Page 51 of The Muse
She nods, takes the cash, and backs up, swaying her hips the entire time. “Here, honey?”
“Yeah. Right there.” She puts on a little performance, giving me exactly what I need.
And then tomorrow, I'm going to find Seffi.
Chapter Twenty
PERSEPHONE
The concierge at the hotel took forever to source me a phone charger. It would have been easier if I’d just grabbed one when I was out myself. But finally it arrived. I fooled myself into believing that there would be a magic message from Scott when I fired it up. Of course, there wasn’t. And two days later, there’s still nothing.
Thanks to my stalker friend, I’ve not left my hotel room. Landon knows where I am, and I’m not going to do anything to give him the satisfaction of trailing me again. So, I've exhausted everything I can think of to do in the hotel room. Now it feels like my own type of prison.
And it's all Landon’s fault.
Going downstairs for a late brunch, I order a cup of tea with the continental breakfast and take a seat away from the bank of windows. The croissant and fruit salad don’t interest me much, but it’s better than paying for overpriced room service when I get hungry again later.
Sighing, I stare aimlessly and pick at the food. My plan to run out and leave has crashed disastrously in my lap, and I can’t find a way through it right now. I'm just stuck here with nothing, and nobody I can turn to. Ivy’s out of the country, and I can’t talk to Neve without confessing. I’ve always been able to solve my troubles on my own. If I couldn’t execute a move to the correct standard, I’d work harder. But this is different.
I go back up to my room, and as I’m fighting with the card key to turn green, I hear my phone ringing. “Come on… Come on!” I shove the card back into the lock, and I’m rewarded with the little flash, but just as I burst into the room, the phone stills.
Two missed calls. From Scott.
My finger dashes the screen and swipes to press his name and return his call.
“Hello, Scott?” I blurt out as soon as the line connects.
“Yes.”
“You rang. Sorry, I tried to reach the phone, but I didn’t have it on me, and I’ve been waiting for you to call, or rather hoping-”
“Stop. Seffi. Please.”
My mouth snaps closed as I realise how much I’m babbling, and I wait for him to speak. But the silence just stretches on into a never-ending pause of nothing.
“Why did you call?” I eventually ask.
Silence for a while. Nothing but the sound of his breathing and the memory of it on my skin. I miss it so much. Miss him. Miss us. "Scott? Please talk to me."
“I've got questions that won’t go away.”
“Do you want to meet? I need to see you, please Scott. There’s so much I need to tell you.”
Another long pause, enough of one that I go to the window and stare in the direction of his apartment, perhaps wondering if he's at home.
“You suggest the place,” he says quietly.
“Well, you could come here. I'm at a hotel because …" I stop, unsure if I want to tell him anything about Landon. “But you should know that I was being followed–”
“You’re being followed? Let me guess, big brother?” The contempt rings loudly even over the phone.
“Please come to the hotel. We need to talk, and I don’t want it to be about my brother, Scott.”
“Fine. I’ll be there in a few hours.”
“I’m at-” But he’s already hung up.
The conversation completely rattles me, and my hands are still shaking as I send him the hotel details and room number over text. He seemed so cross like he was holding things together just to get through the conversation. That’s not what we’re meant to have.
