Chapter seventy

Christiana

“Damn it, I can’t tell which one I’m meant to use!” Adam said, peering at the keys in his hands.

“How the hell can you get confused with this?” Christiana asked. “There is a total number of one key available for your front door.”

“I also have the keys to the Field, thank you very much.” Adam said. “Ah, finally.”

The door opened with a click and Adam guided Christiana into his flat. She sauntered in and headed straight to the DVD wall. She knew exactly what it was that she wanted to watch.

“Christiana, I swear, if the DVD you’re about to pull out has me in it…”

“Oh, relax.” Christiana said and pulled out her favourite movie, presenting it to him with a flourish. “Because tonight, you and me are going to be watching a blonde haired teenage version of yourself in full adolescent angst. I for one cannot wait.”

Adam looked at the DVD case apprehensively and then moved over to the sound system.

“I have a better idea.”

Immediately the room was filled with light, romantic music and Christiana raised her eyebrows at him, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Why, Mr Gammon, are you trying to seduce me?”

Adam smiled at her and pulled her into a dance hold.

“You have no idea how long I have wanted to do this.”

Something seemed to strike alarm bells in the pit of Christiana’s stomach at the sound of his words, but she chose to ignore it and instead smiled a welcoming smile back at him.

“And what does an Adam Gammon seduction entail?” She asked.

Adam grinned at her and spun her out, pulling her back to him. Christiana giggled as she struggled to stay upright and, as a result, ended up falling against him rather than smoothly dancing back. She held onto his waist to steady herself, Adam’s soft chuckle at her ear. She realised that she liked that sound, it had a more velvety feel to it than Connor’s ever did. She squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of Connor and tried to push him out of her mind.

“So, where exactly is this extra bottle of champagne you’ve been bragging about?” She asked.

“Kitchen.” He said. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Christiana went to move out of hold with Adam but he kept his hand tight at her waist and instead chose to dance them both through the living room and into the kitchen.

“You’re so weird.” Christiana laughed.

Adam ignored her comment and instead started to sing into her ear. Once they reached the fridge, he dipped her low and opened the fridge door. Christiana peered up from where she was held precariously in his arms and continued to giggle as he serenaded her, his eyes not leaving hers whilst his arm searched blindly in the fridge for the champagne bottle. Once he had the bottle in his hand, he swung Christiana back onto her feet, spinning her round as he shut the fridge door.

“I am going to throw up all over you, if you keep this up!”

“Rule number one of the Adam Gammon seduction experience, no talk of vomit allowed.” He said.

He backed Christiana up to the island in the middle of the room and seamlessly lifted her, placing her delicately on the counter surface. Christiana bit her lip and allowed Adam to insert himself in between her legs. He took her hands and directed them to the champagne bottle so that both of them were holding onto it, his hands covering hers. Slowly, he guided her fingers up the spout of the bottle and rested both her thumbs on the base of the cork. Christiana felt a tingle of anticipation run through her. His eyes had not left hers and his smile was slow and seductive.

He let go of the bottle with one of his hands and grabbed Christiana by the waist, pulling her closer to him and gently lifting her back down to the ground. Once she was on both feet again, he shifting himself so that he was standing behind her, his arms encompassing her entire body. He placed his thumbs on top of her and pressed down. The cork shifted and then popped off into the air sending bubbles flowing out of the spout.

“Okay, I’m going to stop you there.” Christiana said, turning to face him and rolling her eyes. “This is turning into some form of cheesy soft porn.”

Adam was grinning and Christiana couldn’t help but laugh back.

“You are such a loser!” She said. “Now where’s the glasses-“

And suddenly she wasn’t able to speak anymore, because Adam’s lips were on hers. Her body momentarily froze at the sudden impact but quickly softened again and she found herself melting into the kiss. This had been what she had wanted after all.

She wrapped her arms around him and concentrated on the feel of his lips and tongue against hers, allowing him to deepen the kiss. He was good, it was good. But something was off, she couldn’t put her finger on it. Then there it was; Connor’s face and arms and body and laugh and voice and everything flooded into her mind and with it came a massive urge to cry.

She pushed against Adam and pulled away, backing herself into the counter behind her. Both of her hands flew to her mouth and she just stared at him, her eyes filling with tears.

“I can’t do this,” she said. “I’m so sorry, I can’t. I… Connor… I’m so sorry.”

Suddenly all the humour had left the air and Adam stared down at her, a mixture of confusion and hurt all thrown in together. The light romantic music continued to play over the now otherwise silent room. Adam opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, a new wave of confusion washing over his features. Christiana couldn’t stand it any longer, she could feel wave after wave of panic flowing through her body, her breathing increased and she knew that above everything else, she needed to get out of this room.

“I’m so sorry.” She said again.

And then she turned and ran. She didn’t look back, she couldn’t. She couldn’t bear to see Adam’s confused and hurt expression again, her heart wouldn’t take it. She ran out the front door and kept on running, past the many corridors that separated Adam’s room from hers.

When she eventually got to her door, her breathing seemed to have double in speed and intensity. She pushed her key in the door, ran in and shut it firmly behind her. Leaning back on it and focusing on her breathing, trying with all her might to get it to a decent speed.

“Daniela?” She called out, trying so hard to keep the sadness out of her voice. Why though, she didn’t know, as she fully intended on falling down into hopeless sobs the moment she located her. But no response came back.

She began to search the small confines of her little home and saw not only no sign of Daniela but no sign that she had returned at all since they had left that evening. She was all alone and she realised in that moment that she really didn’t want to be. She needed to see someone, to be with someone. She briefly thought about going back to Adam but the mere thought sent her breathing into another panicked tirade. She couldn’t think of anywhere else to go.

So instead, she crawled onto her bed, grabbed hold of her pillow, held it tight and let herself cry uncontrollably once more.