Willfully Blind

CHAPTER 36 Killjoy

Daryn had been prepping for her presentation for the conference for weeks. She spent several hours the night before her flight mulling over and tweaking it and was pretty sure it was near perfect. That aside, her perfectionist nature had her wide awake early morning sitting atop the bedspread with papers smeared all over her king size bed. She was about to turn in — contacts out, teeth brushed, and hair wrapped —about to drift off when she decided to check just one of her slides.

Several hours later, she was still shifting things around and taking things out. With ninety-five percent done, Daryn found herself vacillating between keeping or deleting one of her slides. After close to an hour, she relented and called Gabby.

"Hello?" Daryn knew at once from the sound of Gabby's voice that she had awoken her. Wincing, she tried sounding upbeat, as if her being wide awake made it okay to call Gabby in the middle of the night.

"Hey, Gabby. Okay, so I know you've probably already turned in, but I promise I'll make it quick. Remember the slide we talked about back at the office...the one we went back and forth on? You know the one we ultimately decided to take out? Well, I made a couple of changes in the PowerPoint, and now I'm debating on whether or not to put it back in. Thoughts?" After several moments of silence, Gabby spoke.

"Daryn, with all due respect...take your behind to bed. We worked on that presentation for weeks. It's perfect."

"I know, but I'm having second thoughts about—"

"Seriously, Daryn, It's almost two in the morning. You need – we need to get our rest. Between the jetlag and the packed schedule, it's gonna be a super long day tomorrow."

"You're absolutely right. I'm obsessing. I'm sorry for waking you Gabby. Really. But since I have you on the phone...in or out?" Daryn heard Gabby light chuckle.

"I thought we decided it was redundant."

"Yeah, I'm still thinking it is... Okay, I'll see you in the morning."

"Yes, I'll see you in about..." Gabby paused, more than likely looking at her watch. "...in less than six hours."

"Point taken, Gabs. Good night."

And of course, just as Gabby projected, Daryn was exhausted when the alarm went off. After hitting the snooze four consecutive times, she forced herself from the bed just in time to grab some granola and yogurt before the first session started.

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After giving what Gabby described as a flawless presentation, Daryn felt the stress melt away. She was anxious to venture outside of the hotel and get to the beach front right outside her room. But by the last session the adrenaline rush had worn off, and Daryn was left yawning in a few of her colleagues' faces. It became apparent that she was in need of at least a short nap.

No sooner than the sessions ended, Daryn made a beeline to the elevator. With her key in hand, she rushed towards her room, shedding her clothes before she could get through the door good. She tossed her pajama jersey on and turned off all the lights, and the television that had been on since she left that morning. She climbed into a freshly made bed and immediately felt herself dozing off when she heard a knock on the door. Startled, Daryn jolted over towards the door, hoping it was just someone who mistakenly knocked. Yeah, it's gotta be the wrong room. Then there was the second knock. Go away! She considered belting out.

Daryn got out of bed and dragged herself across the room. She ran her fingers through her hair, catching sight of the frown on her own face in the mirror. She peeked through the peephole and discovered Gabby standing there, eyes buried in her cellphone accompanied by two other coworkers standing nearby chatting. She rolled her eyes, releasing a quick sigh and opened the door.

"Hey, ladies." Daryn held the door open, really praying they weren't trying to pay a visit.

Gabby looked up from her cell phone and peeked around Daryn, noticing right away that the room was pitched black. She then took note of Daryn's sleep attire.

"Oookay...we're getting ready to go to the lounge for drinks and thought you might want to come with, but I see you're getting ready to take a nap..."

"Yeah, not to be a stick in the mud, but I have to lay down for at least a couple of hours."

"It's cool, Daryn. You wanna try to meet up for dinner? We're thinking sushi around 8:30ish."

Daryn glanced down at her watch. It was a quarter to 5:00.

"That's perfect! Just call me, okay, Gabby... maybe a quarter after seven?"

"Will do. Oh, and so sorry for waking you from your slumber." Gabby's words dripped sarcasm.

"Touché," Daryn replied, closing the door slowly, momentarily maintaining eye contact.

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Daryn's annoying ringtone jarred her from her sleep just as it was intended to do. Ninety percent of the time her phone was on vibrate, but since she was awaiting Gabby's call, she made sure to turn on her ringer. Right away she noticed feeling remarkably rested and ready to hang out. The two hours having made all the difference in the world. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and was excited to see Courtney's name displayed on her screen.

"Hey, baby!" she said, a creeping smile across her face.

"Hey, babycakes! Sorry for calling so late. I had a late meeting, but I couldn't miss the chance to find out how your presentation went. Did I wake you?"

"No. Well, I was waiting for a wake-up call from Gabby for dinner, so your timing is perfect. But yeah, things went well. I'm just glad it's over." Daryn reached over in search of the light switch.

"How are you?" She clicked on the lamp and sat up.

"I'm good...missing you. So, wait you're going out for dinner this late? It's,

Like...11:00 pm there, right?"

"Huh? Wait, did I oversleep?" Daryn looked over at the digital clock on the night-stand and discover she had been asleep for twice as long as she planned. No wonder she felt so refreshed. Now she would be forced to deal with Gabby's tantrum.