Blind Eye ch2
Here's the next part.
Chapter Two
The plane touched down after a dizzying ten minutes of circling the airport while waiting for its turn to land. All the left turns had churned the nervous excitement in Miles’ guts into wanting to heave. He was grateful for the cool air of the airport and the incredibly convenient bathroom he found just outside his gate. A little water on his face and time spent on firm ground had him feeling much better. Just in time for the excitement to return.
A resort. How long had he wanted to go on an all-inclusive resort vacation? True, the wilds of Utah didn’t look much like the Caribbean, but he was okay with that. It was a resort. A very nice one. And his dad and community had sprung for a higher-end room. Miles grinned as he followed the signs to baggage claims, keeping his eyes peeled and his nose sharp for any signs of a rich and handsome gay wolf on his own way to the resort.
It wasn’t like he was a gold digger. He wasn’t. He made a decent living and didn’t have extravagant tastes. He wasn’t looking for a bank account to pay for his expensive desires. Sure, he had expensive dreams, but he was cursed with his parents’ strong sense of responsibility. No, he wanted a rich partner because money meant freedom. The freedom to do as he’d always wanted. The freedom to expand his shop, the ability to finally install the new technology their town’s schools needed. He wanted to update their library, and attract bigger businesses with better jobs by building an industrial park. If he had money and the backing of more money and power, then he could force the city council in his hometown to finally see the reasons behind all his plans and dreams and start budgeting money for them. They acted as if being old-fashioned was sacrosanct and should be respected and cherished. They treated him as if he wanted their town historian strung up and their historical buildings razed to the ground.
Spotting his baggage carousel, Miles headed for it. He joined the group of fellow passengers staring at the yellow light, waiting for it to start flashing. When it did and the contraption started to turn, Miles set his carryon bag down and moved forward with the rest of the vultures descending on their possessions.
There was a thud behind him, followed by a, “Sonofabitch!”
Miles turned around and found his bag tangled in the feet of a man that was on the floor. “Hey! My bag! I have my glasses in there!”
“Then why the hell would you have it in the walkway?”
Miles glared at the other man. “It wasn’t in the walkway. Why the hell didn’t you watch where you’re going?”
The man glared as he got free of Miles’ bag and stood up. Then they both glared at each other. Finally, the man narrowed his eyes. “You’re lucky we’re in public,” he said under his breath before turning to walk away.
“Yeah, that was scary,” Miles called after him, sarcastically. The man paused, adjusted his shoulders and then moved on. “Pfft.” Miles checked his bag over and was relieved to find his glasses were fine. He looked back to find his few pieces of luggage twirling on the carousel, separated from each other and alone. Collecting them up, reuniting the matched set with each other, Miles figured out that he should have grabbed a handcart before getting his luggage. Damn. He looked around, but all the ones he had seen parked everywhere had been used.
“Should have grabbed one before you left your stuff out everywhere,” the clumsy man said as he strode past with only two suitcases.
“You’re batting a thousand today, aren’t you?” Miles snapped after him, but the man ignored him and disappeared into the crowds filing out into the main lobby.
Miles looked around one more time before realizing that a knight with shining rolling wheels was not going to appear. He slung his carryon bag over his shoulder, hooked two suitcase handles together with one of their straps, and grabbed the last one and started to pull them along. Damn, that was going to scuff them all up.
Miles made it into the main lobby where he followed the signs to the rental cars and shuttles. Checking a clock he passed, he picked up his speed. If he missed his shuttle out to the resort, it would be a bad omen. He did not want any bad omens on this trip. He hustled through the crowd, and finally made it to the waiting area in the underground garage. Men and women were already filing onto the shuttle bus with the resort’s name printed on the side of it.
With a relieved smile, Miles dragged his luggage to the driver at the side of the bus.
“Just made it!” the driver said as he unlatched and reopened the door to the baggage compartment and grabbed Miles’ bags. Miles gratefully thanked the man and climbed inside the small bus. He was on his way.
Then he found the only open seat and frowned. Bad omen, bad omen.
“I’m not happy you made it either,” the man who had brutalized his carryon said. He was trying to press himself against the side of the bus so he and Miles wouldn’t have to touch each other on the ride.
Miles sat down on the outside edge of the seat. “Do you have a burr in your paw or something?”
“No. I have a bruise on my knee because some idiot left his bag in the walkway,” the other man growled.
“Driver?” Miles called. He waited until the driver looked up in his mirror and caught Miles’ eye “Sir, how long is this drive?”
“Oh, about twenty-five minutes. Not too long,” the cheerful driver called out. “Just long enough to get out into the beautiful countryside.
“Damn,” Miles muttered, and refused to look at his glowering seat companion.
“My plane came in a little late and I gotta find a bathroom, too.”
Miles turned in his seat to find a woman across the aisle from him, smiling. “Oh, it isn’t that. I just have an annoying sound next to me,” he said, returning the smile. “Are you here for the, uh, convention?”
The lady, who appeared to be in her fifties, nodded. “Yes. I tried having a husband, but it just didn’t work out. So, here I am to find a real love. And you?”
“My family sent me here since I was only coming up with,” Miles paused to look around and then finished with, “people from outside our religion. I thought it was okay, but they didn’t, so I’m giving their idea a try.”
The lady smiled and nodded. “Family pressure can be tough.” She held out her hand. “I’m Carrie.”
“Miles.” They shook hands and chatted about the traffic and then the scenery. Carrie was pleasant and nice and a very effective distraction from the glowering evil that was his seat companion, who tried to pretend he was dozing during the drive.
“Here we are, folks,” the driver called out. The bus passed through a grandiose gate, came around a bend in the road, and there before them was a beautiful hotel that had tried very hard, but failed, to masquerade as a log cabin. It sat at the mouth of a valley that was green with trees and meadows and dappled sunlight. Miles was suitably impressed.
“That’s beautiful,” Carrie said, her voice mixing with a few other murmurs of appreciation.
“Hey, Grace,” Miles said to the man beside him. “Why don’t you let that view make you feel better?”
The man didn’t bother opening his eyes when he answered. “I’ll feel better when I’m off this bus.”
Miles’ own eyes widened in surprise. “Are you car sick?”
“Why don’t you go back to your conversation and leave me alone?”
Miles turned back to Carrie and ignored the other man. The shuttle pulled up under the portico and the passengers disembarked. The rude man pushed past Miles to get his suitcases then went inside. Carrie laughingly excused herself soon after to track down a bathroom which left Miles with his bags. At least this time he wasn’t alone. A very nice-looking bellhop came up to him and grabbed his bags and escorted him inside. After checking in, which seemed more like an extremely pleasant chat than a business transaction, Miles found himself tipping the bellhop, shutting the door, and enjoying the view of his room.
“Sometimes, I really love my people,” he said, walking out of the entranceway of his room and out into the main area. Done in a modern rustic look, in greens and browns, Miles never wanted to leave. He had a separate bedroom with a full bed, a desk, a plush armchair, and an en suite bathroom that had a Jacuzzi tub.
“I really love my people,” he told his reflection in the spacious bathroom. He had plans for that tub. Maybe he had enough time now. Walking back out to the living room, Miles picked up the small folder with two sitting, gold wolves, nose to nose, embossed on it. Nice touch. Subtle. Chuckling, Miles opened it and pulled out the itinerary. The first event wasn’t until tomorrow morning’s Opening Breakfast. Miles tossed the folder down and happily went to enjoy the tub.
<-Chapter 1 | Chapter 3->
Chapter Two
The plane touched down after a dizzying ten minutes of circling the airport while waiting for its turn to land. All the left turns had churned the nervous excitement in Miles’ guts into wanting to heave. He was grateful for the cool air of the airport and the incredibly convenient bathroom he found just outside his gate. A little water on his face and time spent on firm ground had him feeling much better. Just in time for the excitement to return.
A resort. How long had he wanted to go on an all-inclusive resort vacation? True, the wilds of Utah didn’t look much like the Caribbean, but he was okay with that. It was a resort. A very nice one. And his dad and community had sprung for a higher-end room. Miles grinned as he followed the signs to baggage claims, keeping his eyes peeled and his nose sharp for any signs of a rich and handsome gay wolf on his own way to the resort.
It wasn’t like he was a gold digger. He wasn’t. He made a decent living and didn’t have extravagant tastes. He wasn’t looking for a bank account to pay for his expensive desires. Sure, he had expensive dreams, but he was cursed with his parents’ strong sense of responsibility. No, he wanted a rich partner because money meant freedom. The freedom to do as he’d always wanted. The freedom to expand his shop, the ability to finally install the new technology their town’s schools needed. He wanted to update their library, and attract bigger businesses with better jobs by building an industrial park. If he had money and the backing of more money and power, then he could force the city council in his hometown to finally see the reasons behind all his plans and dreams and start budgeting money for them. They acted as if being old-fashioned was sacrosanct and should be respected and cherished. They treated him as if he wanted their town historian strung up and their historical buildings razed to the ground.
Spotting his baggage carousel, Miles headed for it. He joined the group of fellow passengers staring at the yellow light, waiting for it to start flashing. When it did and the contraption started to turn, Miles set his carryon bag down and moved forward with the rest of the vultures descending on their possessions.
There was a thud behind him, followed by a, “Sonofabitch!”
Miles turned around and found his bag tangled in the feet of a man that was on the floor. “Hey! My bag! I have my glasses in there!”
“Then why the hell would you have it in the walkway?”
Miles glared at the other man. “It wasn’t in the walkway. Why the hell didn’t you watch where you’re going?”
The man glared as he got free of Miles’ bag and stood up. Then they both glared at each other. Finally, the man narrowed his eyes. “You’re lucky we’re in public,” he said under his breath before turning to walk away.
“Yeah, that was scary,” Miles called after him, sarcastically. The man paused, adjusted his shoulders and then moved on. “Pfft.” Miles checked his bag over and was relieved to find his glasses were fine. He looked back to find his few pieces of luggage twirling on the carousel, separated from each other and alone. Collecting them up, reuniting the matched set with each other, Miles figured out that he should have grabbed a handcart before getting his luggage. Damn. He looked around, but all the ones he had seen parked everywhere had been used.
“Should have grabbed one before you left your stuff out everywhere,” the clumsy man said as he strode past with only two suitcases.
“You’re batting a thousand today, aren’t you?” Miles snapped after him, but the man ignored him and disappeared into the crowds filing out into the main lobby.
Miles looked around one more time before realizing that a knight with shining rolling wheels was not going to appear. He slung his carryon bag over his shoulder, hooked two suitcase handles together with one of their straps, and grabbed the last one and started to pull them along. Damn, that was going to scuff them all up.
Miles made it into the main lobby where he followed the signs to the rental cars and shuttles. Checking a clock he passed, he picked up his speed. If he missed his shuttle out to the resort, it would be a bad omen. He did not want any bad omens on this trip. He hustled through the crowd, and finally made it to the waiting area in the underground garage. Men and women were already filing onto the shuttle bus with the resort’s name printed on the side of it.
With a relieved smile, Miles dragged his luggage to the driver at the side of the bus.
“Just made it!” the driver said as he unlatched and reopened the door to the baggage compartment and grabbed Miles’ bags. Miles gratefully thanked the man and climbed inside the small bus. He was on his way.
Then he found the only open seat and frowned. Bad omen, bad omen.
“I’m not happy you made it either,” the man who had brutalized his carryon said. He was trying to press himself against the side of the bus so he and Miles wouldn’t have to touch each other on the ride.
Miles sat down on the outside edge of the seat. “Do you have a burr in your paw or something?”
“No. I have a bruise on my knee because some idiot left his bag in the walkway,” the other man growled.
“Driver?” Miles called. He waited until the driver looked up in his mirror and caught Miles’ eye “Sir, how long is this drive?”
“Oh, about twenty-five minutes. Not too long,” the cheerful driver called out. “Just long enough to get out into the beautiful countryside.
“Damn,” Miles muttered, and refused to look at his glowering seat companion.
“My plane came in a little late and I gotta find a bathroom, too.”
Miles turned in his seat to find a woman across the aisle from him, smiling. “Oh, it isn’t that. I just have an annoying sound next to me,” he said, returning the smile. “Are you here for the, uh, convention?”
The lady, who appeared to be in her fifties, nodded. “Yes. I tried having a husband, but it just didn’t work out. So, here I am to find a real love. And you?”
“My family sent me here since I was only coming up with,” Miles paused to look around and then finished with, “people from outside our religion. I thought it was okay, but they didn’t, so I’m giving their idea a try.”
The lady smiled and nodded. “Family pressure can be tough.” She held out her hand. “I’m Carrie.”
“Miles.” They shook hands and chatted about the traffic and then the scenery. Carrie was pleasant and nice and a very effective distraction from the glowering evil that was his seat companion, who tried to pretend he was dozing during the drive.
“Here we are, folks,” the driver called out. The bus passed through a grandiose gate, came around a bend in the road, and there before them was a beautiful hotel that had tried very hard, but failed, to masquerade as a log cabin. It sat at the mouth of a valley that was green with trees and meadows and dappled sunlight. Miles was suitably impressed.
“That’s beautiful,” Carrie said, her voice mixing with a few other murmurs of appreciation.
“Hey, Grace,” Miles said to the man beside him. “Why don’t you let that view make you feel better?”
The man didn’t bother opening his eyes when he answered. “I’ll feel better when I’m off this bus.”
Miles’ own eyes widened in surprise. “Are you car sick?”
“Why don’t you go back to your conversation and leave me alone?”
Miles turned back to Carrie and ignored the other man. The shuttle pulled up under the portico and the passengers disembarked. The rude man pushed past Miles to get his suitcases then went inside. Carrie laughingly excused herself soon after to track down a bathroom which left Miles with his bags. At least this time he wasn’t alone. A very nice-looking bellhop came up to him and grabbed his bags and escorted him inside. After checking in, which seemed more like an extremely pleasant chat than a business transaction, Miles found himself tipping the bellhop, shutting the door, and enjoying the view of his room.
“Sometimes, I really love my people,” he said, walking out of the entranceway of his room and out into the main area. Done in a modern rustic look, in greens and browns, Miles never wanted to leave. He had a separate bedroom with a full bed, a desk, a plush armchair, and an en suite bathroom that had a Jacuzzi tub.
“I really love my people,” he told his reflection in the spacious bathroom. He had plans for that tub. Maybe he had enough time now. Walking back out to the living room, Miles picked up the small folder with two sitting, gold wolves, nose to nose, embossed on it. Nice touch. Subtle. Chuckling, Miles opened it and pulled out the itinerary. The first event wasn’t until tomorrow morning’s Opening Breakfast. Miles tossed the folder down and happily went to enjoy the tub.
<-Chapter 1 | Chapter 3->