Page 50 of Until He Confesses

“Could you lend me some money please?” I nearly whispered. “I promise I’ll reimburse you as soon as morning comes, and I can make some calls.”

He didn’t seem to even give this a thought before he replied.

“Sure, but that’s not the problem. My concern is about your safety.” he sighed and I lowered my head.

“Please make sure you find the most reputable place possible in the area so you can spend the night. When it’s time to pay at their desk I’ll handle it. Callie, please ensure that it’s reputable and afterward ensure you send me the address.”

I felt like a child, a dumb one, but he was so willing to help me that I wasn’t going to be unnecessarily pompous or bull-headed.

“Thank you,” I said, and the call came to an end.

It took another hour of absolute confusion, fear, and uncertainty but soon enough I found a bed and breakfast called Venus Inn which was located on the quieter Fornillo side of Positano.

The views I was met with weren’t exactly postcard worthy but given the night I had so far and how badly it could have gone, I was more than grateful for a safe place to rest my head. Unwilling to deal with the trouble for the night, I sent a thank you message to Lucas and collapsed on the bed. I wanted to wait for his message but given the flight and the added stress, I was asleep in no time.

The next morning, I awoke to the sun shining in through the windows onto my face. It was early and the rays were soft but as I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings I quickly remembered where I was.

I would have slept in even further but I felt filthy as I hadn’t bothered to shower before falling asleep, so I got up and headed over to the balcony. I walked out and there it was. The hills and beach and colored houses. There were better views on the other side, but this was already breathtaking enough to console me from the embarrassment of the previous night. As I remembered last night again, I remembered the message I had sent to him and turned around to return to the table. I found my phone and indeed found messages waiting but none of them were from him.

There were several missed calls from Anna apologizing for missing my call, so I gave those my attention. I called her first and wore a scowl throughout the entire conversation as I went into the bathroom.

“It was an emergency, and I couldn’t fucking reach you,” I swore at her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “You know how it is with work. What was wrong?”

I told her all that had happened and she went silent in shock.

“Oh wow.”

“Yes wow,” I replied as I squeezed out some toothpaste onto the bristles of my toothbrush.

“I’m so sorry.”

I sighed then.

“No need to be, it was my fault. I should have been more careful.”

“I am so happy Lucas was able to help you,” she said.

I sighed as I began to brush my teeth and didn’t say a word to acknowledge her.

“Hello?” she called, and I mumbled inaudible words back.

She laughed clearly at what I was doing and then she ended the call as she had to be on her way.

I looked at myself in the mirror and knew I had to speak to Lucas soon. After I brushed my teeth, I picked up my phone to check once again and saw that he still hadn’t said a word.

I frowned as I stared at my screen wondering why he hadn’t replied, until once again I reminded myself that he wasn’t obliged to. With a sigh, I put the phone away and headed into the stall for a shower.

By the time I got out, I was refreshed and even consoled from my loss on the previous day but when I realized I needed to start making calls to cancel the cards I had in my wallet and had to make the needed report to the police my mind soured again.

But I had no choice and so I got ready to have my first full day in the city bogged down by the most unpleasant of tasks. After making the phone calls I needed to make to cancel my cards I wondered just how I was going to survive here for the next few days.

It was at this point that I realized just how dependent I would have to be on him.

I couldn’t believe it and tried to think of an alternative way. But first I needed a laptop as well. I was heading down to the reception of the inn when I received a call on my phone. It was a strange phone number, so I suspected it was spam of some sort but still, I picked it up just to make sure.

“Hello,” I called, and a man's voice came through.