Page 62 of Lovers in Lockdown

I drop my head back to her shoulder to give her a hug, ‘I love you too.’

‘Gross,’ she pushes me away dramatically and, for the first time in two weeks, I actually laugh. ‘Do you want to do the cake thing, or do you want to do something else?’

‘If it’s okay, I think I’d like to be alone for a couple of days. You can’t stay with me forever and I need to learn how to be on my own again.’

Ellie studies my face pensively, ‘Are you sure you’re okay enough to be on your own?’

I wipe my tears with the back of my hand and stand up, ‘Yeah, I’m sure. But I promise to call you straight away if I change my mind.’

She taps her finger to her chin as she assesses me, ‘You’re absolutely sure?’

It takes her about an hour to gather her things together, and yet she still manages to forget her toothbrush, sunglasses and several pairs of underwear, which may or may not be clean. I’m not brave enough to check, becauseyuck, but eventually she leaves in a flurry of cheek kisses, promises to come back to check on me in three days and self-raising flour, which she has somehow managed to sprinkle across every surface in the apartment and it now looks like I live in a winter wonderland. It’s pretty, but not pretty enough to stop me smacking my head against the wall at the prospect of having to clean it all up.

Ellie is seriously the most messy, crazy, chaotic person in the world. But I wouldn’t have her any other way. I have to hand it to her, as much as my back aches from constantly bending down to clean up some mess she’s made and my liver is screeching out for some water and telling me to never touch another glass of wine again, for the most part, her crazy antics actually distracted me from thinking about Noah.

And now she’s gone, there’s nothing stopping my mind from wandering to thoughts of him, what he’s doing, if he’s already seeing someone else. If he misses me.

Of course, he doesn’t miss me.

He’d have left his number if he was going to miss me.

He’d at least have said goodbye.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Noah

It turns out that Reid is richer than I thought. Or he’s a spy.

Because he has somehow secured me a seat on a private jet with a handful of government officials. It’s during this flight, sitting across from a Russian diplomat and admiring the flawless leather on his Italian shoes, that it occurs to me that maybe Reid’s job is a little more complicated than just investment banking. That is, unless he moonlights as an international drug dealer.

But I didn’t ask.

I’ve pissed him off enough by fucking over his sister, the guy doesn’t need me questioning how he has enough cash to land my ass on a private plane. And honestly, I don’t think I really want to know.

When we touch down, I catch a cab from the airport to the apartment, the journey feeling like six hours, but really, it’s only one.

The cab pulls to a stop in front of the eggshell building that I haven’t seen for two weeks, but still feels like home. All the flowers in the window of the florist beneath the flat have wilted. They’ve clearly been dead for some time, because the air smells like fermenting potpourri rather than the fresh rose and jasmine I’ve grown accustomed to over the last few months. But I don’t mind it so much. The flowers only mirror how I’ve been feeling since I was last here, withered and decaying.

I let myself into the building and head up the stairs, pausing in front of the front door and sucking in a breath. There’s no sound from inside and it makes me wonder if Honey’s even home. I know from Reid that Ellie’s been staying with her since the morning after the night I left and from what Honey’s told me about her, I know that she’s a hurricane personified. The silence on the other side of the door, therefore, has my heart sinking into my stomach.

Maybe they’ve gone to stay at Ellie’s or something, but Reid didn’t give me the address and I still don’t have Honey’s number.

Fuck.

I pull my keys from my pocket and unlock the door, figuring that I’ll call Reid once I’ve showered the fifteen-hour flight smell off me and find out where his sister is.

The entire apartment is covered in a blanket of white powder. It looks like Honey and Ellie have either got involved with Class-A drugs and it’s all got a bit out of hand, or they’ve had Olaf from Frozen round for drinks and he’s exploded over the flat. There’s not a single surface that isn’t covered in white dust.

I cast my eyes around the apartment and they fall on a large shape curled up on the floor. My heart jumps out of my stomach and hammers in my chest like thunderous punches to my ribcage as the shape becomes clearer.

She’s here.

In front of me.

Sleeping on the ground amidst the white mist, like a snow angel. Her hair is fanned out around her like a halo and her hands are tucked under her head as she sleeps.

Fuck, I’ve missed her. I’ve missed her so much.

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