5

When I got out of the shower I just got dressed and left, not bothering to find Charlie and say goodbye. Tess always says to never chase after a man who runs from you and Charlie had bolted.

I stepped inside the elevator, pushed the button for the hotel lobby and leaned back against the glass wall. I'm not usually the type of woman who allows others to get under my skin but Charlie had left me feeling humiliated and disgusted in myself.

Charlie had used me as his own play toy and then when he was done he discarded me as if I were nothing. If this was what every one-night stand was like then I want to steer clear of ever doing this again.

I closed my eyes and allowed my emotions to take over, sobbing loudly in the privacy of the elevator. I'd be mortified if anyone discovered what I did tonight. The only saving grace is that I never have to see that dirtbag ever again.

I shouldn't have ever let my friends convince me that this was a good idea. Shit! My friends know and they're going to ask me for details.

I can't lie to them and tell them either, they know me too well and will see straight through my fabricated story. I live with Tess, she's going to hear me trying to sneak into our house and bombard me with a million questions. She’ll probably even call Bailey and put her on speaker phone so the two of them can interrogate me together.

As long as I can contain the story and stop it spreading beyond my two best friends then I will be alright. No one else ever has to find out about my humiliating one-night stand.

Stupid, sexy, gorgeous Charlie had burrowed so far under my skin that I didn't even register when the elevator stopped, it wasn't until I heard the doors shuffling open that I opened my eyes but soon realised I’m not stopped on the lobby. This was the level above the lobby, where the function rooms for hiring are.

I'm about to lean forward and push the button to close the doors, assuming that there's been a mistake.

“Nortica?” A familiar voice asks and I look away from the panel, coming face-to-face with Josh.

When I asked if this night could get any worse it's as if the universe took that as a challenge to just rain shit down upon me. I'm stuck in a tiny, metal box, nowhere to run, with my ex-boyfriend. Fuck my life.

“Josh, what are you doing here?” I question him, knowing there's no way he'd be staying at the Rochester, not with how much they charge for a room.

Josh was always very frugal with his money, never wanting to spend it and avoiding having to be the person who paid. I guess that comes from studying accountancy.

“I had a party here tonight,” He vaguely explains as he steps into the elevator, filling the space. “Are you alright? You've been crying.”

Of all the people who had to see me be a broken mess, why did it have to be Josh?

“You had a party? It's not your birthday though,” I ask him, avoiding his own question about my state to put the focus back onto him.

Josh’s birthday is another 8 months away, it wouldn't make sense to celebrate it this early.

“It wasn't a birthday party, it was my… engagement party,” He tells me, looking like he'd now rather be anywhere else than stuck in an elevator with his ex.

“Oh,” I responded at a complete loss for words.

The doors open at the lobby and we both can't get out of the elevator fast enough.

Josh starts walking towards the service desk and I head towards the entrance.

“What were you doing here tonight Norts?” Josh asks me, using the nickname he thought was cute when we dated but really I hated it.

“I was visiting a friend,” I lie but know the truth would be worse for him to hear.

“What friend?” He pushes, suspicious of my alibi. “Who do you know who is staying at the Rochester?”

His question irritates me, not because it’s him asking it but because it's a cold, hard reminder that I didn't know Charlie at all.

If I hadn't come back to the hotel with him then I wouldn't be feeling like shit right now and I also wouldn't have had to run into Josh.

“Josh, I've had a really bad night, coming here was a mistake and all I want to do right now is just go home,” I tell him as I feel fresh tears prick at my eyes.

I don't want to cry in front of him, I don't want him to feel he owes me comfort, especially since tonight is meant to be a night of happiness and celebration for him.

I turn to leave but he places and hand on my arm, halting me.

“How are you getting home?” He asks.

I hadn't really thought about transport. Tess, Bailey and I would have shared an Uber home, split the expensive bill, if I had stayed at the bar but that will cost a fortune for me to pay alone.

“I’ll catch a train,” I tell him, realising that's my only other option. I just wish I'd worn better shoes for walking because the station is a bit of a trek from here.

“I’ll pay for your Uber,” He offers and I'm taken aback by his generosity. Josh is a really nice guy but he's never the one who pays for anyone else.

“Oh, no, I couldn't let you do that,” I protest but still he takes his phone out of his pocket and opens the app.

“I would feel better knowing you got home safely, Norts,” He says, looking up from his phone.

That’s the thing about Josh, he actually does care about his friends. It's one of his best qualities and something I always admired about him.

“I’ll pay you back,” I promise him, knowing he probably needs the money more than I do right now, what with a wedding to plan.

“Don’t worry about it, I just got a new job, working for my cousin, and the pay is going to be more than I could get at any accounting firm,” He boasts, beaming.

“Working for your cousin?” I ask him as a pit of dread begins to grow in my stomach.

Charlie had mentioned that he had offered his cousin a job, as a way to escape an engagement party. Surely it couldn't have been Josh but it's way too coincidental not to be.

“Yeah, my cousin Charlie is a phenomenal chef and a really amazing guy. He’s also a billionaire who owns a few businesses in Telerah,” He says, making me want to vomit. “Hes staying in the penthouse tonight, I was coming down to ask the desk to call his room so that I could thank him for the party,”

I want the ground to just open up and swallow me whole. How the hell, in a town as big as Telerah, did I manage to sleep with my ex-boyfriend’s cousin?

If Josh ever found out this would kill him. I remember him mentioning how he always felt he was constantly compared to his older cousin and in his grandparents ' eyes he never measured up.

“Its nice that you two are so close,” I comment, wanting to run far, far away from the hotel.

“Yeah, he's more like an older brother to me really, always looking out for me,” Josh remarks, not picking up on my panic. “Hey, you should stick around and meet him, I bet you'd really get on well with him,”

“I’ve really got to go,” I lie, racking my brain for an excuse he will buy. “Tess has me doing an early morning hike up Mount Thams tomorrow.”

It was the best excuse I could come up with and I'm hoping he doesn't ask for details of said hike.

“Alright, well it looks like your uber is pulling up out front anyway so I'll let you go,” He says and I breathe easy knowing that in a few short minutes I will be free from this nightmare.

“Goodbye Josh, good luck with the wedding, I wish you all the best,” I say genuinely.

“Goodbye Norts,” he farewells me. “Whoever has upset you tonight, they're not worthy of your tears.”