December Rain Ch. 02

As they walked back to the road, Marie suddenly stopped; her face taking on a funny expression.

"I don't know you're name." It seemed as if she was mulling a problem over in her head, not simply asking for a name.

"It's Michael, Ma'am."

"Oh, don't call me Ma'am! My name is Marie. Marie DeSouza." She sounded shocked that anyone would call her Ma'am at her age, although the snow made it hard to really see her face.

"Do you mind me asking if that is your married name?" A laugh answered his question.

"Oh, no. It's alright. After Samuel died, it was too painful to be called Mrs. Connors. I went back to my maiden name."

Michael just made a face, not saying a word. Although ,that might have been because the wind had picked up, pushing snow in their faces. They stopped at Marie's car; Michael waited expectantly for Marie to produce a key. She rummaged through her pockets and then reached for her purse, only to look up and notice it sitting on the passenger seat.

"OH NO!"

Michael suddenly appeared right next to her, making conversation easier.

"What's wrong?"

"I left my keys in my purse, but my purse is in the car. I'm locked out!"

"Wait" Michael gestured with his hands for her to stay in place. "I'll go around and double check all the doors." He walked around the side of the car, checked the rear hatch, and then continued to the other side. Michael appeared around in front of the car and simply waved Marie over. He looked as if he might be laughing.

"It's all locked up. At least come and get in my car while we figure this out." Marie didn't want to, you could tell by the way her mouth was pinched and her eyebrows were furrowed, but she finally nodded her ascent. It made no sense to freeze to death.

He walked over to a tan SUV, opening the passenger side door. Marie got in, Michael closed the door and then walked around to his side. As he go in, he was followed by so much snow that he actually had to wipe his seat off before he finally sat down.

"So, what are you thinking." Michael asked. He still had a smile on his face.

"First, wipe that grin off your face. This isn't funny."

"Oh I beg to differ. But I'll try...for you".

"Well, that's very kind of you. Now, all of my money, ID, everything is in that bag. I can't do anything".

"Well what about clothes. Are they at your hotel"? Marie shook her head from side to side. "I wasn't planning on staying the night. I was just going to make the drive back."

"Well, how far away do you live? Maybe I could..." but he was cut off by another head shake from Marie.

"I live in Springfield. That's almost three hours from here!"

"Yeah, that wouldn't work. I definitely can't make that drive in this snow". Michael looked as if he was deep in thought, maybe contemplating trying the drive anyway.

"I wouldn't ask you to anyway. It's too far." She didn't want him thinking that she was trying to get a free ride out of him.

Michael half smiled. " No, it's really not. You see..." again, he was cut off.

"No...it is. 3 hours is too far." He wasn't going to argue.

"Well, my idea isn't even possible, so I'll forget that." She could tell he wanted her to ask. She considered not giving him the pleasure, but she knew that she was in desperate need of some help. Whatever that help could be.

"It can't hurt to at least hear it. What's your idea?" Marie sounded almost afraid to ask.

"You'll hate it." Michaels' eyes were wide, once again showing that he wanted to laugh.

"Try me."

"Well, I have a hotel room. It's at the Marriott in town and has two double beds. You could spend the night and we could call a locksmith first thing in the morning." Michael was surprised he made it all the way through his speech until he looked at Marie and noticed that her mouth was hanging open as she stared at him.

"I DON'T KNOW YOU!" Her surprised shout seemed more like a yell in the confined space.

"And I don't know you. But I know you need help."

"Why can't we call a locksmith now?"

This time Michael did laugh. "Don't you know what time it is?" For the first time, Marie looked at her watch. Her head then snapped up in surprise.

"It's 11:30!"

"That's PM in case you were wondering. No one would come out at this time of night, even if it wasn't snowing." Marie just sat there for a second. She couldn't think of a solution. It's not like she could check into a hotel room without a credit card or ID. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed this man's help. And she didn't need help from anybody, EVER!

"Ok. I know you're a stranger and my mother, hell anybody, would kill me for even thinking of accepting your offer. But honestly, I can't think of a better solution. If the offer truly stands, then I would be very grateful for the second bed in your hotel room."

"Well then, to the Marriott, we go." Michael started the car, inching forward through the 6 inches of snow.