I'VE SEEN HER! (COMPLETE)

Chapter 12

As I stood in the lift at the hotel I was panting like dog and caught my reflection in the mirror. I didn’t get out on our floor, instead I pressed for it to go back down so I could at least compose myself... and yes I chickened out.

I sat at the bar with my bags, trying to catch my breath. An ice-cold glass of water helped and eventually there was no putting it off. I ventured back into the lift. I was shaking by the time I got to our floor. My luggage feeling heavier in my weak arms. I pulled out my key and slid it in the lock. There was no going back now. Shit!

I pushed open the door and could see him with his back turned on the balcony, talking on the phone as usual. He turned and glared at me. Something told me he was annoyed with the person on the phone not me so I placed my bags down beside his ‘packed’ bag and waited for him to come in. I even did a stupid ‘hey’ wave that I could have slapped myself for.

The door slid open and in he walked. I waited for him to talk, he waited for me to talk and then it was too awkward to talk first.  

His passport was on the bed with his wallet, he had been using it for something. I picked it up, stuffed it in my handbag and fixed him with a look that said ‘you aren’t going anywhere matey’.

He rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance.

“You are not going home just because I am an idiot,” I said.

“Look I know my mum told your sister my financial situation, my sister just told me everything. It is my business and no one elses.”

“It is the middle of the month everyone is skint, especially when you are thrown into a holiday you didn’t plan for a year, like I did.”

“Don’t patronise me.”

“I’m not.”

“In that case I think we have very different versions of skint.”

 “You don’t know my financial situation. I took out a loan to pay for this holiday.”

“A loan?”

“Yes, five grand and ended up using some of it to get my boiler fixed and repair the damage where it leaked.”

He frowned.

“My sister just told me you’re a plumber so you can work out how much of a dent that put in my bank account.”

“I am a carpenter. My dad was the plumber. I help his brother with a few jobs as he is recovering from a stroke.”

“You’re qualified though?”

“Yeah, I did that when I left school to appease my dad but I wanted to be a chippy. My brother in law is a decorator. It’s a family thing.”

“Well my boiler is still broken so when we get home I expect mate rates.”

“I thought you said you paid to have it repaired. Who did you use?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“Masters and son.”

“Cowboys,” he said shaking his head. “They probably made it worse to squeeze more out of you.”

“Well I’ll let you be the judge of that. Any way back to the awkward bit as there is no point in avoiding it,” my voice started to shake with nerves.

“We don’t have to...”

“Yes we do. I need to clear the air,” I said as my heart raced and adrenaline coursed through my body.

“Ok you go first but you have to promise you will listen to me after. Don’t do the whole screaming and covering your ears thing.”

“I won’t. I am sorry for that outburst. It shocked me as much as you.”