I am staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Grandville, MI. The hotel is booked solid, mostly families with school-age boys. Unfortunately, not one of them is a smart, nerdy Botball kid (or a "Botballer" as they like to refer to themselves.) There is either some regional sporting event in town, or the tourism business is bigger than I expected in Grandville. Maybe its the new Rivertown Mall just down the road. It does have a Kohls actually IN the mall.
Anyway, this morning, I did my 20 minutes in the workout center, which is an old broom closet with two treadmills, one ellipse machine, and one mirrored wall to make it appear spacious. On my way to my room, I walked through the lobby area filled with families enjoying the continental breakfast which is cleverly marketed as a "stay smart breakfast"; the difference being sticky buns and sausage circles under orange warming lights added to the standard fare. I passed on the breakfast and decided to get a cup of coffee. I stood behind two other people, who were taking their time with the coffee bar, deciding between caffeinated or decaffeinated. (I think the confusion stemmed from the fact that there was one urn clearly marked decaffeinated coffee and yet two others had the ambiguous label "European Blend.") As I patiently waited behind the debaters, I looked around the crowded room and spotted Cheryl. She was standing by herself looking through the glass wall into the pool area. Mostly I was struck dumb, what the heck was my cousin doing here? And, where exactly was here? I couldn't remember which random city I was staying in at the moment... "Pittsburgh? no. Oklahoma? no. Michigan? ah, ha! That's it! Grandville, MI!" Then I started working through the reasons Cheryl would be in Grandville. I conceived no reason her employer, the Cleveland Browns, would send her here, so I decided it must be that mall. Then I thought, still staring open mouthed at her, "But, would she fly here? Drive? From Cleveland, it must have been like 5 hours. Hmm... totally driveable." I guess it kind of made sense that my cousin would be staying at the Holiday Inn Express, shopping at the Rivertown Mall with her family. I stared a little longer, just to confirm it was her, and it was. No doubt. I wondered what I should say to her.
Finally the folks in front of me had poured their coffee and were finishing up their creamer debate. They moved towards the sweetening station, to determine between packets of sugar, Sweet-n-Low, or Equal. This was going to take awhile. So I took advantage of the space left in front of the urns and grabbed a half cup of coffee (Eurpoean Blend for me).
I spontaneously decided I'd surprise her, and I imagined the reunion scene in front of all these strangers. That would be something to remember! So, with cup in hand, I turned, ready to shock my cousin. "Cheryl!" I called from across the room. A few people turned my way, but not her. I figured she was trying to get her husband Chris's attention from the pool. "Hey, cousin! Cheryl!" I called again, louder this time, and nearly everyone paused in their chewing to look at me. Everyone except her, of course. Either that wasn't my cousin Cheryl, or she was hard of hearing. And I just knew it was her. So I abandoned my calls and, ignoring the strange looks people were giving me, I walked around a few tables until I was standing just about ten feet away from her, further along the glass wall. I figured I would look for Chris, too, to give him a surprise. I didn't see him in the tiny little pool, nor their son Garrett. But I kept looking, just like her, expecting them to emerge any second from the sea of bodies pressed into the small pool. Then, suddenly she turned to me and said casually, "Hey, what are you doing here?" I smiled and turned, trying to think of a casual, funny response, when she added, "I thought you were in the pool." Then a young, taller-than-Garrett-boy stepped around me and up to her. She hugged him. He did not have a swimsuit on, nor was he wet; but worse, he wasn't even Garrett. And, therefore, by extension, this wasn't my cousin Cheryl! I turned and fled. Headed straight to my room without looking back.
Back in my room, I felt like a fool. Obviously this woman was not my cousin, and I must have imagined the resemblance. It was all in my head, and I made an ass of myself. I put it out of my mind, and packed up my suitcase. At the checkout counter, I saw Cheryl again, talking with a group of women at one of the tables. The room was empty this time, except for these five women. Again I stared unabashed because it was undoubtedly her, my cousin. Why was she ignoring me this way? She made me feel ridiculous! Worked up, I marched to the group at the table, and they all stared at me, their conversation petering out with a, "that's exactly what I told him, too, Laura..." This last piece coming from another woman directed at Cheryl. Then in silence, Cheryl/Laura met my eyes. Not even a spark of recognition in them, just confusion. And suddenly I felt ridiculous. I mumbled, "Oh, hey, um, yeah.." to the expectant group, "breakfast is over, then..." And I turned to walk away, through the front door, and into my car, astonished once more. That Cheryl, she is a good actress.
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