Page 107 of Dream On, Liar

I could feel the nausea beginning to creep back.

I looked towards the entrance.

Rihaan still wasn’t there.

Of course he wasn’t.

I looked around the lobby again.

I could wait.

A few hours.

Maybe a room would open.

Maybe the painkillers would help kill this headache before my head exploded, and make the stay down here somewhat easy to digest.

Maybe, if I was lucky, the day would eventually stop finding new ways to make itself worse, and they’d have a no show after all.

I leaned my head against the back of the chair and closed my eyes.

Five minutes.

I just needed five minutes without moving.

My phone buzzed.

I opened one eye.

A message from Raina.

Raina Patel:

You okay?

Me:

Alive.

Her response came almost immediately.

Raina Patel:

That's not the same thing.

I smiled weakly, before typing out my response.

Me:

I'll survive. How are you holding up?

Then I looked towards the hotel entrance again.

When my impatience gave in, I swiped my phone again and this time, I started my search for nearby hotels.

I was on my fourth search, when a voice made me startle.

“Why are you looking at different hotels?” Rihaan’s voice had caught me so off guard, that my slipped from my hand, landing on the tilted floor with a loud thump, making me wince. When I met Rihaan’s gaze, the amusement faded away.