I scanned my fob on the reader, and the door beeped and clicked open. It entered into a lounge area with comfortable looking couches and chairs and low tables. The tables all had plugs for laptops. Big windows let in natural light and accented the mountain valley view. I saw stand lamps for when the sun went down, and while there were florescent lights in the ceiling, they weren't on.
My room was on the third floor near the back. I hoped that meant we had a good view. Of course, there didn't seem to be a bad one so far.
I found the stairs near the elevators and debated. On one hand, the exercise would be good for me, and using the stairs was a good habit to start. On the other hand, I had come from almost sea level, and I had accidently left my water bottle back at my hotel room. Drink lots of water was the number one piece of advice for living at altitude that I could find. Coffee had water in it, right?
I smiled at the thought and headed for the stairs. Might as well get used to exercising up here, especially when I could take my time.
About halfway up I regretted my decision as I gasped for breath and a light headache formed at my temples. I stopped, leaned against the railing for a minute, and then forced myself the rest of the way. At the top, I paused again, wanting to sit down and feeling a little weak in the legs. This was crazy. I was in good shape. I exercised and ran a lot. I hadn't felt this bad from climbing a staircase since, well, forever.
After a few moments, I recovered slightly and opened the door. The carpet was clean, older, and dark blue. The hallways were painted light gray, and florescent lights lit the way. Though windows at both ends of the hallway let in quite a bit of natural light. I glanced at the numbers on the doors and turned to my right. Room 360 was down on the end. Victoria–I knew her name from the paperwork–and I had gotten lucky with a corner room. Extra windows.
I stopped outside my door and hesitated. Was she here? I wasn't normally nervous about meeting people, but after dumping coffee on a random stranger this morning, I worried about what else might go wrong. Guess I couldn't do anything except dive in, so I knocked lightly on the door before scanning my fob.
The door beeped, and I pushed it open.
The room was painted light grays, and the carpet was a nicer lavender. The room wasn't large, but it was big enough for two people. The middle was divided by a half wall that had desks lined up on either side and a wardrobe style closet next to the desk. Each side had a window and a single sized bed with a small bed stand and a mirror.
The bed to the left had a suitcase on it, and the desk already had some books. The bed to the right was against the outside wall and empty. I guessed that was mine. Victoria wasn't here at the moment, though clearly, she had been here recently. I didn't want to pry, but saw a couple of photos on her desk, and I didn't think she would mind me looking if they were out.
The first showed an older black man and black woman who looked like a couple by the way they had their arms around each other's waists. Their bright smiles made me grin in reply, even though it was just a picture. The other picture showed the same older couple with a young girl about my age. Her smile was just as big and friendly. I hoped this cheerful person in the picture was my roommate. I thought we could get along, if she really was that friendly. She had a small poufy fro, dark skin, and wore a superhero T-shirt.
While I wasn't especially into superheroes, I enjoyed the movies and thought we would at least have something in common.
The door beeped, and I quickly set the picture back on the desk and turned. The person from the photo entered my room, and her face lit up with a smile.
I sighed in relief. At least initially, she looked as nice as the picture made her out to be.
"Sofia?"
I nodded. "Hi. You must be Victoria then."
If possible, her grin intensified. "Yep. In the flesh. I hope you don't mind that I picked a side. I didn't make the bed or anything, in case you wanted to trade."
"No, that's fine. I was, uh, just looking at your pictures. Your parents?"
"Yeah, Mom and Dad and me. I hope you don't mind, they'll visit in a couple of weekends, and I bet they'll want to meet you. You don't have to, of course."
"Oh, no, that would be great. I'm not sure if my parents will come out or not. If they do, they'll certainly want to meet you, too."
"So, where's your stuff?" She glanced to my side of the room, seeing it still empty.
"I left it at the hotel. I wanted to check everything out before I moved over. I still have about an hour before I need to check out."
"Want help?"
I raised my eyebrows. "Sure. Now?"
"No time like the present. So, where are you from?" Victoria opened the door, and we went back out into the hallway.
Both of us watched to make sure the door actually closed, caught each other doing it, and laughed. "We'll get along fine." She beamed at me.
I nodded agreement. "Most recently, I'm from Nebraska. My parents move around a lot though, because of Dad's work. He's an engineer with the oil fields. How about you?"
"Denver. Almost, but not quite a local. Elevator or stairs?"
I sighed. "Down is easier than up. Let's take the stairs. I need to get used to the altitude sometime."
Victoria laughed.
