Suddenly there was a crash as the door to
the bar was thrown open and smashed against the wall. There in the entrance
stood Natalie. She looked p*ssed.
"Who's that?" Hannah asked Jess, ignorantly.
"That's Natalie. Don't you remember?"
Hannah shook her head.
"You used to live with her?!" Jess reminded.
"DID I?!" Hannah tutted. "That's a bit stupid." She sipped her Strongbow. "So
why is she looking so angry?"
"I think we're about to find out..." Jess said, ominously.
Sure enough, Natalie stomped over to their table, with her hands on her hips and
looked furiously at Hannah.
"Hi!" Hannah beamed, innocently.
"WHERE have YOU been?!" Natalie exploded.
"What?"
"You left me with a sink-full of dirty dishes and a full laundry basket without
saying a WORD!" Natalie said, angrily.
"Sorry." Hannah said, sheepishly. "I was sucked into a wormhole."
"No excuses!" Natalie yelled. "I've heard them all before." She paused. "From
Daniel."
"I'm sorry, Nat. We were on the run. I would have text you..."
"But you didn't."
"I was in some bizarre parallel universe! I couldn't get any SIGNAL!"
Natalie stormed out, absolutely fuming.
"T*TS." Hannah concluded, downing both hers and Grant's Strongbows in one.
"Never mind. You can move back into the restaurant with ME!" Jamie
exclaimed, ecstatic to have some company at last.
"Erm...thanks." Said Hannah.
"I have no where to live either." Jess reflected.
BAMF!
"Oh." Jess looked from Kurt, to Chris, to the sock in her hand, to Kurt again.
"THIS is awkward."
"Guten Tag."
"Hi."
There was a silence.
"Have you met Chris?" Jess asked Kurt.
"Nein." Kurt shook Chris's hand. "Why are your legs tied together mit [with]
socks?"
Chris cleared his throat and looked the other way.
"Are you coming home?" Kurt asked Jess.
"HA! I mean...er...I think Hannah and I are moving back into the restaurant."
Jess said. "Sorry."
"You're not SORRY." Hannah muttered.
"Er..." Jess looked at Chris, who had gone VERY red. "No, I'm not."
"What restaurant's this?" Chris asked.
"Hannah and I owned a World or Space-famous restaurant. It was all very
exciting." Jess explained.
"No it wasn't." Hannah said.
"Yeah, you're right. It was crap, but hey...no regrets. Well, maybe a few..."
Jess looked at Kurt.
"Is he bothering you?" Chris asked, seriously, looking at Kurt who was staring
admiringly at Jess.
"Not really. He just stalked me for several weeks using an identity to cover who
he really was then made me move in with him."
Chris looked shocked.
"Nothing bad like rape or anything..."
"Rape? What?" Kurt tuned into the conversation.
Chris shot him a death stare.
"So...Grant," Hannah started. "How do you feel about me now I've been
through a worm hole and encountered more dangers than you can shake a stick at?"
There was a silence.
"Same as I felt before you went." Grant answered.
"Which was...?"
"Nothing."
"Arse." Hannah grumbled.
"So are there adequate facilities at this restaurant to stay there?" Chris
inquired.
"Ye...no. Probably not." Jess answered. "Although the oven is quite comfortable
to sleep in if you have nothing else..."
"You can all stay at mine!" Kurt said, excitedly.
"No chance, Mr." Chris shot him down. (Not literally, he's not a violent man).
"I'll rent us some suites at a nice hotel."
"You hear that?" Jess elbowed Hannah in the side, subtly. "He said 'suites', not
'rooms'!"
"Yeah." Hannah said. "I have to admit, you might have a catch here, J."
"Yeah..." Jess giggled. "A CATCH!"
"What?" Chris asked.
"Nothing." Hannah answered as Jess disappeared into a daydream. "She's just
thinking about fishing."
Jess, Hannah, Chris and Jamie (who had tagged along)
arrived at the main hotel on the Space station a couple of hours later.
"Hi." Said Chris, coming up to the desk.
"Hello." Said the receptionist.
"Four-"
"Three." Jess corrected.
"-rooms-"
"Suites." Hannah corrected.
"-please." Finished Chris.
"What?" Asked the confused receptionist.
"Four-"
"THREE." Jess repeated.
"Three?" Chris asked.
"THREE." Jess said again, fixing him with an icy gaze.
"Er...three rooms-"
"SUITES." Hannah growled.
"OK! THREE SUITES!" Chris said, defeated.
"Ok." Said the receptionist, handing him three sets of keys.
"I hate hotels." Hannah commented. "It reminds me of working in Book Four."
"At least we can boss people around, rather than the other way around."
Jess pointed out, trying to conceal the fact that she was taking off her socks.
They traipsed upstairs slowly until they came to their
three rooms - 329, 330 and 331.
"Here we go." Chris said.
"YEY!" Jamie, who had been sleeping on top of a fridge for two months, ran into
the first room with a whoop and slammed the door.
"Well, I'll see you two in the morning." Chris said,
disappearing into the next room beside Jamie's before Jess had a chance to say
boo to a goose.
"DAMMIT!" Jess stamped her foot in annoyance.
"Come on, J." Hannah said. "You got your way earlier with him...give him a
chance to rest and rebuild his energy then pounce on him tomorrow." She walked
into the third room, the door swinging shut behind her.
Before retiring, Jess checked Chris's door knob (Eh? Ehy?!) but found, to her
major disappointment, it was locked. She gave up and walked into the last room
with Hannah.
� Jess and
Hannah 2003-2004
(Yes, that's right, it took us 18 months)