AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It always depends on who I’m dealing with,” I smile and reach for the doorbell. Before I can press it though, someone pulls the door open from the inside.
“Welcome to the Venus Garden Inn. And happy early Valentine’s Day!” a woman greets us. She’s wearing a pink top with hearts on it and her glasses are pink and heart-shaped as well. She has pink streaks in her blackish-grey hair. It’s difficult to say how old she is. I would guess in her sixties, maybe.
“Thanks,” Lizzie groans and then takes a step past the woman into the house. I hear her gasp and after I follow her into the building I understand why. It's like Cupid went bonkers and chucked a love bomb in there! Hearts in all shapes and sizes are plastered to every surface, turning the place into a sea of red and pink. You can practically taste the roses in the air, like someone set off a flower explosion in the middle of the madness.
There are plush teddy bears giving you the eye with heart-shaped peepers and shiny cupids hanging from the ceiling. Ribbons and streamers zigzag all over, adding to the crazy vibe. The poor furniture's barely recognizable under the avalanche of lovey-dovey stuff. Even the chairs and tables got roped into the festivity, decked out in heart-patterned fabrics and sprinkled with all sorts of romantic gear.
“Come in, come in. My name’s Pauline. Welcome to my love nest,” the woman chirps as she glides into the living room. Yes, I said glides. The way she moves makes her look almost ethereal.
“I hear your flight was cancelled. Which romantic destination were you off to?” She smiles at us with expectant eyes.
“Not romantic. Canada. Just Canada,” Lizzie explains, looking around. I can see the disgust on her face. She doesn’t really have a poker face.
“Now, young man, shouldn’t you whisk your sweetheart off to Paris or some other place of l’amour?”
“We’re not a couple!” Lizzie gasps.I wish we were, though.
“Oh, but the airline only booked one room. Will that be a problem?” Pauline looks from Lizzie to me. I am not sure what sin I’ve committed, but I just moved to a new circle of hell.
CHAPTER3
when henry met sally
LIZZY
Well, fucking fantastic. “Are there two beds?” I ask Pauline.
“Sorry, dear. Are you work colleagues?”
“No, friends. Just friends,” Coop explains and for some reason his ears turn red. Pauline studies him for a while and then grins.
“Well, that’s okay then. Business partners could have been awkward, but as friends surely you’ll be okay to share a mattress. I can give you a second duvet.” And with these words she scurries off towards the stairs. “Breakfast is from seven in the morning, but I can do bacon butties for you if you need to leave earlier. It’s going to be impossible to get dinner anywhere today as everything will close early with the snow coming down like this, but I’m making cottage pie for everyone. You can collect a tray at six from the kitchen. The breakfast room is already set up for breakfast so I ask everyone to eat in their rooms.”
Behind me I hear Coop bashing my suitcase against the wall of the narrow staircase more than once.
“Fucking hell,” he mumbles under his breath. I mean, maybe I did bring too many books. But can you really ever have too many?
“And here we are,” Pauline announces outside room 14.
I'm gasping for air, while Pauline, on the flip side, shoots me a grin as if we didn't just conquer two flights of stairs.
I take the key from her hand with a “Thanks” and walk into the room.
“Fucking hell indeed,” escapes me when I look around the room. A very, very small room.
“Six o’clock,” Pauline reminds Coop before heading down the stairs.
“What’s at six o’clock?” he huffs as he joins me.
“We can collect dinner from the kitchen,” I explain, “if I survive this nightmare, that is.” I point in all directions.
Downstairs was Valentine’s overload. But up here… I don’t know how to best describe it.
“Are you sure it’s not a brothel?” I ask Coop and he just shrugs before lifting one of the half-naked roman figurines from a small table. Or is that supposed to be Venus? There are pictures of couples embracing each other on the walls, although I’m sure it’s more than just an embrace. The bed has red satin sheets, and the towels are laid out in the shape of a heart. There are trinkets everywhere and more furniture than is needed in this tiny room, which means there is barely place for me, Coop and our two suitcases.
“Why don’t you get what you need out of your bag and then we can close it up and I’ll do the same?” he suggests.
“Okay, sure,” I agree, taking my coat off and hanging it on the back of the door. Coop hands me his—hmm, it smells after his cologne—and then drops onto the bed. It’s slightly narrower than a normal double bed and definitely a lot smaller than my king size. This is going to be interesting; with Coop’s tall frame and my many curves, it’s going to be snug.
