42 ~ Sour as Greek Yoghurt-1

Chapter 42: Sour as Greek Yoghurt "Look, I'm not one to point fingers," Lottie said cheerfully after half a minute of dead silence, "but this is totally, completely your fault." I turned around and shot her a flat look. "Who came in here in the first place?" "I told you not to shut the door!" "So you're saying this is my fault?" She laughed. "I literally did just say that, Ben." She walked over to the door and jiggled the handle, as if that would help at all. "Do you have a credit card on you or something?" she asked me. I dug in my pocket and took out my wallet, handing her one of my credit cards. "Do you know how to unlock locked doors like that?" "No, but now I have your credit card," she replied, grinning at me. I scoffed while she slid the card between the door and the frame and wiggled it around to no avail. "Okay, this isn't working. Can you call Clark or Ginny? I left my mobile in the back room." I pulled out my phone, but then clenched my fists and blew out air in frustration. "I definitely could, but I locked the front door like you told me to, so I don't think either of them would be able to get in." Lottie turned and blinked at me, her eyes filming over kind of vacantly. "Oh swell," she said blankly. "We're stuck in here? Yikes, yikes, yikes." I waved a hand in front of her face. Should I do it now? Maybe I should do it now. While we were waiting, possibly left to freeze to death, just go ahead and do it. No time like the present, I always so. Even though I never say that. Because I don't do things like this. "Charlotte, listen to me." She blinked again, looking like she didn't know what exactly to do. When she breathed out, a small cloud of fog gathered around her face because of the cold. "Lottie, come on. Someone will get us, okay? Just chill out and look at me for a second." After a second, her mouth twitched, and just like that she was grinning again. I felt relieved because I really didn't know what to do when she got all stiff like that. "Chill out?" she repeated. "Poor choice of words given we're stuck in a freezer unit, Benny, don't you think?" I rolled my eyes but couldn't stop the smile, and I handed her the sunflowers that were in my hand. I'd accidentally crushed the stems a bit, and they were quite small since our part of England didn't generally have the ideal climate for wildflowers. However, their bright yellow colour reminded me of her, and so I couldn't help but buy them to accompany the question I had for her. I was going to get roses, but along with being pretty much bankrupt, I thought she'd appreciate the sunflowers more. "Ben!" she exclaimed, burying her face into the sunflowers. She sheepishly looked up and wiped the pollen off her nose, and I smiled softly at her astounded expression. A fucking doll, she was. "These are sticky," she said, but smiled widely. "I love them. Oh, thank you, Ben! Thank you!" I scratched the back of my head nervously and looked at the floor. I could feel the cool starting to creep in under my skin even though I was wearing a big jacket, since it was winter and all. But Lottie wasn't properly clothed, she was just staring at her flowers happily wearing a dress that looked like it couldn't keep her warm no matter how much she tried. "Lottie, I have a question for you." She looked at me, her eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that made my heart unconsciously clench up. "Yes, precious person?" Her words caught me off guard for a second, so much so that it took me a second to remember what I was going to ask. I opened my mouth, but then I noticed that she was shivering slightly. "Are you cold?" Dammit, that wasn't my question. I wanted to ask her if she wanted to be my fucking official girlfriend, but of course I had to chicken out. She kept smiling even though her teeth were chattering. I started to feel really bad, because it really was my fault we were locked in here with no foresight of release. "A little, but you just gotta look at this in a positive light, you know what I mean?" I stared at her. "How can you see getting trapped in a freezing storage room in a positive light?" I asked, questioning her already on-the-brink sanity. Lottie sat down and pursed her pink lips thoughtfully, drawing her knees into her chest. I watched her carefully, aware of every single move she made. My mind whirred and I just wanted to ask her my original question to see what she would say. "Well," she started. I sat down beside her. I raised my eyebrows expectantly as she rubbed her arms self-consciously, her shivering becoming more obvious the more she tried to hide it. "See," I told her. "There's no positive way to look at this. We're trapped in a freezing cold room with nobody to come look for us for hours." All of which was my fault, if we were being honest. She showed me one of her breathtaking grins. "C'mon, Benny. You should stop being so cynical all the time! Just think, now you get to spend time with me!" she exclaimed cheerfully, pulling herself even tighter into a human ball. "That's not a good thing to be stuck with an annoying splodge like you," I taunted, even though I was lying through my teeth. I scooted closer to her, my eyes taking in the subtle way she shivered so that I wouldn't notice how cold she really was. "Y-you're lying," she giggled, her teeth chattering slightly. "You know you adore me. Dare I say, you looove me." I faltered, my throat closing up. God help me. Instead of answering, I rolled my eyes. "Just shut up and come here," I suggested. "Wha-" She didn't even have time to protest before I grabbed her elbow and yanked her onto my lap. "You're cold," I said when I saw her shocked face. "And I'm wearing a coat. Hopefully this will at least warm you up a little bit." She smiled adoringly up at me, making my heart clench painfully at the beautiful sight I had in front of me. "Thank you," she said softly. "Hey, can I see your phone for a sec? I wanna see if there's any reception." "What about spending all this time with me? You're such a poser," I teased, but gave her my mobile anyway. "As much as I love you, and love taking up all your body heat, I would rather take up all your body heat while not inside the bakery's freezer." I chuckled and rubbed my hand down her back. She curled into me, and I tried to remember it was because she was cold, not because she liked me. And then I remembered I didn't have to think self-deprecating thoughts like that because she'd already admitted she loved me. "Fair enough." "Ginny, you answered! Oh my goodness, Ginny, I'm so sorry for interrupting your date, but Ben and I got locked in the freezer, and the front of the bakery is locked. We don't know what to do, do you have a key? Can you please come help us?" She listened for a bit, and laughed. "Okay, I promise, I will. I will! Oh my god, please stop talking! Please, for Chrissakes, just come! Bring your date too if you want!" Another pause. "Okay, I love you, Ginny, you're awesome! Thanks, best frieeend." "She coming?" I asked. Lottie gave me my mobile back and laughed. "Yes, and I feel gross saying this, but Ginny told me to tell you that you..." She stopped, her face turning red.