After another 15 minutes, they arrived at the hotel, and the driver opened the door for them, gathering Mike's bags to hand off to the hotel staff. Mike gave him a generous tip, and the driver winked at Mike and tucked a bottle of champagne from the back into Mike's bag.
Meanwhile, Nick looked around the hotel lobby, seeing no sign of trouble, and wondering "Did it work? Have I changed history? Hmm... maybe I can arrange a test."
Once Mike had finished with the driver, Nick asked him "so did you ride like that to get to the airport, or cab it?"
Mike smiled "No, neither...a friend drove me." he then quickly added, "A guy named Nick." Mike emphasized both the name and the word 'guy'.
"Hmmm..." Nick replied "tell you what, while I go to the desk and see if they have anything, why don't you give this Nick a call to let him know you got here OK, just in case he's worried, with the cancelled flight and all."
"Sounds good... but look, if they don't have anything, let me try with them, OK?" Seeing Nikki nod, he pulled out his phone as she went to the front desk.
At the desk, Nick spoke to the concierge "See that guy over there? He's going to come over and ask you to find me a room. He's nice enough, but he's starting to get clingy, so I'm looking for a way to let him down easy. Could you just tell him that there's nothing available... you can say that maybe you'll have something tomorrow...I'll have left town by then"
"Of course, Miss. I'll make sure he doesn't bother you."
"He really is nice, though... don't treat him badly, please" Nick felt bad: Mike had been a perfect gentlemen, even helping 'Nikki' into the car. A lot of guys didn't bother with that anymore... oh well, this was for the best. It's not like Nick could stay much longer without causing problems. The concierge agreed
Nick headed back to Mike, as he was clearly finishing up a conversation on his phone.
"I just spoke to Nick... everything's good. But you were right, I should have thought to call him myself." Mike said sheepishly, then asked "How did it go?"
"Hmm? Oh, no openings, as you expected." Nick answered, slightly distracted. If Mike spoke to his old self, then history was indeed different. Nick wondered if he should be remembering the conversation now, or if it was one of those 'outside of the timeline things', and if the memory would then come back after returning. Still, good news, it meant that all should be OK. Maybe the lying their way into the limo instead of taking a cab made all the difference.
Mike nodded "right... just give me a minute, we'll see if I can arrange something." He headed towards the desk, looking back at the pretty girl who he couldn't get out of his head. He thought briefly that he should try calling NIck again later. He hadn't told her that all he got was a 'Voice Message Box Full' recording from Nick's phone. She had seemed strangely pointed about it, and he didn't want to loose focus from the matter at hand.
Watching Mike start talking to the concierge, Nick now wondered whether to sneak away quietly, or let the front desk stuff play out. Walking away now would crush Mike, and he could just promise to call and leave it at that, but maybe it was better not to draw things out and keep him waiting for 'Nikki' to call him. Maybe leaving now would let Mike move on and possibly chase some other girls while he was on his vacation. The thought of him chasing other girls did give Nick just a hint of jealousy, but surely that was just from wanting to spend more time with his friend.
