Between Darkness and Dawn

4.

The next day, neither Evie nor Audrey was surprised to find that Carmen woke up and had breakfast in the Dearne household. The girls had always been told to share their houses as if they belonged to each, rather than just one and as far as they were concerned, that was exactly what they had done by having a secret, girly sleepover before their big adventure. Carmen went back to her house only to collect her packed bag and say goodbye to her parents before joining Harmony on a casual walk to campus, dressed ready to travel in a pair of jeans and a tank top with a light jacket on top and sneakers on their feet, ready for the walk. They would change into their suitable rainforest clothes once they arrived and settled into their accommodation but for now they wanted to look calm and casual and, particularly for Harmony, as covered up from prying eyes as possible. She was going to have to see Godfry again, that very morning, after having thrown her expensive and gorgeous Manolo’s at him the night before but for once it wasn’t her shoes she was worried about. She didn’t want to see him and she certainly didn’t want to dress in any way that inspired him to look at her.

They would be travelling to three different Colombian rainforest projects during their two month trip and the last thing she wanted was to be around Godfry. But it was too late for that now. She was signed up, packed and ready to go and she would have to do her best to avoid him as much as possible during their trip or else face his smug attitude and his flirting with other girls…or worse…his lame attempts to apologise, blame someone else and try to seduce her again. They had an hour on the bus, where if she chose her seat correctly, she could avoid Godfry until they reached the airport; another strategic seating arrangement could mean that she avoided seeing him for the whole of the nine and a quarter hour flight, only having to endure his presence during the half hour stop over in between. They still didn’t know where they were going or any of the real details, but Ms Carre had been kind enough to warn them of the hourly itinerary and explain their destination and planned trip before the bus took off.

What Harmony didn’t know, was that Godfry was trying to flirt with Carmen at that very moment, as she gave her bags to the driver to store in the luggage compartment and talked with her friends before boarding the bus. “So…we’ll be away a while and maybe we’ll finally get a chance to know each other. What do you say to some romantic walks in the woods once we’ve settled in?” He wondered with that cheeky smile that Carmen usually found so charming and endearing. Now it just seemed cocky and arrogant, as if he thought he was gods gift to women and that she should fall to her feet before him just because he had smiled. Well, he had another thing coming and he certainly wasn’t going to like it.

“You really think you can flirt with me and that everything will be fine?” Carmen asked angrily, surprising Godfry into losing his smile and staring at her in confusing. He attempted to regain his charm and cheekiness by smiling briefly, almost as if he was about to pass off his flirting as nothing serious and nothing she should be complaining about. But before he could dig himself an even deeper hole, she continued talking so that he knew exactly what he had done and why she was so pissed off at him and he soon got the picture that smiling, in any way, was most definitely out of the question. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Never mind the fact that you’ve ignored me for the past three years…never noticing that I was alive and liked you, but now, when Harmony was willing to jump into bed with you just to lay her claim on you and keep you interested, you cheat on her?”

For the first time Godfry felt despicable, as if he had done the worst possible thing to upset someone and for some reason, from Carmen, it mattered. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed her before, or that he was suddenly flirting with her after three years or not knowing she existed but what really hurt her and what she seemed most angry about, was that he had cheated on Harmony. And that…just didn’t make much sense to him. “You have no soul…no care for anyone other than yourself. I hate you. If you come near me or Harmony during this trip or after it, I swear to god you’ll have me to deal with and I won’t throw shoes at you. If that time comes, you’ll wish you’d never known I existed.”