Chapter 15 ~ Christmas Bonus Part 4
Mr Kingsley walks out of the cockpit and into a whole lot of silent tension. Iris is looking out of the window, sitting on her own. Kanan is doing the same in the very opposite corner of the plain.
He decides not to ask about it and goes to sit behind Hannah and Daniel.
Hannah decides that her friend needs her more than her boyfriend does right now and gets out of her seat. Daniel sends her an encouraging smile. She smiles back before leaving him and going to her friend.
"Hey, Iris," she says as she sinks into the chair next to her. Her friend doesn't say a thing, keeping her back turned to her. Hannah sighs. She knows how men can be. Even her and Daniel have their struggles. She places a hand on Iris' shoulder.
"I'm not upset," she states after a few moments, finally turning to her friend. Hannah can see she's lying. Even Iris can't hide such intense emotions from her friend. Anger practically drifts from her in waves.
"It's okay," Hannah says in a hushed tone so no one could overhear, pulling her into a hug. Iris lets herself be comforted. She feels horrible.
Maybe it was her fault Kanan is constantly upset with her. Maybe she's just a really bad friend, and even worse girlfriend. She's mostly angry at herself, really. She should be able to figure out why he's upset.
"What did I do, Hannah?" Iris mutters. Hannah's heart goes out to her friend. Despite being a very closed off person, Iris is actually very sweet. She rarely let's it show, but Hannah knows better than to believe the tough act she puts up.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. He's just being an idiot," Hannah purposely says the last part a little louder, knowing Kanan would be able to hear her. He might also be her friend, but Iris has become her best friend. And he's hurting her.
Iris is about to say that it can't be true, she had to have done something, when Noah and Zander get out of their seats and come over to the two girls. They take a seat behind them.
"Hannah's right. Besides, we should be celebrating! We're going to Europe!" Zander cheers. Noah and Hannah join in, making Iris smile slightly.
She really does have amazing friends.
***
They arrive in their hotel in London around eight hours later. It's one in the afternoon here and Iris can already feel the jetlag setting in. She hates travelling, even if this is only her second time doing so.
Hannah decides to abandon Daniel for the time being, much to his dismay, and agrees to room with Iris. The two girls leave the rest of the group as soon as they get the chance, making their way up to their rooms.
The hotel Mr Kingsley had booked for them is just as luxurious as anything else regarding the trip. It's five star, only the best money can buy.
The elevator dings and opens on the nineteenth floor, signaling that Hannah and Iris have reached their stop. They step out and into the hallway along with a bellhop carrying their bags.
Old oil paintings of people and landscapes hang on the wall. Even though the hotel is fairly new, it still has the old feel of almost everything in London. Iris is entranced by the artworks and stops to look at every one.
"Come on, Iris. At the pace we're moving, we'll never get to our room," Hannah says irritably, trying to usher her friend along. The other girl blatantly ignores her friend's attempts to get her to move along.
Finally, after what feels like ages to Hannah, they reach room ten, their room. She unlocks the door with the key card and opens it with her free hand, the other gripping her friend's arm.
She pulls Iris inside before letting the bellhop enter. He puts their bags down, offering them a curt nod, before leaving again. He must think the two girls are insane.
"Let's watch a movie," Hannah suggests, stepping over their bags and jumping on the bed.
"What kind of movie?" Iris asks, joining her on the big king sized bed. Hannah shrugs and switches the TV on.
After flipping through the channels, they decide to have a horror movie marathon, against Iris' better judgement. She's always been a wimp when it comes to horror movies. She might not sleep at all for the next few weeks.
They start off with the new version of IT, which wasn't really too scary, even for Iris. Hannah seems to enjoy the movie, even laughing at a few parts. Her friend just looks at her like she's completely insane, which she might be, honestly.
Next they watch The Conjuring. Now that freaked the both of them out. So much so that they had to walk together to turn on every single light they could find.
Lastly, they watched Insidious. It was a good way to end a terrifying movie marathon. Iris is thoroughly scared of everything in the hotel room by the end of it. Her and Hannah lie in bed, clutching the sheets as the end credits roll in.
"I told you we shouldn't have watched that," Iris mutters. She looks around the room, completely freaked out and paranoid.
"Never will I doubt you again," her friend mutters back. They sit in silence for a few moments.
A loud knock at the door makes the both of them jump sky high. They shriek and scream as they tumble off the bed. Iris is the first to rise, her fists swinging as she expects some demon to jump out at them.
Another knock, even louder this time, makes Iris realise what was really happening. She's suddenly annoyed that someone would scare them like that, even though it surely wasn't the person's intentions.
She storms over to the door, furiously yanking it open, fully prepared to give whoever is outside a piece of her mind, but stops when she sees who it is.
Looking down at her with a cocked eyebrow is Mr Kingsley, still dressed in his clothes from earlier. Iris' eyes widen dramatically when her gaze meets his.
"What was all the screaming about?" He asks the shocked girl in front of him. All the courage and plans to give him a piece of her mind drain from her body and she's left to gape at him like a fish out of water.
"Xavier! For the love of fudge, why would you do that?!" Hannah comes storming towards them. She pushes Iris to the side and, despite her small size, glares up at the towering Mr Kingsley.
"Do what?" He asks, seeming genuinely confused.
"Scare us! We were watching horror movies! You don't just come banging on someone's door like this when they're watching horror movies!" She yells back at him.
To Iris' complete astonishment, Mr Kingsley laughs. Like, full blown, hearty laugh. His deep voice vibrates through her as he throws his head back and closes his eyes.
Hannah, now more angry than she was before, stomps her foot. Her face has turned red as she practically fumes at him.
"Woah, calm down. I'm sorry if I scared you girls. I just came down to tell you that Daniel, Kanan, Noah and Zander had gone out to get us all food," he says once his laughter dies down.
Just the mention of food has Hannah forgetting what she was mad about in the first place. "Yay!" She cheers excitedly, turning around to face Iris.
A loud thump makes the two girls jump and shriek again. They clutch onto each other before realising it was only a false alarm and letting go. Mr Kingsley offer them an amused smile.
"You know what, you're staying here until Daniel gets back," Hannah says as she grabs Mr Kingsley by the arm. Much to Iris' horror, he's pulled inside and the door is shut behind him.
***
Xavier watches both girls sleep soundly. They passed out a few seconds after getting in bed and commanding him to sit on the chair next to the television. After a lot of objection, he finally complied and took a seat.
He's always been fond of Hannah. She was like a sister to him at one point, when they were still very young. Now, they've drifted apart and don't even speak anymore. He's become the perfect business man he never wanted to be. His father wanted him to be this way, though.
He thought it might make him feel better. Since both his parents died.
***
The phone in Kanan's pocket buzzes for the fifth time today. Frustrated, he tugs it out and presses it against his ear.
"Hello?" He answers, not even bothering to check the called ID. His agitated tone must have taken whoever's on the other side aback because there's a long silence before a familiar female voice speaks.
"Kanan..." she breathes seductively. Instantly, Kanan knows who's speaking and his irritation flares even more.
"Kayla, what do you want?" He growls. She squeaks, frightened by his sudden aggression, before regaining her composure.
"Babe, I just wanted to know-" she starts flirtatiously but Kanan cuts her off before she can finish.
"Don't babe me. I broke up with you two weeks ago, Kayla. I'm with someone else now," he says.
"But babe-"
"No, Kayla," his voice comes out harsher than even he intended. He can practically feel Kayla flinch on the other side of the call.
"Fine," she huffs. "Just know that I really did love you, Kanan. Tell Iris I feel sorry for her. She's too good for you, you low life piece of-"
Kanan ends the call with a sigh.
*ð*