The Mysterious Traveler I

The sounds of a city falling asleep filtered in through lightly curtained windows of the room. Overhead a ceiling fan spun lazily, trying to dispel the latent heat of the day. Outside in the hallway, on the other side of the thin, twin, tall wooden bedroom doors of the old Victorian B&B, guests had been arriving all night until much after midnight, and the man on the bed rolled onto his back, awakened yet again. The conversation this time was much above a whisper, half of it in slowly spoken English, and the other half in barely understandable English with a thick Spanish accent. Only two of the hotel staff spoke English, and the man on the bed craned his head to overhear what had awakened him from a very nice dream. He could tell there was something amiss, and he wondered whether the new arrival was discovering that their reservation had been overbooked. "What do you mean, you don't have my room? I made the reservation in January."
"I am so sorry, Senora, but some of the rooms are not... functioning tonight. There is a problem. You will have to go down the street two hundred meteres to the Mango Verde, they will have room for you."
"Look, Senor Whatever-your-name-is, I have a confirmed reservation here and I just got off a plane from Columbus after travelling for 8 hours, I missed my connecting flight from Dallas, and so it's after midnight. I am in a strange country, talking to a strange man, and I'm damn well not going anywhere at this hour to some Green Mango place for a room. I'm staying here. Please give me my room key."
The man on the bed smiled, suddenly curious, and sorry for the new arrival, but full of admiration for her pluck. He'd heard several travelers turned away already, and knew full well how hard it was for people to adjust to the overbooking which seemed to be common amongst even nice hotels like this one in Costa Rica. He arose, pulling on his khaki shorts over his briefs, pushed down the remains of his erection from the dream he'd been having, and threw on a t-shirt.
"I'm sorry Senora, but you cannot stay here. All our rooms are full."
Brian opened the door and leaned out towards the dimly lit reception hall which lay just past the hallway that led from the front hotel entrance past his room.
"Not quite full, Juan." He spoke to the night manager. He then turned to the woman.
"Buenas Noches... Senora. Welcome to Alajuela." He said politely to the woman in the hallway.
She'd been standing pointing an elegant looking finger at a printed copy of a travel reservation confirmation on the tall wooden counter. He noticed the diamond ring at once. She was a tall leggy blonde, with a very pretty face and a long smooth curvy body, clad in a travel creased linen skirt and a sleeveless cotton blouse. She'd kicked off a pair of black leather spiked heels that any other woman would have fallen off of and stood barefoot on the cool tile floor. He noticed a small tatoo on one ankle. He felt his groin tighten. Her face looked tired, and she was on the verge of tears. He was not surprised to find her incredibly attractive, and felt a strange sense of deja vous, she reminded him of someone and he felt himself overcome with a desire to do something to help her.
"Perhaps I can help, Juan." The startled Juan turned and bowed as the older man walked into the lobby.
"No, Senor Brian. I have just told Senora Lucy here that we have no room tonight."
"But Juan, there is another bed in my suite. I can sleep on the couch in the TV lounge. Senora... Lucy," he said, "Perhaps you would be a guest in my room tonight? Don't worry, I shall sleep out here in the hall. It's perfectly safe, and there is a nice clean bed where you can rest and sort this all out in the light of morning. What do you say?"
He smiled as he offered it, and Lucy felt herself strangely attracted to his rugged looks. He reminded her of someone... a special someone, but it couldn't be he! She'd never actually met him and running into him in Costa Rica would be too much of a coincidence, but even the first name was familiar. She looked at him, decided he was definitely intriguing, and going against her usual conservativeness, decided to accept his kind offer.
"Thank you, Sir." She said. "At least there is one gentleman in this hotel.
"Allow me to escort you and your bags to your new room, Senora Lucy..." Brian said with a smile. And he picked up her suitcases and carried them down the hall to the double doors of room ‘C’. Lucy felt herself start to smile as she was ushered in to the small room with two single beds. A few suitcases were stacked in one corner opposite the bed he'd obviously been sleeping in. He fussed with something he pulled from the sheets of his slept-in looking bed, and slid it discretely into his pocket, a little nervously. She noticed a familiar scent, just barely on the edge of perception.
"You can put your things here." He pointed to the small shelf at the head of the unmade bed.
"The towels are clean, and if you need to freshen up, the bathroom is down the hall and to your left." He smiled as he backed away through the doorway, and then fished something from his pocket.
"Oh yes, and here is the key." He held it out to her and set it gently into her upturned palm. The brush of his fingertips against her skin sent a rush of awareness through her, as if they'd somehow met before this. Lucy blushed, and then smiled. He gave her a smile back, and briefly squeezed her fingertips in a familiar gesture that made Lucy's heart warm and blush deepen.
"Thank you so much for your kindness.. Kind Sir."
"Sleep well, Fair Lady. I bid you sweet dreams."
What possessed her to hold out her hand to him continued to puzzle her far into the night, but she did. He took her fingers gently to his lips and placed a kiss upon the back of her hand. Then he bowed with a gallant flourish, grabbed his pillow and slipped out of her room and quietly disappeared down the hallway. Lucy smiled, and almost giggled. This was turning into an evening to remember.