Page 35 of Caught in the Middle

Chapter Twelve

The sleepy rays of dawn seeped through the cracks in the tent door and woke Lucy up with a start. It took her a good ten seconds to realise where she was and why.

And then she remembered.

The kiss.

Her head snapped to the left, and to her surprise, Oliver wasn't there. She ran a hand over his side of the sleeping bag, and it was cold. Odd. She wondered what time it was, maybe he was packing up the car, getting ready for their journey further north.

She grabbed her fleece and jeans and got dressed, butterflies forming in her tummy. She couldn't begin to guess how long they were kissing for, but it was amazing. She wanted to rip his clothes off as she felt his groin swelling against her thigh, but he told her they couldn't.

She was hoping they could continue where they left off tonight.

She felt nervous as she tried to smooth down her frizzy hair, and scrubbed the sleep from her eyes. She wondered how he would react to last night.

When she emerged from the tent and stepped into the chilly sun, Oliver was nowhere to be seen.

Her heart began to race as she scanned the tree line, peered into the car, which was locked.

Just when she began to set into panic mode, she saw him emerging from the forest, mobile phone in hands. He was suited and booted again - crisp white shirt, hair perfectly combed into place.

'Good morning,' she called, grinning. 'I thought you might have abandoned me for a second.'

'You know I would never leave you out here,' he said, walking towards the car. He wasn't smiling, the joke clearly went over his head.

She followed him over to the car. 'So, we ready to hit the road?' she asked, as he popped open the boot.

He wasn't looking at her in the eye, and Lucy had been in this situation with her before.

He was mad at her. But why?

'What's wrong?' She asked nervously.

He forced a smile and glanced at her, before pulling his phone out of his pocket and checking the screen. 'Nothing, don't be silly.'

'Why do you keep checking your phone?' She was beginning to get suspicious. He had barely looked at his mobile since they met, and his demeanour was coming across as fidgety, almost nervous.

He slipped the phone back into his suit pocket and touched her arm fondly. His hand, despite the cold, felt clammy.

'Sorry, I'm just waiting for a phone call. Slight change of plan.'

Lucy nodded,cautiously.

She hopped into the passenger seat and waited, as Oliver stood by the boot still.

What on earth was going on?

She kept checking the wing mirror to see if he was going to come and join her in the car, but he didn’t.

After a few moments, she heard a crunching noise. Like the crisp leaves being crushed under something heavy.

'What the -' she flung open the car door and sped over to Oliver.

'There's someone coming, Oliver, I can hear a car.'

She scanned his face as he didn't reply, didn't even look at her. She glanced down at what he holding - a grey duffel bag, stuffed to the brim.

A silver BMW appeared in the clearing, and pulled up beside Oliver's car. Lucy watched it, rooted to the spot, wondering what on earth was going on. Maybe it was his friend who they were meant to go up and stay with further north, and he was coming to collect them instead?

---