Everything's Changed

ELEVEN

Chapter Eleven:

Jason came out of his room and made his way downstairs. He had noticed that there was a sitting area downstairs and thought that he might take an opportunity to use it.

He entered the room and found that Howard and Gary were already down here. Other than the two of them, the room was completely empty when Jason walked in. He then made his way towards his friends and sat down on the sofa next to Howard.

"Not a bad hotel this." Jason said as he sat down.

"No it's not. It's better than some of the places we've stayed in over the years." Gary said looking around the room.

"There's not many people here though, is there? I think I saw two other people since we've arrived and neither of them have come downstairs." Howard told them.

"Some people like to stay in their rooms when the stay at a hotel." Jason told him.

"True, I guess."

"So anyway, any ideas on what we are going to do tomorrow?" Gary asked.

"We could hire a boat and take a trip down the river." Howard suggested.

"That's not a bad idea. Can anyone drive a boat?" Gary asked.

"I can." Jason admitted. "I haven't for a while though, but when I was a kid we used to go out all the time and I was taught how to."

"Well, that's settled then, we can take a boat trip down the... what's the river called, Jay?" Howard turned to Jason.

"The Ouse."

"We can take a boat trip down the Ouse." Howard said with a grin. "D'you reckon Mark and Rob will be all right with that?" He asked.

"I would think so." Gary said. "To be honest, I don't think Mark's too fussy about what we do, as long as he's distracted from everything else, I think he'll be fine. And as for Rob, I think as long as Mark's happy, he'll be happy."

"Yeah, I guess." Jason said. "Where are they anyway?"

"Probably in their room." Howard said. "They're sharing, right?"

"Yeah, Rob said he thought it was best that someone stayed with Mark." Jason said.

"Mark's probably having a nap; he was pretty tired when we got back to the car." Gary said. "And Rob's either napping or just keeping Mark company while he sleeps."

"I swear, sometimes the two of them could be regarded as a couple." Howard laughed as did Jason and Gary as well.

"Tell you what, why don't we go and get the two of them and make our way to wherever we can get a boat from." Jason suggested. "I think its best that we make sure we get everything sorted today before we go tomorrow." He told them. Howard and Gary nodded in agreement before the three of them made their way up to the hotel room that Mark and Robbie were sharing.

Gary knocked on the door, hoping that one of them would answer. However, no-one came. He knocked again and this time he could hear the sound of someone shuffling across the floor towards the door.

The door opened a moment later and Robbie stood on the other side looking at the three of them with tired eyes.

"You do realise we're trying to sleep here?" Robbie said, slightly annoyed about being woken up.

"Sorry mate, but we've come to tell you and Mark something." Howard said as Robbie let the three of them in the room.

"OK," Robbie said as he shut the door behind them. "But be quiet, Marky's still asleep." Robbie told them nodding over to where Mark lay on the bed fast asleep. The others smiled at him before Jason spoke.