The Quest for Epic

Chapter Twenty Eight

"My instagram is going to be so lit up!" she squealed as she swiped across her phone, looking at the pictures we took. I leaned in for a look but then she put it away.

"Oh there's Mr Stinson", she gestured ahead of us. I looked up and indeed Mr Stinson was walking towards us with his accountant Daniel by his side. Mr Stinson looked great and was actually kind of smiling which was a rare sight but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Noah trailing behind them.

Damn it. I couldn't ignore this magnetic pull between us as those smouldering hazel eyes landed on me. I felt my throat grow dry and had to swallow.

"Girls... Welcome to Aspen. I trust you had a pleasant trip?" He gestured towards us with wide arms

"Oh, so much more than pleasant. Thank you Mr Stinson", Elena gushed excitedly beside me

Not wanting to seem ungrateful compared to Elena and all her sugary sweetness, I added. "Yes, the trip was really amazing Mr Stinson. Thanks so much"

Elena cast me the stank eye that seemed to say, Trying to outdo me bitch? Really?

Her stank eye didn't faze me, though. I had been through so much in a short period of time, I don't think anything could anymore.

Mr Stinson nodded, looking pleased at our response. "Very well, then. I know you must be tired from the flight so Noah here will show you around and to your rooms and then you can rejoin us for dinner later"

Noah came forward then and his closeness hit me like a ton a bricks all at once. I closed my eyes and took in a long whiff of him, and when I opened them up again, he was looking right at me.

"Ladies", he gave us his sexy half smile and then indicated for a bell boy standing nearby to come and get our bags. "I hope you're not too jet lagged for a little tour"

"Oh, Noah... I could never be too tired for a tour from you", Elena cooed and draped her hands all over Noah once she was relieved of her luggage. I tried to hold down the immediate surge of jealousy I felt looking at them. We had a conversation and I knew to back off but I wanted so badly to be free to touch Noah the way Elena was right now, and I just couldn't.

It sucked.

We bid goodbye to Mr Stinson and Daniel and followed Noah out of the lobby. Noah was a great tour guide, he showed us the hotel restaurant we would be meeting for dinner later, the bar, the hotel spa, the game room and the pool.

It was a really great pool and Elena joked she would have loved to take off her clothes and dive right in but her swim suits were in her bag and she wouldn't want to be fired for indecent exposure.

Finally when we were done with the tour, Noah led us to the elevators and up to our respective rooms. We got to room 406 and he handed me a key card so I guessed it was mine. It was the first time our skins had made contact since we saw each other, so it tingled a little where our fingers met.

I looked up at him expectantly. I didn't know what I wanted him to say but I just expected... more. Surely, we couldn't just part like this with just making small talk for the past ten minutes.

Noah gave me a look I couldn't read. "Dinner's by 7. Feel free to order room service if you need anything before then, okay?"

Wow. Just wow.

I nodded meekly and slipped my key card into the lock. The door opened and I stepped in and closed it before I could fully process the sight of Elena hanging onto Noah's arm as they walked off presumably to her room.

My suitcase was neatly placed in a corner by the huge bed. I longed to hop on it and sleep for ten hours but I took the moment to look around my beautiful hotel room. It was really stunning, I thought smiling a little to myself.

The first thing I did after flopping down on the bed was to pull out my phone and dial my mom. I told how great the trip was, how great the hotel was, how great everything was. She asked me a dozen questions, sounding more excited for me than I was for myself and I did my best to answer them all. When I told her there was the possibility of me having a day or so off, her tone suddenly got serious and I knew what was coming.

"So Ellie, have you thought about what I told you before you left?"

"About my biological father? Not really"

That was a lie. I had been thinking about it nonstop on the flight over here but I didn't want to seem hung up over it so my mom wouldn't worry.

"Are you sure?" she always could detect a lie "I have no problems with it, you know... If you want to meet him. I found out his address from a couple of his friends in Kansas and I could text it to you. It's really close by; you could take a bus out... I don't want to be that person who's in your way anymore"

Her voice was beginning to sound tearful as she rambled so I decided to stop her.

"It's fine, mom. I'll uhh... I'll think about it"

I changed the subject to Karen's recital which I would unfortunately be missing and other things for the next few minutes and my mom ended the call with an, "I love you. Be safe, honey"

"Love you too, mom" I replied and the line went dead.

I got up from my bed and stretched, ready to finally hit the shower when I heard a soft knock on my door.

Who the f...

"Ellenore? Can I come in?"

It was Noah's voice. Shit. I quickly reached up to smoothen down my hair which I'm sure must look like a raccoon's from all the rolling around on the sinfully cosy bed.

I opened the door to Noah who was standing there looking wary.

"Hi', he said giving me a little smile which made my heart melt. Now, this felt familiar. I never wanted to engage in generic small talk ever again.

"Hey", I opened the door a bit wider "Come on in"

Noah strode in with his hands in his pockets, his presence immediately filling up the room.

"So... you like?" he raised a brow at me looking around the room.

"It is pretty impressive", I nodded and walked up to his side.

Noah looked down at me and his eyes met mine. Everything around us stilled for a moment.

He opened his mouth to say something, but something was going on behind his eyes. Like he was fighting some sort of inner battle, I had never seen Noah look so... unsure before.

He took a deep breath. "I just wanted to make sure you were settling in okay. I don't mean to be a bother; I know you're probably really tired from the flight"

Hmm. Was that all he wanted to tell me?

"Well it's no bother. I just wanted to shower and hit the sack", I looked deep into his eyes trying to guess what was going on with him but I was coming up blank.

He stepped away from me then, seeming to have made up his mind. "Guess I'll leave you to it then"

"Guess so", I said quietly watching his back as he walked towards the door.

He opened the door and then turned to me. "Um... Ellie?"

"Yeah?" I said expectantly

"I'm like really happy you're here", he said, sincerity lacing his tone "I'll see you at dinner?"

I nodded once, my heart filling with some indescribable sort of joy. "Yeah"

So Noah hadn't exactly spilled to me what was going on in his head. But as I walked into the shower, stripping off my clothes with a smile on my face, I figured I would find out at dinner.

A/N: Hey guys, thanks for sticking with me. Don't forget to vote, comment and share! Now I'm past my block, I'll try to get up more regular updates :).