My eyebrows shoot up at the message. Why the sudden flexibility? It makes me wonder why on earth he didn’t just sleep in his own tent in the first place if we’re meeting here in an hour. Is our agreement now so relaxed that this didn’t even warrant discussing? He never fails to baffle me. I waste no time and type out a brief response.
Thought you might have needed some quality time with the enormo-tent
Sure, see you then
His reply is almost immediate:
True
I’ll bring the boys, they’re riding out their hangovers but they’re both feeling very sorry for themselves this morning
As always, I have no energy or will to choose what to wear and decide that now is my perfect opportunity to wake up Hennie.
I hobble from my tent to hers and zip open her door to find her still sleeping, her arms thrown up behind her head and tangled in her long hair. Pushing my guilt aside, I tap her foot lightly.
‘Good morning! I am your alarm!’ I call out, trying not to laugh at the sight of her shooting me a scowl the second her eyes open.
‘Hello, friend,’ I say cheerily, crawling next to her to plop myself down so we’re lying eye to eye.
She yawns and taps my head fondly.
‘Good morning.’ Her voice is husky and deep from sleep, and probably the late night. ‘Hang on. You’re alone! Unattached!’
‘Yeah, I get a break,’ I report.
‘Ah.’ She nods knowingly. ‘Do you miss him terribly?’
‘Shush. Did you have a good night?’ I ask.
She smiles and closes her eyes again, nodding. ‘Very good. I love it here.’
‘What time did you get back?’
‘About three-ish,’ she replies with a yawn. I admire her stamina.
‘Good work.’
‘How wasyournight?’ she asks, eyes flying back open.
I shrug. ‘Oh, you know. Fine.’
She waits, then prods my arm with a finger. ‘More details, please.’
‘We found another clue, but it led to a dead end pretty much immediately.’
‘Bummer. Don’t worry babe, we’ll work it out together.’ She then shoots me a terrifying grin. ‘And how was your night with Elliot?’
‘Uh, uneventful.’
‘You lie.’ She narrows her eyes. ‘You always stare at my eyebrows when you lie.’
‘I stare at your eyebrows because they’re phenomenal, Henrietta.’
‘Shut up.’ She gives me a loving swat. ‘Tell me, now.’
‘Alright,’ I start. ‘Okay, well. Actually, something weird did happen, onemightsay. Not like, sensationally weird. Well, I don’t know, it was – it’s not a big deal or anything–’
She looks alarmed. ‘What is it?’
