The Last Cabin

Chapter 8

It was Tuesday, the last day, at least for me, at the convention. Some of the larger names stayed through the next weekend, but I was essentially kicked out by tomorrow. There were no more fans awaiting my arrival when I had gone back down this morning for my meet and greet . All the people that wanted to see me already had, and after waiting around for an hour, I decided I might as well take some free time.

The thought of going home haunted me; my dad and brother were away in their minds, unable to come back to the surface, no matter what I tried; along with my distant friends and turbulent love life. My writing was the only constant thing I had back in Colorado. As much as I thought maybe I could travel, I knew I wouldn't want to do it alone. The thoughts flooded my mind as I tried to settle them with deep breaths, then I headed out the giant front doors of the hotel, onto the busy sidewalk.

I walked through downtown and found a cute cafe to set up my laptop; I had a latte with some buckwheat waffles covered in whipped cream and strawberries. The warm rain coming down outside, with a hot coffee in my hands, eating a sweet waffle made me feel like I was in some sort of movie. This whole week had been a roller coaster, and I wasn't sure I wanted to get off. John, my ex back home, had been texting me more often than usual. A few times I had tried writing out a response to him, but didn't have the nerve to send it. I didn't want to open that door again.

I hadn't heard from my dad or brother since I left, and they wouldn't answer my calls. When I texted my brother, he would only send back one-word answers, meaning they were still alive, and that would have to do for now. I wondered if they were mad I left, like John was, but his anger turned more to desperation, while theirs was rejection. The deep pit in my stomach reminded me I had to go back to my life, away from the adoring fans and wonderful people I met.

Finn was stoic, wistful, and understanding; Carson was sensual, charming, and magnetic; Mitchel was intelligent, deep, and romantic. How could such incredible men exist in the same place? They were famous and successful for a reason, neither of them were ordinary. But maybe they all found women to flirt with at these conventions, then went back to normal life like nothing transpired; was I someone they would forget? I didn't want to answer that.

After I got a little work done and energized from the coffee, I went back to the convention to check into my booth to see if any fans were there to talk with. The room that was once filled was now stagnant. Maybe the new creators coming this weekend would liven this place up. As I stood at my empty booth, Finn came up behind me.

"It always gets slow in the middle of the week, kind of burned out myself," he said.

"I think my fans are burned out," I laughed. "I get the boot tomorrow."

"What do you mean? You're leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah, they have other influencers coming for this weekend." I said.

"I didn't know you were leaving tomorrow, I... I could talk to them. I'm sure you could stay longer," he said in a frantic tone.

"It's my time to go. After this week, it's going to be really hard to go back home, though. It was really nice to meet everyone here, including you," I said, trying to gauge his reaction.

His face got serious. I thought we would have more time... Are you at least going to the thing tonight?"

I had forgotten that there was a black-tie event at the hotel; invites for the creators only. I couldn't find any reason not to go, so I said I would. Finn looked excited then waved me goodbye with a sly smile.

The rest of the day went by slow, with only a few more fans coming up to see me. The last one was a young redheaded woman, who wanted to be a writer herself, and told me how I had inspired her to start posting her own stories. Inspirational, I was inspirational; that was the best note I could end on. I hugged the woman goodbye, and also parted ways with the table that I had called my own for the past few days; where I had met hundreds of people who fawned over me because I wrote a story they liked. I stood beside myself, proud of what I had accomplished here.