Why Did You Put Me with Steven?

~ DAY ONE ~

'Oh, god. It's starting.'

"Kathy."

Katherine hated when Rebecca called her that. It wasn't so much the name itself as the fact that the only time Rebecca used it was when she was about to complain.

Katherine pulled closed her hotel room door and began walking down the hallway. Unfortunately, Rebecca was coming from the direction that Katherine needed to go to get to the elevator to go down to the lobby.

"Why did you put me with Steven?" Rebecca, clearly displeased, turned to walk alongside Katherine, who moved at a fast pace, in a vain attempt to escape. "I want a different room."

It was a little difficult to take her seriously in that purple wig that she always wore. She did look good in it. It suited her, but when she was angry, it just made her look cuter. Frustratingly cuter. Infuriatingly cuter. And the display of bouncing cleavage didn't help.

Rather buxom for a young woman only about five feet tall. Easily D's, by Katherine's estimation, and the girl wasn't afraid to flaunt them.

"The hotel is completely booked. There are no other rooms."

"Why did you put me with him?"

"He was the best option." Katherine kept her eyes forward.

"Bull shit. There are six other women you could have put me with."

"Seven. I can put move you in with Beatrice if you want."

"God, no." Rebecca practically vomited out the words in disgust.

"Then six is exactly why you're the odd one out."

"Literally any of the other-"

"Rebecca." Katherine stopped walking, took a breath, looked Rebecca in the eye, then spoke calmly but deliberately. "I chose the room pairings for a good reason. The best compatibility. I want to minimize the amount of crap I will inevitably have to deal with from all of you."

"Bu-"

"Listen," Katherine cut her off, again. She paused, hesitant to go into detail, but realizing that there was no way around it. Rebecca was a good employee, and a good person, but she could be hard-headed and annoyingly persistent at times.

"I put you with Steven, because, of the women who DON'T act like a bitch to him..." She paused, again, to let the implications of the statement fully sink in. "You are the least his type."

Rebecca's eyebrows unfurrowed in confusion, not only at the reasoning, but also the uncertainty of whether or not she felt insulted.

"Least his type? Wha-," this time she simply didn't know what to say, and her eyes darted around as if attempting to discover something coherent in the hallway itself.

Katherine turned to face her and gently, but firmly, held Rebecca's shoulder.

"You don't have to worry about him," she said in her best reassuring tone, careful not to sound condescending. "He's actually the most decent guy in the office."

Rebecca was struck by the sincerity in her voice and met her eyes once more. They were surprisingly gentle, at that moment.

"How do you know," Rebecca asked, almost absent-mindedly at that curious declaration.

Katherine paused, again, lowering her eyes to stare at nothing in front of the younger woman. "I pay attention. You two actually have a lot more in common than you realize," she added, releasing Rebecca's shoulder and continuing the walk but at a normal speed.

Rebecca followed along.

"We have a lot in common, but I'm the least his type? How does that even work?"

"You've got three days. Maybe talk to him and find out."

Rebecca was quiet the remaining ten, or so, feet to the elevator, and stopped with Katherine, who pushed the call button.

"I don't know what you think I have in common with him," Rebecca pouted.

The doors parted to reveal an empty elevator, and Katherine let out an internal sigh of relief before stepping in.

"What about my backpack," Rebecca remembered, off-handedly.

"I told the front desk about it." She pushed the lobby button and leaned against the back wall. "If they find it, they'll let me know."

"My phone was in that bag," Rebecca said, defeated.

"Sorry."

"Damn it," she said as the doors closed.

Katherine pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Give me strength," she whispered a little prayer.

Rebecca stared at her suitcase and makeup bag that she left outside her hotel room door. She hadn't even stepped a foot in. Once she opened it and saw Steven sitting on the far bed with his laptop, she just froze, dropped both cases, and let out a "What the fuck," then made a bee-line for Katherine's room, a few doors down, on the opposite side.

"Damn it," she repeated, under her breath, taking a moment to ready herself to actually enter the room this time.

No phone and was stuck in a room with a guy she barely knew anything about except that he hardly even talked to anyone and liked cartoon girls, or whatever.

Some of the other women called him names behind his back, and sometimes to his face. Rebecca did kinda feel bad for him. She didn't dislike him, or anything. It's not like he was fat, ugly, and smelly.

Some of them called him creepy, but that seemed a little harsh. He kept to himself a lot, but she never saw him doing anything she considered creepy.

She used her key card to unlock the door, and then opened it, holding it with her foot as she picked up her bags and carried them in.

"Hello," Steven said, looking at her only briefly before returning his attention to his computer screen.

He did that a lot, she noted. Whenever he would see her, he would quickly avert his eyes. Katherine's assessment of least his type replayed in her head.

'I don't expect to be everyone's type, but what's so exceptionally bad about me', she wondered. 'Even worse than Beatrice? I mean, really?'

'To be fair, Beatrice is often excluded by default when talking about the female employees, so that's probably the case here.'

"Hello," Rebecca replied, not eager to speak to him, but also not wanting to impolitely ignore him. It was a formality, and it pretty much sounded exactly like one.

She noticed that he didn't take the bed nearest the bathroom and door out.

"At least this isn't completely awful," she whispered to herself.

She set her makeup case on the bed and then hefted her suitcase up beside it. She unzipped the larger case, flipped open the flap, and then just stared at its contents.

She'd stayed in hotel rooms before. Alone, with other girls, with her parents, when she was a teenager, but never with a guy. She would normally put her clothes in the drawers and set some of her makeup out on the bathroom counter, but part of her was uncomfortable leaving her stuff so readily accessible to a guy that she didn't know well.

She didn't want him touching her underwear or anything like that. Not that she had a reason to think he would. Katherine said he was the most decent guy in the office. A few of the other guys seemed pretty decent. Probably still wouldn't have trusted them, though.

Deciding that she'd just leave everything packed until she needed it, she closed the flap and set both cases on the floor next to the head of the bed, and then laid down, staring at the ceiling, and thought about all the things she would have to do differently.

Lock the bathroom door. Not walk around in her underwear. All of her clothes changes would have to be done in the bathroom. Oh, god, she has to share a bathroom with a guy. Is he going to pee everywhere and insist on leaving the seat up?

She turned her head to see him leaning back against his pillow and headboard, staring at the screen. From her angle, all she could make out were bright, flashes of color. He wore headphones, so she was unable to hear anything.

If she had her phone, she would be watching videos online or checking her social media while listening to music. Lucky bastard.

Her attention went to the TV on the chest of drawers, as she contemplated watching that, but then she realized that she would be interfering with his entertainment, and she didn't want to do that to him. None of this was his fault, so it would be pretty shitty of her to punish him for it. TV was always boring, anyway.

I'll just find Katherine and hang out with her, she decided, then got off the bed and left Steven alone with his cartoons.

She knocked on Katherine's door, but there was no answer. Probably still doing whatever on the first floor. She took the elevator down and searched the area upon exiting. She eventually spotted her sitting at a table in the bar/restaurant. Naturally, Katherine was as far away from other patrons as she could get.

Rebecca sat down in a seat perpendicular to Katherine at the small, square table.

"Hey," she roused the woman out of her trance. It wasn't the first time she'd found Katherine having a staring contest with an empty glass.

Only Katherine's eyes moved, meeting Rebecca's.

"What's it been: twenty minutes? You couldn't manage longer than twenty minutes," Katherine inquired flatly.

"Can I get you anything," a waiter interrupted.

"Not today. Thanks," Rebecca replied.

"Okay. If you change your mind, just wave me down." He promptly left them to their conversation.

"Thanks," Rebecca repeated, quietly as he walked away. After a moment, to let him get out of earshot, she continued. "I got bored."

"That's why I said talk to Steven."

"He's busy watching cartoons."

"So, watch with him."

"You know I don't watch cartoons."

"Yes, and that fact defies all reason." Rebecca offered no response. "And they're called anime. There's a difference."

"And what's that?"

Katherine leaned in closer. "Watch some and find out."

"He's too shy," Rebecca returned, matching Katherine's advance. She held her ground despite the uneasy realization that she was just making excuses.

Katherine retreated into her resting position. 'Hard-headed girl', she thought.

"He's not shy. He just doesn't want to be a bother to anyone."

"How do you know," Rebecca asked, leaning back likewise.

"Like I told you before: I pay attention. I know my employees. I know he's not shy like I know you don't drink."

Rebecca's mouth dropped; caught in her deception.

She has never outright lied about it. She just often said things that suggested she drank alcohol, and there was certainly no point trying to maintain the façade, now.

"How did you figure it out," she asked, coyly.

Katherine had to fight back a smile at how cute the girl suddenly looked.

"I've been a drinker most of my life. I know a drinker when I see one, and one you are not."

Rebecca had no response to that, and there was a brief silence before Katherine returned to the more important matter at hand.

"He can't stand the idea of being an imposition on anyone, so he does what he can to avoid it, which usually means keeping quiet and out of the way."

Rebecca listened intently to this more serious tone.

"All you have to do is let him know that he's not imposing, but without being obvious. Be interested. He'll open right up. It's that simple If you want to know something, just ask him directly. You don't need to finesse him. But be careful what you ask him because he's going, to be honest with you."

Katherine turned her eyes down to the empty glass and delicately brushed her fingertips along the smooth edges.

"He may tell you some things you're not ready to hear."

That expression change struck Rebecca. There was a faint sadness in Kathrine's eyes that suggested she was speaking from some kind of personal experience. Apparently, something serious had happened.

Rebecca took the glass from Katherine's feather grasp, brought it to her nose, and sniffed. It was just a clean, empty glass. Good. She returned it to its place and shot Katherine a look that told her she wanted to know more, but that she would leave it alone.

Katherine understood full well and wrapped the glass in both palms immediately upon its return. With an acknowledging stare of her own, she told the girl, "Get out of here. Go talk to him."

Rebecca hesitantly stood up and began to walk away, but was temporarily halted by an additional instruction.

"Tell him you've heard good things about one called 'Your Name'. You'll probably enjoy that one." And then, in a quieter voice, "He might still have it."

Still? Rebecca fought the urge to turn around and question her about that particular word, but she resisted and walked away.

"God damn that girl," Katherine muttered to herself.

Katherine is far from a hard-ass boss. She's pretty lenient when you think about it. She has few rules for her employees, but the ones she does have are understood as important by her employees, so she naturally garners respect from them.

It's a well-crafted and cultivated situation that maintains professionalism without her coming off as the bad guy, even when she has to take disciplinary actions, which is rare.

She has a closeness with, but also a necessary separation from, her employees. But this girl... Rebecca gets away with a lot. Rebecca is special.

Katherine was an only child and always put her career ahead of relationships. And what did that get her? Loneliness and alcoholism.

Then Rebecca burst into her life like a little force of nature. Bright and challenging, but also insecure. She was the middle child of two brothers: A less-than-ideal situation for a girl who developed quite significantly. Not that they were terrible brothers to her. It was just... less than ideal.

Katherine and Rebecca just naturally gravitated toward each other. Not only did they fill each other's void of sisterhood, but Rebecca's occasional displays of childlike immaturity allowed Katherine to feel what it might have been like to have a daughter.

But mostly they were best friends. Despite outward appearances, Rebecca was loving and fiercely loyal. She was a walking contradiction that kept Katherine on her toes. She was the only person that could throw Katherine off; that could make her slip up, and she both loved and hated that about her. If soulmates were a thing, then Katherine did not doubt that Rebecca was hers.

She'd never tell Rebecca this, but she was the reason Katherine decided to quit drinking almost a year ago. The thought of ever disappointing Rebecca scared the living shit out of her.

But her issues ran deep, and it hasn't been an easy path to take. That's why she sometimes needs to remind herself of what she's trying to get away from. Her form of aversion therapy. There are days that she goes to a bar, sits somewhere quiet, stares at an empty glass, and replays her past misery. It helps, but sometimes it takes a toll.

She sniffed and wiped a tear away as she took a deep breath and stood up to leave the table, taking the glass with her. Back in her room, she set the glass down next to Rebecca's stupid half-size backpack on the chest of drawers and then began to undress to take a hot shower.

Rebecca found Steven exactly where she had left him. He very nearly almost fully glanced at her that time. How much of that was him not wanting to impose versus her not being his type? What about her was so bad, anyway? And why was she caring so much, damn it? It's not like she was looking to date him. It just... annoyed her... for some reason.

'Whatever. I just don't want to be fucking bored all day, so let's do this,' she thought to herself.

She tossed her key card on her bed and walked around between the two to stand next to Steven.

"Hey," she said, poking his arm twice. "Can I watch with you?"

Steven was taken aback but reflexively hit the spacebar to pause the video. He glanced up enough to see her eyes in his peripheral, but then quickly looked back to the laptop.

"Um... okay," he replied, removing his earbuds. He looked side to side, unsure about exactly what to do next. He was fine with her sitting on the bed with him, but would she rather sit at the table in the corner of the room? Would he be able to connect to the TV and play it through that?

"Scootch," she said, poking him twice more.

A combination of relief, excitement, and apprehension washed over him, but he shifted himself over to the right side of the bed and pulled the earbud Bluetooth receiver out of the USB port so they could both hear.

Rebecca sat in his place, crossed her legs at the ankles, straightened out her dress, rested her hands in her lap, and then ask, "What are we watching?"

"Uh... this one is actually in the middle of a series. We can pick something else. Do you... have any preferences?"

Rebecca remembered what Katherine had told her.

"Do you have 'Your Name'? I've heard that's a good one."

"Yeah. Yeah, it's a good one," he acknowledged then closed the video to search his files. He found it, started it playing, maximized the window, and then moved the laptop from his legs to the mattress, between them, and tilted the screen back a bit.

"It's got subtitles," he added. "I hope that's okay."

"That's fine," she assured.

A little into the opening, she began to notice that it wasn't visually what she expected. It had been more than a few years since the last time she'd ever watched a cartoon, but they were much more simplistic than this. Also, this was kind of playing out like a movie. Maybe there is a difference, after all.

After the opening credits, there was a scene indicating that the male character had somehow found himself in a girl's body, and he began fondling his breasts, thinking he was dreaming. Rebecca started to feel a little self-conscious about her breasts being partially on display.

Her short, dark gray, casual dress had four buttons at the top, but when she bought it, she didn't realize the button holes were sewn shut. It wasn't too big a deal, since she probably would have used only the bottom one anyway, but, at that particular moment, she felt like there might as well be a flashing arrow sign pointing directly at her cleavage.

She wanted to steal a glance at Steven's eyes to see if he was trying to steal a glance of his own, but his face was just too far out outside of her field of view to tell, and she didn't want to be obvious, so she did and said nothing.

Steven was also feeling self-conscious about the scene, hoping that Rebecca would not be offended by it. His eyes involuntarily moved in the direction of her bust, but he caught himself and made certain to keep facing directly at the screen without moving even the tiniest bit.

They both calmed down once the scene had passed, and Rebecca began feeling drawn in by the story. She didn't start this expecting to be amazed or to shed any tears, but she admitted to herself that she had misjudged this stuff.

"That really was good," she sniffed and carefully dabbed tears with tissue from the box on the nightstand between the beds.

"Yeah. That's one of the more serious ones. Some shows are comedies. Some are an adventure. A lot mix things up. You think they'll be silly fun, but then it ends up being profound and heartwarming."

She looked at the clock. It was nearly 9 pm. Normally she would be getting ready for bed soon, but Katherine had arranged this three-day vacation before the conference, so there was no need to keep to a schedule.

"Funny and heartwarming sounds good if you don't mind," she requested.

"Not at all. If you don't mind carrying it over into tomorrow, there is a series I'd like to show you." He was much more excited than he let on.

"Sure. I didn't make plans." The statement felt heavy after she'd said it. Three days free in a new city, and she had no plans to do anything.

When Katherine first told everyone about it, Rebecca imagined the two of them spending all day together doing whatever Katherine had in mind. On some level, during the week leading up to the day of departure, she maintained a foolish hope that it would turn out that way, so she didn't bother coming up with any contingency plans.

She'd also imagined sharing a room with her, but that idea was shot down at a surprising speed. 'Professionalism', or some bullshit. But Rebecca understood that Katherine needed her alone time, and, while Rebecca was not exactly an extrovert, she recognized that she could be a lot to have to endure all day, every day, for someone like Katherine.