FLYING | Sequel of FALLEN (NaNoWriMo 2022 WINNER)

29.

"We are the only two couples on the retreat so we get the two primary bedrooms on the main level. All the other bedrooms are upstairs." Logan opens the door for me and helps me with my additional bags.

"Lucky us." I smile at him as I roll my suitcase in our designated bedroom.

"It has perks to organise this retreat." Emma, Logan's perky and oh so gorgeous wife, adds walking past the room to the kitchen, her hands full with the groceries they bought on the way.

"Thanks again for allowing me to come at the last minute." Marcel follows Emma with the rest of his luggage.

"It's our pleasure to have you with us. And I think our writers will appreciate some of the lecture you have given at the University of Montreal last week." Emma kindly responds as she walks farther in the house.

"My lecture was on a given book. I don't think it applies here. But I'd be happy to share anything to those interested." Marcel informs Logan.

"Everybody is eager to learn and to write. Any knowledge is appreciated. You'll see when everyone gets here tomorrow."

"What are we to do until then?" I inquire.

"You are free to roam as you please. This is your home for the next two weeks. You can write, you can sleep, you can do whatever pleases you, but I hope you can both join us for dinner."

"We will. Thank you." I respond, gratefully smiling at Logan by our door.

"We'll settle in and join you after that." Marcel adds as he unzips his bag of clothes.

Logan nods and closes the door behind him, leaving me alone with my boyfriend. The silence builds as I focus all my attention to undoing my own luggage. Marcel finishes first and lazily lets his body collapse on the bed. He gets at ease and I feel his gaze on me before I see it.

"We haven't shared a bed in a while." He sighs.

"Who's fault is that?!" The attitude in my retort isn't sharp. Not only do I feel drained of emotions, I was also anxious about this retreat. It all sounded great on paper, but the truth is: I have nothing to write about. I gave my draft to Edith and haven't had any feedback yet. And to be truthful, I wrote it under pressure, but my heart wasn't as much in it as it was in my first novel.

"Don't start."

"You left me in a foreign country, on my birthday, completely alone to deal with everything by myself. Would you have abandoned any other of your writers? No, I don't think so." I tame the anger inside and whisper to him not to be overheard.

"We'll have to agree to disagree on this one, Grace."

"Say what you wish, but realise that I don't owe you anything in this situation."

"You'll have to stop running away from me when things don't go the way you want."

"You left me first!"

"I had to."

"I don't care, Marcel. If you don't want to tell me why or what it was that was so much more important than your job than I won't care! If it wasn't for you imposing yourself on this tour, I would have taken the time to get in sync with myself and do what I wished. I just took this opportunity to stay in peace, by myself and do as I wanted. You did as you wished when you left me last month, you can't be mad at me for doing the same in return."

"I can never win with you."

"It's not about winning, Marcel. You think I want to look at you and feel sorry? I love you so so much it hurts to feel so distant from you. But with every secret you keep, it's a brick you put on a wall between us."