I enjoy napping.
The bed, however, was almost too intimidating to contemplate. Situated against the same wall the door was on, it was easily the size of two California kings put together. An elaborate bed crown gathered gold velvet drapes on either side, and there were bolsters. Honest to god bolsters, like something out of a historical romance novel.
“You sleep in here.” I held up my hands and let them fall. “It looks like a museum, and you just sleep in here.”
“I don’t just sleep in here,” he said, his arms wrapping around my waist from behind. He leaned down and nibbled my ear, as though the sentence needed further punctuation for me to get the hint.
“I can’t imagine how you’d even keep track of another person in that bed. Or two or three.” I wandered away from him, trailing my fingers over the oval-shaped surface of a delicate lacquered table with spindly legs. “Is there a phone in here?”
There was one thing on my “To Do Before Leaving NYC” checklist that I hadn’t gotten to yet, and I couldn’t let it wait any longer. I’d held off calling Holli, because I hadn’t wanted to worry her or take up her time. Since I’d left my keys and my pre-filled out rent checks with Deja, I figured she would know what was up already, but I had to give her a ring.
“Yes, there is. Do you need help calling?”
Huh. Even the phones were different from ours? “I guess you would know better than I would. I need to call Holli in Paris.”
I spied my purse, set neatly on a wooden secretary-style desk in the corner. I went to it and fished out my cell. It didn’t work in England, something I didn’t realize until Neil had pointed it out to me in the car on the way from the airport. I pulled up Holli’s number and passed it off to Neil.
As Gabriella’s assistant, I had made plenty of international calls from the US. The dialing was a little bit different here, but Neil patiently explained it, then he handed me the phone and moved away. I watched him go to the wall and open it. There was a secret door in Neil’s bedroom. Holy shit, this was like Clue a little more every minute.
“Hello?” Holli answered uncertainly, and I realized she wouldn’t recognize the number.
“Guess where I am,” I prompted, lowering my voice a bit. It felt weird to act excited about being here; after all, it was Neil’s house, not some tourist destination— not for me, anyway. And I was here for serious reasons.
“A halfway house for unmarried pregnant women like in The Cider House Rules?” she asked dryly. “Why haven’t I heard from you?”
“A lot has gone on in the past week. First of all, no, bitch, I am not at a halfway house. I’m not even pregnant anymore, so that’s a total non-issue.” I took a deep breath. “I’m in England.”
“What?” Holli shrieked down the line. “Where the hell are you?”
“Langhurst Court? It’s Neil’s house.” I shrugged, even though she couldn’t see me.
“So basically, you let him take you to a second location?” She snorted. “Seriously, though, you’re not in England.”
“I am! Check your phone.” I waited for her to check, then when she came back on the line, I said, “Told ya.”
“Sophie... what is going on?” She lowered her voice, too, like maybe she was somewhere she couldn’t talk candidly. That is, candidly for her. “You were supposed to go back to Michigan for Christmas. And you were like, broken up with Neil. What are you doing in England with him?”
“It’s a long story, do you have time?”
“Give me the highlights,” she said reluctantly. “I’m actually at a run through, we’re on a ten minute break and five are up.”
I took a deep breath and sank into the dainty, embroidered chair in front of the desk. “We’re not not-together anymore. We didn’t keep the baby, Neil has leukemia, and I came with him to England while he goes through chemotherapy.”
“Um... wow. That’s a lot to process. Are you okay?” she asked. In the background, I heard someone yelling in French.
Now wasn’t a good time to spill all my deepest emotions. She was at work, so I bucked up as best as I could. “Yeah, I’m doing good. I’ll talk to you about all this when you can. Save this number, I’ll be here until the twenty-sixth, I think.”
“Okay, but... Soph. Are you seriously okay? With the... you know?”
I did know. “Yeah. I felt guilty, which I wasn’t expecting. But Neil was really supportive about the whole thing.”
She sighed heavily. “I feel like such a see-you-next-Tuesday for not being there for you.”
“No.” I wouldn’t let her feel bad over following her dreams, just because the timing was bad for me. “You are doing exactly what you need to be doing. I’m not alone. Things with Neil are better than they ever were, and I’m really happy to be here.”