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‘Bloody hell, you’re beautiful when you come. Good morning, Ariella.’
He kisses me, then brings my fingers to his mouth. I need to stop. I push him away gently.
‘Caleb, I need to get to work; and super early, so we don’t walk in at the same…’
‘Why?’
‘We were both off sick together. We should stick with keeping a lid on this.’
He starts kissing me again.
‘We live together. No one is going to think there’s anything sketchy about us getting to work together. Besides, we have a bit of time.’
‘Only, we never arrive or leave together, ever.’
‘I don’t think anyone cares.’
His kiss deepens. I am falling into him. I can’t afford to do that. I pull away, catching my breath.
‘They do. I didn’t want to tell you this, but people are betting on whether you’ll get into my pants, and when.’
‘I know; I started it,’ he dismisses and comes back in for another kiss.
‘You what?’
‘I started the pool. It was a joke.’ He shrugs.
I get up. As far as wake-up calls go, I can’t imagine I’d need a bigger one. I cross my arms and stare at him.
‘A joke?’ I challenge. He looks confused.
‘Yeah. Just a bit of fun. I don’t think anyone took it seriously.’
I leave my tea and start walking to my room.
‘Aari! Come on.’ I ignore him and keep walking. ‘Does it help that I lost?’
I stop and turn round. The only way this has a positive outcome is if he bet against any success with me.
‘Tell me you bet that you weren’t going to sleep with me?’
‘Not really…’
‘What did you bet, Caleb?’
‘Two weeks?’ He winces.
I stare at him in disbelief, turn round, walk into my room and slam the door. What a jerk.
I was a bundle of nerves mixed with anger, going in. Of course Caleb started a pool. He keeps showing me who he is and I keep ignoring it. I steel myself to face questioning glances as people pour in, and summon even more courage when I make my way to the 10a.m.
‘Hi, darling, are you okay? I called you a couple of times yesterday. It just kept ringing out.’ Lara hugs me, concerned.
‘Yeah, I feel better.’
‘I heard you had a bad tummy. I’m suspicious.’ She laughs.
‘That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.’ I smile. I want to ask her about Nicole but decide it’s best left until lunch.
