Vice

37: Convention

After hours on the road, Mr. Vice pulls the vehicle into a gargantuan parking garage. The car ride had been silent - almost as awkward and uncomfortable as Natara's breakfast with her family this morning - and Mr. Vice held the same empty stare out the window for the entire trip.

Maybe Natara had upset him by turning him down like that, but she really wasn't special. If he thought she was, he was pursuing the wrong kind of girl. And he was her boss. Whatever was happening between the two of them was inappropriate. It wasn't something that should have continued.

At least, that's what Natara tells herself as they pull into the parking garage. 

Having spent her whole life in a fairly small town, Natara has never seen anything like the garage. There are rows upon rows of expensive cars and multiple floors for parking. Never has she seen so many vehicles in a single place or groups of people casually walking around. It humbles her. There are so many people in the world. She really must be even more insignificant than she already thinks she is.

Mr. Vice grabs a parking ticket from a kiosk near the garage entrance and pockets it. A gate opens in front of him and he pulls inside, driving past ten rows of parked cars before he finds an empty parking spot. 

Natara steps out of the vehicle and looks around, totally confused about where she's supposed to go from here. But, somehow, Mr. Vice doesn't seem to have the same problem. He locks the car, walks around to Natara, places his hand in the small of her back, and leads her toward the far left corner of the parking garage.

His hand burns like fire on her back. There aren't enough people around right now for him to have a real reason to be touching her, right? Didn't he listen to what she said to him? Her face burns as they approach the corner and Natara finally sees a small sign with the name of their business convention on it.

The double doors lead them to a walkway that extends to a huge stone and glass building. Bordering the walkway is a collection of coffee and smoothie shops, some with familiar names and some that Natara has never heard of before. Even the familiar shops all look higher class than Natara is used to.

"This is," Natara stutters, turning her head back and forth to take in every little detail. "Wow." 

It's the only word she can think of using to describe everything she's seeing. She's not used to a world where buildings are this tall, parking garages are this big, and people have to pay to park somewhere. She had no idea so many shops could exist in one small area or so many people could flock to such a small section of streets. 

A hint of a smile touches Mr. Vice's lips as he peers down at Natara. 

Natara has no idea that the way her mouth gapes open when she looks over at the food shops could be found a bit adorable. She doesn't realize how amusing her wide dark doe eyes look right now as she takes everything in. She doesn't realize that she's actually intriguing, headstrong, and amusing. Her low self esteem wouldn't ever let her realize that.

But Mr. Vice does.

The two of them step up a large stone staircase and through a pair of double doors. Mr. Vice holds one of the doors open for Natara as she passes through. She blushes and quickly steps through the doorway.

The inside of the building is covered with blue, gold, and black patterned carpet and encased in beige walls with light blue accents. It would take a ladder bigger than Natara's ever seen for someone to be able to touch the top of the ceiling of just the entrance room. That doesn't include the huge open ceiling that the escalator in front of her leads to.

Two ladies greet them as they enter the building, taking Mr. Vice's name and handing them each a lanyard with a name tag. Natara puts hers on and is actually shocked to see her full name on the tag rather than something like "Mr. Vice's Assistant." She smiles.

As they step up the escalator, Natara gets her first glimpse at everything. Hundreds of booths line the convention center, showcasing everything from business to technology related companies. Natara doesn't recognize hardly any of the names and feels unnerved just looking at the amount of people packed into this single building.

"Mr. Vice, welcome." One of the booths greets him as they step off of the escalator. He closes his eyes, plasters on the fakest smile Natara has ever seen, and engages in small talk with all of the people at the booth. Some of them try to reach out to Natara - showing her products and discussing business opportunities with her - and she just smiles and nods, letting them know that the company will consider the offer.

They move from booth to booth, making small talk, networking, and listening to pitches for various opportunities. Contrary to how Mr. Vice was at the luncheon, he actually puts on a positive personality for the entire walk through the convention center.

Hours pass and Natara's legs ache. Her back feels tense from turning in the tight dress and a headache drills at her temples. How much time have they spent here and when is it ever going to end? No wonder Mr. Vice feels tired of doing things like this.

And - Natara tries to imagine how much of Mr. Vice's life he actually spends putting on a facade and mingling with various people - I can see why he feels lonely.

As Mr. Vice and Natara step down off the escalator at the end of the day, Natara realizes just how utterly exhausted she feels. Not only does her body and head ache, but her eyes feel heavy and she can't wait to relax in bed and get out of this uncomfortably tight dress.

"How long is the drive back home again?" She asks, looking up at Mr. Vice with begging eyes. Natara wants him to say it's only ten minutes away but she knows it's more like three hours away. She takes out her phone and starts texting her parents. Even if they start driving back right now, it's going to be another late night and this time she doesn't want to get in trouble for it. 

"We're staying at a hotel," he replies. "It's within walking distance."

Natara's eyebrows raise. A hotel? On the handful of trips she's been on with her family she's only ever stayed in motels. 

And she's never stayed in a hotel with someone like Mr. Vice.