Ok, so who guessed that I recently gave up smoking and am still slightly obsessed with it?!
I'm sorry if the excessive amount of smoking in the story has disgusted everyone, but please don't let it stop you reading the rest; it is part of the plot, I promise! Keep reading and you'll see what I mean...
Thank you for your comments though, good or bad. I didn't realise until now that it only takes one small aspect to put people off reading a story!
And one more thing...when we talk about 'pants' in England, we generally mean underwear, not trousers. Thank you to my friends for pointing that one out!
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Harriet came out from her deep sleep as she felt Seth pull away from her and get out of bed. She sleepily listened to him go into the bathroom, take a shower and then move around the room, presumably getting dressed. Lying half on her front, with her hair over her face, she kept up the pretence of being asleep, unwilling to face reality and Seth just yet. She almost betrayed herself when he came and stood next to the bed and gently ran his hand over the soft skin of her shoulder. She heard him heave a sigh, walk away from her and, unlocking the door, exit the room, leaving her in silence. She opened her eyes and stared at the wall for a while, lost in her thoughts. What to do now? She was finally caught; she and Juliet had walked right into Seth's trap.
She started up from the bed. Juliet! Hadn't he said that Juliet was in the next room?
Harriet climbed out of the bed, hurried into the bathroom and stared in disbelief. Her toiletries were all present and correct; she couldn't believe that they'd even taken her belongings from the hotel! After brushing her teeth and taking a quick shower, she wandered over to the wardrobe and pulled it open. She gaped as she saw her clothes hanging in it, including clothes that she'd left in England under Simon's care. She groaned as she thought about Simon. She really hoped he hadn't gotten into too much trouble for her.
Not bothering with a bra, Harriet quickly pulled on a pair of white silk pants and a short loose fitting dress she'd bought in Cape Town and then eyed up the door. Would it be too much to ask for the door to be unlocked? She crept over to the door and holding her breath as she gently tried the door handle. Damn! The man had locked her in! Turning around, she walked over to the window, staring out at a vast stretch of grass leading to what looked like a forest. Opening the window, she breathed in the fresh air, trying to clear her head. She looked down, then to the left and suddenly laughed. It was an old building; Victorian gothic from what Harriet could see. Rock climbing was one of Harriet's favourite hobbies and the old building offered plenty of foot and handholds. The two storey climb down to the ground looked too dangerous to attempt, but even in bare feet and wearing a dress, it wasn't going to be hard to climb over to the small stone balcony only a few feet to her left. Within seconds she was climbing out of the window, over a large ugly gargoyle and in through the large window above the balcony, startling Juliet who was lounging on the large, luxurious-looking bed.
"Harry!" Juliet squeaked as she launched herself at Harriet as soon as she was standing in the room. "Oh my God, I was so afraid that they were going to hurt you or something!"
Harriet laughed "Oh you silly! Seth may be an arse, but I never thought that he'd really hurt me. Anyway, I was worried about you. Are you ok?"
"Yeah," Juliet wandered over to the bed again and sat down, looking glum "but we're in a bit of a fix now, aren't we?" Harriet loved the way that Juliet always included herself in Harriet's misfortunes. This was one friend who would never leave her side as long as she needed her.
Harriet looked around Juliet's huge hotel-like room and crowed happily when she spied a coffee maker and a fridge. Checking the contents of the fridge, Harriet was equally happy to find soft drinks, sandwiches, cakes and pastries.
"Feast time, my friend!" she cried as she pulled out the food.
Juliet laughed "Put the coffee maker on!" she looked around "They brought my bag to me earlier and I do believe that there are a couple of packets of cigarettes in it!"
"Oooh! And here's something to make the coffee that little bit better!" Harriet spun around, holding a bottle of Jack Daniels to her chest. "And if you don't fancy that, I think I saw a tray of ice in the freezer section!" She waggled her eyebrows at Juliet who burst out laughing.
A couple of hours later Harriet and Juliet had failed to come up with an escape plan, but were feeling rather relaxed anyway, thanks to Mr Daniels. A haze of smoke hung over the room and an old and expensive looking trinket bowl had been sacrificed as an ashtray.
"It's 1 o'clock in the afternoon and we're drunk. Not that we haven't done this before, but this time there's no lectures tomorrow!" Juliet giggled "This is kinda fun. If this is all we have to do, we should get caught more often!" she lay on her front, half her face pressed against a pillow, a blissful smile on her face.
Harriet lay back on the floor laughing "Simon would...." whatever she was about to say went unsaid as a sudden uproar disturbed the general peace.
"Where the hell is she? Find her!" they heard Seth roar in the next room.
"Ah shit." Both girls froze as they heard several sets of feet pounding past the door.
Juliet looked at Harriet "They're shape-shifters; they'll find you just by following your scent."
A wicked smile spread across Harriet's face "Yeah, but I climbed out of the window, remember?" she began to giggle "I'd like to see Seth and his hulking great guards following my scent across the side of a building! For all they know, I went straight down!"
Juliet tried to quieten her laughter but within minutes both girls were trying desperately not to laugh any louder, but only ended up making it harder for themselves. Eventually Harriet let go and howled with laughter into a pillow, Juliet following suit.
