Alex's POV
My hospital stay was quite short lived, as we had to head back to the theatre that following day. Heading over to the hospital reception, I quickly signed the papers, paid the property damage fine and discharged myself, after which I headed back to the hotel.
There wasn't much to do after reaching the room, as I had never really unpacked since I came. I shut the luggage bags and head out, locking the door behind me.
Walking towards the lobby, I realised I might see Ben again.
My mood immediately collapsed.
The lobby was naturally bright, as the doors and ceiling were made of glass, with small pendant lights on the corners. The weather was still gloomy, as it had cast a shadow in the room, making it darker for the time of the day.
As I walked to the reception, to return my keys, I could feel a sense of doom behind me.
"Room 305, need to check out," I said to the receptionist, who was donning a default smile.
"Is your name Alex? From the Tiger troop?"
"...Yes."
"As per our data, you have some more rooms booked under your name?"
Probably Margie again.
"... Yes... I believe so."
"Please check me out of room 308," a familiar voice interrupted, although in an unusual low energy. I turned sideways, it was Ben.
"Now he will come to bother me," I muttered, as I tried to hide my face away.
"Sorry sir, you said something?" The receptionist asked.
"No... not really, can you please hurry up? I need to board the bus," I said, pointing at the entrance.
"Sure, let me just look into his booking first as yours is loading at the moment," she pointed towards Ben.
He came and stood next to me. My shoulders were continuously brushing past his arm, with each touch increasing my pulse rate. Meanwhile, he kept looking straight forward, as if he was a soldier in training, being tested for his gaze. Crisp. Sharp. Non chalant.
I glanced at my phone, it was already past twelve, "can you please hurry?" I stressed.
"Mr. Ben, your check out is done, please hand over the keys," she places her hand forward, probably a part of protocol. He placed them in her hand.
I began to tap my fingers on the luggage, catching his attention. He looked towards me for a second, glancing up from my toes to my head, but turned away soon enough.
"Mr. Alex, yours will take time, as there's some glitch in the system, it will take us some time to fix it," she spoke in a monotonous voice.
Sh*t.
I can't leave now, because all of their bookings were under my name, since Margie transferred the name last minute. All thanks to her planning, now I'm stuck in the camp, in possibly the most awkward situation ever.
I went and sat on the waiting lounge with my luggage, holding my head in hands. In the background, I could hear the engines of the bus roaring, as it dashed past the hotel. I had no way of going home.
Except one way.
But it involved Ben.
And there was absolutely no way I was going with that option unless I was to die.
But how else to get back?
My thoughts were racing back and forth, trying to connect the dots but I was only hitting dead ends. I had almost given up, emptying all my thoughts.
At that moment, I felt a tug at one of my bags. I looked up, it was him. His hair unkempt, face messy, and his nose drooping low, plus his face missing the smug attitude. Even his clothes were messy, wrongly buttoned blue cardigan and sweats, a strange combination. He didn't really look his best that day.
He said nothing. He grabbed the handles of both the bags and walked out. I was about to follow him, when the receptionist suddenly called my name out.
"Mr. Alex!" She screamed.
I walked back to the reception, placing my arms on the table, "is it done now? This really wasn't good service from your side."
"We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience sir, but it's done now, you can hand over the keys."
I handed over the only keys I had, of my room. Probably the rest were already collected.
I turned back and ran towards the red convertible parked outside the entrance, watching him place my bags in the boot in order. With each bag, I felt my stomach being turned inside-out, wrapping itself around my guts. I had no words to say. What could I even say at this point?
I sighed.
With no other option, I walked to the door and opened it, taking a front seat. He made sure everything was locked, no boots flying and got inside the car, igniting the engine and opening the roof.
The rest of the drive down the hill was very silent. If a snowflake were to fall, we would've heard it.
Right as we reached the bottom of the hill,
Plink!
Aaaannd it fell. I noticed a drop, on the leather armrest.
Drip, drop.
Two more fell on my hands.
Except it wasn't snow, it was rain.
The drops began to increase. A few collected on the windshield. I looked at him, no expression on his face. I looked at the sky above us. Dark layered clouds sat against the mountains, almost as if they were being held captive by the peaks.
I looked back at him, with drops on his hand, yet hands steady on the wheel, navigating the curvy roads. If I didn't inform him then, we'd be flooded in no time, and this car would be gone for good.
I gathered in all my breath to speak.
"It looks -"
The words disappeared there. My tongue wouldn't move. My jaw locked. I turned back away, facing the windows.
Pitter- Patter.
The rain had blown up into a full shower, hitting the leather upholstery ruthlessly. My hair was getting damp, all sticking down my face, my shirt getting stained with drops till it was fully covered. The windshield was full of drops and so were my glasses.
That's it, I had to do something.
I pulled his arm from the steering wheel, causing us to swerve left. He immediately pulled back his hand, probably breaking out from the trance he was lost in and brought it straight. He looked at me, looking like a wet puppy and said something so strange that it was downright weird.
"I miss my mom," he said, finally pressing the button to shut the roof. He then took out a pair of brown sunglasses from the glove box, putting them on.
Sunglasses? In this weather?
As the roof gradually closed upon us, I noticed a few drops near his cheeks, falling downwards, gathering near his chin.
Somehow, I knew it wasn't the rain.