I wake up to some deep thuds, my eyes slowly open. It's still dark outside, what time is it? I grab my phone and can see its 9:04 in the morning.
Shit! I was meant to be outside the hotel ready to be picked up by the coach at 9! More deep thuds echoed off the crisp white walls. My hazy head still trying to work out the source of their origin. Knock. Knock. The sounds became crystal clear. Someone banging on the door. I managed to pull myself off of the bed to amble towards the door. The back of my mind worrying about missing the coach. What would I do if they wouldn't let me on the future excursions? What I do for a week in Iceland with no transport and only enough money to cover eating and some souvenirs?
I'll have to deal with that later. First, the door.
I opened the door as slowly as possible, trying to hide my bare chest from whoever was pounding away at the door. Whoever was knocking clearly didn't feel I was opening the door fast enough as it quickly swung into the room, almost knocking me off balance.
"You're late!" Those hazel eyes burning into mine. Oh please not him.
"Wait? Late? Late for what?" How does he know I'm late for my coach?
"Get dressed and meet us at the coach. You've got 10 minutes!" While his attitude had been abrupt before he sounded positively fuming. No annoying smirk anywhere. Just a scowl. He turned to storm away.
The coach is still waiting?! That's ridiculously lucky! But....how does he know? He works for the coaches from the airport right? Unless..
My body ran cold as if all the blood had drained out in an instant. But I didn't have time to waste. Or shower.
I shut the door with a little more force than intended and looked at the room, my dirty clothes strewn around. I ran to my bags, rummaging around for the first clean clothes I could find, some jeans and a T-shirt . I threw them on and left the room as quickly as I could. I hadn't had a chance to check the time so I was really hoping the coach was still there, surely 10 minutes hadn't passed but judging by my luck on the rest of this trip I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't get there just in time to see the coach speeding away.
I hurried down the white corridors swerving past other guests and staff, apologising for multiple near-misses. I burst out of the front door and ran into what felt like a solid wall of ice. My body had become accustomed to the in room heating and had almost forgotten I was in Iceland, in winter. The cold wind bit at my exposed arms but I was warmed by the sight of the coach. I ran as fast as my feet could take me, the fresh snow crunching below. I was shocked at how dark it still was, almost as if the sun had forgotten to rise this morning. My deep breathes pluming from my throat that burned from the cold air. I made it to the door, putting my left foot firmly on the first step. As I pulled myself up my nose almost colliding with firm muscles hiding behind a light grey jumper, adorned with diamonds and snowflakes around the neck and shoulders. My eyes slowly shifted upwards, diamonds and snowflakes ending abruptly with a tanned, thick neck. The neck continued up to a strong jaw, lightly coated in dark stubble. I gulped. I found myself staring into his brown eyes.
"Decided to join us then?" His cutting tone shaking me back into my body.
"I'm sorry, I forgot to set my ala-" I started.
"Doesn't matter, you're here now. Go sit down." His hand finding its way to my shoulder. Although he cut me off mid sentence his tone had softened dramatically and his firm grip on my shoulder felt somewhat comforting. More comforting than his snapping earlier anyway. He lead me down the aisle to the only two seats available, my eyes scanning for even a glimpse of Adam. He beckoned me to sit down first, and I complied. I'm pretty sure he could've pushed me down with just one hand if he had wanted to anyway. He sat down beside me and I felt my face turn to him automatically. Why was he sitting next to me? Oh no, he really is joining us on this coach?! Why? Does he work for them? Is he having a day off and he's joining in for fun?
He turned his head to meet my surprised gaze. His chiselled face softened into a gentle smile. "Morning." He grinned. "I made them wait for you."
He did what? "Ummm, thank you." I stammered.
"I'm Coach." He held out his hand, a small chuckle escaped my lips and I was expecting him to retaliate with his outstretched hand turning into a fist and connecting with my face.
"I know..I know. My Dad really likes coaches. I guess that's how I ended up in this business." Somehow this large, imposing figure seemed to shrink down, almost as if he was trying to slip down the back of the chair.
"Hi Coach. I'm Scott." I took his hand in mine, shocked by how soft his large hands were. "I'm not sure if my dad really likes Scotts." I said with a slight chuckle, hoping to take some of the heat away from him. It seemed to work, he sat up, his confident stature reforming.
