Competition Ch. 01

She arrived at the hotel with her smart business attire. She settled on a full-length business suit with her arms covered, as she did not feel like attracting a lot of attention. The woman had a lot of seminars to attend during the day, which left her only a bit of time to keep up with her exercise routine.

Wheeling her luggage into the lobby of the Four Seasons, she was amazed at how busy it was. She was mildly aware of another convention in town, but all of her focus was on Atlanta's fitness competition. The IIEF was promising its biggest audience to date, and for this year they were getting national cable coverage.

The woman eventually made her way to the front desk and smiled sweetly at the desk clerk.

"And how are we this evening?" asked the plump older lady working the desk. Her name tag gave her away as CATHY.

"Hello," the woman said. "I believe you will have a reservation for me. Last name Wyman, first Jolene."

Cathy began to chuckle as she typed at her computer. "Oh, I bet you get all those people making silly jokes about your name!"

Jolene laughed. "I will tell you—I have actually had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Parton on an occasion."

Cathy looked at Jolene wide-eyed. "Get out! My husband and I just love her to death!" Cathy made up an electronic card key and got a couple of brochures bundled together. "Well, darlin', I'm glad to welcome you to Atlanta. Your room is 612, and it's a suite just as you requested. Wi-fi password is your room number followed by your last name." Cathy looked Jolene up and down. "You in town for the suppliers' convention, hon?"

Jolene put her room keys in her tiny purse. "Oh, no. I'm here for the IIEF fitness championship. I'm competing."

Cathy's mouth hung open. "Oh wow!" she exclaimed. She put her hand to her chest. "How, dear, do you manage with all of those gorgeous men walking around in those--" She held her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. "Those tiny little bathing suits? Oh, I would die!"

Jolene laughed. "Oh, I manage somehow." She gave a pleasant wave. "Thank you so much, dear." She wheeled her suitcase over and managed to find a seat. There were many people mulling about in the lobby, trying to talk over one another. Jolene pulled out her cell phone and began scrolling through her browser for health-oriented restaurants.

Jolene was interrupted by a commotion going on over at another part of the check-in desk. The woman checking in appeared frantic. "Yeah, well, check it again! Look, the room should be paid for!"

The lobby attendant with the swept-up hairdo and the rather effeminate gestures went to the trouble of typing again. He held his hands up to his face and gave a sad look. "I'm sorry, but it appears as though the reservation is not there."

The woman appeared to be quite striking, with long flowing dark brown hair and a great figure. However, at this time she appeared a little less than attractive. "We had this reserved for weeks! Check the name again. Last name Vance. I don't know...look for Veronica." She fumbled with a piece of paper out of her purse. "Look! The reservation was made for tonight. I have the printout."

The effeminate man had another man walk in behind him in a similar uniform and whisper something into his ear. The effeminate man nodded, then turned his attention to Ronnie. "I'm sorry, but the reservation was cancelled. We had a bit of an emergency and another person was given your room. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Ronnie leaned in on the desk. "Hey, fuckin' guy! This is why hotels...make...reservations!" Ronnie was beginning to attract a bit of attention from some of the other guests of the hotel.

The effeminate man appeared to be getting uncomfortable. "Well, if you like, we can make arrangements for you to sleep in the lobby. We would only charge ninety dollars a night."

Ronnie's eyes bugged out and her mouth fell open. "Are you...I..." She flicked her hands in befuddlement. "Listen to me, you fuckin' moron! I want a room like you had promised! This entire town is jam-packed because of this convention. I'll have to get a GoTel in rural Bumfuck at this rate." She paused and squinched up her face. "No offense."

"Ma'am," the attendant started. "If you are going to use such language..." The man gave up as Ronnie wheeled away her luggage flipping him off.

Ronnie made her way for the door in an angry huff when she heard high heels banging on the floor after her. "Miss?" Jolene called to her. "Oh, miss? The...one with no room?"

Ronnie pivoted right before the doors and looked the stranger over. The woman Ronnie saw was smartly dressed and had a beautiful face. Ronnie liked her horn-rimmed glasses and short black hair. She licked her teeth and tried to keep her composure. "Yes?" Ronnie said, sounding irritated.

Jolene pointed behind her at the desk. "I couldn't help but hear your predicament. I am so sorry that you were treated that way."

Ronnie relaxed. "Yeah, well, shit happens."

Jolene clasped her hands in front of her chest. "If it would help at all, I have a very large suite here in the hotel for the next few nights. Would you care to share with me? I know that it might be awkward staying with a stranger..."

Ronnie scooted up to the strange woman. "Are you for real? Oh my God, lady, you just saved me a world of pain!"

Jolene extended her hand, hung down in a gentle manner. "Jolene Wyman."

Ronnie took the hand and shook hard, although she soon found out what a grip the woman had. "Ronnie Vance! I cannot thank you enough. I would have been absolutely fucked if I had to spend a lot of extra time coming and going."

Jolene appeared shocked by the language she was hearing. She had to put her hand over her mouth. "Well, okay, maybe we can make our way up and get ourselves settled."

The two of them made it to the elevator and went in. Ronnie did a few quick bounces of excitement. "This is great. I was worried I would have to cab it in and out. If you've ever seen it at these things, getting a cab is nuts. Showing some cleavage only gets you so far in life."

Jolene smiled. "I couldn't very well leave you stranded. Plus it would be nice to have some company."

They made their way down the hall. Jolene tried a few times with the keycard before getting it open. She led the way in while Ronnie followed in behind.

Ronnie whistled. "Okay, now you must have some sort of killer job if they're willing to put you up in a place like this!" She ran around and assessed what might be free in the room. "I haven't been in a place this nice since my little cabin on the lake."

Jolene began to understand Ronnie's misconception. "Well, I think we will find this place to our liking." Jolene wheeled her suitcase into the bedroom.

"I have to pay you," called Ronnie from the living room area.

"I beg your pardon?" asked Jolene.

"I mean, I can't let you let me stay here for free," Ronnie continued. "It's not fair that I'm probably inconveniencing you. My company should get their money back." Ronnie dashed into the bedroom. She looked over at the bed. "Oh. Whoops! Guess I'm getting the couch." She laughed.

Jolene gave a smile. "Oh, darling. We'll work it out somehow."

"No! It's okay!" exclaimed Ronnie. "It's like, I was actually considering the lobby thing for a second, but then I was thinking I might as well have 'RAPE ME' tattooed on my forehead while I'm at it!" Jolene's eyebrows arched up again as her eyes got wide.

"I'll tell you what," continued Ronnie. "Let me buy you dinner. We should go early because the crowds are going to get going by seven and it'll be absolutely ballzini by that time."

Jolene had found a nice vegan place just a few blocks away using her phone. Although Ronnie's usual diet consisted of chain restaurant processed foods, she figured she could relent on the issue given Jolene's generosity. They went to a smaller, run-down venue called Celery Stalker.

Jolene chuckled as they sat down. "I am guessing that this is not your usual fare," she said to Ronnie. "I just cannot have anything too heavy for a while. If I so much as look at a carb, I know I'll balloon up."

Ronnie held up her hand for silence. "Look, no worries. I respect your choices." Ronnie pulled out a menu for herself and handed one to Jolene. "Ah, pizza at least! Oh, and a craft brew!"

Jolene nearly gagged. "The worst kind of empty calories!"

Ronnie placed her hands on her slim waistline. "Couldn't gain an ounce if I tried!"

Jolene rolled her eyes. "I have heard of people like you. I bet you never exercise, too."

"Well, I do some stretches in the morning," said Ronnie. The waiter came by and took their orders. Jolene got the bean and rice salad while Ronnie settled on onion and pepper pizza with a pint of Muckraker.

"Okay, so I am going to be busy during the daytime, then I have to come back and scan my business cards," Ronnie reported. "I get so many of my girlfriends saying how lucky I am to travel, and I'm just like, lick my cunt, okay?"

Jolene held her fork in her mouth as she stared at her new friend.

"Jo?" asked Ronnie. "You okay?"

Jolene put down her fork, then clasped her hands together. "My dear," she began. "I appreciate that you have a predilection for...colourful language. However, I would think that someone in your field of work would have to appear more restrained once in a while."

Ronnie sipped her beer. "Yeah?"

"Yes, it's just the way, for example, that you spoke to the attendant at the desk when you were checking in." Jolene looked uncomfortable to be telling Ronnie this. "I would just suggest that maybe the swearing was not always necessary to get your point across."

Ronnie sat there as she folded her arms and got a look on her face. "I see," she said quietly. "Well, thank you for the advice."

Jolene reached over and touched Ronnie's hand. "I mean no offense. I'm sorry that I mentioned it."

Ronnie pushed her lips together. "No, I get it. Don't you ever swear, though?"

Jolene looked to the side. "We all slip up once in a while." She thought back to a few months ago when she was getting the time of her life with her two kittens.

"Look, it's just how I am, alright?" Ronnie rebutted. "I have been rubbing people the wrong way all my life." She chuckled. "Well, except for very recently..."

"For someone like me, I put a great deal of emphasis on presentation," Jolene said.

Ronnie took a sip of beer. "Some might say that sounds a little superficial."

Jolene stared at Ronnie while shoving the bean and rice salad in her mouth, letting a smile creep on her face.

The conversation became more relaxed as the two got further into their dinners. Ronnie had enough refills to let her drop her guard a bit.

"I'm supposed to be networking tonight," Ronnie said after putting away the last of her pizza. "Whatever. I talked to about five guys just in the airport in Denver. Hey, what about you? You doing any business here?"

Jolene finished the last of her club soda. "I didn't even mention! You know, I'm actually here more for personal reasons."

"Oh!" exclaimed Ronnie. "I'm sorry. I just assumed when you said you were in commercial real estate, like, maybe you were buying a building here or something!"

Jolene laughed hard. "Oh my! If I only had enough money for my own building. No, I'm actually here for the IIEF competition. It's a fitness contest."

Ronnie stared at her new friend. "Oh wow," she said. "You must be a pretty big fan of some of those muscle guys, huh?" Ronnie leaned in and made an elbowing motion. Jolene put her hand over her mouth. "Yeah? Yeah? You like those big studs, huh?"

Jolene threw her hands down dramatically and stared at her friend with a huge smile. "What is it you think I'm like?"

"Oh, but seriously," Ronnie cautioned. "You didn't come all this way just to watch a bunch of guys, right?"

"Well," Jolene said. "You assumed correctly, on multiple counts. I am actually competing."

The waiter brought over the cheque. "Okay, hold the phone on that." Ronnie pulled out her company credit card and gave it to the waiter.

"Darling, no!" Jolene protested.

"I got this," replied Ronnie. "More accurately, the company's got this. Oh, I guess I have to discuss business first." Ronnie leaned in and smiled sweetly. "Would you like to buy some copper piping, dear?"

"No, thank you," said Jolene.

Ronnie sucked her teeth. "Darn. Well, that's business for you!" She signed off on the bill and the two departed.

They entered the hotel room as Jolene was explaining more of the machinations of how the competition works. Ronnie stood in the middle of living room and stared at Jolene. "I mean, I can kind of see it now with your calves. Why are you all covered up?"

"Well, sometimes you don't want to attract so much attention all of the time," Jolene said.

Ronnie scoffed and put her hands on her hips. "Speak for yourself. Although, I get it. I get a lot of creeps coming onto me at the worst times. The next few days are going to be a nightmare."

Jolene slowly walked over to Ronnie and got close to her face. "You know," she said softly. "I can usually use a little encouragement at times like this. What do you say you be my little kitten tonight?"

Ronnie pulled her head back and held up her palms defensively. "Wait, what?"

Jolene stepped forward again. "It's okay." Jolene started to stroke her fingers against Ronnie's bare shoulder. "You can come in and tell me how well my body looks. You can touch if you want. It doesn't have to be weird."

Ronnie rolled her eyes and let out a huff. "Oh, I knew this was too good to be true." Her face got stern and she pointed at finger at Jolene. "Now look! I don't like to be treated like this. You think just because you offer me a room I'm supposed to be your little puppet?"

Jolene backed away, horrified. "Oh no! I didn't mean it this way! Please!"

"I should have known. I bet you're one of these exercise freaks who likes to rub one out to yourself in the mirror." Ronnie folded her arms and shook her head in disgust. "You know what? I should just leave."

Jolene put her hand to her mouth. Her lips were pulled back in a grimace, and the tears were starting to come out. She ran to the bedroom and slammed the door. Ronnie stood there as she heard the unmistakable sound of heavy sobbing.

Ronnie rolled her eyes and heaved out a huge sigh. "Fucking girls do this shit every time," she growled. She walked over to the door and knocked. "Jo? Jolene?"

Jolene was making a squealing noise. "No! No!"

Ronnie knocked again. "Come on, Jolene. I'm...I'm sorry about what I said."

Jolene was doing desperate heaves. "I'm going to quit! Stay at home. You think I'm stupid! You think I'm ugly!"

Ronnie rolled her eyes again. "No, I seriously don't! You are absolutely beautiful."

Jolene sniffed. "What do you like about me?"

Ronnie smiled with incredulity. "I mean...you're really sophisticated, and I like how you're kind of old-fashioned and do those dainty little...like, your mannerisms." Ronnie sat on the floor and leaned up against the door. "I just got a little weirded out by all this kitty stuff."

Jolene was silent for a few seconds. "It's kitten."

"Did you do this kitten thing before?" asked Ronnie.

"Yes," said Jolene, sounding extra sad. "It wasn't bad. I always treated my little kittens so well."

"I mean," Ronnie started, not sure if she wanted to dive too far into this. "Were you in love with these girls or something?"

"I had a great affection for them," Jolene said, her voice shaky.

"Can I come in, maybe?" asked Ronnie. Her head suddenly fell forward as the door gave way. Jolene had scurried away from the door and went to sit back down on the bed with her back turned to the door and her face buried in her hands. Ronnie got up off the floor and sat down on the other side of the bed.

Ronnie screwed up her lips. "You really gonna quit?"

Jolene tried to wipe at her eyes with futility. Ronnie moved in with a tissue from the desk. Jolene gratefully accepted and dabbed at her eyes. "I just never had anyone say those kinds of things to me before."

"Please don't give up on your contest, Jo," Ronnie pleaded, sounding sad. "Ugh. I hate when girls cry."

Jolene turned to Ronnie. "Don't you ever cry?"

"No way!" said Ronnie. "Not at weddings, not during a breakup. Not even when my Grammy died."

"You are very lucky," Jolene said, her voice still quavering. "I cry a lot. I guess I am just very emotional."

Ronnie got up from the bed. "Okay, look, I'm going to go to the couch. I don't really want to leave, okay?"

Jolene looked at her and nodded.

"And don't give up on your fitness thing," Ronnie said. "If I find the time, I'll...I'll go and watch."

Jolene started to brighten up. "You mean it?"

"Yes!" said Ronnie, sounding exasperated. She got up from the bed and headed to the door. "Okay, try to get some sleep." She went to leave.

"Ronnie?" beckoned Jolene.

Ronnie stopped and looked back. "Yes?"

Jolene gave a sniff and then smiled. "Thank you for believing in me."

Ronnie gave a quick half-grin and then headed to the couch.

The next day was a madhouse of networking and card exchanges for Ronnie. She went to the convention centre adjacent to the hotel and worked the floor. It was about noon time that Ronnie had to change out of her heels into her flats. She had been mistaken twice for a booth girl and once for a hooker. She could not honestly decide which was more demeaning.

The workday did not end at five for her, as she had to do up her reports, then attend the nightly shmooze-fest hosted by some of the larger associations. It was just an excuse for fat idiots to drink and tell their stupid stories, as far as Ronnie cared. She was sick to death of talking about copper pipe, and she found the best way to network was to talk about anything else. Since it was a construction and manufacturing convention, the place was overwhelmingly male. Ronnie lamented that more women did not want to get into the trades, although she recognized that she was merely in sales.

It was four in the afternoon, and Ronnie decided she had enough for now. Most of the major prospects were gone anyway. She dashed back over to the hotel and let herself into Jolene's room.

Jolene was there, wrapped up in her full-length bathrobe and drying her hair. "Oh, sweetie! It's good to see you again. How was your little convention?"

Ronnie made a motion as if collapsing and groaned. "It's so crowded and loud and dreadful!" she moaned. She straightened up and got her composure back. "How did your day go?"

Jolene threw her own head back. "It was much more productive for me. We had a wonderful talk from Dr. Lance Plaszow."

Ronnie's mouth hung open. "Not the Dr. Lance Plaszow!" Ronnie laughed while Jolene put her hands on her hips in mock outrage.

"Dr. Lance is the foremost nutritionist and kinesiologist in his field." Jolene let the towel whip down by her side.

"Oh, come on, I didn't mean any disrespect," Ronnie said. She went to the couch and opened her laptop. "Now I have to enter in all of these business cards, then write up some metrics, then I have to go to back to the convention centre in the Turner Room to do the whole jizz-fest with every horny man in America."

Jolene looked over Ronnie. She was wearing a deep-cut black blouse and a white skirt that was almost legally a belt. "Well, dear, why not trying to wear something a little more...restrained?"

Ronnie pointed at Jolene. "Hey! Not a word about my clothes, okay?"

"I just have a few things you might like to try on is all," said Jolene.

Jolene led Ronnie into the bedroom. Ronnie looked in Jolene's closet at a few of her suits. "Wow, these are...pretty nice, actually."