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She banged on the door with both hands. ‘Hello! Can someone help? I can’t open the door!’ At that moment the music outside notched up a level. It sounded like a live band had started playing and there were whoops and shrieks from the party. No one was going to hear her now. She would just have to wait until Greg came to find her.
Minnie sank down to the floor and looked up at the ceiling. The whole room was decorated with dark blue wallpaper, imprinted with tiny silver constellations. Well, she had got her wish; she was now alone, staring up at the stars. She pulled out her phone to text Greg – the screen was dead.
‘Of course it is,’ Minnie said, shaking her head with a little laugh. If she could say something for this New Year’s jinx, it certainly had a sense of humour.
New Year’s Day 2020
Minnie woke up feeling disorientated, her throat painfully dry. She remembered banging on the door for hours, but then she must have fallen asleep. She had no concept of what time it was. It was quiet outside, the music no longer playing. She got to her feet, rubbing at the crick in her neck.
‘Hello, hello! Can someone let me out?’ she called.
What if everyone had gone home and the place was shut for the night? She’d read stories about this kind of thing; people being stuck in toilets for days before they were rescued, people who drank cistern water to survive and wove blankets out of toilet roll to keep warm. How long would she have to be trapped before she resorted to eating the soap? She banged on the door again, this time with more urgency.
‘Help! Help me!’
‘Hello?’ came a man’s voice.
‘Yes, hello! Oh, thank god. The door handle is broken, I can’t get out,’ she called through the door.
‘How long have you been in there?’ said the voice, rattling the handle from the other side.
‘Long enough,’ Minnie said.
‘OK, hold on, I’ll go find someone,’ said the voice. She heard footsteps walking away. She couldn’t believe Greg hadn’t come to find her. Had he gone home without her? Three or four minutes later the voice returned.
‘OK, I’m back. I have Luis here. He’s got a thousand keys in his hand.’
‘I don’t know how this happened,’ came another voice, an older man. Minnie heard keys being rattled in the lock.
‘Here, let me try,’ said the first voice. More clinking of keys and then the door swung open. ‘Look at that, first key and I nailed it. What are the chances?’
Minnie squinted into the light of the corridor. The voice belonged to a tall, broad-shouldered man with sandy-coloured hair and distinctive eyebrows a shade darker than the hair on his head. He grinned at Minnie, a warm, guileless smile. He was dressed in formal black trousers and a crisp white shirt. A black bow tie hung undone around his open collar, revealing a glimpse of tanned skin. Next to him stood a short, rotund bald man with a blank expression.
‘What time is it?’ Minnie asked, looking between the two men.
‘Seven forty-five,’ said the man in black tie.
‘I go now,’ said the shorter man, taking back the huge pile of keys and plodding off down the corridor muttering to himself.
‘A man of very few words,’ said the man in black tie.
Minnie followed him along the corridor back to the main room. The place was empty. Tendrils of party popper paper hung from the light fittings, and an army of half-empty champagne flutes lined the bar.
‘Am I the only one left? I can’t believe I slept that long.’
‘Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,’ he said, holding out his hand for Minnie to shake.
‘Oh right, I’m Minnie.’ The man smiled at her, but looked as though he was waiting for more. ‘Greg’s girlfriend. He works with Lucy. She invited us.’
‘Oh sure, everyone’s welcome. I think I heard Luce mention a Greg. Funny Greg, right?’
‘Funny Greg,’ Minnie raised an eyebrow, amused Greg would be called that. The man reached his arms above his head and the stretch turned into an enormous yawn. ‘Sorry, it’s catching up with me. What a great night, though.’
‘Not for me,’ Minnie said wryly.
‘No, not for you.’ The man gave an exaggerated grimace at having said the wrong thing and Minnie couldn’t help smiling.
‘So, I’m assuming it was your party then, Lucy’s boyfriend, right? Thank you for having me, I guess,’ Minnie said, clasping her hands behind her back.
