No Matter, You Don't Have to Wait for Me novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: The Last Free Room

Justine's POV

For three days I had waited for Dario to say it where people could hear him.

Nothing came, no call and no post, and the quiet was worse than a scene.

The storm came in on Wednesday evening, a day early, and by six o'clock the city had stopped.

I was in the hotel lobby with Gemma's portfolio under my arm, because she had left it at my apartment and wanted it by morning.

She was on Staten Island, stirring gravy with Dario's mother, and the ferries had just been cancelled.

The subway was suspended, and the F had stopped between stations.

My phone said the power was out on my entire block in Windsor Terrace.

Then it said nothing, because the battery died.

The lobby was packed with people sitting on their luggage.

A wedding party in rain-soaked formalwear had taken over the bar, and an old man in a wheelchair was asleep under a coat.

Behind the front desk, Donovan stood very still with a radio in one hand.

He saw me, and I watched his face change.

"Justine."

"I only came to drop this off."

"I know. You can't go home."

"I know that too."

"We're full," he said. "I mean every room, the suite, the ballroom floor. I put the stranded wedding party in the eleventh-floor suite, and I just gave my last key to a couple with a baby."

"It's fine. I'll sit in a chair."

"You won't sit in a chair." He lowered the radio. "There's a room on twelve. It's the one I use on storm nights, so I can be here. It's not much, but it has a bed and a door that locks, and it's yours."

← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend