Connor slid his finger across the buttons on the panel. Normally he'd press the button on any given elevator a dozen times, as if that would make it go faster. But not this time, this time he pressed the number 17 just once. Slowly. The doors closed and the elevator set in motion, zooming across all floors. He grabbed his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat of his forehead.
*ding*
The elevator doors opened. Connor stared into the hallway for a while before he stepped out. His boots made a dull sound on the carpet as he walked past the offices on his right and left. At the end of the hallway he made a left, walked past a few more offices and knocked on the door on the end.
"Come in." Was the answer from inside.
"Mister Mitani." Connor said as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
"Mister Bennet, please take a seat." The Asian man said. Connor took a seat in front of the desk.
"So." The Asian man behind the desk said. "Good news?"
"Expected news, which, in essence, is good news, I believe. The girl didn't accept meeting you. Yet."
"But that was expected?"
"Yes." Connor said as he crossed his legs. "I didn't expect her to just hop in a plane when I mentioned some stone in the Amazon."
"You mentioned the stone?" The man raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, obviously I didn't mention what kind of st-..."
"Why?"
Connor clenched his jaw for a second. "I believe she is more inclined to go if there's a real purpose behind it all." He said.
"And you're sure that her friend, Croft, needs to come along?"
Conner raised his eyebrows, surprised he even knew her name. "Again, she'll be more inclined to come that way. Why? You know her?"
Mitani rubbed his chin for a moment. "I met her a few times." He said leaning back in his chair. "But she was still a small child, she won't remember. I dealt with a father a lot, though. If she's half a stubborn as he is, we might have an issue."
"We can dispose of her, but it won't do us any good. She'll never come along then."
"Right. I need to ask though, can we not force her to come along? We can just take her to the city now, instead of waiting until some rebellious 20 something year old decides to come along with some strange men."
"Honestly, we might need her to take the stone with her willingly. Kidnapping her will ruin that opportunity for us."
The Asian pressed his lips together and looked at the ceiling, lost in thought. "Alright then Mister Bennet, that'll be all." He said finally.
Connor quickly got up from his chair and made his way to the door.
"Oh, and one last thing." The Asian made said as Connor held the door open. "The success of our operation here is imperative. I hope that you realise what the consequences will be for you if you fail."
Connor looked at him for a second. "I am aware of your procedures, sir." Connor closed the door behind him as he traced a finger across the scar on his cheek. He quickly made his way to the elevator. This time he did press the button a dozen times hoping it would make the elevator go faster. When he stepped outside into the buzzing crowd of people going about their day, Connor got out his phone, tapped on it a few times and held it to his ear.
"And?" A man with an American accent said on the other side.
"Plan is still a go." Connor said.
"And Mitani?"
"Fucking piece of shit, as always."
"You think he suspects anything?"
"No." Connor said as he got a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. "We're good. But after this I'm done dealing with this Mitani fucker."
"Understood, just make sure the girls come along. Keep me up to date."

I sat on one of the benches that were placed around the campfire. Well, one of the campfires, anyway. In the end so many people showed up they needed more than one. Four to be precise. I don't know why that was interesting. I guess I was just bored. And drunk. I managed to drag Lara to the campfire hoping she'd socialize a bit, and she did exactly that. So much, though, that she actually completely forgot about me. It wasn't that bad, though. I wasn't sitting here feeling sorry for myself. I actually had quite a good time this evening. But Lara gets so fun when she's drunk, and I still felt bad about our little fight earlier today. I just wanted to talk to her. But there she was, talking to that Livia girl again, accompanied by a few other guys. I looked at the bottle I was holding. What was even in this thing? I decided to leave it at the bench and go talk to Lara.
"And no ticket whatsoever!" Lara said to Livia with a beer bottle in her hand as I reached the group. Lara was drunk, too, it was noticeable.
"It was probably your gorgeous face, to be honest." Livia laughed. Wait what? Was she flirting with Lara? I looked at Lara, she had red cheeks. I wasn't sure that was because of the alcohol or because she was blushing. Was Livia gay? Was Lara gay? Wait, let's not jump to any conclusions, I'm probably just too drunk to understand.
"It was probably something else." One of the guys, also holding a beer bottle, said while looking at Lara her chest. Livia turned her head towards him with a filthy look.
"What do you mean?" Lara asked, completely oblvious what the guy meant.
"Hi!" I said quickly so that wouldn't escalate any further.
"Oh, hi, Sam!" Lara said enthusiastically as she put an arm on my shoulders. "You met Livia, right?" She pointed at the girl with her cool mohawk. I wonder how that looked on me.
"Yes, but last time I was a bit rude, sorry about that." I smiled and reached out my hand to shake hers.
"It's okay." Livia smiled. "Lara was telling me about you two taking a trip here. Myself, I'm from Austria."
"Are you Felix's girlfriend?" I asked a bit too hopeful.
She laughed again. "No, I met Felix on my way here. His group is making a trip around the UK, same as I."
"Oh, that's pretty cool." If this girl was honestly hitting on Lara I might have to murder her face off. I looked at Lara and she was already talking to some other guy. Couldn't blame the people, to be honest.
"You guys a couple?" Livia suddenly asked. I didn't expect that question. Did she know? Perhaps because of the way I looked at Lara? Already, though? She hasn't looked at me more than 10 minutes tops. Okay, I could either answer that question truthfully, and have Livia hit on Lara some more. Or, I could tell her we are a couple and she'd probably back off, right? Would she? God, I didn't even know if Livia was actually hitting on her. I just looked at Livia, with my mouth open. Shit, what the hell do I say to this girl?
"Oh." She suddenly started grinning. "She doesn't know yet. am I right?"
"Uhm...I…" Is all I could muster up. Livia took two steps closer to me and put her mouth next to my ear.
"I spent an entire evening talking to her, and you know what? I think she might have a thing for you. Lucky you, she's pretty hot." She whispered before she left my personal space area again.
"T-t… That's absurd, you don't know that!" I startled myself by raising my voice. I quickly looked at Lara, but she was still laughing about with some guy. Then I looked back at Livia, who was now grinning more than ever, and I realised I kind of just gave away my thing for Lara.
"You should just go for it." She said calmly, and smiled.
"You don't know anything about me." I replied anxiously.
"I know you have a thing for her. You can see it from miles away."
"Stop. Please." I looked at my toes curling in the sand below me.
"Well, if you don't do anything about it, somebody else might." She said as she looked at Lara.
"Stay away from her, I'm warning you." Looking her in her dark green eyes.
Livia frowned. "Don't act like you own her."
"Please, can you just leave her alone? Jesus." My head was spinning. What the hell was happening? "I-I..It's hard you know? She's my best friend. My very best friend. And I don't want to ruin that."
"So you admit you're into her?"
"What is it to you? Honestly, what does it matter to you? You're being mean." I was getting annoyed at this girl now. How is any of this her business?
"I was just wondering." There was that grin of her again. "Hey, Lara! Come on over here." Livia suddenly yelled. My heart was beating in my throat now. I looked at Lara as she was walking over here. The adrenaline shot I had from the conversation with Livia had pushed my drunkenness away a bit, but I could see Lara was far worse than I was.
"Don't say a word about this, I'm serious." I growled at her.
"Don't worry, I won't." She replied as Lara managed to waddle to where we were standing. "I'm leaving for tonight, it was so nice meeting you!"
"Aw, okay then." Lara looked disappointed. "See you tomorrow then?" She was so drunk.
"Can I get a goodnight kiss?" My eyes widened. Oh no, she wouldn't dare. That bitch wouldn't dare.
"Uhm, sure?" Lara laughed awkwardly, closed her eyes and pursed her lips. Stop, stop, stop. I could only look at Livia smiling, stepping so close to Lara she could put her arms around her waist and lean in for a kiss. I could just stand there. I wanted to scream and claw her face open, but I just stood there. And it wasn't just a kiss, it was a tongue kiss, and a hefty one at it. Lara was completely overwhelmed and didn't really know where to put her hands. She didn't technically kiss her back, but she didn't close her mouth either. Livia was slightly taller than Lara, so Lara had to slightly tilt her head. After about 5 seconds Lara apparently decided to just go with it and put her hands on Livia's cheeks, after dropping the bottle she was holding, and joined her in the tongue act. The kiss was so sensual I felt my stomach tingle. And all I could do was just fucking stand there and take it because if I'd get mad at her now, Lara would instantly know. Or would she? I had never in my life felt such anger and astonishment at the same time. My mind was racing with so many things I started to feel lightheaded. This meant Lara was gay, right? Or bi? Or was she just too drunk to resist? Their sloppy kiss went on for another ten seconds, and if I didn't tunnel vision on this horrific event in front of me, I would have probably heard a dozen guys yell and scream on the top of their lungs at the two hot girls kissing. Now Lara was actually blushing. Finally, Livia released Lara from her bewitched grip.
"See you tomorrow.!" She said as she walked away. She winked at me as she walked past me. Whore. Lara was just standing there, still unsure what exactly happened. The yelling of the guys around her died down and was replaced by disappointed grunts. I looked at her as she turned her head towards me. She actually looked kind of worried. Why? She moved her eyes downwards. What was wrong with her? Did she already regret it? I stepped towards her.
"Well… uhm... that was different." I said as I put my hand on her shoulder. I wasn't mad at Lara, I really wasn't. I was, however, furious at Livia.
"Yeah." She said as if she was pulled back from a trance. "That was...my head hurts, want to go back to the hotel?"
"Yeah. Let's go." I just wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. I grabbed Lara by her hand and started walking. On our way back to the hotel, my mind was filled with thoughts and questions about what happened. I felt worried, happy, sad, weird, turned on all at the same time. My head was starting to hurt, as well. I looked at Lara and still couldn't pinpoint what exactly she was feeling.
"You okay?" I asked as we stepped inside the elevator.
"No idea how to feel...I…I don't know. Really. I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" I asked as I ignored the gazillion questions that had popped in my head.
"I... I don't know, Sam. I just want to sleep, or vomit. Or both. Why did I drink so much?" Lara was leaning against the button panel and managed to press three more buttons.
"I guess it was a fun get together." I laughed as the elevator doors opened to the wrong floor. Lara just grunted in return. When the doors opened for the fourth time, I got out and dragged Lara by her arm to our room. That whole saliva exchanging ordeal sure did sober me up. I slid the keycard through the device and the door clicked open.
"I'm sorry, Sam." Lara said as she tried to get to sit on the couch, but managed to fall to the floor in front of it. I quickly walked up to her and sat her up on the floor with her back to the couch.
"Watch it, sweetie. And sorry for what?" I asked as I sat next to her on the floor. Clearly it hadn't sobered Lara up. Hell, she seemed to get more drunk every second.
"Because… B-because of what happened."
"You mean on the beach? The kiss?"
"Yes." She sighed as she put her hands on her eyes.
"Why would you be sorry for that?" I asked.
"I don't know… I don't want you to think wrong things of me."
"What wrong things, sweetie? You didn't do anything wrong."
"You sure?" She asked as she looked at me pouting her lips.
"Yes, it was a kiss, why would that be wrong? You're single!" I said with pain in my heart. I should just tell her right here and now.
"Because it was with a girl." She diverted her eyes. I got goosebumps.
"Well, yes… So? Do you think it's a problem if you like girls?" My heart was pounding in my throat again.
"I don't know." Lara looked really worried. Something was obviously bothering her greatly.
"Do you?"
"Do I what?" Lara asked as she looked at me again.
"Like girls? Do you like girls?" For the love of everything ever in the universe, ever ever, please say yes.
"Oh my God, Sam." Lara fell over gently with her head in my lap. I placed one hand on her cheek.
"What is it, Lara? Honestly, if you do it's totally fine, I swear."
"I don't know." She said again.
"Yes, you do. You're just afraid to tell me."
"I want to go to sleep." Lara suddenly started to get up.
"No. Wait. We're not done talking here!" I practically yelled. I grabbed her by her hand but she pulled away.
"My head hurts, Sam, I just want to go to bed, okay?" She said as she staggered towards the bedroom. I watched her almost fall over about five times before she managed to reach it. I just sat there, still on the floor, listening to my own breathing. Now what? Will she remember anything tomorrow? The kiss? Our talk just now? Oh God, if she did, would it get awkward between us? What if she didn't remember, would I tell her? How would I tell her? Though, if she did remember, how would we talk about this? My head started to hurt. I looked up at the ceiling. You like this, God? Messing with me like this, huh? You dick, I don't even believe in you. I'd just have to deal with this head on. In the morning. I got up and walked to the bedroom. I fell asleep about 3 milliseconds after my head met with the pillow.

The bright light hurt my eyes when I opened them. The curtains were open and it was light out. I looked to my side and realised Lara wasn't in bed anymore. Figured as much, she wasn't ever affected by a hangover. I groaned as I sat up straight and rubbed my eyes. Apparently, the sobering up last night didn't completely prevent my hangover.
"Lara?" I yelled. No response. I got up and managed to get out of bed. "Lara?!" I yelled again. "Where are you?" Did she remember everything, had a panic attack and left? I walked to the living area, empty. Bathroom, empty. Okay, shit. I placed my face in my hand palms. My phone! I almost dropped it when I quickly tapped on her number. My heart sank when I heard her ringtone from the bedroom. She didn't take her phone. What the hell do I do now? Do I look for her? I should go look for her. Just as I made my way to the door Lara opened it and stepped inside holding a plastic bag.
"Hey, morning, I thought you'd feel a little sick from yesterday so I brought breakfast upstairs." Lara said as she stepped inside with a grin on her face. I just managed to look at her.
"Sam? Are you alright?" Lara frowned as she put the bag on the table. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yes." I said as I observed her closely. I knew Lara and if she remembered everything from last night, she'd be a whole lot more distant than she is now. Right? I contemplated what I should say next.
"Yes, what?" Lara emptied the bag on the table. She brought sandwiches, juice and some eggs. "Yes, you've seen a ghost?"
"No, I haven't. I meant, yes, I am alright. How're you feeling? You were pretty drunk yourself, honey." I tried to grin at her. "You get really fun when you're drunk." Lara averted her eyes immediately and her frowning made place for a shameful gaze. Damn, did I just say too much?
"Uh… yeah."
"Uh… what?" I asked, jokingly. "Did you have fun last night? I know I practically dragged you there against your will, but I like to think you had fun."
"It was fun." She tried to smile. "You know, the few parts I remember." I let out a sigh of relief when I realised she was being embarrassed by how drunk she had gotten, which made her unable to remember most of the night and not by the fact she made out with a girl in front of a dozen guys.
"Don't worry, everyone was drunk." I laughed as I joined her at the table. I was laughing on the outside, but I was stressing on the inside. Should I tell Lara what happened last night? I didn't want her to feel awkward with me, not now anyway. But if she didn't hear it from me, she might hear it from someone else. Didn't she say she was going to meet Livia again today? Would she mention it? I really did want to tell her, because she deserves to know. My head was pounding, but I wasn't sure if that was from the booze last night or because of Lara.
"You're not hungry?" Lara asked with her mouth full. I realised I was staring down at my empty plate while lost in my thoughts.
"No. I mean, yes. Yes, I am hungry." I said as I grabbed a sandwich.
"What were you thinking about?" Lara asked
"Just last night." I said as my attention was directed at pouring juice in my glass. Fuck, couldn't I have said I was thinking about something else?
"I hope I didn't do or say anything weird?" Lara asked hopeful.
"No, you didn't do anything weird." I couldn't even look at her. Do I tell her?
"So you can remember last night?"
"I guess, perhaps I am more accustomed to liquor." I forced a laugh.
"So what did we do?"
"Nothing weird."
"That's not what I asked, Sam."
"Just, you know… hang out at the beach."
"You're acting kind of weird." Lara tilted her head as she inspected me.
"No, I'm not. Just a bit of a headache. Sorry, sweetie."
"Seriously, though, what did we do? What did I do? I'm just asking so I know I don't have to be embarrassed or anything. I didn't do or say anything out of the ordinary?" She asked while taking another bite. "Hell, I should be ashamed, just by the fact I drank so much." I just looked at her and couldn't mutter a word. When I didn't say anything for a few seconds, Lara started to look nervous.
"Sam?" She asked. Do I tell her? Do I tell her now? Oh my God, I don't know. I don't know what to say to her. I want to tell her, but I'm not sure that's the right thing to do. I want to do the right thing.
"SAM!" Lara yelled. "Tell me!"
"You made out with someone, okay?! Geez, it's not that big of a deal." I looked her in the eyes, hoping she wouldn't start stressing out. She returned my gaze with open mouth and didn't say anything.
"Look." I continued. "It's no big deal, okay? You're single, you had something to drink, you made out with someone and that was it. Nothing else happened, we went back to the ho-..."
"Oh, God." Lara said as she put her hand before her mouth. "Oh, God." She repeated.
"Lara, listen to me, it's okay. Don't freak out, alright? I know it's a bit outside your comfort zone, but it's fine, truly."
"It was with Livia, wasn't it?" Lara asked as she seemed to remember more and more from last night, still freaked out with her mouth covered with her hand. My silence confirmed her question. "Jesus Christ." She put her head on her arms on the table. Well, this was going just fine. I stood up and sat on my knees next to hear, leveling our heads.
"Listen, sweetie." I said as I put my arm over her shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it. No one recognizes you after we leave here. We'll be gone here in two days and you won't see anyone from here ever again."
"It's not about them." She said annoyed, with her face still hidden on her arms. I sighed.
"Look, if it bothers you that much, I'm willing to never ever talk about it with you, ever again. I'll pretend nothing ever happened, I swear. I only told you because I wanted you to hear it from me, not from someone else."
"You can't just forget this, Sam." She said as she lifted up her head. She looked sad and angry at the same time. Was she angry at me, or herself? I should be a therapist or some shit, because I seem to be great at this stuff. Fuck me. She suddenly averted her eyes. "Right? You can't just forget this." She got up before I could say anything.
"Lara, wait. It's not that big of a deal, seriously. Just calm down, please." I said as I got up as well. Lara walked away towards the bathroom.
"Lara, stop. Come on, talk to me." I said as I grabbed her hand. "For the tenth time, it's not that big of a deal. Hell, I made out with a dozen girls by now. What's the problem?" Lara stopped in her tracks and looked at me.
"I'm not you, am I?" She said. What was that supposed to mean?
"No, you're not. I'm just saying that you shouldn't make a big deal out of this. You don't have to. It's not."
"It is a big deal!" She yelled as she shook loose her hand.
"Why? Why the fuck is it such a big deal?" I was getting angry now. What was with her? Why would it be such a big deal if she kissed a girl or not. Was she so repulsed by the idea? She didn't answer me. "Oh, boo hoo, you kissed a girl, your life is over. Honestly, Lara, lighten up a little." She shook her head lightly. I should've stopped there, but I was getting fed up. Not just by her, but by the entire situation. What happened, how she reacted, my feelings for her, everything.
"Seriously." I continued. "What is it? Are you gay? Is that it? Are you gay and you're afraid I would find out?" I realised how stupid that comment was the moment it came out my mouth. It was so dumb to say. Even if she was gay, that was the most idiotic thing to say. If, Sam, IF, she was gay. She looked at me as if I had just jammed a knife between her ribs.
"Okay, you know what, that's not… I didn't mean to say it like that." I stammered. I'm a fucking hypocrite. I wanted to apologize, but she walked past me, bumping my shoulder in the process, towards the door outside.
"Lara, wait! I'm sorry, really, I didn't mean it like that!" I yelled at her. I wanted to run after her but I was nailed to the ground. I flinched as I heard her slam the door shut behind her. For a long time I stood there, at the exact same spot I muttered those extremely stupid words, and just listened to the buzzing of the AC. How could I have been so stupid? Did I just ruin everything? She is my best friend, she is my everything, I really can't lose her.
"Fuck, fuck, fucking fuck." I said softly. A tear rolled over my cheek as I made my first step towards the bed. I let myself fall on it, buried my face in the pillow and cried. A lot.