Grand Hotel story

It's always fun to people-watch, right? A while ago, I was meeting friends in the lounge of an old and venerable hotel. Recently restored, it possessed a new and exclusive cachet. The lounge crowd was a mixture of wealthy tourists, well-heeled business clients, and the trendy young.

The room was elegant, with high bowed windows facing out at a gorgeous view. The large space was separated by 20s era columns paneled in wood, with Art Deco sconces. Comfy padded chairs and sofas were arranged in clusters, and tables had wicker chairs which lent the place a kind of tropical, yet old-fashioned air.

You know how it is when you sit facing a room, your eyes just naturally drift beyond your close surroundings and take in what's in your sightlines? Beyond my friend's shoulder, a red-haired woman, sat at a table all by herself, enjoying her cocktail.

I had one of those moments where imagination takes off, and I wondered what her story was. She was younger than me, but still a mature woman. Her hair was classically styled, her attire modest. Her face was pretty and her manner was poised. I could almost picture the scene set in an earlier era, the Jazz Age, old Hollywood, or Capote's Manhattan.

Or maybe not. She had an I-phone, which she consulted frequently, putting on her reading glasses, and then pushing them up off her face. Was she a busy, powerful executive, checking email for the latest sales figures? Was she meeting someone?

After reading the posts from friends who recently attended BlogHer, I wondered if she was traveling to a conference or business gathering, or meeting. Did she have kids at home she missed? Was she an expert in her field, invited to town as keynote speaker, putting the final touches on her speech? Was she an actor, meeting her agent to negotiate a deal? A writer, an artist? A journalist, meeting a source for a deep undercover story?

Was she here for intrigue, a stolen moment, a romance in a luxury hotel? Or did she want to be alone? So many stories.....