I'm OK!

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After checking into the hotel, the first thing I did was have a nice hot soak in the bath. I needed to get the airplane smell out of my hair, and luckily the bathroom was stacked with nice little fragrancy soaps, shampoos and conditioners. There was even a very nice body lotion which I used rather generously, before checking out the wardrobe delivered to me. I picked out several suits, a nice Bordeaux colored set, a cream one in case the sun ever broke through, and a simple black pants suit. There was also a beautiful deep blue dress that fitted me like a glove, which would be good for more casual meetings. Several pairs of shoes followed, of course none of them as sexy as my black stiletto’s, but the strappy heels in the same dark red as the suit did look rather attractive. I picked out some more blouses and tops, a nice pair of sweatpants and some skinny jeans. Not really my thing with my curves, but they looked quite OK when wearing the stiletto’s, so I figured ‘why not?’ Luckily I did bring enough underwear, it was kind of weird to think that I would be wearing underwear that some complete stranger picked out for me. Eew.

Dressed in the sweatpants and a long sleeved top, I decided to check in with Alice through Skype, it was early morning there so she was available. I ran my observations past her, she asked me for my recommendations, I gave them, and she agreed. Really, as simple as that. It seems like she had quite a lot of faith in me. Or maybe she just couldn’t refuse a bargain. She told me that the lawyers would look into it and they’d contact me in case of questions. After this, I checked and noticed  that Sarah was online, so I spent the next hour describing my activities of the day, and she made me promise to take some pictures of everything and everyone. Also if there were any hot men out here in the UK. I couldn’t resist grinning at the memory of the slightly geeky George, or the odd eyed Samuel. They did both possess some good qualities, but I wasn’t paying attention to that.

‘Shawna! Come on, you’re single now and you need to start keeping your eyes open…’

‘Thanks for reminding me of that…’

‘That’s not what I meant, and you know it. I just want you to live a little. If you’re going to be in the UK for three weeks, then you can do what you want, with whom you want, and never return. Or, if you like it, you can stay. Of course the latter is not an acceptable option, which I am allowed to say as your best friend. Actually, I would VETO that option, so you’d HAVE to come back. Meaning, you’d better live a little… or a lot…’

Her rant made me laugh out loud, and I realized I must have zoned out a bit when she was knocking on her webcam to get my attention, making funny faces and rather inappropriate gestures.

‘OK, I get it Sarah… I need to sleep with every single male with a pulse, get as many STD’s I can whilst I am here, and spread the joy when I am back in the USA. No problemo.’

This had her rolling on the floor laughing, and the rest of our conversation was cheerful and fun.

After some room service, admittedly including some ice cream, I fell asleep at 6 in the evening, being woken only at 7 the next morning by my alarm. I must’ve been really tired having slept 13 hours straight. I didn’t have any missed calls, only 2 emails, one of them from the lawyers with their recommendation and some official documents to help with it, and one of them from Shawna, with a reminder to take a pictures of  all the “bearers of sex and unconditional STD’s.’ I replied to that one by sending her a really bad picture of Matt, but seeing as it was past midnight, I didn’t get any immediate reply as I normally would. These time zones are messing with your head.

After having a quick breakfast at the buffet in the hotel, George picked me up at 9 sharp, and we were at the bakery half an hour later. For the first time since my arrival it had stopped drizzling. Now it was a full-out rain, but George and I were both prepared with large umbrella’s, and we made our way quickly into the shop. As we made our way to the office, I could hear raised voiced, so George and I stayed back as we didn’t want to interrupt anything. We overheard most of the conversation though…

‘Look, I told you before, I don’t care if the baby isn’t mine, I want her to keep it.’ Samuel shouted.

‘What about your promise to me?’, another male voice added, this one unfamiliar.

‘I don’t want this kid to suffer just because of a promise I made.’

‘So you’re just going to give up on us, for a kid that isn’t even yours?’ the unfamiliar guy said, this time with more venom in his voice.

‘I have to, David… This will probably be the only opportunity I will have of being a dad. I cannot just let it go.’

The rest of the conversation was rather mumbled, and as it was approaching 10, we made our presence known by loudly ascending the stairs to the loft offices. I could see Samuel and the supposed David hugging, and immediately my brain connected some dots. Samuel hugging another guy. Samuel only having this chance to have a baby. Samuel breaking up with David? 1 plus 1 equals 3, so I came to the conclusion that he must be gay. Which actually made me a bit more comfortable of the prospect with working with him. No matter what Sarah had said the evening before, I was so not ready to be single and on the prowl. Fewer temptations would be better for now.

George hadn’t noticed the exchange between Samuel and David, and when we came into the office he greeted David, and introduced us, so he must have known the guy from meeting him before. He looked rather upset, and didn’t stick around for the meeting. We discussed the plans with Samuel, and went through all the different scenario’s we could think of.