“Reservation for Montgomery,” Aria said to a woman at the front desk who wore her dark hair in a French twist and had a pin on her jacket that said MAUREEN, RESERVATION ASSOCIATE.
“Of course.” Maureen clacked her long nails across the keyboard. “Aha. Here you are, in room 908. The suite overlooks the ocean. Also included in your stay is a complimentary dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant and two tickets to tonight’s floor show.”
Aria paid for the room in cash, using money from the small nest egg she’d amassed from a couple of paid essays she’d written recently about her experience with Mona-as-A. She’d felt a little squeamish exploiting the situation, but she was happy she had the cash now, especially since most of it would be needed for the marriage license and the application fees for Hallbjorn’s permanent visa.
Another porter who looked like the human equivalent of Humpty Dumpty loaded their luggage onto a cart and gestured for them to follow him to the elevators. When the doors shut behind them, Aria shot Humpty a smile. “Excuse me, do you know of any wedding chapels in the area?”
Humpty raised his eyebrows. “I do. If you’d like, I can have our concierge make all the arrangements.”
Aria and Hallbjorn exchanged grins. “That would be great,” Hallbjorn said. “Maybe for tomorrow evening?”
“Certainly.” Humpty grinned and tugged at his collar, which looked like it was buttoned too tightly. “We can even have a limo pick you up and take you there.”
“Not a limo,” Hallbjorn said quickly. “A bicycle built for two.”
Aria balked—biking in the snow? But Humpty didn’t bat an eye. “Not a problem. I can just tell by looking at you two lovebirds that you’ll be very, very happy together.”
Aria took Hallbjorn’s hand and squeezed it lightly.
The elevator doors swung open with a ding. Humpty carried their luggage down the hall and unlocked the door to room 908, which was tucked into a back corner. Inside was an enormous bedroom with sweeping floor-to-ceiling windows that offered an uninterrupted view of the Atlantic Ocean. A chilled bottle of champagne sat on the glass table in the corner, as well as a basket of small bags of chips and candy. A giant flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall. The king-sized bed was huge and had about a zillion pillows, and the claw-foot tub in the bathroom was bigger than the hot tub at Spencer’s house.
“This is amazing,” Aria breathed.
“I’m glad you’re satisfied. Just let us know if we can get you anything else.” Humpty placed their luggage on a little stand at the foot of the bed. Aria handed him a ten-dollar bill, and he bowed and backed out of the room.
Then she faced Hallbjorn and bounced excitedly on her toes. “We’re getting married tomorrow!” she squealed.
“Yes, we are.” Hallbjorn walked toward her and took her hands. “You’ll be Mrs. Gunterson.”
“Mrs. Montgomery-Gunterson,” Aria corrected him. Then she widened her eyes. “I have to find a dress!” In her hasty packing, she hadn’t brought one. “And flowers! And what should we do about a wedding cake?”
“We could order a whole cake from one of the restaurants,” Hallbjorn suggested. “Have it delivered here through room service.”
“I bet room service is kind of expensive.” Aria glanced out the window. “I think I saw a Wawa on the way in. They probably have Tastykakes.”
“I’m always up for gluten-free organic cookies, if we could find some of those,” Hallbjorn said.
Aria pressed her lips together. Gluten-free organic cookies as a substitute for full-fat, full-butter, full-gluten wedding cake made her kind of sad. Not that she’d imagined her wedding very often, but she’d always thought she’d have a three-tiered confection with two figurines on the top. Except instead of a bride and a groom, they’d be a horse and a pig. Or two Lego space people. Or a knife and a fork.
She sat down on the edge of the bed and flipped through the binder that had come with the room, searching to see if this place had a spa. It would be nice to get her hair done for the wedding, not that she had money for that, either.
Hallbjorn pulled her backwards onto the bed, which was as plush and comfortable as Aria had imagined. They kissed for a few long beats, the sounds of the pounding surf in the background.
“I’m going to take a lot of pictures,” Aria murmured as Hallbjorn flipped her onto her back. “I’m going to hang them up all over my room so I’ll remember this weekend for the rest of my life.”