Where I Want To Be
For the lovely Audrey1119: Happy Birthday, and hope you're having an amazing day!
"What do you mean? I booked two rooms. One twin and one single!" cried an agitated Leo at the unsuspecting receptionist sitting before him, who seemed more interested in the colour of her nails than Leo's complaint.
"Well, I'm sorry, Mr Dalton, but your reservation clearly states that you have booked one twin room," chirped the receptionist, with her customer service tone, unfazed by his outburst.
"It's Professor Dalton. And I can see very clearly what your screen says, but I reserved two rooms. Not one, two," stated Leo, enunciating each word slowly for effect.
As if the day couldn't get any worse. First, the train was late, much to their chagrin. Then, whilst waiting for the train to miraculously arrive, Nikki dropped her purse onto the railway track, meaning they were further agitated by Harry trying to find a station attendant to retrieve it.
And now, this. Not to mention the conference tomorrow. The week-long mandatory conference in Bath. About budget cuts. In the unbearable heat that was global warming.
"I'll thank you not to address me in that tone, Professor Dalton. There is absolutely no need for bad manners. At present, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you of the importance of checking your reservation before you travel, to avoid any confusion," she smiled, adjusting the backrest of her chair.
"Well, maybe if your staff were capable of making the reservation correctly, I wouldn't need to check, now, would I?" Leo said, raising his voice just enough to pique Harry and Nikki's interest, who were sitting on their suitcases, waiting for Leo, by the lift.
"Professor Dalton, I understand your concerns. And on behalf of the Russet Lodge Hotel, I apologise unreservedly," her bright red smile widening again. To Leo's dismay, the receptionist then averted her attention back to her computer screen, making no further attempt to communicate with him, tapping away at her keyboard.
Leo waited momentarily, leaning against the desk in slight disbelief, before quite pointedly ringing the bell for service.
"Yes, Professor Dalton, how may I help you today?" the receptionist chimed, as if starting a fresh conversation.
"I'm still a room down. I'd like a single room, please," he sighed, getting his credit card out of his wallet.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor Dalton, but I regret to tell you that all our rooms are reservation-only," the receptionist told him, her words so rehearsed that they were probably from the company manual.
"But I did reserve a room. Two rooms. You just can't find my booking," Leo stated, his tone laced with fatigue and annoyance.
"I'm sorry, but there really is nothing more I can do, Professor Dalton. If you'd like, we can provide you with a complimentary sleeping bag if you'd like to share the twin room with the rest of your party?" the receptionist inquired, trying to make the best out of a bad situation. After all, if he decided to complain, it would be her job on the line.
"Do I have a choice?" asked Leo rhetorically, rolling his eyes.
"Excellent," she beamed, "We'll have the porter bring the sleeping bag up to your room. Here's your key. You're in Room 028 - it's on the first floor."
"Thank you. And...I, er...I apologise for my manner earlier. I was out of order," Leo smiled apologetically.
"Not at all, Professor Dalton. Enjoy your stay!" she called out after him, her voice too upbeat for a Monday evening.
As Leo turned and walked away from the desk, Harry and Nikki simply stared at him with puzzled looks upon their faces.
"What is it? What's going on?" asked Nikki, seeing the exasperated look on Leo's face.
"There's been a slight mix-up with the rooms. So now, I'm sharing with you two in the twin room. Porter's bringing up a sleeping bag," Leo sighed, rubbing his temples to try and relieve himself of some of the stress.
"Oh, a sleeping bag, good. Because you're not sharing my bed," Harry declared.
"As if he'd want to, Harry. So, who's sleeping on the floor then?" Nikki inquired, as she piled her luggage into the lift with great difficulty, being aided by Harry, who only had one small holdall with him.
"Leo can. He cocked up the booking, ergo, he pays the price," Harry replied, tutting at the weight of Nikki's bags, and why he had offered to help carry them.
"Talking about paying the price, whose credit card paid for this room? Because last time I checked, you were still overdrawn," retorted Leo, effectively winning the argument, as he reached the hotel door.
"Okay, so Leo's sleeping in one of the beds. So that just leaves you and me. What do you want to do? Arm wrestle for it?" Harry asked, sounding alarmingly serious at his suggestion of an arm wrestle.
"We are not arm wrestling for the bed," Nikki replied, shaking her head incredulously.
"Thumb war?"
"Veto. We're flipping a coin," Nikki glared at him. Harry then proceeded to stand there, waiting for her to produce a coin from one of her numerous (and unnecessary) bags. Nikki just continued to stare at him.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"Well, have you got a coin?" Nikki asked, earning a groan from Harry.
"Anything else?" he replied, pretending to be annoyed.
"I call heads," Nikki stated loudly, before Harry even flipped the coin.
"Why do you get to call heads? Why can't I call heads?" Harry moaned.
"Because you were too slow," she laughed, poking her tongue out at him.
As Harry went to flip the coin, Nikki suddenly stopped him, taking the coin out of his hand and giving it to Leo.
"It's fairer," Nikki shrugged her shoulders.
"I really don't want to be a part of this," Leo sighed, uninterested in the immaturity of his colleagues.
"Just flip the coin, Professor Dalton," Harry groaned. As Leo flipped the coin into the air, Harry and Nikki simply stared at each other, as if challenging each other.
"Heads," Leo smiled at Nikki, causing her to grin broadly and brush past Harry to get to the bed, the most smug smile of satisfaction gracing her features as she sat cross-legged on the bed.
"Liar," scoffed Harry, "Is this because I said I wouldn't share my bed with you?"
"No, Harry, you're just a sore loser," getting her book out of her purse and beginning to read, engrossing herself once again in the tragic love story that was Cathy and Heathcliff.
"I'm not a loser. I just...didn't win."
Leo had spent the majority of the evening watching a wildlife documentary on his laptop, headphones plugged in and the sound turned up enough to drown out the sound of Harry and Nikki's discussion, which through boredom, had quickly descended from a conversation about pathology budget cuts, into a senseless argument about which DI they would shoot first, given the opportunity. The last he heard, Nikki was defending Mumford to Harry, who was detailing the phantom bullet wound through his head, as if he was reading his PM report.
A couple of hours later, Leo was tired. Nikki was getting ready for bed, whilst Harry was sulking on the rocking chair in the corner of the room, displeased at the prospect of spending the night on the floor.
"Harry, go to bed. You have to be up early in the morning," advised Leo, gesturing towards the sleeping bag on the floor, inbetween the two beds in the room. As Leo got into bed, and promptly fell asleep, Nikki came out of the bathroom, turning off the light as she made her way towards the bed. However, as the room was now dark, she did not see Harry lying on the floor next to her bed, tripping over him as she climbed into bed.
"Ow," complained Harry, rubbing his side, "I now have a bruise on my kidney. Thanks NIkki," he joked sarcastically.
"Go to sleep. We have an early start tomorrow," Nikki hissed, adjusting her duvet and flopping down onto her pillows, immediately feeling sleepy at the feel of a comfy bed.
"Can't we skip the conference?" Harry begged, "Please?"
"No. Now shut up and go to sleep," Nikki whispered groggily, taking one of her pillows and throwing it into the darkness, hoping that her aim was good enough.
"Again, ow. And why not? We've skipped conferences before," he tried to convince her.
"We skipped one conference, Harry. And we only skipped the evening session," she reminded him.
"It was a good evening, though," Harry thought aloud, remembering the events of that evening so clearly in his mind, that it was like it happened yesterday.
"Yeah, it was," Nikki agreed nostalgically, glad that the room was dark, otherwise Harry might have just seen the smile that crept onto her face.
"Ow," Harry's voice came in the darkness for the third time.
"Oh, now what? I didn't do anything," Nikki cried innocently.
"Not you. My back. Your bags were ridiculously heavy. Plus, I'm sleeping on the floor. With only one pillow," he whined, cursing himself internally for carrying Nikki's suitcase.
"Ungrateful. I gave you that pillow out of the goodness of my own heart," Nikki muttered.
"Actually, you threw the pillow at my head out of the malice of your own heart," he countered.
"Okay, fine. If, IF I let you sleep in the bed, will you shut up?" Nikki asked.
"Thanks, but I'm not having you in the sleeping bag," he replied, "I'm not that evil."
"No, I meant...you know, share the bed. We'll just have to sleep on our sides," smiled Nikki, turning on the bedside lamp so that she could see Harry, nearly blinding him in the process, as he shielded his eyes from the sudden intrusion of light.
"If you're okay with it," Harry smiled back, groaning as he clambered off the floor, and turned off the light. He carefully slid into bed beside Nikki, attempting to lie on his back, but quickly realising he did not have enough room.
"Harry, I said lie on your side," Nikki tutted, flipping onto her other side to face him.
"It's too uncomfortable. I can't," he said, tensing up as Nikki conceded defeat and snuggled down against his chest, yawning. He soon relaxed though, for the image of Nikki falling asleep in his arms just looked right. He couldn't explain why, but for the first time, he knew the true meaning of the word satisfaction.
"Did you just smell my hair?" Nikki stirred again, placing her hands on his chest to push herself up into a sitting position.
"Nikki, you will appreciate that this is a single bed we're sharing, and we're a bit pushed for space. Can't I breathe without getting ticked off now?" he muttered at her.
"It was ticklish," she shrugged.
"What, like this?" he laughed, poking her in the side with a solitary finger.
"Harry, you complete git!" Nikki laughed, leaning over him and turning on the bedside lamp again.
"My eyes! I hate you. Nikki, you have just scathed my corneae," he winced, burying his head under the duvet.
"I can just as easily kick you out of bed, you know," Nikki smiled proudly, turning off the light.
"Well, maybe I love you, then," Harry said quickly, making Nikki giggle.
"Really?" she whispered into the darkness, comforted by the sound of Harry's slow, steady heartbeat pressed against her ear.
"Yeah," he breathed, a lump forming in his throat suddenly, "Just, you know, maybe."
Nikki sighed contentedly, satisfied with his answer. He hadn't said no, which was a good thing. Then again, he'd said maybe. Which could also mean maybe not. But then he said four words which changed everything. Four words which took the context of their love beyond anything they'd ever dared venture into before.
"Do you love me?"
She paused briefly, as if to consider her answer, as if she was undecided. As if her feelings were undecided. Like she didn't know how she felt. The pause was misleading, leaving Harry dreading her answer. However, his dread was premature, as her four words were equally breathtaking.
"Yeah, you know, maybe," she smiled against his chest. Her words resonating in his mind, he shifted himself again, so that he was looking at her properly. Looking up at him, her smile only widened when he leant down to press his forehead against hers, the movement so intimate that Nikki felt her stomach flutter.
He was dragging this moment out, not wanting to rush it, to preserve the perfection of this moment, to remember every detail. But once it got to the point where he could feel his breath mingling with hers, his need for her began to consume him.
Grinning in spite of himself, he cupped her face in his hand and kissed her jaw, the side of her mouth, brief, teasing kisses. As she squirmed in his arms, he knew she was getting impatient. He pressed his lips against hers, illiciting the softest moan from her lips as he deepened the kiss.
He knew nothing would actually happen tonight. The timing wasn't right, for one thing. They were both exhausted, Leo was snoring in the next bed, and they were both stuck at the conference in the morning.
Getting comfy again, they began to doze off in each others' arms, One of his arms was draped around her back protectively, the other hanging low on her waist. Both her hands clenched his shirt in her fists, her head resting in the crook of his neck, his lips firmly against her hairline.
Nothing could ruin the feeling of this moment.
"Harry?"
"Mm-hm?"
"We're staying for the whole conference this time."
Well, almost nothing.
Hallelujah! Thought I would never finish this :) Re-wrote the ending about a bajillion times, and still not entirely satisfied, but c'est la vie. And also have no idea when to stop writing a story. My hand is now a claw.
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed With This Ring...you are all kinds of awesome!
And please, as always, whether you loved it or loathed it, please just review it :P
Ems x