Freeze

Chapter Seventeen

He'd hoped that a new dawn would quell the feeling of regret and loss that gripped his gut, but as Gary showered, his eyes closed against the torrent of water cascading over his face, he replayed yesterday over and over again in his head. She'd kissed him back. She'd clung to him with tender finger tips. And then all of a sudden she was gone. He sighed.

Gary stepped back from the shower head and shook his head sadly. Water that had once clutched at his hair now flung against the stark white tiled wall. He squirted a generous amount of shower gel in to his hand and roughly massaged it in to his torso. His palm moved distractedly in a circular motion over his skin. Maybe he should apologise. He wasn't sorry that he'd kissed her, just sorry that she'd scarpered. To apologise though, he'd have to go round to her flat. Something stirred in him at the thought of seeing her again and he admonished himself, clearly nothing was ever going to happen between them now.

When he'd lathered himself to within an inch of his life, Gary stepped back under the shower, the water chasing away soapy suds as rivulets streamed down over his soft skin. He allowed the warm water to pound against his head and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply.

Holly couldn't sleep. She'd fallen in to a semi drunk stupor on the sofa and woken at 2 o'clock in the morning before dragging her sorry self to bed. Upstairs' washing machine whirled to life at 7:30am, the floor boards above her head trembling with the vibrations. Holly felt the rumble of the washing machine in her head. She groaned as she pulled the duvet over her head, hoping it would muffle the pounding in her head.

Holly opened her eyes and stared unseeingly at the underside of her chevron duvet, as it rested on her nose, the pattern too close to focus on. If her plan had been to mask her feelings guilt, regret and longing for Gary by a hangover, it hadn't worked. In fact it made her feel even worse.

Through the dullness of the duvet Holly heard her phone vibrate against the solid wood of her bedside table. Hope rose in her stomach as she reached for her phone before she remembered that Gary didn't have her number and she plummeted back down in to self made loathing and despair.

Can we talk? D xx

"No!" Holly spat at the phone, resolutely ignoring Danny's message. There was nothing to talk about, they'd said it all. And even if there was anything to discuss with Danny now was certainly not the time.

I'm outside D xx

Came a reply as if he'd heard her speaking to the screen.

Holly groaned and unceremoniously shoved her phone in the drawer of her bedside table. Her head hit the pillow once more and she closed her eyes. Upstairs' washing machine continued to rumble on. Her head continued to pound. Her ignored phone continued to buzz in the confines of the drawer, demanding attention. Holly threw the duvet off her and crawled out of bed, heading to the shower.

Gary slumped against the kitchen worktop, his grey jogging bottoms hanging temptingly low on his hips, as the coffee machine whirred next to him. The radio resonated around the kitchen playing quietly to itself. He'd been for a run along the river in an effort to clear his head. The fresh air had done him good but as he stood idly, awaiting the coffee machine his mind began to wonder. His fingers tapped a fast paced rhythm on the kitchen worktop as he tried to distract himself from the beautiful red head in his mind.

Familiar chords issued around the room from the radio in the corner and then his own voice sung softly to him. Words about lost loves and new beginnings. Words about greater things lying ahead if they'd only take it slow.