Glory Days

Chapter Four

Emma sat with her knees pulled up to her chin in the back of the ancient purple Jaguar. In the front of the car, Blake and Rob were discussing directions to the nearest (and cheapest) B&B in Brighton. They’d found one near to the Marina which sounded pretty nice, but now they were lost in a concrete jungle. She inwardly sighed at the towering blank walls which created the hideous man-made canyon they were driving through.

    “Remind me why we’re here again?”

    “To get some lovely fresh sea air,” Rob responded tersely. Obviously Blake’s map reading skills weren’t working out.

    “Oh, give it here,” Emma grabbed the ancient road map from Blake’s hands and gave it the once over. “I don’t know why you don’t just save up and get a Sat Nav,” she muttered while she scanned their route.

    “You’re not coming anywhere near this car with one of those things!” Rob spluttered. “It’s okay Stella, I won’t let it happen.” He patted the dashboard affectionately and Emma mimed sticking a finger down her throat. Blake saw, but stayed tactfully silent.

    “You need to go right here.”

    “What?” Rob turned round and faced her.

    “Go right!” She pointed at the turn they’d almost driven past and he spun the wheel, jerking the car around violently and eliciting a tirade of horn blowing from the car behind. Rob flipped them off without a second thought.

     “Well, what do you know?” The B&B was right in front of them. “Maybe Emma should ride up front in future,” Rob said, looking at Blake disdainfully.

    “Hey, I’m not a dog. Riding up front with you is definitely not my idea of fun.”

    “How did you find it so quickly?” Blake asked completely unselfconsciously. Emma smiled at him. Maybe it was wrong to have favourites but after working with the pair for a month, she appreciated it when Blake was nice to her.

    “I did D of E when I was young. It’s all map reading, you know? Weren’t you outdoorsy?” Blake avoided answering and Rob smirked knowingly.

    “The girl guide has it,” he said, and Emma kicked the back of his seat.

    “That’s the other reason I prefer sitting in the back.” Emma looked smug while Rob moaned about the pain in his lower back.

    They got out of the car and looked at the plain but decent looking B&B. They’d definitely had worse.

    “We’d better get this job over and done with fast, or we’ll run out of money,” Blake said when he’d glanced at the price per night which was written on the door.

    “If the worst comes to the worst, I’m sure Emma can go out and pull her weight if you know what I’m saying.” Rob winked and she gave him a look and watched him sweat. Her fists balled up but then relaxed. 

    “It’s not even worth it. You’re such a dick.” She grabbed the room key, which had been left on the desk, and stomped up the creaky stairs.

    “What did you get when you called ahead?” Rob asked.

    “A single and a double room,” Blake responded and Rob raised his eyebrows suggestively.

    “You think you can get in with that?” Rob jabbed a thumb towards the stairs where Emma had been and Blake glared at him.

     “You need to start treating her like she’s a member of the team Rob, not some stupid girl who you can make fun of all the time.” Rob’s dark eyes widened.