S.O.S/The Winner Takes It All

Chapter 18

I open my eyes to see Courtney sleeping peacefully next to me. I turn onto my back, staring up at the ceiling.
This is what I want. To wake up next to her every morning for the rest of my life.
I hear her shift, so I roll back onto my side. She smiles at me sleepily, and I just gaze at her. "You look so beautiful."
She raises her eyebrows, a questioning look on her face. "Do I now?"
I lean into her lips, stopping just before they touch. "Of course you do."
Courtney smiles against my lips. She lays back on her pillow, tilting her head. "What did I do to deserve you?"
I prop myself up on my elbow. "What are you talking about? I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
Courtney laughs and pushes my shoulder, knocking me back onto the pillow. She shifts her position, and time seems to slow down before I sit up, gently placing my hand on her neck, bringing her lips to mine. I turn her body so she is laying down, without breaking the kiss. Her lips are warm and soft, and the faint taste of her lipstick from the night before has become a familiar flavour.
Suddenly she pulls away, after what seems like forever, but still not long enough. "Don't we have work today?"
I stare at her, guilt rushing through me. "Ah shit."
We both leap out of bed, quickly dressing. I pull my phone from the pocket of my jeans, clicking the home button.
Missed Call: 6: Olivia Sui
Missed Call: 3: Noah Grossman
Noah Grossman: 8:22 am: Where are you?
"Holy shit." I look over at Courtney, who is doing her makeup as fast as possible. "We'd better get over there."
She applies lipstick, and I try to make my hair look presentable. "Come on."
We run downstairs, throwing the front door open. Courtney locks it behind us and we're on our way to the garage when Courtney throws up her hands suddenly. "Shit! I just realised I leant my car to my brother yesterday after work. He's bringing it back this afternoon."
"We'll just take mine," I say, jogging down the driveway with her. I unlock my car, getting into the driver's seat. Courtney shuts her door, and I pull out onto the street. 

...

The elevator ride is mostly silent, with Courtney and I keeping our distance.
"Fuck." She says just before the doors open. "Are you ready for this?"
You'd think with all this spare time, we'd have already thought of a cover story. But nope, we didn't.
The elevator doors slide open with a pleasant ding, and we step out, walking to the office. I open the door, staring at Noah and Olivia sitting there.
"Why are you so late?" Olivia asks, placing a hand on her hip. "I called you like, six times."
"We overslept," I say, only realising my words after they leave my mouth.
Noah raises his eyebrows. "'We' overslept?"
"Yes. Some shit went down last night, and I stayed the night at Courtney's house because she was scared, as every sane person would be."
Noah's eyebrows went up even further. "'Some shit went down'?"
"Are you just going to repeat everything I say? I understand that the way I'm saying this, it sounds like something else happened, but the reality is that Chris broke into Courtney's house and wanted to kill me."
Noah and Olivia look shocked.
I try to speak, but I'm out of breath. Courtney intervenes. "Don't worry, we called the police after I knocked him out with a chair."
There is another shocked pause. "Holy shit, Courtney," Olivia states, staring at her in awe. "That's some real fucking shit," Noah adds. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. If Shayne hadn't come, things could've been much worse." Courtney glances at me, her eyes darting down to my lips.
I smile at her, before looking to the others. "Why don't we get to set, and we can tell everyone who's there."
Olivia nods, putting her arm around Courtney. "You are so brave, that guy is psycho."
I let out a sigh of relief, silently thanking my improv classes.