Page 74 of Foes & Cons
My own eyes wander around him, the flashing lights highlighting different parts of him for me. He’s so tall, but he hunches his shoulders a little, used to talking to everyone lower down than he is. He takes a sip of his drink, and I perv at his bicep.
What? Sorry. I’ve never noticed Charlie Chamberlain’s arms before. I mean, I know he has them, for I have seen them many times. Not sure where that . . . I swallow and glance round the dance floor like he’s doing. It must be the booze and the skin-tingling closeness we had earlier. That’s why I want to take another look at his . . .
“By the way,” he says, interrupting my pervy thoughts (thank goodness), “you really were awesome earlier.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“Seriously. Best I’ve seen you do it.”
“You’ve seen medo it?” I ask.
“Yes,” he nods, then his eyes widen. “Seen you do that routine, I mean. On Insta.”
“My cape though,” I say.
“Your cape?”
I get my words in order and stand on my tiptoes so I can just about reach his ear.
“My cape,” I say. “You saved my cape from the door.”
“Oh,” he says, nodding. He shrugs. “It was fine. I just called down to . . . they sent a couple of guys with a key card.”
“Thank you,” I say, and he shrugs again.
“You needed your cape.”
I swallow, and look up at him, sure the flashing lights are hypnotising me into believing I want him to stand closer to me than he is.
“How drunk are you, Eliza?”
His eyes twinkle as he smiles at me.
“Medium to large,” I respond, grinning at him.
“You’re ridiculous,” he says, shaking his head and laughing.
His eyes lock on mine, then he steps in a little closer, his aftershave scrambling my already quite scrambled thoughts. I stare into his eyes, feeling myself starting to fall into us.
“Did you get my—”
“Well, hey there, losers,” says Roxy, interrupting him.
“Hey, Rox,” says Charlie Chamberlain, stepping back from me. “Having fun?”
“Having thebestfun,” she says, then hands me a bottle. “Gotyou a drink, babe.”
“It’s not water, is it?” I say, gratefully taking the beer and clinking it against Roxy’s. “Dudes around here all want to give—”
“I better check on Sadie,” says Charlie Chamberlain, doing a little double wave as he backs away and turns towards the tables. My heart sinks as he disappears into the crowd, but I can’t ponder as I’m now getting twirled within an inch of my life by Roxy.
“I want to twirl you for ever!” she says, smiling as my cape flows out behind me again. “You rock that thing so hard.”
“Why, thank you. It’s the latest in functional fashion,”I say, forcing her to stop. I strike various poses so she can take photos. “It even has pockets . . .”
I shove my hands inside the pockets my nanna sewed into the bottom of the cape, frowning when my fingers brush against a piece of paper inside one of them. I pull it out and leave Roxy dancing on her own (not that she’d realise) to find some light.
A pink spotlight shines down in the corner so I head there, looking over my shoulder. Satisfied I’ve found the only solitary spot in Conference Hall A, I unfold the paper, a little breath escaping as I take in the page.
