The door slams shut behind us with a ferocious force. We momentarily lock eyes, before Kade launches himself at the doorknob. He struggles with it, looks behind him and exclaims, "It's locked, it won't budge!" I push him aside, grab the knob: twist it, pull it - locked.
"The card," I say. Kade looks at me, uncertainty on his face. "Put the key card in the slot," I explain, glancing nervously back into the suite. He retrieves it from his pocket, and with a shaking hard inserts it into place.
'CLICK' - the door pops open. We look into the hallway, back into the suite, then each other - and we burst into peels of relieved laughter.
Kade examines the door, "It's a self-locking security door," he says, opening it wide and propping his backpack against it, to keep it open until we feel secure enough to close it.
......
I walk into the suite and am immediately awe-struck, "Wow - Kade come take a look at this." White is the predominant colour of the décor and furnishings, giving a pure, clean gleam to the room. "Kade, come here," When I look back, he's not there, "Kade, where are you?"
When he doesn't answer I go to the open door and peer down the sumptuously decorated hallway - "Kade!" Stepping out into the hallway, I look left and right - no sign of him.
Back in the suite I'm alerted by a sound. At first, I think it's coming from outside - but no - it's coming from within the suite.
It takes a while for me to compute what this noise is. When I eventually recognise it, I realise I've been deprived of every day sounds for so long that I'll have to re-learn them. It's with a smile that I walk to the source of this sound - a running tap.
Kade emerges from the bathroom, topless and beaming, "The tubs the size of a small pool, and right now it's filling nicely with lots of love potions, courtesy of the Park Plaza Hotel." He winks, then asks, "What did you want me to take a look at?"
"Over here, you haven't been into the main suite yet," I say, pulling him forward, excitedly.
He puts his arm around my waist and drinks in the magnificence of our view. The window takes up the width of the room and stretches from floor to ceiling, giving us a full, panoramic view of Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament. "We can watch the sun rise over London from our bed," says Kade, turning to look at the king Size bed, adorned with sparkling white satin sheets.
Then bizarrely, without warning, Kade drops on all fours and begins to crawl toward the bed like a dog that's suddenly alert to a menacing danger.
"What are you doing?" I ask. His voice is low, guarded, "Checking - we all know what lurks beneath beds." He continues to crawl forward, his body tense and primed, "We're not out of the woods yet, Tan," he says, lifting up the satin sheet. He acts even more dog like as his arms bend and his head disappears under the bed - all I can see is his butt sticking in the air.
Without warning his legs fly outwards until he's lying prostate on the floor and he's dragged forcefully under the bed.
"NO!" I grab his legs and yank them back, but they don't budge.
I knew this was all too good to be true.
Eventually, I make progress and his legs inch back with me, so that he is able to push himself from under the bed. He stands up, looking shaken. "What's under there?" I ask. He stares blankly ahead, "Imagine your worst nightmare..."
..."Is it imps, Lucindy's arm, or something worse?" I cut in, desperately.
He shakes his head, "No." He says. "What is it?" I ask, pleadingly. He lowers his head and when he looks back, he's smiling, "It's not your worst nightmare - there's nothing under the bed!" He says, punching the air.
