Forward

Chapter Eleven

Josephine

The smell of burnt toast wafted through the air, reminding me of home in the most comforting way.

Biting back a small smile and taking a seat, I felt sorry for whoever was engulfing the hotel breakfast bar with a small but steady, plume of smoke.

Curiosity soon gets the better of me and I navigate my way over, selecting a small white plate from the breakfast counter and standing in line, ready to make my own toast.

As I cast an eye over the continental selections beside me that are so beautifully presented, I reach out, my hand hovering over a pain au chocolat when I hear a disturbance from somewhere further along the line in front of me.

"Hey, what's the hold up buddy?" I hear someone say.

"Uh, sorry. If I'm honest, I have no idea.. This thing seems to have a mind of it's own."

Abandoning my plate, I head to the front of the queue in a bid to rescue the familiar voice.

Smiling, I say nothing as my eyes meet with Hero's.

I take the plate from his hand whilst adjusting the thermostat on the side of the large toasting device.

"Uh, thanks." He says a little reservedly.

"No problem!" I raise and lower my eyebrows, focusing on not burning or wasting any more bread.

"Don't they have these back in England?" I quip.

"Dunno, maybe.."

"Oh so what you really mean is, you don't know.." I raise an eyebrow, smiling.

"Where were you last night?" He suddenly asks, his expression conflicted.

"Umm, in my.. Room?" I frown and smile. "Where else would I be?" I start to laugh.

"Are you two finished, or?" The woman behind Hero asks impatiently.

"Sorry." We both say before stepping aside to continue the conversation.

"Hey listen, why don't we.. Stick to continental for a moment? Fudge the toast." I smile and wrinkle my nose.

He grins and agrees before following me back to my abandoned plate.

I soon pick up where I left off before stepping aside and waiting for him to make his own selection.

Once his plate is full, we head over to where I had been previously sitting.

We eat our food in silence before addressing the elephant in the room.

"So last night.. You and Inanna looked pretty cosy?!" I say sucking some melted dark chocolate off my thumb.

"Oh. Yeah, that.." He raises both brows and looks away.

"I would have waited for you but you and the others seemed to be really hitting it off." I tell him with a smile.

"Yeah, Red's great. Samuel too. Have you spoken to Red before?" He asks before sipping on his orange juice.

"Yeah, we Skyped a few times, she's really cool." I take a sip of my water before replacing the glass on the table.

"You have? Well, I kind of got carried away.. Time wise. And when I realised, I looked for you but you weren't there." He explains.

"Sorry." I shrug. "Like I said, you looked pretty busy."

"Yeah.. Um. Shit. Can we go?" I watch him look over to the door and see that Anna and Inanna have just walked in.

"Why?" I frown and smile.