“No, it’s just, I have a problem. One of my hotels shut down, and I need to find someplace for sixty kids to stay. This might take all afternoon.”

He was quiet a moment before he said, “Well, you have to eat. I’ll bring something up.”

“That would be great,” I said.

“Pork salad?”

“Anything,” I said.

Nicholas arrived about fifteen minutes later carrying a bag of food. As worried as I had been to see him, he looked fine. He set the bag on my desk. “Here you go,” he said. “Change of cuisine.”

“What did you get?”

“A Chick-fil-A sandwich. I figured you need something you can eat while you talk on the phone.” He brought out the sandwich and a drink and laid them on my desk. “And the lemonade is sugar-free. How’s it going?”

“Not well. It’s hard finding a block of that many rooms last minute.”

“Can I help you call?”

“Really?”

“Why not?”

“How much time do you have?”

“Maybe forty-five minutes.”

“That would help.” I printed off a list of hotels, then tore it in half. “Just tell them it’s an emergency and ask if they have a block of thirty-two rooms, double-occupancy, for tonight.”

“What if they have availability for twenty?”

“That’s not enough.”

“I know, but couldn’t you use two hotels?”

“If we have to,” I said. “But they’d have to be close to each other.”

“What phone should I use?”

“There’s one out in the reception area. Use line three.”

“Line three,” he said, walking out with the paper I’d given him. Less than a half hour later he walked back into my office. “I’ve got one on the line,” he said. He laid the list down on my desk. “I circled it,” he said. “The Liss Suites in Brooklyn.”

He had doodled all over my phone list. There was a cartoon picture of a woman with her hair on fire.

“Is this supposed to be me?”

“No. Maybe.”

“It looks like me.”

He grinned. “It probably is.”

In spite of my stress I laughed. “Okay, so did they give you a rate?”

“No. But the manager said that they’d match your rate if it was reasonable.”

“You’re a doll,” I said. I picked up the phone while Nicholas sat back and watched. The hotel worked out perfectly. It was actually nicer than the one I had originally reserved.

“Sounds like my work here is done,” Nicholas said as I hung up.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You’re good at this. You might put me out of my job someday.”

“I’ve been looking for something meaningful to do with my life,” he said.

“You saved sixty kids from sleeping on the streets of New York.”

He stood, “Sorry to save the day and run, but I need to get back to my other job.”

“I’ll walk you to the elevator,” I said.