My heart rate immediately spikes and my mind goes to the worst-case scenario. But there’s no trace of blood on the floor. No ambulances outside.
I keep my head low, taking long deep breaths and head toward the elevators. I avoid eye contact with everyone and quickly pull out my phone.
Everything okay?
Skater Boy
Yeah, I’ll explain when you get to my suite.
Alexander’s immediate response helps me push down the growing dread that has begun clawing its way into my throat, like a zombie pulling itself from a grave.
Once I hit the fifth floor, I turn and head down the hallway. Ibreathe a sigh of relief at the familiar sight of Rob standing guard by Alexander’s door.
“Jesus, what happened to you?” I try to take in what I’m seeing.
Rob lowers a towel with ice that he’s holding up to his cheek. There are scratches all across his face and neck, some that have drawn blood.
Someone really did a number on him.
“You don’t want to know,” he says, pulling the door key from his pocket and tapping it on the reader to let me in.
“After you,” I say, my hand outstretched to let him in first.
“I’ve got to head down to the lobby,” he says, shaking his head disapprovingly.
The door closes behind me, and I hear Alexander call my name from the bedroom. After flicking my shoes off by the door, I grab a bottle of water from the table, parched from the long tube ride back from the O2, and make my way in to him.
I open the bottle and begin drinking it. Alexander is lost in his phone.
“She looks psychotic,” Alexander finally says, looking up as I reach him at the bed. He passes his phone to me as I sit down beside him.
Who looks psychotic? A fan? What have I missed?
The video begins to play again on loop, and I rub my eyes. I watch it a second time, just to ensure my eyes aren’t deceiving me.
“Damn, you’re not wrong.” I pass the phone back. “She looks possessed.”
“Right.”
The way Alexander’s leg twitches underneath the blanket tells me that this has rattled him more than he is giving away.
The poor guy.
First the TV interview. Then the nightclub. Then the alarmon Sunday night, and now this. Clearly, this Rita woman is not all there. She’s clearly delusional if she believes she’s in some kind of relationship with him.
Or have I missed something?
Is there something going on here I don’t know about?
“Don’t tell me this is what happens when people start catching feelings for you. They start going crazy.” I reach for his leg under the blankets and shake it, forcing a smile to his face.
“Only the British ones,” he says, winking and lifting the cover, motioning for me to join him. His gaze is expectant.
“Lucky I’ve been possessed for decades already then. Even the Devil himself wouldn’t get a foothold in here.” I point to my heart as I unbutton my shirt and trousers, removing my phone from the pocket before joining him in bed.
I lean over and he opens his arm, allowing me to snuggle up into him. The stubble from his cheek rubs up against mine as I kiss him before I lower my head to his shoulder.
The glare of light from my phone pulls my attention to my hand, and I raise it to my face to unlock it.
