Stood there in her faux-fur collared coat, perfect make-up, and thick blonde hair that had been straightened to within an inch of its life, Roberta couldn’t take her eyes off the man. “If there’s anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable,” she said. “Maybe show you around the place…?”
He smiled through pursed lips, obviously too polite to dismiss her offer altogether.
“It’s not often we get–”
I coughed, interrupting her mid-sentence.
“Oh,” Roberta said. “You’re here.”
Going off her tone, my arrival evidently came as something of a disappointing surprise. Not that I could understand why when she was stood right outside my house.
She looked me up and down. “You’re looking well.”
We both knew I’d looked better.
“Good night, was it?”
I smiled. “Something like that.”
“Aren’t you the lucky one,” she said. “Fin was just telling me he’s staying with you for a bit.” She fluttered her eyelashes his way.
“Was he now?” I replied, wishing the woman would stop throwing herself at the man and leave. Although I supposed on a positive note, at least I’d been given a name for my unwanted guest.
7
Six Days until Christmas
I opened my eyes with a start, forced to concentrate as I listened out. My ears pricked and my pulse raced. There it was again, a noise coming from the landing. “What the…?”
Too scared to go and investigate, I focused as I hunched up onto my elbows, before clocking the chair I’d wedged under my bedroom door handle. The previous day’s events came flooding back and remembering my unwanted house guest, Fin, I groaned as I flopped back down onto my pillows. I couldn’t believe what drunken me had got sober me into. With less than a week until Christmas I had enough problems thanks to my cancelled holiday without having to deal with a stranger’s housing needs.
My holiday. I’d been so looking forward to doing something not only different but daring for once, and in my small world, life couldn’t get any more adventurous than jetting off into the sun solo. I knew, compared to some, my plans weren’t exactly out there. But to me, the Caribbean was a planet away from my humdrum existence. To ponder my future in such a far-off place, felt intrepid yet necessary and while Christmas with the family was great, it was nowhere near as exciting. A picture of Jeremy popped into my head. You bastard!
I appreciated that life since Jeremy’s departure could have been worse. Whereas as some people turned to ice cream and chocolate for solace or, indeed, hit the bottle, I’d always had a sweet tooth and enjoyed a glass of red; him leaving had made no difference on that score. In the aftermath of our relationship I didn’t need to turn to any substance to help me recover. Anger had been my best friend and while I had to admit that initially I refused to give up my aeroplane seat and hotel bed out of revenge, I’d moved on and learnt a valuable lesson along the way. Rather than assign someone else the responsibility, I was liable for my own happiness. And in a funny sort of way, rather than remind me that my relationship with Jeremy was over, my holiday had represented the beginnings of a new relationship – with myself.
The sound of the shower running filtered into my room, shortly followed by Fin’s dulcet tones as he began to sing. I scowled. The man might’ve been able to hold a tune, but it was far too early for We Three Kings. In fact, as I checked the time on the clock next to my bed and realised my alarm wasn’t due to go off for another half an hour, it was far too early for anything.
I wondered what he was doing up at that time of the morning. Unlike me, I presumed he didn’t have work to go to and as he carolled, I grabbed the sides of my pillow and pulled them forward, pressing the padding against my ears to drown out the noise. However, it was no match for Fin’s voice, I could still hear every word, and I pulled the pillow from behind my head altogether and threw it towards the door. Not for the first time since Fin landed, I decided that no matter what predicament Annie was in, or why she’d asked me to put him up, the man had to go.
Finally, the singing stopped, as did the running water from the shower. For what good that was, by then I was wide awake. I listened intently for a while and thanks to the silence, supposed I should get up and ready for work. After all, it wasn’t as if I was going to get back to sleep.
Throwing the duvet back, I climbed out of bed and put on my dressing gown. Then I tiptoed to the door and carefully removed the chair from under the door handle, pausing for a second to make sure all was still quiet. The last thing I wanted was to bump into Fin on the landing. Concluding all was clear, I let myself out and approached the bathroom. “Jesus!” I said, jumping out of my skin as the door flew open in front of me.
Fin stopped in his tracks, and going off the look on his face, he was as surprised to see me as I was him. “Good morning,” he said, quickly recovering.
“Good morning,” I replied, my voice a little higher than I would have liked.
Standing there, he wore nothing but a big smile, a twinkle in his eye, and the tiniest of towels. His damp hair was pushed back from his face and droplets of water lay scattered across his bare chest. If I’d thought the man was good-looking when dressed, he was even more gorgeous with no clothes on. Keeping my eyeline up, it was all I could do to keep my gaze from wandering downwards.
“I want to apologise for yesterday,” Fin said. “I didn’t mean to be rude and disappear like that, but once I saw that bed, I couldn’t help but test it out. You know what it’s like after a long journey? A five-minute snooze turned into an all-nighter.”
I swallowed hard. Unused to strange men in my house at the best of times, let alone persona non grata of the half-naked variety, words failed me. My heart rate sped up and I suddenly felt hot.
“Okay then,” Fin said, clearly not sure how to deal with my muteness. He waited another second or two before speaking again. “Can I?” he asked, indicating his desire to get past.
“Sorry. Yes,” I said, finally finding my voice. We both stepped to his left, then his right, and then his left once more, leaving Fin somewhat amused and me feeling a tad extra flustered. “Sorry,” I said again and with no choice but to step away from the door altogether, I rolled my eyes in an exaggerated fashion, a feeble attempt at making light of the situation. “After you.”
Watching him head to his room, I took in the man’s broad square shoulders and strong frame, and blowing my overgrown fringe away from my eyes, I, at last, allowed my gaze to drop. Admiring his bum, pert and perfectly defined under his towel, my uterus felt like it was about to burst into flames and as I ogled his taut muscular thighs, I let out a little whimper. Fin’s whole mien was a sight to behold.
Fin turned and looked my way. “Thank you,” he said, winking at me, before disappearing into his room.
His gesture shook me out of my trance and feeling embarrassed, I couldn’t believe his cheek as I hastened into the bathroom. Annoyed at myself as much as I was with him, I locked the door behind me, flicked on the shower and set it to cold. The man had to go.