On day 2 of the conference, I walked up the hill through the rain to attend the 6am coffee session. After that, still pretty damp, I attended panel after panel. I’d forgotten my phone in the hostel, so after lunch (just as I was starting to feel dry) I rushed back to the hostel to grab it, and then back to the hotel. By 3pm, I was feeling exhausted and exceedingly chilled. By 4pm, I was just sitting working on editing my manuscript in the hope that I would feel refreshed after a little writing. It didn’t work, and by 5pm I could taste the sleep in my mouth. Even though I’d just started to feel dry again, I decided it was time to go back to the hostel.
The walk through the cold and the rain woke me up, but not enough. The walk made me feel manic with excess energy, yet I was ready to go straight to bed. I remembered that I had an upcoming conundrum: I wanted to attend a class on Monday that went from 9am to noon, but I had to check out by 11 that morning. I remembered that there had been a guy who left his suitcase in the office on the day I’d arrived and was wondering if I might do the same.
I climbed up the staircase to the first storey. I looked down the hallway and saw that that the man from the hostel was at the desk behind the window. I darted over.
“I have a question!” I announced.
“I may have an answer,” said the man.
“It’s a very dramatic question.”
“Then I’ll have a very dramatic answer.”
“Can I leave my suitcase with you after I check out on Monday?”
“Ooh!” he said, waving his hand in the air and practically bouncing in his chair. “I know the answer! Pick me! Pick Ricardo*!” He briefly stopped waving his hand in the air to explain to me, “That’s me, I’m Ricardo.”
“I’m picking Janine,” I said flatly.
“Aww,” he pouted, crossing his arms. “You always pick Janine. She doesn’t know anything.”
“Janine,” I said anyway.
Ricardo pitched up his voice. “I don’t know, ask Ricardo!” Then, back to his regular voice, “See? Told you so.”
“Fine,” I sighed. “Ricardo, then.”
“Yes, you can leave you suitcase here,” he said. “For the bargain price of five dollars.”
“Gasp,” I said. “That’s practically robbery.”
He laughed, but I was already moving on to thinking further logistics.
“So can I come back for the suitcase at any point during the day?” I asked.
“You can, but not after 11:30, for the simple reason that I’ll be asleep.”
“11:30 at night,” I checked.
“Yes, 11:30 at night.”
“That’s not a problem, I’ll be back before then.”
“Great! Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Nope, that’s it. Thank you so much!”
“No problem. Have a good one!”
“You too!”
I ambled up the stairs. By the time I reached the top, I was once again ready to climb into bed and fall straight to sleep.
*Name is changed for reasons of privacy.