Failure

“Despite my efforts” they said they would still like to have me on board. Elaine walked me across the street to a hotel where many of the attendants of the meeting were staying. She gave off an impression of disappointment and hung her head low as she walked, and I struggled to keep pace with her.

I hadn’t known her long, but she was the closest thing to a friendly face that I had here. We had talked stiffly in the car ride, earlier in the morning. It seemed that she had a lot of faith in me, in my potential of whatever in fuck’s name was going on. Or perhaps it was just faith in her results. It was hard to capture her attention for long without losing her to a flurry of frantic keystrokes in her laptop or realizing that her mind was occupied with ten other things and your words flew one ear and out the other.

So I followed her in silence, in confusion, in disappointment at the unknown. We walked through the dark parking lot, across the street with no cars, into a parking lot the same as the last. We entered the lobby of the hotel, got rooms, mine on the 3rd floor, her’s on the 6th.

She handed me my keycard and I walked for the elevator. She stopped me and said she was having a drink at the bar before heading up. Would I join her?

The bar was in a contemporary Japanese style with steel bamboo leaves shielding the bar stools from the artistically painted sun. The server wore a white and red marked bandana, while clothed in a loose silk garment. Without saying a word, he filled a small jug from hot sake dispenser, and placed the jug between us.

She poured a cup first, and was ready for a second before my cup was even full. Then a third, and a forth. Then she started talking, and I listened.