Hotel Destiny by Raymond Benson

Author:Raymond Benson [Benson, Raymond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: supernatural, noir
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2020-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

15

When they walked into the Grand Room, Cole was immediately struck by the difference in the décor to the previous Halloween parties he had attended in 1985 and 1917. This was a New Year’s Eve party, so the ambiance was bright, festive, and colorful. A large banner strung above the stage proclaimed: HAPPY NEW YEAR 1936! There were no costumes this time, only stylish men’s and women’s evening wear. Nearly every man was in a tuxedo, so Cole fit right in, although the style of his 1985 tux was slightly off. (“It’s a French tuxedo,” he decided he would tell anyone who asked about it.) Everyone looked like they had stepped out of an Astaire/Rogers movie musical. The place was sparkling, due mostly to more lighting than what was in place in 1917. The huge chandelier was at full brightness, covering the couples on the dance floor with silver screen luminescence. Many-colored balloons were tied to furniture and placed on dining tables in lieu of flowers. Highboys also spotted the areas outside the dance floor, but there were also some comfy chair/sofa/coffee table combinations. Cole noted that Theresa Flynn’s portrait had been re-hung next to her husband’s. The band seemed to be interchangeable, however, with their counterparts in the other eras. This time, though, they played lavish pop songs and jazz numbers popular in the Depression years. They were currently in full swing with “Lullaby of Broadway.”

“Come on, Cole,” Miranda said, “let’s dance.” She led him to the middle of the floor, and they took positions. “You know how to dance, don’t you?”

“Not really, but I’ve had lots of practice in the last twenty-four hours,” he answered.

“What?”

“Never mind.”

They began to move in the ballroom swing fashion that was just becoming de rigueur in that period.

I’m dancing with my birth mother. This is blowing my mind.

It struck him that he was suddenly enjoying himself. He hadn’t felt this good in ages. Considering that he’d literally been hopping through ages, Cole found that thought ironic.

“Oh, look, do you see that couple over by the bar?” Miranda asked.

He gazed over and saw an attractive young woman in a flashy dress and wearing a big feather cap in her brown hair. She had a drink in hand and was talking to a professorial-looking man with bookworm eyeglasses.

“What about them?”

“That’s Ethel Merman and Clifford Odets. She’s a big Broadway star. You’ve probably heard her songs from Anything Goes? ‘You’re the Top’ and ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’?”

“I know who she is. She’s famous for ‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses.’”

Miranda frowned. “I don’t know that one. What’s it from?”

Oops. “I don’t know. I think I’m getting her mixed up with someone else.”

“And he’s the hot new playwright on Broadway. Did you see Awake and Sing?”

“No. I’m not much of theater guy.”

The band segued into a slower number, “When I Grow Too Old to Dream,” that necessitated Cole and his mother to dance closer together, cheek to cheek. The song lyrics, combined with the situation, were doubly paradoxical.

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