“Sorry. I guess that isn’t going to work out. You eat and I’ll call you when we’re back. We can hang out and have a drink.”
She told him to drive safely before ending the call. The phone rang again almost immediately and he answered the phone to Seren.
“I’m bored now,” she whined. “The airport was fun for a while and now it’s not. How long are you going to be?”
“Traffic’s still crawling so I’ve no idea.”
“Can we go to that steak place you took me to last time I visited? I loved that place.”
“I dunno. We might just get something quick. I told Keira we’d hang out with her later.”
“Okay.” Her excitement had vanished and it annoyed Noah. He wanted to spend his last couple of days in Bristol with Keira, not feeling as though he had to entertain Seren.
“Traffic looks like it’s getting moving again,” he told her. “Hopefully I won’t be too long.”
“Good. I’m excited to see you.”
“You too.” The grey clouds and crawling traffic reflected his mood perfectly, and he resented every moment that he was missing out on spending with Keira. Thankfully, the traffic started moving faster and he made it to the airport in another half hour.
With a little bit of nagging from Seren, he ended up taking her to the steak restaurant in the centre of Bristol. It was late by the time they finished eating, and he sent an apologetic message to Keira to tell her he’d call her when he got home but he might just have to see her the next day. She replied to say it was fine, but he suspected if it had been a phone conversation it would have been clear that it wasn’t fine with her at all.
Back at his place, Seren got changed into her pyjamas in the bathroom and hopped straight into his bed.
“Sorry to mess up your evening,” she said, propping herself up on a pillow.
“It’s fine. There’ll be a bit of a leaving party in the pub tomorrow night. That should be fun.”
“Yeah.” She yawned. “Can you turn the light off and get into bed? I want to go to sleep.”
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” he said, picking up a pillow.
“Now I feel bad for nicking your bed.” She sat up and looked at him sadly.
“It’s fine. The couch is comfy enough.” It wasn’t, but it felt like the right thing to say.
“It’s a double bed,” Seren said, looking at all the space around her.
“Yeah. I know.” He should have realised this would be an issue.
“We’ve shared a bed like a thousand times.”
“I know that too.”
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s just weird because of Keira. I’m happy to sleep on the couch, though.”
He hoped to slip away without having to delve further into the conversation, but it was clear Seren had other ideas when she patted the bed and gave him a look that said they needed to talk.
Dutifully, he took a seat. “Surely you can see it’s inappropriate for us to share a bed when I have a girlfriend?”
“Scared I’m gonna jump your bones?”
“Terrified,” he said with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t really get it,” she mused. “You’ve had girlfriends before and still shared a bed with me.”
He grinned. “Don’t tell them that!”