Off With His Head

08. Bloody Men

Wednesday rolls around and I still have not had a decent night's sleep.

I have to admit I'm becoming quite a grumpy cow. I even snapped at Naomi when she offered me her special eye cream that would 'help get rid of the black circles because I look like death warmed up.'

Ok maybe the snapping was slightly justified.

But my sour mood is not only because of my lack of sleep. Tonight's the night that I am seeing Henry again and to be honest I am still unsure of what the actual plan is.

I have seen Caleb and Zach once since Sunday, and received two texts, one from each of them giving me their number. The only time I did see them; they were busy planning strategies and barely included me in the conversation. Which made me wonder if they could take their discussion somewhere else and let me have a nap.

All I know, is that I am supposed to go on a date with Henry tonight and 'act natural' and 'the less I know the better'. But if that's the case, why did they involve me in the first place?

Bloody men.

At least with me being so irritable, it doesn't leave too much room for panic. That's one way of looking at the bright side.

This time, when I am in the kitchen making coffee, I hear Caleb and Zach come in through the window. I'm not even surprised when I hear Caleb's voice behind me.

"Yes please."

I pull out two more mugs. "You know. I do have a front door you can use, instead of climbing through my lounge window like a couple of petty thieves."

"I'm impressed that you heard us this time." He leans against the kitchen doorway, a grin stretched across his face.

I shrug and pass him his and Zach's coffee to carry through. Zach is once again on my couch, looking way too comfortable for my liking. He sees my mug and raises his eyebrows. "How many coffees have you had today?"

"I don't know," I respond, grouchy as hell. "Like a zillion. What do you care?"

"Zillion's not a real number," Caleb chuckles, but stops when he sees the look on my face. "Did someone not get enough sleep last night?"

"Actually, for the past few nights. It doesn't help my mood when two dudes basically break in to my apartment and demand endless cups of coffee." I take a long sip of mine and slowly start to feel a bit better.

"Are you going to be like this all day?" Zach asks. "Because we have a job to do, and I would prefer it if you weren't so grumpy."

I open my mouth to retort, but Caleb jumps in, "let's all just take a deep breath. Jennings, tonight it will all be over and you can have a good rest. And next time we visit, not only will we use the front door, we will also bring you a jar of coffee. Fair?"

"Fine," I sulk. Normally I'm not so petty, but today I am in the mood to be difficult.

"Right," Zach begins. "So here's the plan. Peyton, tonight you are going out on your date with Henry, we will be following you and will ambush him when he least expects it."

I sit expectantly, waiting to hear the rest of the plan. When Zach doesn't continue speaking, realization dawns like a slap in the face. "Is that it? That's your whole plan?" I ask in disbelief.

The two of them exchange a look, which makes me think that no, that is definitely not the whole plan. They have got something else prepared, something they don't want to share with me. The fact that they are keeping things from me makes me even more irritated than I already was.

"Are you two mind readers?" I snap.

"What?" Caleb looks confused.

"Well you two are always exchanging looks," I point out. "It's like each of you can tell what the other is thinking."