She glanced over at the gray man. She thought to herself that Washington, DC was a town full of gray men. He dressed like thousands of others, a gray suit with a red tie. They rode an elevator up to rooms at the Crystal City Marriott. When they arrived on the 10th floor, he waved her ahead of him.

The bellboy then proceeded to crash into her. A glass of water spilled drops of chilled water on her silk blouse.

“You idiot! Look at what you’ve done. If you have ruined this blouse, I will make sure that you get the sack. Of all…”

The gray man stepped past her and gave her a look. He was not surprised by the British accent. She turned on him next.

“What are you looking at?”

She was not ready for those startling blue eyes. “I’m looking at a woman being unkind for no good reason.”

“No good reason.” She tried to whirl and find the target once more. The bellboy had already used the distraction to enter the elevator. “This idiot may have ruined my silk blouse.”

“So? Buy another. By definition, an accident is an accident. I’m sure he had no intention of hurting your precious blouse. I certainly don’t think he would give up his job for that.”

With the ringing of a bell, the elevator begins to descend. The bellboy made good his escape. The gray man also turned and walked to his room.

“So, what would you do?”

The gray man turned his head and paused. He said, “I would spank you and make you go apologize to that poor man.”

With that said, he slipped into his room. He left her standing in the hallway and closed his door. Once alone, he laughed lightly to himself. That last comment was worth the look on her face.

An hour later, the man heard a light tapping at his door. Groaning, he got up from the bed and wondered who could be at the door. He was barefoot now, but still wore his gray suit pants and dress shirt. He switched off the TV and went to the door. Perhaps housekeeping wanted to offer up the towels they promised.

There she was, gray flannel skirt and white silk blouse. He was actually stunned into silence.

“May I come in?” she said rather breathlessly.

“Uhhhh. Sure,” he said with a puzzled look. Brilliant conversationalist, he thought.

“I wanted to explain,” she continued. “I was wrong. He really was not trying to harm me. I went downstairs and found him. I gave him a $20 tip.