Chapter 55 God, I've missed you
I quickly make my way toward the door. Smoothing my hair down, I take a deep breath, then swing the door open.
“Surprise!” Will and Terry sing in unison.
“Arghh!” I cry out in fake Oscar worthy surprise.
Terry throws her arms around me, enveloping me into a big hug.
Her scent washes over me, and I almost break down crying on the spot.
“God, I’ve missed you,” she says, holding me tight.
“I missed you too,” I murmur. I can’t stop the tears that fill my eyes.
Guilty tears.
“You took your time answering the door.” She holds me back, looking at me like she’s drinking me in.
Will on the other side looks so happy. If anyone could be seeing this, they could think Will is really my boyfriend. It's just that I lied to Terry and Will too.
Oh God.
“Sorry, I was sleeping.” I somehow manage to get the words out of my clotted throat.
“A late one huh?”
“Mmm.”
Terry pushes her way in hugging me. I wrap my arms around her.
I’m so glad she’s here.
Will moves past us, wheeling their two little suitcases into my suite.
“Hey, gorgeous,” she says. “The flat has been so quiet, and so messy without you. I visited Darla yesterday, only to be robbed by her.”
Again it's always been like this, whenever Darla is in need of money and has fallen out with Greg she always loots. She'll pretend to be sick for one to care about her, and once you show up you'll never realize how you get looted.
I hug her tighter.
“Hey, you okay?” She holds me back appraising me with her eyes.
“I’m just happy to see you.” I hug her again.
Releasing her, I follow Will into the living room, with Terry behind me.
Okay, so Natte is trapped in the bathroom, and I somehow have to get them out of here for a little while, so he can get out of there and back to his own suite.
“Holy shit!” Terry exclaims from behind me. “This place is huge, no wonder you don't wanna stay at your apartment anymore.”
I shrug, smiling through tight lips.
My eyes keep flickering in the direction of the bathroom door.
Natte is in there. In the bathroom. Wearing just his boxer shorts. I hope he’s dressed into his clothes.
But knowing him he won't.
Not that it will make the slightest bit of difference if Terry finds him trapped in my bathroom. It’ll be pretty clear what he’s doing in there. And Natte will finally have a look at my fake boyfriend.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuckety fuck.
What am I going to do?
After setting down the suitcases, Will comes back over to Terry and wraps his arms around her waist and plants a kiss firmly on her lips.
I squirm a little.
I wonder if he could be my real boyfriend if he’ll be able to smell Natte on me. Terry freeing herself from his kiss, leans back away slightly.
He stares down at her face. “Are you okay, darling?”
“Of course.” Her voice is a little strangled, and I’m dying under their lovey dovey gaze. I feel like I’m going to crack any minute.
“This is okay isn’t it? Will and I turning up to surprise you?”
“Of course it is!”
Will is now wandering around checking the place out.
“This bedroom is massive!” she exclaims, poking her head through the door.
Don’t go in there. Please don’t go in there.
She’s gone in.
Crap.
I can see her over Will’s shoulder moving around, checking things out, looking at the view through the window, which is right next to the bathroom door.
Don’t go in the bathroom. Don’t go in the bathroom.
I see her hand reaching for the door handle.
Fuck.
What am I going to do? I’m trying to think quickly, but I’m frozen. Nothing’s working. Every function in me failing right when I need it most.
Then everything slips into slow motion, and I freeze solid in my legs as I watch in absolute horror as Terry pulls open the bathroom door.
“ARGHH!” she screams.
Fuck.
Shit.
Bollocks.
“Terry are you okay?” Will asks, concerned, turning towards her.
I keep a firm hold of him.
This is it. This is the exact moment that everything is over.
If I’d have known this was going to be the last time I lie to the two of them, then I’d have told them bigger secrets of mine with a lot more conviction. I’d have taken in everything about my mysterious Pine and also sleeping with Natte. Because when she finds out Natte is in there, she’s never going to forgive me. She’ll never look at me the same again. She asked me just the other day if I slept with Natte but I lied.
Terry is silent for what seems like forever. I tentatively hold my breath, waiting for her response, feeling like my head may explode any second.
“I’m fine!” she hollers, but her voice sounds a little strangled.
Then I hear the bathroom door close.
I exhale.
“It was just a cockroach. A massive spider in the bath. Frightened the shit out of me,” she says, coming back into the living room.
Oh my hell girl, cockroach is the only thing you could come up with, this is a high end Alpine resort, cleanliness is everything.
“Do you want me to get rid of it?” Will asks, turning to her even more surprised than any of us.
“No!” Both Terry and I say in unison.
Will looks between the two of us puzzled.
“I like cockroaches,” I say quickly.
“You do?” Will focuses his inquisitive stare onto me.
I instantly heat under his gaze.
“It’s gone. It bolted when I screamed at it,” Terry tells him, saving me from his quizzical stare.
I meet her eyes briefly. One slow blink, thanking her. But hers is accusatory.
She nods gently, and sits down on the arm of the sofa closer to me.
“So how did you know what room I was in?” I ask, releasing myself from Terry's hold, but she keeps her arm around my waist, keeping me close.
Will answers, “Well, we wanted it to be a surprise, and we figured you’d be up on the top floor, so we asked the security guy who was out by the main door guarding it, I’m guessing Natte Johnson’s security people who looked none too pleased to see us up here might I add, but then we told him we were looking for you, that we’d come to surprise you and he showed us to your room.”
It worked. I was surprised. And so completely screwed. Literally and figuratively.
“Good thinking.” I force a smile. “So when did you decide on this?” My voice is wobbling all over the place.
I need to get them out of here, just long enough so I can get Natte out of the bathroom. It’s the only current working thought in my mind.
“A few minutes.” Terry leaves my side and sits down on the sofa next to Will, she's even snuggling him.
Crap, she’s getting comfortable.
I stay where I am. I can’t seem to stand still. I’m practically hopping from one foot to the other.
I wrap my arms across my chest.
Terry keeps flickering glances my way, but I can’t bring myself to look at her. The shame is burning up my face.
“I knew you were stressed about the whole Natte affair article,” Terry says.
I nearly choke on my own spit, quickly turning it into a cough. I cover my traitorous mouth with my hand.