Right of Thirst (2009)
“I was already awake, lying in bed, a bit chilled under the blanket. I’d left the air conditioner on the highest setting, and the room felt both humid and cold despite the chinks of sunlight in the heavy drapes. The phone startled me, and my heart leapt—for a moment I thought it might be Eric. But then I realized that I had not left him the number of the hotel, or even the name.
It was Elise.
“Are you eating breakfast?” she asked. I said that I was, that I would meet her downstairs in the restau...rant in thirty minutes.
I took a quick shower, shaved, then walked out on the carpet, wrapped in a towel. I was clean, but my clothes were not. They were full of dust and grime, smelling of kerosene and smoke, and I heaped them in a pile by the door, next to my stained pack. I called the front desk, and was told that they would be washed immediately. Then I picked through them, and dressed as cleanly as I could—a dark fleece shirt, like the one I’d given Ali, which hid the stains to some extent, and my spare nylon hiking pants, from a catalogue, which had been too thin for the cold.MoreLess
It was Elise.
“Are you eating breakfast?” she asked. I said that I was, that I would meet her downstairs in the restau...rant in thirty minutes.
I took a quick shower, shaved, then walked out on the carpet, wrapped in a towel. I was clean, but my clothes were not. They were full of dust and grime, smelling of kerosene and smoke, and I heaped them in a pile by the door, next to my stained pack. I called the front desk, and was told that they would be washed immediately. Then I picked through them, and dressed as cleanly as I could—a dark fleece shirt, like the one I’d given Ali, which hid the stains to some extent, and my spare nylon hiking pants, from a catalogue, which had been too thin for the cold.MoreLess
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