Wish You *Weren't* Here (A Romantic Comedy)

Chapter Twenty Nine

A week ago, I was standing in the queue for airport security with my nemesis, mocking him for bringing his laptop on holiday with him.

"Couldn't get your work finished on time?" I'd asked him smugly, safe in the knowledge that I had all of my business fully in order long before I'd switched on my out-of-office message the previous evening.

Lewis had rolled his eyes. "There were a couple of meetings I couldn't get out of at such short notice, okay?" he muttered as he placed the laptop in one of the trays.

"Wow, must be so hard being sooo indispensable," I'd sniped, suddenly feeling as if I wasn't as important in my job anymore. No one had asked me to take my work on holiday with me, and that somehow annoyed me now! Lewis had then started removing his belt at that point, and my eyes seemed to be unwillingly gravitating towards his crotch area, so I'd seized the opportunity to slip away, making it through the body scanner and collecting my belongings on the other side before he could catch up with me.

Looking back on that, I feel bad for more than one reason. I was being a bit of a bitch, for a start. Right there, straight off the bat, I'd had the opportunity to be nice, to actually ask him about his job at that point, and instead, I'd twisted it in my own unique "Ruby" style. And then I'd ran away and hid from him, of course!

Anyway, I'm reminded of this on Thursday morning when our leisurely lie-in (well, if you could call it that - there wasn't much in the way of sleeping being done, if you know what I mean!) is interrupted by Lewis checking his watch and sighing. "I need to do some fucking work today," he mutters, rolling out of bed. "I've got to log on for a meeting in 25 minutes."

"Do you really need to be in it?" I ask, slightly plaintively. I'd definitely prefer him to be back under the covers with me, if that is an alternative option.

"Unfortunately, yes." He raises a playful eyebrow in my direction. "It's really hard being indispensable, after all."

I wince briefly at him using my own words against me. "Yeah. Er . . . Sorry about that."

He bends down and kisses me softly on the lips. "It's okay, Rubes; I understand." A smug smirk curves his mouth upwards as he backs away from me. "It must have been sooo hard to fight your attraction to me."

I squeal in frustration, launching a pillow in his direction; it narrowly misses his head as he disappears out of the bedroom door. I hear him chuckling to himself as he heads towards the bathroom, but the sound warms me now rather than annoying me.

Wrapping myself in one of the complimentary fluffy bathrobes, I follow him. "I'm gonna get out of your hair so you can have your meeting in peace," I tell him, watching him as he splashes water on his face.

He lifts his head and catches my gaze in the mirror. "You don't have to do that, Ruby. It's not as if I'm particularly worried you're going to crash my call and try to embarrass me."

"You don't actually know that for sure," I joke. "Anyway, it's only fair - you've let me have the entire place to myself more than once. The least I can do is clear out for a couple of hours and give you a bit of privacy. How about I go down to Hersonissos and pick us up some food, and we can have a picnic by the pool after your work is done?"

"That sounds really nice, actually," he smiles. He digs through his washbag, and when he produces a razor, I accidentally let out a moan of protest. He whips around anxiously. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want you to shave," I confess. My mirror image flushes a delicate shade of pink. "I'm pretty attached to the stubble."

He immediately puts the razor back where he found it. "If you like it, it stays. In fact, I'll add it to my list of ways to entice you."