There is nothing worse than those first days back in Dublin. Getting familiar with who ever is charge and finding your place in the pecking order. I hadn’t even looked to see where I ranked yet. I just longed for a nice Merlot and a bath.
The Lovely Lorna (73) shoots a worried glance at Eli while she checks me in. He is stepping back and forth through a doorway – one foot on the wooden floor, the other on the crimson carpet. When she looks back my way I smile and lean over her desk.
‘Here’s your key Mr Fournier,’ she says in an unnecessarily official tone.
I think she likes me. ‘Please, call me George,’ I say and give her one of my winning smiles.
The Lovely Lorna (73) ignores my personal touch and hands me a key. ‘Through that door and up the stairs,’ she says pointing to a door on the far wall. ‘Yours is number 306.’
‘Thanks Darlin.’
Eli Mordino cuts a gaunt shadow in the corner of the foyer as I head for the stairs. He had attached himself outside and was suggesting he stay with me.
‘Get you reacquainted with the city and what not.’
A free ride for a few days is what he means. For now, I head upstairs and leave him to his game of hopscotch.
