The Wedding Project 💍

'Behind Blue Eyes' (Part Two)

"I was wondering if I could have a look over the list of names of the guests invited."

"And why do you want to?"

He had a feeling she would ask that and while he didn't like sharing the details of his plans with just about anyone, it wasn't like he had anything solid right now. And everyone knew it was one of the guests anyway so he decided to tell her.

She looked relieved and quite happy as she handed him the folded paper, "At least someone is doing something about this. I don't think any help will arrive for a few hours at least. Well, good luck."

"Thank you," he said as he pocketed the paper.

She went back to join the other bridesmaids and Alex returned to his table. Mia was already seated, twirling the pen again with a frown.

"So I got the list," Alex said, placing the list in front of Mia, "look through it and tell me who isn't in this room." He plucked the pen out of her grip and pulled a tissue towards him, ready to write down the names.

Mia quickly read through the list, glancing around the room.

"Laura isn't here."

Alex jotted down and waited, with the pen hovering above the tissue to quickly note down the other names.

When Mia said nothing, he looked up.

"And?"

"And what? Laura isn't here."

"Yes, I got that. Who else?"

Mia folded the list of names and pressed it on the table. "Laura," she said very slowly, as if he had trouble understanding her when she talked normally, "is not here."

"And everyone else is?"

"Yes."

"Oh." He stared at the tissue lying innocently on the table with only one name on it.

"Who's Laura?" Alex asked, eyes glued to the name. Laura. He didn't know anyone called Laura.

"I don't know. Not from our side. Anna's friend or family or something, probably."

Alex grunted. Neither he nor Mia knew who Laura was and they both didn't have the slightest idea what Laura looked like--not like that mattered much right now, when everyone was locked inside the restaurant while the hotel staff checked out the scene of crime.

Wait.

"The staff!" Alex said, sitting up straighter, "we've only been thinking about the guests, what if it was someone from the resort? Wait no, that can't be--"

"--because they don't have any solid reason to murder their customer. That would only ruin their reputation," Mia finished, shaking her head.

Alex slumped back. "So what? This person, Laura, killed Anna? And then didn't show up at the restaurant? We figured it out so easily that it doesn't seem right."

"Or she could have been murdered by the actual murderer and her corpse is rotting in the basement, who knows."

"Please don't say shit like that so casually," Alex said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had done absolutely nothing today and was still exhausted. "Wait. Basement?"

Mia shrugged. "That's the only place the security of the hotel doesn't cover."

Alex was about to bite her head off for not telling him that sooner, but right then, he heard some commotion again. They both turned around to see that everyone was getting up and going outside. The doors had been unlocked.

The security of the hotel had finished doing whatever they were doing outside and thought it was fine to let all the people loose

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are you sure you heard something down there?" Alex asked Mia for the hundredth time, and she ignored him again, as they hurried down the stairs to the basement quietly. Since, you know, no one was supposed to be there.

The moment the doors had been unlocked, Alex and Mia had got out with the crowd. They were supposed to return to their rooms and wait there until they received further instructions but they had quietly snuck around till they found a door to the basement.

Actually, Alex was trying to be quiet. It had been a while since he had had to do anything physical. Not since his grand uncle died. And he was a teeny weeny bit jealous of Mia who was hopping down the stairs like her legs were made of springs.

Sheesh, teenagers, he thought as he tried to keep up with her. Although he was 24, he felt like he was forty around Mia. He tried not to look as out of breath as he felt.

After climbing down what seems like a million steps, they finally reached the basement. It was a wide hallway with a store room (Alex guessed) on either side. And now Alex was starting to think it was a bad idea.

He was with a young girl in a dingy basement. If the killer was actually here...that wouldn't be a good thing at all. What was worse, if something happened to them no one would even hear their screams from here.

"Mia," he whispered, turning around, "I think I'll check this place on my own, can you keep guard around the door? If someone heads this way, make them go away somehow. Please?"

Mia looked like she was about to protest, but he didn't give her a chance to. There was no time.

"Please. If someone comes down and sees us here, who knows what they'll think. I might get in trouble. Both of us would. Your disapproval of this wedding isn't exactly a secret, you do know that right?"

Luckily for Alex, Mia understood the gravity of the situation and went back up the stairs to keep a watch out.

Alex turned around to finally get a good look of the basement.

He could hear a faint noise from a room on the left, so he chose to check the one on the right first. As he had expected, it was a storeroom. He picked a mop that was leaning against the wall. That was the only thing in there that would come close to a weapon. Armed with the mop, he headed towards the other room.

He was just about to push it open, with the mop gripped tightly in his other hand when a janitor popped out of nowhere.

"Aye, what do you think you are doing here?" the janitor barked. Alex jumped away from the door.

"Um, my, uh, niece threw up in the garden," Alex lied, "so I thought that I'd...clean up?"

If the janitor noticed his hesitancy, he didn't show it. "You think you can clean a garden with a mop?"

"I am not used to doing this. Just felt responsible," he shrugged, trying to mimic what posh kids who never had to do a chore in their lives would say in this situation. "I shouldn't have twirled her around so much"

The janitor snorted in annoyance. "I'll do something. You can go now," he growled, snatching the mop from Alex.

"Oh, okay. thanks."

He bounded upstairs as fast as he could. Just as he was about to wrench the door open, Mia opened it from the other side.

"Why didn't you tell me the janitor--"

"The police are here."

"They took long enough," Alex growled. "but the janitor--"

But Mia wasn't listening. "I don't know what you're talking about but I am sure the police won't care about any janitors if they find you out of your room, where you are supposed to be."

And she was off before he could say anything. Alex hurried off to his room too, hoping that whatever he heard in the basement was just a figment of his imagination.