I reached an impasse in the story earlier. I reckon since it is now four in the morning I should have been in bed long ago but I felt like too much of a catastrophic failure to let another day pass without an update. So here you have it. I can't imagine this is doing my sleeping habits any good, but really, I sort of doubt I would've been asleep anyway.
Keely tossed her suitcase on the foot of the bed and let out a satisfied sigh as she sat down on a chair beside an oak table. An open pamphlet sat on the table, welcoming her to the hotel.
"Mmm, Phil, isn't this just amazing?" she asked, throwing open the window. Cars rolled along the street below their window. The setting sun cast long shadows down the avenue. She leaned close to the glass and watched the pedestrians bustling down the sidewalk. She delighted at how much slower the pace seemed to her everyday life back in Pickford. Even if it wasn't actually any slower down on the streets, it looked slower to her from their room, and that was all she cared about at the moment.
"Keel, these are going to be the most amazing days of our lives," he said, walking up beside her and putting his arm around her shoulders.
"So far, I hope!" she added.
"Of course," Phil said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "This is only the start!"
She turned back to him and threw her arms around him. "This was such a lovely idea..."
"I wish I could live every day like this..."
She slowly raised an eyebrow. "What, so you're gonna buy a house in Dublin?"
Phil laughed. "No, not that... well, maybe. Someday. I don't know, I'm still tired from the flight," he said, dismissing the thought with a shake of his head.
"Ha... okay, Phil..."
"I'm starved," he said, putting a hand to his stomach. "What do you say we go downstairs and wait for the others to show up?"
"Sounds great. But please, don't get the haggis."
"Uh, Keel, that's Scottish."
"Oh. Right!" She nodded and followed him out the door.
- - -
Tia set her suitcase down by the door and groaned. "My back is still stiff from the flight..."
"Want a little help with that?" Owen asked, a playful smile spreading over his face as he tossed his bags aside.
"Ohh-wiiin!" Tia crowed as he put his hands on her shoulders. "We have to meet them downstairs for dinner in twenty minutes!"
"We can make it quick," he laughed.
"Owen!" Tia protested, turning around and trying to suppress a smile. "Seriously."
He straightened up and sighed. "Alright, alright."
"Not a bad view," she said, leaning forward and placing her hands on the windowsill.
"Not at all," Owen muttered, watching her. She turned her head slightly and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, then shook her head and rolled her eyes. He smiled and walked over next to her, and glanced out the window. "Hmm... it really is nice..."
"Mmhmm..."
The setting sun was still well visible over the buildings across the street. Their room, near the corner of the building, offered a view down York Street of St. Vincent's Green. She sighed and hugged him. He gently placed an arm around her and smiled.
"I should unpack my stuff," she said, after a silent minute of observation. "Then we can go downstairs and meet up with them..."
"Yeah," Owen said. "Yeah, I should do the same." The two of them tore their eyes from the busy street and began to unpack.
- - -
It was only 11:30 in the evening by the time Seth and Via returned from dinner, but they were both exhausted from the flight, and decided to just go to bed in hopes of getting an early start the next day.
The two of them, much like they had when they first walked into the room, stood at the foot of the lone bed, looking at it in awkward silence. They glanced at each other at the same time, then back down at the bed.
"I could—" they both started at the same time, then fell silent.
"I could take the seat or something, if this is awkward for you," Seth offered, glancing over at the small sofa (or was it a larger-than-average seat?) by the wall.
"Oh, I wouldn't ask you to do that," Via said. "We're two young, responsible adults. There's no reason for this to be awkward." She almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself rather than him.
He nodded in agreement and walked to the left side of the bed, checking the alarm clock on the nightstand. "What time do you want to get up?" he asked loudly as she went into the bathroom.
"Oh, I don't know... 8:30?" she replied, then turned on the shower faucet.
He glanced up at her as she gathered a few bottles from her suitcase. "You take showers at night?"
She nodded. "I can't stand the feeling of going to bed without. Just so... grimy and... disgusting."
"Right..." He scratched the back of his head as she returned to the bathroom and shut the door. He flipped on the TV, which was on a news network. He watched it uninterestedly, half-paying attention to the news anchor, and halfway to Via singing "More Than a Feeling" in the shower. There was a brief pause where she stopped singing. He muted the TV and glanced down, listening intently.
"...when I am tired, and thinking cold... I hide in my music, forget the day... and dream of a girl I used to know... I closed my eyes and she slipped awayyy-ayyyy.."
"She is never gonna hit this note," he muttered to himself.
"...She slipped awaayyyyy–hayy–ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-AYYYYYYY!"
He widened his eyes in surprise as she hit the high G, then continued on to the last chorus, bringing the song home.
Minutes later, but not many, she exited the shower, dressed in pajama pants and a plain white t-shirt, and paused upon seeing Seth looking over at her in amazement.
"That was... some note you hit there," he said with a small laugh. "Really: amazing!"
Via flushed a shade of deep red. "You- you heard that?"
He nodded sheepishly. "I never knew you could sing like that, Via... that was really ... wow!" he gushed, at a loss for words.
She hid her face as she leaned forward and dried her hair vigorously with her towel. "I can't believe you heard that. I can't believe I did that."
"You shouldn't be so shy about that... you have an incredible voice..."
"Mmm... well, thank you."
Via shut off the lights and climbed into bed. The two rested on their backs, staring up at the ceiling in darkness. Neither of them went to sleep right away.
"Why do you reckon they chose three rooms? I thought it was going to be the girls in one room and the blokes in the other."
"You're asking me why I think those four wanted rooms to themselves?"
Via reflected on what she had just said. "Right. Daft question, sorry."
Seth chuckled softly.
She let out a flustered sigh. "This is rather--"
"Uncomfortable?"
"Hmm? No, that's not... is this uncomfortable for you?"
"What? Oh, no. Not a chance."
"Right."
"Not to say that it's totally comfortable!" he covered awkwardly.
"Naturally."
"I mean it's not like... yeah. I could still sleep on that—"
"Oh, that's not necessary. I mean, it's not like I don't trust you, of course."
"Right..."
She cleared her throat softly and stared ahead. He glanced over at the clock. 12:07.
"What I was going to say," she said, after a brief silence, "was 'uncomfortable'. I mean, physically. I usually only wear pants and a t-shirt to bed, so it's a bit warm."
He silently wondered how that was different from what she was wearing at the moment.
"Again, not that I don't trust you or anything, I just- I thought it might get a mite awkward. I don't really know how much I roll over in my sleep or anything, you know. Or you, for that matter."
"No, right, I understand."
"Sorry, I'm rambling..."
"Oh, it's alright." He laughed softly. "I don't mind."
A silence fell over the two again. Via slowly rolled onto her right side, facing away from him.
"Reckon we should try and sleep, then..." she muttered.
"Yeah, I guess so..."
"Well. Goodnight, then..."
"Yeah... yeah, goodnight..."
He looked over at the back of her head and sighed softly, then shifted so he was on his left side. He shut his eyes, thinking back to her singing, and slowly fell asleep.