Klara and I spent a lot of time together. She still had classes at the school, so I had to be patient at times, but when I wasn’t in the hotel room, I was out somewhere waiting for her to be done so we could meet up.
I wasn’t sure if Dad knew something was up, but on the day we were supposed to go home, I woke to a text, asking me to meet up in the hotel’s café.
Thankfully, Klara wasn’t with me when it happened. I showered quickly and got dressed, then went down to meet Dad.
We sat together silently, only speaking up to order the food. Up until our breakfast arrived, neither of us spoke. Dad was the first to break the silence in the middle of the meal.
“I’ll be heading back this afternoon,” he said. “You didn’t let me know about your plans.”
I hadn't forgotten that I had work waiting for me in California. Being with Klara was fun, but I wasn’t going to forget my responsibilities.
“I wanted to extend my stay here for a while,” I said. “I already made a call and had things at the office take care of for another week. Mrs. Cove will warn me of anything that requires my attention while I’m away. Just let Mom know I’ll be home later.”
He nodded. I didn’t know whether he agreed with the decision or not, but he didn’t speak up again.
That afternoon, Dad checked out of the hotel. I followed him out, watched until his car disappeared into the mass of cars on the streets. Then I hailed a cab and headed in the opposite direction.
It was Friday, and I hoped to have Klara stay with me for the weekend. I didn’t know how much longer I could give myself time off, and I wanted to spend as much of it with her as possible. The little time we had never seemed like enough, and I couldn’t help wanting more.
We didn’t spend all our time in bed, either. Sometimes, we went out, and she explored New York City with me.
Today, though, we weren’t outside much before we returned to hang out at my hotel room.
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to keep staying here?” she asked, sounding a little worried as I let us into the room. “I mean, your dad…”
I wrapped my arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek.
“He left today, so if you’re worried about him, you don’t need to be. Just spend the weekend with me?”
She didn’t give an immediate answer, and I sighed. I pulled back, turning her around to face me, and met her eyes.
“Are you hesitating because you don’t want to?”
“Of course not,” she refused immediately, making me smile. “I want to; I’m just a little worried.”
“About someone missing you?” I guessed.
She had this guilty expression on that made me a little suspicious.
“Yeah, like that. Spending the whole weekend…”
“It’s not like I’m going to lock you up in here. If you’d like, we can stop by your place tomorrow, and I’ll let you go early on Sunday. It should be fine like that, right?”
She nodded, looking both relieved and worried. I wanted to ask for some more, but my phone rang. I pulled it out, annoyed, but when I saw it was Mrs. Cove, I knew I couldn’t ignore this.
“I need to take this. Just give me a minute.”
I walked away as I picked up the call. It could only be about work, and I hoped I wasn’t getting called back earlier than I wanted. Luckily, it wasn’t anything too important. I went back to where Klara was, to find her tapping furiously on her phone as she frowned at it.
“Is something wrong?” I asked. “Do you have to go?”
She startled and looked up, quickly putting her phone away.
“Uh, no, nothing wrong at all. It’s fine staying the weekend. I’ll have to head back for a while tomorrow, though. You won't need to come with me. So, what do you want to do today?”
The subject change was very abrupt and very obvious, but I didn’t call her out on it. After all, we might know a little more about each other now than we did two years ago, but we were both allowed our secrets.
There wasn’t much to do in the hotel, so we pretty much just lazed about. I couldn’t help noticing, though, that any time I turned my back, she’d secretly go on her phone. Secretly, because even though I caught her when she noticed I had noticed, she would hide the phone away and smile at me. She might have been trying to hide it, but she looked a little nervous each time.