CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #2
‘Honestly, what do you have against men?’
I glanced at the lady’s twinkling eyes behind the reception desk then leaned closer to Corey. ‘Can we talk about this later?’ I whispered.
‘Whatever.’ He turned to the lady. ‘It’s fine. We’ll take it, thanks.’ Corey swiped his credit card through the machine and took the door card from her hand.
‘Fine?’ I asked.
It was not fine.
‘It’s that or sleep in the car.’
‘Great idea. I’ll stay here, you can sleep in the car.’ I reached for the card, but he yanked his hand behind his back.
‘No way. I’m not sleeping out there. The car might get washed away.’
‘You could start a new life on an island far away from your father. You’d love it.’
He shook his head and followed the sign pointing to rooms one through to twenty down the hall.
The fluorescent bulb flickered, and I wondered if we’d lose power here, too.
I hoped not. The goosebumps coating my body were dying for a hot shower.
We stopped outside room sixteen, the battered door no more inviting than reception.
The nail at the top of the golden six was missing, and the number hung sideways.
Corey held the card against the sensor until the light flashed green, and the door opened, releasing a suffocating fake pinecone scent from an air freshener.
I coughed as Corey walked my short legs through the narrow opening into the room, and wished I could jump into my small frame just a few steps ahead and melt back into my body.
I was so close to myself physically, yet so far.
Nothing more than a dream I couldn’t bring to life.
Holding onto the hope of finding the umbrella tomorrow, I followed him inside and covered my eyes.
‘How bad is it?’ I asked.
‘How bad is what? The room?’
‘The bed,’ I bellowed. ‘What are we working with? A queen or a king?’
‘Well, ah…’
I peeked through my fingers at the world’s smallest bed. ‘It’s official. The Guinness Book of World Records are on their way to measure the dolls furniture.’
Corey sighed. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘The bed – it’s tiny!’
The small room had a double bed down the middle with bedside tables and a lamp on either side. A narrow desk opposite with a phone and wooden chair were the only other furniture. Next to the bed was a built-in wardrobe with white doors, and I grimaced at the lack of room.
‘We’ll fit. That’s all that matters,’ said Corey.
My brain scrambled for an ounce of understanding that couldn’t be found. All that matters? This giant body would be flush against Corey’s petite frame. We should be taking that into account, too.
‘I’m going to take a shower. I’m freezing,’ I said.
‘What are you going to change into?’
The cold droplets on my skin burrowed into me until I was an ice statue, frozen by the realisation I had no other clothes.
Shit.
I walked to the small cupboard and looked inside. Bingo. Extra blankets and pillows were folded in neat piles on the top shelf.
‘I’ll wrap myself up with a blanket, and we can ask reception to use their washer and dryer.’
Corey nodded. ‘Throw your clothes out of the bathroom, I’ll call reception while you’re in the shower.’
I yanked down the blanket pile and took one into the bathroom with me.
‘And don’t take too long. I’m freezing, too,’ Corey called through the door.
For a brief moment, I lost my mind as I considered telling him he could hop into the shower with me to warm up.
After all, his body was nothing I hadn’t seen every day for the last twenty-eight years.
Instead, I tossed my wet clothes out and stepped under the steaming water, to keep some much-needed distance between us.
Learning a new side of Corey this week had rewired my opinion of him, but I still couldn’t figure out which side of tolerance and hatred to stand firm on.
My body thawed as I held onto the sliver of hope for this umbrella.
The roads were unlikely to be opened tomorrow considering the rain was still clattering on the roof, but we were halfway there.
Halfway to getting our bodies back, completing our exams, and never seeing each other again.
My spine tingled at the thought of never again seeing the face I now saw each morning.
I climbed out of the shower and rubbed the rough white towel over my body, then walked into our room with the blanket wrapped around my shoulders.
Corey was perched on the edge of the chair at the desk, teeth chattering, and bouncing his short legs.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked.
‘I’m f— f— freezing.’
Guilt ran into me like a road train, and I raced back to the bathroom and twisted the taps. ‘Start undressing,’ I called out.
Corey shuffled into the bathroom with stiff legs in his bra and undies. ‘Th— Thanks.’
‘I’m sorry I took so long.’
Corey nodded in acknowledgment as I slipped past him and closed the door behind me.
When he joined me twenty minutes later wrapped in his own blanket, I glanced at the time on my phone.
Five in the evening should be too early to sleep, but the exhaustion from my shitty sleep last night was taking its toll.
I wondered if each blink would be the last before my eyes refused to reopen.
Our clothes wouldn’t be ready until morning, so I wrapped myself like a newborn baby as best I could and laid on top of the sheets.
‘Now,’ I said. ‘When you’re ready to sleep, you go under the sheets.’
‘What, and let the sheets create some sort of barrier?’
‘Yes, exactly.’
Corey rolled his eyes and grinned. ‘Sure, Nora. If that’ll make you sleep better.’
The truth was, I’d probably sleep better if we cosied our bodies together under those covers, but boundaries with men were imperative.
I couldn’t ignore my goals just because someone disguised as me listened carefully and offered help when I needed it.
I’d seen and heard the complications caused by my dad and refused to be suckered into financial dependence like my mother.
She’d warned me, I’d listened, and now it was up to me to stay strong and avoid falling into any traps.
Mum started with marriage and ended with too many years off work caring for me and my brothers for her to be able to get back into her career.
Financially fucked wouldn’t be in my future.
Even with Hayley’s voice in the back of my mind telling me, love doesn’t have to be that way, Corey would remain outside my barrier.
Love?
Where the hell did that thought come from?