Chapter 9: The Search

"Randy! Are you in there?!" Matt shouted, as he continued to rap his knuckles on the door to Randy's hotel room. He'd been stood there for a good minute and a half, without any sign of a response from within. He had a quick glance at his watch, and saw that it had just turned eleven o'clock; Randy hardly ever slept in, even after a heavy night on the tiles.

He took out his cell phone and tried to contact Randy from that. 'Maybe he went out first thing, it wouldn't be the first time he's gone AWOL.' There was no response. Whilst Matt wasn't overly worried, he had gotten into a routine of meeting up with Randy nearly every morning; usually to go for a light jog first thing. Randy had informed him about the football game he was attending with Molly, so he prayed that nothing had gone wrong during that.

He decided to make his way down to the restaurant in the hotel, to see if he could locate Molly and get to the bottom of Randy's 'disappearance'.

"So I wrapped him up in the coat that Jacob kindly borrowed to me, and tried to heat the poor guy up! You should have seen him Trish, he looked like he was ready to freeze to death!" Molly happily recalled the events of the night before, over a cappuccino with Trish in the hotel restaurant.

"You're too good to him Moll…" Trish said, not wanting to discuss the matter. Molly was in the process of filling her in on all the juicy details from the football game, and for once Trish was not the slightest bit interested about some gossip.

"That's what he said…" Molly responded, thinking fondly of her man. "Did you have a good night?"

"Me? Thought you'd never ask…" Trish replied, finally relieved that Randy was off the menu. "I stayed in last night and…"

"Molly!" Matt yelled in an exasperated voice, as he ran across the room. "Have you seen or heard from Randy this morning?"

Trish turned furiously to see Matt arrive at their table. 'Randy this… Randy that!' she thought.

"I haven't Matt, to be honest. We got back pretty late last night… maybe he overslept?" Molly answered.

"That's not like him…" Matt thought aloud.

"He did say he would call me, so it is rather strange. Perhaps I should go and check on him." Molly said.

"I've just tried his room, he wasn't answering… assuming he is even in there." Matt told her.

"Did you? I think I'll go and check all the same." Molly said; she quickly finished her cappuccino and collected all her belongings together. She left some money on the table to pay for her drink and turned to Trish. "Sorry T, I have to go check on Randy. I'll call you later… we need to arrange that shopping trip this weekend, don't we?"

"Yeah." Trish replied, as she leant her chin on her hand in a resigned pose. She was losing her friend to Randy; the very same guy she had wanted for herself.

Molly hurried away, leaving Matt alone with Trish. "Mind if I join you?" Matt asked, not being sure whether he would be welcome or not.

Trish was in a foul mood, and wanted to say no… but she subsided and went along with it. "Sure, why not." she said, with a hint of sarcasm coming through.

Matt had picked up on her crabby attitude and cautiously sought to uncover the reasoning for it. "Everything okay with you? You look a little…"

"Angry?" Trish shot back, not hiding her emotions.

Matt thought it might be a good idea to leave the stormy blonde to stew on her own, as he gingerly tried to creep away.

"Oh… so you're going to desert me too?" she said, sulking about the lack of attention she was receiving that morning.

Matt looked at her; she looked very downcast, and it seemed like she could use some company. He pulled up a chair and settled himself in. A waitress came over and took his order; he ordered a muffin and a cup of tea. "Do you want anything Trish?" he offered politely, to which she shook her head.

"Listen, you're gonna have to bear with me… Molly has been doing my head in, going on about Randy all morning." Trish let Matt know what was bugging her so much.

"They seem to be getting along well." Matt remarked.

Trish just stared at him for a second, refraining from going off on another of her rants. "Yes, they seem to be… I just hope he is treating her well."

"I think he will look after her. He was very chirpy yesterday, that girl is a breath of fresh air to him you know." Matt replied.

"Molly's been real perky these last couple of days too. He better not let her down, because I know what she can be like when she is down in the dumps."

"Don't we all!" Matt chuckled to himself, before seeking to change the subject. "Hey, are you doing much this weekend?"

"I'm supposed to be hitting the shops with Moll at some point." Trish replied.

"Okay… I was going to arrange a night out ten pin bowling, me and a few of the lads from work… perhaps you and Molly could join us?"

"I dunno… I was hoping me and Moll could have a girly weekend in, you know?" she admitted. 'Anything, as long as it doesn't involve Randy…'

"Oh I see… Well if you change your mind, let me know." Matt said, effectively leaving an invite with her. "You have my number don't you?"

"Yes…" Trish replied, sighing inwardly. 'Can this day get any worse…'

Molly went through precisely the same rigmarole that Matt had done before her. She knocked repeatedly on Randy's door, as well as trying to reach him on his cell phone. She was just about to give up and walk away, when she heard the door creak behind her.

"Who is it…" Randy said, in a croaky voice. He squinted, as the bright illumination of the hallway hit his eyes. Molly twisted around quickly to see the sorry sight Randy was in; he looked terrible. There were bags under his eyes and he was sniveling repeatedly.

"Randy! You look awful!" Molly exclaimed, ushering him back into his hotel room. She closed the door behind them, and carefully navigated through the darkened room; the curtains had not been opened.

"Thanks." he responded dolefully. "It's great to see you too Molls." He lapsed into a fit of coughing, as he hauled his frame back into bed. Molly turned on one of the lamps at his bed side and helped to tuck him in.

"Looks like the cold got you in the end last night." she said.

"Yeah… had a pretty rough night." he just about managed to say, as he continued to cough hoarsely.

"Well, you just sit tight… Nurse Molly is going to have you right as rain in no time." she said chirpily. "I'm going to find the nearest pharmacy and get something for that cold of yours." She leant over and kissed him delicately on the forehead. "I'll take your key to let myself back in, okay?"

Randy nodded, and watched her pick up his hotel key from the sideboard it was sat on, before disappearing from view. As he heard the door open, then close, he contemplated how lucky he was to have met such a considerate lady. 'Molly is all the medicine I need…'