3: 3
3
Neil looked at my face and froze. His mouth opened, then closed again.
He let out a long sigh, lifted me back into the front passenger seat, and buckled my seat belt for me.
We drove the rest of the way in silence. I never once looked at the back seat again.
The scenery outside the window rushed past.
I raised a hand to my cheek. It was wet.
After I'd calmed down a little, I unlocked my phone.
I deleted Neil's name and number, and changed the hotel booking so it was under my name alone.
The car pulled up in front of the hotel. Karen took his arm and walked into the lobby with him.
He tossed a line in my direction. "Don't forget the suitcase."
It didn't take long to check in at the front desk.
I took the key card and my ID from the clerk with both hands, turned, and headed for the elevators.
The moment Neil saw that, he pulled Karen along and hurried after me, only to have a security guard step out and block their way.
"I'm sorry, the two of you haven't checked in yet. You can't go up."
Neil's brows drew tight. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, I stared at them and let the elevator doors close.
Faintly, from inside the elevator, I could still hear Neil and Karen's voices.
A moment later, Neil's call came through. I pressed answer.
A wave of fury poured through the receiver and burned against my ear.
"Felicity! What's the meaning of walking off on your own without a single word?"
I answered flatly.
"Oh, I forgot to mention. Book your own hotel room. My company isn't reimbursing it."
Maybe it was my cold tone that set him off, or maybe it was losing face in front of Karen, but Neil wouldn't let it go.
"I'm counting to three. Get down here right now and book another room."
"Otherwise, don't even think about me forgiving you."
Karen's aggrieved little voice leaked out of the receiver.
"Felicity, I know you can't stand me, and I can leave. But Neil is your boyfriend..."
When I didn't react, Neil's face went red.
"Felicity, I'm giving you one more chance. Otherwise I really will be angry and ignore you."
Beep, beep, beep... I hung up and switched to airplane mode.
Neil listened to the busy tone in his receiver, his face full of disbelief.
Early the next morning, sunlight poured over the snow-capped mountains outside the window, a sheet of pure gold.
A post from Karen popped up on my social media feed.
Inside a hotel room, Neil lay at the edge of the bed, the faint trace of lipstick showing on his shirt.
The caption read: "It feels so good to have someone who loves you."
I put my phone down. My stomach turned.
I hunched over the toilet, dry-heaving for a long while before it eased.
Once it settled, I picked up a pen and crossed Neil's name off the family-member line of the prize voucher.
The guide tagged me in the group chat: "When are we heading out?"
After a while, I typed a few words but hadn't sent them yet.
Neil tagged me: "About yesterday, I won't hold it against you."
"Get down here already. There's a limit to acting out. Today's schedule is tight, and everyone's waiting on you."
"Ha ha~"
I stared at my phone screen and laughed out loud.
So it turned out that when a person is truly speechless, they can actually laugh.
