MOZAIK

11

When I woke up, the room was already bright as day. Sleepily, I turned to Bojan. With his lips slightly open and one hand under his head, he had nestled into the pillow. How could someone look so cute and perfect while sleeping? I thought to myself. And how on earth did I manage to lay next to him in this exact moment? I was blessed. I would have loved to reach out to touch his soft lips and to run my fingers along the contours of his cheeks.

But I resisted the temptation, as I didn't want to wake him up and reached for my cell phone on the nightstand instead. I opened the messenger to text Vic. I really owed her something.

"Hey Vic! How's it going? Are you guys already having breakfast? Thanks, by the way, for having our backs yesterday. We totally took advantage of the situation;)

LYSM!"

I pressed send and immediately got a read receipt. Seemed like she was already awake. Not a second later, the soft tinkling of the message tone sounded. Startled, I turned to Bojan, but he was still sleeping peacefully.

"Hey, Sweetie! Breakfast? I just had my dessert before breakfast;) Yeah, I know I'm a naughty girl, but Jan insisted on a second round and I couldn't refuse the request... But he'll be up soon. I'll text you as soon as he leaves, then we can make a swift switch.

LYM!"

I chuckled softly. I hadn't seen that coming. Vic was really always good for a surprise. 

Quietly, I placed my head back on the pillow to study Bojan's gentle features some more.  

As the faint ringing of my phone sounded again, I cursed myself for not having muted the sound. "Jan is on his way now.", said Vic's text. I quickly jumped out of bed and picked up my clothes, which were scattered on the floor. Quietly, I slipped into my clothes, grabbed my shoes and gently closed the door behind me. Thankfully, the hallway was empty. I wasn't exactly eager to run into Jan at that moment. That would just be uncomfortable. Nervously, I looked at the elevator display. 14th floor... 15th floor. I swiftly darted into the stairwell and disappeared the moment it opened with a soft 'pling.' 

When I entered the room, Vic, who was still in bed, greeted me with a beaming smile. "Hello my beauty, did you sleep well?", she exclaimed.

"I can't complain.", I smirked.

"Mmmh, I can tell that the night might have been a bit short." "Referring to your beauty sleep.", she added whilst pointing at my hair, which undoubtedly looked just as bad as hers and could probably only be differentiated from a bird's nest by an ornithologist. "Thank you, you look absolutely charming as well.", I replied with a drippingly ironic tone. 

"That-", she said, pointing to her reddened cheeks and smudged makeup. "Was definitely worth it. Jan is so...", she began to tell me in great detail about her exciting night with Jan, while I got comfortable in bed next to her. 

"So how about you and Bojan then? I wanna know all the dirty details!", asked Vic in her deep and most seductive voice. 

"Oh Vic! He was truly amazing and so caring. It was definitely one of the best experiences of my life.", I gushed. "And that's all I get to hear?", Vic asked disappointedly. I wasn't particularly keen on going into detail with my stories. Even with close friends, a little bit of privacy could still be maintained. Savoring the memories of his gentle touches, I leaned back and let my head sink into the pillow. I caught a sour smell of sweat, along with a faint musky note, most likely from Jan's cologne, filling my nose. Disgusted, I jumped out of the bed. "Eww, did you guys not change the sheets?", I complained. 

Vic grinned at me sheepishly: "To be honest, we're counting on another round tonight. Of course, only if you're up for it, too." 

What the heck?! I felt my facial expression shift. Did she really just say that?! I stammered: "I think, to be honest, that's not really..." 

She raised an eyebrow. "I thought the night with Bojan was oh so great. Is there no interest in doing it again?", she probed. I let out a relieved breath. That had been a misunderstanding on my part. It seemed she was slowly catching on to the reason for my startled expression, and she burst into giggles. "No, apparently I'm not looking for a threesome with you.", she squeaked between two laughs. "Don't be afraid!" I joined her laughing and then made my way to the bathroom.

After I had somewhat prepared myself, I entered the hotel's breakfast room.

Immediately I spotted Nace, Bojan and Jure sitting at one of the tables at the far end of the room and headed in their direction. Bojan and Jure were both staring fascinated at the smartphone Bojan held in his hands. "Oh my, she looks damn fine.", I heard Bojan say, mimicking a thick american accent .

Jure laughed and nodded. Bojan swiped across the screen. His eyes widened, and he grinned, stating: "Wow! Je še bolj seksi."

Even though I didn't speak Slovenian, I could roughly imagine what he had just said.  Consequently, a subtle feeling of anger started to spread within me.

Was he being serious? Not even an hour after I left his room, he was already on the hunt for the next girl. I felt how my appetite vanished. 

I wanted to turn around on the spot, but Nace had already spotted me and waved me over.

"Good morning, Benni. Come, have a seat.", he called out friendly. I wanted to sink into the ground, but since that wasn't possible, I buried myself even deeper in the hood of my sweater. "Morning.", I grumbled. Bojan immediately noticed that something was off and looked at me with concern. "Is everything okay?", he asked. "I'm fine, thanks.", I replied sharply. "What are you guys doing there?" I gestured towards the smartphone in his hands. 

"Oh, actually, we're looking for a nice girl for Jure.", Bojan grinned. "Really? But we're only staying here for one more night anyway.", I asked, surprised. "Well, one night is enough for a hookup.", Bojan chuckled. I rolled my eyes and hoped he wasn't referring to us. 

"And besides, Jure has Tinder Gold, so he can already look for girls in Amsterdam."

"You're seriously paying for that shit?", I asked in disbelief. "Yeah, I figured I'd treat myself with some of the money we got for the tour here.", Jure grinned. "So, Måneskin is basically paying for Jure to get laid?" I chuckled. "You could say that.", Bojan grinned. He smiled, but his eyes still held a hint of concern. I didn't want him to think that I hadn't enjoyed last night. But I was still somehow hurt by how he had ogled at the girls on the screen, even if it was just for Jure.

"Do you not want to eat anything?" he asked as he took a bite of his sandwich. "Honestly, I'm not hungry right now.", I replied. "I must have done something wrong, then.", he whispered so that Jure and Nace wouldn't hear him. 

I rolled my eyes again. "Look, Nace isn't hungry either.", I said, nodding my head towards the black coffee he held. "I am hungry actually.", he replied. "The problem is that there's nothing gluten-free here."

I recalled his gluten intolerance. "Shit, there's really hardly anything you can eat. You live quite restricted, don't you? No alcohol, no gluten. What can you actually eat then?", I asked.

"The only thing Nace can eat is pussy.", Bojan laughed. Now it was Nace's turn to roll his eyes and correct him: "You've got me confused with yourself."

"Exactly, Bojan. You shouldn't project yourself onto others all the time.", Jure chimed in to tease him. 

"I'm not doing that at all. But we're somewhat alike in that regard.", Bojan said with a grin, playfully nudging Nace's side. "The only difference is that I can have a sandwich afterwards." 

Cheekily, he stuck his tongue out at Nace. 

Their behavior was worse than that of little children. I got up and shuffled towards the coffee machine.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Bojan, who seemed to have followed me and was now pouring himself some juice from the carafes beside me. He cheerfully hummed a song: "Waiting for tonight, oh. When you would be here in my arms. Waiting for tonight, oh."

Perhaps Jan had already told him about his and Vic's plans, which indirectly involved us?

Although my pride was still somewhat hurt, I felt a flutter of excitement in my stomach at that thought.