Golden Hour

Chapter 23

It had taken a lot more effort to get me to sleep last night. But Neil's calm baritone won out in the end, lulling me into peaceful repose. I didn't wake until the bright morning sun peeped through my black-out curtains at eight-thirty. Nerves kept me from getting any more rest.

Today I would confront The Fool. 

Even Emily appeared a bit bleary-eyed, wrapped in her robin-egg blue robe. She'd piled her messy blonde curls on top of her head. Little tendrils poked out here and there on the sides.

Only I got to see her bed head.

"How did it work?" asked Emily while sipping some herbal tea. "Remote movie watching?"

"Awesome. We used an extension to synchronize a private viewing," I replied. "It even has its own chat room."

"Nice!"

"Yep, we streamed both Sherlock Holmes movies before Neil read me to sleep."

Emily grinned. "Living the dream."

Armed with a vat o' coffee, I slumped into one of the breakfast stools in front of the kitchen island. "Not today."

"As much as I hate to admit it," said Emily, "Neil's right."

"Hmm?"

"Don't engage with The Leech."

"He makes it impossible," I groaned. "If you ignore Thomas, he keeps prodding and prodding with more and more crap until you can't contain yourself."

"Tell him to keep his prodder to himself!"

I curled my lip. "Then I would be engaging."

"Oh, yeah." She chuckled. "I see what you mean."

After breakfast Emily and I piled loads of plastic crates into a corner so that her friends could help me move. We opted for mostly small ones. That way I could carry them on my own if The Fool had decided to make a fuss and not let her friends enter. 

All afternoon I was on tenterhooks. I began to regret not having moved earlier in the day, but Thomas always slept until noon and wouldn't finish breakfast until around one-thirty. 

Guy was a chronic night owl. Stayed up till three or four in the morning most nights. 

Night owl, hmpf! More like a vampire. 

And they're not cool like the books say.

Finally the time came. Two giant dudes knocked on the front door. One had a jagged scar on his cheek and tattoos down his arms while the other had striking blue eyes and a square jaw. Didn't need to ask how they'd got their monikers. 

Both looked like they could snap me in half like a twig. 

And I was not a dainty lady.

They introduced themselves with their proper names, but I was too busy gaping at their massive figures to take notice. If The Fool screwed around with these guys, he was more foolish than I'd thought.

Whew! Just what I need: a couple of bodyguards.

"Thanks for helping me," I said with a bashful smile.

"No worries," came the gruff reply from Ink.

"Anything for a free lunch," said Jaws. 

We drove from Bournemouth to Poole and the guys parked right outside the front door to our apartment. "Ya sure ya wanna go in alone?" asked Ink.

"No, but he certainly won't let you in," I said in a wary tone.

"Ya got our number on speed dial, right?"