”
    “Hotel policy.”
    “Ohmigod. You have a policy for this? What kind of place is this?”
    “And one of you is going to have to switch rooms.”
    “Well, it’s not going to be me,” I said. And then I hung up as hard as I could.
    If this stupid hotel gave that guy my room, I’d move my brother’s event. Or I’d sue. Or I’d move my brother’s event and sue. I’d only packed and unpacked my suitcase about a zillion times this week. There was no way in hell I was going to pack up twice in one hotel, especially since everything I’d brought with me was now strewn all over the bed and floor.
    The elevator took forever getting down to the lobby. I tapped one foot impatiently while I checked my phone to see if I had a direct number for the events person.
    The elevator beeped.
    When the door opened, I was looking right at a hunter green carry-on.
    “We have to stop meeting like this,” the guy attached to it said.
    The elevator door started to close between us. The guy reached out and caught it with one hand.
    “Ha,” I said. I looked past him to the lobby, not wanting to make eye contact.
    “They’ll offer you a coupon for a free breakfast for the inconvenience.”
    “Inconvenience,” I repeated. The