Chapter 167: My Lies Have a Scottish Accent

Chapter 167: My Lies Have a Scottish Accent


I heard Grayson’s voice from just outside my hotel room, and every muscle in my body immediately stopped working. Elliot was still staring at me through the phone, waiting for an answer to his question, Who are you with? And then, as if the universe had decided to personally ruin me, Grayson’s voice floated clearly through the door. "Liela?" My eyes widened. I looked at my phone. Then at the door. Then back at my phone. My brain went completely blank. Think. Think, Liela. Unfortunately, my brain had apparently submitted its resignation. Elliot noticed my expression immediately. "What was that?" "What?" I asked far too loudly. "I didn't hear anything." Grayson's voice came again from the hallway. "Liela, are you in there?" I nearly dropped my phone. Oh, excellent. He is not only outside my door, he is actively announcing himself. Elliot leaned closer to the screen. "Was that a man's voice?" "No!" I shouted. "That was... the television!" I looked around. There wasn't even a television turned on. Elliot's eyes narrowed. "The television said your name?" "Yes." I nodded quickly. "Very advanced technology." I needed to do something. Anything. I grabbed a pillow and threw it onto the bed for no reason. "Wow!" I suddenly shouted. "What an interesting pillow!" Elliot blinked. "Liela..." "I LOVE PILLOWS!" I yelled.

I started making random noises around the room, because apparently when a person is caught in a lie, the correct solution is to behave like someone experiencing a minor nervous breakdown. I opened the wardrobe and slammed it shut. "Wow! So much storage!" I announced. I opened a drawer. Slammed it shut. "Amazing drawers!" Elliot stared at me as though he was watching a documentary about human stupidity. "What are you doing?" "Nothing!" I said loudly. Grayson knocked on the door. "Liela?" I froze. Then I immediately started talking even louder. "YES! I AM COMPLETELY ALONE!" Elliot's eyes widened. I slapped a hand over my mouth. Why would you say that? My own mouth had officially become my greatest enemy. There was silence on the other side of the door. Then Grayson said, "I can hear you." I squeezed my eyes shut. "Of course you can," I whispered. Elliot's expression had changed from suspicious to deeply concerned. "Who is outside your door?" "No one." "Someone just said they can hear you." "Maybe the walls are talking." "Liela." "Scottish walls are very social." Elliot stared at me. "You're making this worse." "I know." I whispered. "I'm aware."

Grayson knocked again, and I panicked so badly that I grabbed a decorative cushion and started hitting it against the sofa. "Wow!" I shouted. "This cushion is incredibly soft!" Elliot just stared at me. "Stop." "I'm not doing anything." "You're hitting a pillow." "I'm testing it." "Why?" "Quality control." Elliot rubbed his forehead. "Liela, who is outside?" I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. "Nobody important." The moment the words left my mouth, I realized that was possibly the worst answer I could have given. Elliot's eyes widened. "Nobody important?" "I mean..." I quickly corrected myself. "Nobody. Nobody at all." Grayson spoke again from outside. "Liela, I need to give you something." I immediately started coughing. Loudly. Dramatically. Like I had suddenly developed a terminal illness. "COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!" Elliot looked horrified. "Are you okay?" I continued coughing. "COUGH! COUGH!" Then I whispered, "Yes." "You don't sound okay." "I'm fine." "You were perfectly fine five minutes ago." "Scotland." I nodded seriously. "The air is different." Elliot stared at me in complete disbelief.

Then Grayson knocked one more time. "Liela, should I come back later?" I wanted the floor to open and swallow me. Instead, I smiled at Elliot through the screen and whispered, "Everything is completely normal." Elliot looked at me. Then at the suspicious curtains. Then at the pillow I was still holding. Then toward the door, where Grayson's voice had just come from. "Liela," he said slowly, "if that is Grayson, just tell me." My entire body went rigid. I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. I was suddenly very interested in the stitching on the pillow. Elliot waited. "Liela." I swallowed. "Yes?" "Is Grayson outside your door?" I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Nothing. From the hallway, Grayson casually said, "Liela, are you coming?" I slowly looked at the phone. Elliot's expression changed completely. He didn't even need me to answer anymore. "Oh my God," he whispered. "You're with Grayson."

Continuing directly from the cliffhanger, with Elliot realizing Grayson is outside and Liela desperately trying to explain herself.

"Oh my God," Elliot whispered. "You're with Grayson." I immediately shook my head. "No." Elliot stared at me. "Liela." "He's not with me." I pointed toward the door as if that somehow made the situation better. "He's just... outside." Elliot's mouth dropped open. "That's worse!" "Why?" "Because you told me you were in Scotland because Aunt Helena desperately needed your help!" "She did!" "Then why is Grayson outside your hotel room?" I opened my mouth and realized I had absolutely no reasonable answer. My brain started producing possibilities at the speed of a dying computer. He's delivering a package. No. He's the hotel manager. Definitely no. He got lost. He was Grayson. He could probably navigate a country blindfolded. I looked toward the door again. "Maybe he's just here because..." I stopped. Elliot waited. "Because?" "Because..." I desperately searched the room for inspiration. My eyes landed on the decorative soap. "Because he likes soap." Elliot blinked. "What?" "Nothing." I closed my eyes. "Forget I said that."

Before I could invent another terrible excuse, Grayson knocked again. "Liela?" His voice was calm, which somehow made everything worse. Elliot immediately pointed at the screen. "Answer him." I shook my head violently. "Absolutely not." "Why?" "Because then you'll hear him!" Elliot stared at me. "I've already heard him." "Yes, but hearing him again would make it more real." "Liela, it's already real." I put my hand over the phone microphone and whispered toward the door, "Just leave it outside!" There was a brief silence. Then Grayson replied, "It's not something I can leave outside." I slowly lowered my hand. Elliot's eyes widened. "What does that mean?" "I don't know!" I whispered. "Maybe he's holding something fragile." "Like what?" "I don't know, Elliot! A vase? A book? A small endangered Scottish animal?" Elliot covered his face with one hand. "You are unbelievable." I glanced toward the door. "Grayson, can you please just go?" "I need to speak with you for a minute." "I'm busy!" "Doing what?" I looked at my phone. Elliot was staring at me. I looked around the room. "Important things." Grayson was silent for a moment. "Such as?" I panicked. "Laundry!" I shouted. Elliot's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Laundry?" he mouthed. I nodded desperately.

Grayson finally said, "You haven't even unpacked yet." I froze. Elliot slowly turned his eyes toward me. "How does he know you haven't unpacked?" I had no answer. None. Absolutely none. My lies had stopped being lies and had become a group project between my panic and stupidity. "He..." I whispered, "has observational skills." Elliot stared at me. "Liela, open the door." "No." "Open the door." "Why?" "Because I want to see what's happening." "This is not a television show!" "Then stop making it look like one!" I groaned and lowered myself onto the edge of the bed. "Elliot, please don't be angry." His expression softened slightly, but his voice remained serious. "I'm not angry because you're in Scotland. I'm angry because you didn't tell me." I looked down at my hands. "I knew you'd worry." "Of course I'd worry. You're my friend." That made me feel guilty. I opened my mouth to apologize, but before I could say anything, Grayson spoke again from the hallway. "Liela, if you're finished arguing with Elliot, I can come back later." My eyes widened. Elliot's head snapped up. "He knows I'm on the call?" I whispered, "Apparently."

I took a deep breath and slowly stood up. My legs felt like they had forgotten how walking worked. I looked at myself in the mirror. Messy hair. Wrinkled clothes. Panicked expression. Perfect. Exactly how I wanted to make my grand Scotland debut. I walked toward the door while keeping the phone in my hand. "I'm opening the door," I whispered. "Good," Elliot said. "And don't you dare hang up." "You're enjoying this." "I'm not enjoying anything." "You sound like you're enjoying it." "Open the door, Liela." I reached the handle and paused. This is fine. I told myself. Everything is completely normal.  I opened the door a few inches and found Grayson standing there, holding the passport I'd somehow managed to leave in the lobby five minutes earlier. Of course he looked perfectly calm, as if returning my forgotten belongings was a completely normal part of his day. Meanwhile, I looked like I had fought an airplane, three suitcases, and an entire buffet and lost to all three