Hide and Seek (not continuing)

Chapter 7 - Phone Number

[Camille.]

I was hugging myself thightly to prevent the cold winter air of piercing through my coat. Harry had one hand in his pocket, and was carrying his brown leather bag with the other. “Thanks for the coffee, Camille, I really needed it.” he said. “Oh, you’re welcome!” I replied with a friendly smile.

Then I remembered I had to go to the grocery store to buy food for tonight. But I wasn’t quite sure if I could leave Mr. Popstar wandering around on his own. By the way, had he found a place to stay already?

“So, Camille, can I –“ he said at the exact same time I tried to ask where he would be staying during his time here. Seriously, how many times had this happened so far?

“Ladies first.” Oh, what a gentleman.

“Yeah, I was wondering where you will be staying?” I asked, starting to walk down the street.

He nodded, “That’s what I wanted to ask you.” What? He wasn’t planning on asking me to stay at my place, was he? Because that would be a no. Definitely no. Nobody else but me was allowed in my kingdom. Maybe kingdom was a bit exaggerated – I think I’ve read too many fairytales when I was younger – but it was my place, mine. Somewhere I could be without having to worry about interacting with other people. I knew I had to work on that, but I would do that if I had to go outside, but inside my apartment I was free from that pressure. Yes, communicating still held a certain pressure. I was slowly getting better though, well I hoped so at least. I mean, I had talked to Harry for the past few hours so I was quite proud of myself for being able to do that.

“See, it’s a bit embarassing,” he continued, “because I know I’ve said I did research, and I’ve booked a hotel, but I only have the adress and I have absolutely no clue where it is. I was planning on bringing a map or something, but I forgot.” I breathed out in relieve, considering it’s a problem with a rather easy solution. I had to surpress a laugh though, Mr. Popstar was clearly not used to organizing things on his own. But he was trying, and I appreciated that.

“What’s the adress? Maybe I know where it is.” I highly doubted it actually. Although I lived in Antwerp, I solely knew the neighbourhood around my apartment and the streets to the station and my school. I only went to the places I had to be, avoiding any occasion that would lead to me having to step into the outside world. Locking yourself up in your apartment won’t help you, Camille, my subconscious said. Yeah, I knew that… But hey, I went to visit and old friend in Brussels yesterday, and Brussels was an unknown city to me but I went there nonetheless. So I would add that to my improvements as well.

Harry took a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me. I read it carefully, recognizing the name. I think I’ve seen it once on my way to my apartment. “Emperor Hotel?” I asked and he nodded. Suddenly I remembered where I knew the name from “Yeah, it’s near the station. I can lead you to there if you want.” I proposed to him. He smiled widely, “That’d be great, thanks, Camille.”

And so we walked back to the station. The walk was silent but not awkward. I was glad that I didn’t have to talk for a moment. My social abilities for today were reaching their limit and I still had to drop off Harry at his hotel and go grocery shopping. In an hour or so I’d be safe in my apartment.

Every now and then I’d look at Harry, whose nose was red because of the cold and I could clearly see the damp of his breath coming out of his mouth. But I knew I probably looked the same, only with red cheeks as well. That was something I hated; my cheeks turned red whenever I was too cold or too hot. The colour of my face would only remain normal if the temperature was moderate.

I heard a bleep coming out of Harry’s pocket. He took his iPhone out and unlocked it. A loud sigh escaped his mouth as he read what I think was a text message. Then the phone disappeared again in the large pocket of his coat.