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“Please don’t let the press know I was upset about Lukas. I told them we weren’t together and implied we never had been.” I talked rapidly, looking at Sarai more than the others.
“I’ll tell them you were sick.” Sarai winked at me. “An allergic reaction to something and you’re being treated and should be fine. It will be more than a good enough explanation. It also means I can keep anyone from coming in here to upset you while allowing your friends to come and go as they please.”
“Thank you,” I replied, more than grateful that my boss was once again saving my butt and wouldn’t make this any harder on me than it needed to be. I didn’t know what I would have done without her over the last two weeks, and I knew I would be very sorry to lose her from my everyday life.
She hurried away, leaving me with the six people who had flown five thousand miles or so to comfort me and take another hit they’d not yet seen. Now that I was mostly calm and we had as much time as we wanted to ourselves, they relaxed as well and spread out a bit.
“Want us to get you anything?” Stacy asked.
I shook my head. If I was pretending to be sick, getting food or drink was likely to be a bad idea. And I had eaten and drunk enough so the last of the nerves I felt made it impossible to eat more. What I needed was to chill out with my friends and stay out of the limelight for the rest of the showcase.
If I stayed in a hut no one was going to see, then I could wait until everyone went home and forget about this whole day. I’d done my duty, and I doubted Sarai would ask anything more of me.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
Lukas
I didn’t get very far outside in trying to look for Kit. I’d taken too long to follow the rest and I couldn’t see where any of them had gone. People didn’t seem to want to look at me and I ended up poking my head in the information center and convenience store before I considered giving up on following Kit.
She had been upset and I didn’t want to give up, but I also knew she wouldn’t want to see me. Eventually I found Daniel. He was coming back along one of the paths to the huts in the European section of the site.
I met him partway and he stopped, studying me for a second.
“You found her?” I asked, not sure how to read him and his expression.
“I did. You’re an asshole and you don’t deserve her.”
I lifted an eyebrow at the vehemence in his voice.
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re still one of my best friends, but Kit was one special lady and still is. You shouldn’t have let her go.”
“I’m starting to get that impression from quite a few people,” I replied, the ache in my chest only getting worse as more people I trusted pointed out that I’d been a complete moron.
Daniel reached out and pulled me into a hug before I could stop him, and for a few seconds, I let it happen, appreciating that despite his words, we were still going to stay friends.
“So…what are you going to do about this?” Daniel asked when he finally let me go. “Seems like you need a plan. And I know you. You’ll stew on this, trying to process it until there’s nothing that can be done.”
I set my jaw, intending to argue with him about his assessment of me, but I knew he was at least partially right. On top of that, I was pretty sure I wanted to keep the ally I had.
“Add me to the list of people willing to help unfuck this, if it’s at all unfuckable.” Henry came up behind me.
“Great. Anywhere quiet we can go to talk and sort this?” Daniel looked around and I considered the situation. I was pretty sure Kit wasn’t going to leave wherever she had gone now or show her face. I’d broken her heart and she’d already fled the scene.
“Sarai just told everyone she’s had an allergic reaction to something in the food and needs to rest. So we’ve got a little while to work on something.” Henry grinned and then looked around, trying to figure out if the huts near us were available.
Although I knew some of them had people staying in them already, and others were on the tour, I didn’t know which ones were left empty. I hadn’t been part of the showcase planning beyond showing up and doing my part to promote it. There was a chance Henry knew, however.
Daniel was even less helpful in that regard. He was a guest and simply here because he cared about me. For now, that alone filled me with gratitude.
“Let me see if I have a list of which huts are supposed to be unoccupied.” Henry pulled out his phone and navigated to his emails. Sarai had been communicating with him as much as me and he might have the needed info.
Before he could get much further, however, Sarai came wandering back.
“Why do you three look like you’re up to something?”
“Because we are,” Daniel shot back with a grin. “Lukas needs help making a certain lady feel significantly better.”
“Well, that’s something we can all agree on, but if anything you three attempt isn’t the absolute perfect idea, I will personally escort all of you off the premises and make sure you’re never welcome again.” Sarai looked between the three of us, and I gulped.
