CHAPTER 5

            Sydney took a sip of her soda and adjusted the pillow behind her. She glanced down at Nigel who had turned onto his stomach and was sleeping peacefully, despite the fact that she was still sitting up in bed and reading with the light on. She smirked. He could fall asleep anywhere.

            She flicked the page in Cawver’s diary hoping this one would give her some insight into the woman’s bizarre fascination with Nigel. However, it was more dull rhetoric about daily events at the school. She didn’t think it was possible for one person to lead such a boring life.

She stifled a yawn. She was already halfway through the diary and it was putting her to sleep

Wore the grey tweed today. Had capers and eggs for breakfast.

Attended a meeting on the new library wing.

Caught Danny O’Toole steeling extra crackers

from the kitchen pantry. Gave him three days detention.

 Had fish for dinner.

            Nigel stirred in his sleep and she heard the slightest whimper. Fearing he was having a nightmare, she put her hand on his head and started brushing her fingers through his hair. He settled almost immediately and Sydney went back to the diary.

            They met up with Preston on their way back into the main hall. His eyes were lit with excitement as he babbled something about Cawvers headed their way and how he’d managed to detour her to the banquet hall with a fake report of rowdy activity from some of the boys.

            Nigel hadn’t commented, although he had been sure that Preston had buggered off to do something stupid instead of staying to help. They remained another hour or so, during which time they did not see the headmistress, and then Sydney and Nigel headed out, leaving Preston to mingle.

            They’d returned to their hotel, ordered room service and went over what they had learned. Nigel had been unexplainably exhausted by his visit to the school, so Sydney decided they would retire early. She was half expecting a call, or even a visit from Cawvers, but so far there had been no response. She was sure that the headmistress would know who was in her little shrine and she was sure Cawvers would come after them. They just had to wait.

            Nigel moaned again and Sydney caressed his back. It was odd how just her touch could affect him, even in his sleep.

            “Syd?”

            “Go back to sleep,” she told him, pulling her hand away guiltily, now that he was awake.

            Nigel rose up enough to squint at the clock. “What time is it?”

            Sydney tried to ignore how deliciously attractive he looked, with his drowsy eyes, mussed hair and his dark T-shirt slightly twisted across his chest. She turned her gaze away and adjusted her glasses as she turned another page in the diary. “It’s late. Go back to sleep.”

            Nigel ignored her request and reluctantly turned onto his back. He tossed an arm over his eyes to block the light. “Have you been reading all this time?”

            “Most of it.”

            “Anything interesting?”

            “Ever read the ingredients on a bar of soap?”

            “Uh…not recently.”

            “It’s about that interesting.”

            Nigel smirked and kept his arm over his eyes for a moment longer, before sighing and sitting up, mimicking her position against the headboard. “Right then, my turn.” He reached for the diary and was surprised when Sydney closed it on her finger and held it away from him. “Syd!”

            “Nigel, we don’t know what’s in here. I think it would be better if I read whatever….psychotic thoughts she has and I’ll summarize for you.”

            Nigel gently pulled the glasses off her face and put them on his own. “Thank you Dr. Freud.” He snatched the book away from her and opened it up to the page she had marked. “We’re doing this together, so we take turns.”

            Sydney scowled. She didn’t want Nigel further traumatized by something he might read. As if reading her thoughts his gaze narrowed on her.

            “As you pointed out earlier, I am no longer that frightened little boy, Syd. I’ll be fine, really.”

            She nodded, reluctantly and offered him her soda, which was now flat and warm. He shook his head, switched on the lamp on his side of the bed and began reading. Shrugging, she stifled another yawn and turned off her lamp. She snuggled down in the sheets. “Maybe just a nap,” she agreed, suddenly aware she was quite tired.

            “Yes, you nap. I’ll read.”

            “Wake me if you hear anything.”

            “I will.”

            “I mean it, anything. A noise outside. The wiggle of the door handle. Wake me up.”

            “Syd, she isn’t going to attack us in our hotel room.” He ignored her glare. “I promise to wake you, but I can’t do that until you go to sleep.”

            “I just want to be sure…”

            He huffed and looked at her, amused. “You’re worse than a bloody child wanting a glass of water before going to bed!” He gently smacked her on the head with the diary. “Go. To. Sleep.”

            She grinned, turned on her side away from him, then decided she’d rather face him and turned back. Something had her gut twisted in a knot. She wanted to keep an eye on him. “Any noise at all.”

            “If a gnat so much as farts outside the window you’ll know about it, now go to sleep or at least hush and let me read!”

            She sighed, contented at the slight annoyance in his voice, finally assured he would obey her orders, and closed her eyes.

            Her eyes flickered open again and she was startled to find herself alone in the bed. How was that possible? She’d just closed her eyes for a second. The lamp was off, but Nigel was no longer beside her. “Nigel?” She sat up.  She was sure he was just in the bathroom, but how had he moved without her knowing? She’d only closed her eyes for a minute. “Nigel?”

            She turned away from his side of the bed, meaning to toss back her own covers and came face to face with Cawvers, standing over her., dressed in black, her pale face luminescent against the moonlight filtering into the room. The woman’s dark eyes shone with fury, and then she opened her mouth impossibly wide and hundreds of cockroaches spilled out, dropping onto the bed and scurrying across Sydney ’s legs, up her arms and into her hair.

Sydney screamed.

            “Syd! Sydney , wake up!”

            Sydney opened her eyes and realized that Nigel was shaking her. The remnants of her dream lingered and she started slapping at her arms and face, still able to feel the roaches crawling across her skin.

            Nigel caught her hands, frightened. “Stop! Syd, stop! There’s nothing on you.”

            Finally, his voice registered and she was so relived that she threw herself into his arms, unable to keep her body from trembling from the after affect of her dream; she hated cockroaches.

            Nigel held her and rubbed her back. “Its okay, you’re fine. It was just a dream.” He’d never heard her scream like that. “Sssh…you’re all right. You’re fine.”

            Sydney clung to him and closed her eyes tightly against the vision of the headmistress and the roaches.  Finally, she composed herself and pulled away, embarrassed. “S…sorry.”

            “You should be,” he teased, trying to lighten the situation; anything to return some colour to her horribly ashen skin. “You took ten years off my life! I’ll be middle aged by tomorrow if you keep this up.”

            It worked, Sydney managed a small smile. Nigel could always make her smile, even when she as feeling at her worst.

            “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked gently.

            Sydney briefly described the dream and watched him shiver.

            “That would certainly make me scream,” he agreed and rubbed her back again. “But you’re okay now, right? No roaches here. That gnat didn’t even fly by.”

            She laughed and it felt like such a relief. “Oh, Nigel.” She hugged him again. “I love that you’re you.”

            “Um…thanks, although I’ve no idea who else I might be.”

             “I just mean you always make me feel better.”

            “Ah.” He gently pulled away. “Let me get you a glass of water. All that howling like a banshee has probably left you parched.”

            Sydney was disappointed when he pulled away from her, but she managed another laugh and briefly hoped that she hadn’t woken anyone else in the hotel.

            Nigel went into the bathroom and retrieved one of the wrapped plastic cups. He ran the tap and filled the glass, then had to set it on the counter because his hands were shaking so badly. God, she had scared him. He never wanted to hear that sound from Sydney ever again. It was death curdling and his heart had stopped beating several seconds before he realized she was dreaming.

            He ran some water over his face and took some deep breaths, before returning to the room. He handed her the glass and their fingers touched. She caught his hand with her free one and frowned.

            “You’re shaking.”

            “You scared the piss out of me, Syd,” he confessed, seriously. “I’d drifted off while reading the diary and came round to your screams…” He shook his head. “I thought someone was gutting you.” He couldn’t think of anything else that could make her scream like that. They’d been through so much and he had seen her face death, torture and possible sacrifice so many times and never had she so much as whimpered.

            Sydney set the glass down and pulled him in for another hug. “I’m sorry.”

            “So you should be.”

            She smirked. “Well, I am.” She closed her eyes, inhaled the scent of him, enjoyed the feel of his arms around her, and then she felt the shift in his attitude, the sudden awkwardness that always came over him whenever she held him too long.

 “Um…do you want an aspirin or anything?” he asked.

            She shook her head and reached for her water. “Just get back in bed.”

            Nigel did as he was told and was only mildly surprised when she curled up to him and laid her head against his chest. “You really were frightened, weren’t you?”

            “In my dream you were gone,” she said. “I woke up and you weren’t beside me anymore and I couldn’t figure out how you had gotten out of bed without me knowing.”

            “You do have remarkable senses for that sort of thing.”

            “Right, so if I am laying on you, you can’t move.”

 “So, you’re going to pin me to the bed for the rest of the night to make sure I stay here?”

            “Yep.”

            “What if I have to get up and go to the loo?”

“Hold it.”

            Nigel chuckled as he reached up to turn off the lamp. “You’re mad!”

            “Nope, just thorough,” she decided and closed her eyes, drifting off to the gentle rhythm of his heart.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

            Sydney woke again a few hours later and had a moment of panic when she found herself alone in the bed again. What the hell? For the briefest of moments, it was so much like her dream she was almost too afraid to turn around, but the difference this time was that the early light of morning was shining in through the window. Slowly she turned.

            Nigel was coming out of the bathroom, fresh from a shower, his hair clean and fly-away cute, his face cleanly shaven, and he was dressed in a pair of khaki slacks and a blue long sleeve crew-neck shirt. “Morning, Syd.”

            She scowled at him. “How’d you get out of bed?”

            He blinked as he moved to his side of the bed and retrieved his watch and wallet. “I pulled back the sheets and put both feet on the floor,” he replied. “I know some people tend to roll from the bed, others still have to put one foot then the other, but with me it’s both feet out and down.”

            She glared at him. “I mean, how did you move without me knowing?”

            He smirked as he tried to snap his watch on over his wrist and it wasn’t cooperating. “You were gone to the world, Syd. I doubt that a marching band would have woken you.”

            Her eyes widened in disapproval, and then she growled and reached across to fasten the watch properly over his wrist. “I never sleep that deeply.”

            He grinned and slipped his wallet into his back pocket. “True,” he agreed. “But I learned a trick that will make you move and not wake you up.”  He then leaned in and ran his finger down her spine, just from her neck to the middle of her back, watched her curl under his touch, and then pull away. “Quite the trick, isn’t it?”

            She shook herself, his touch had given her goose bumps, and she wondered why she never noticed that was a sensitive spot. “How did you discover that?” she demanded, not liking that anyone, even Nigel could make her body respond involuntarily.

            He shrugged and dropped down onto the bed to pull on his boots. “I had a cat once that used to like sleeping on my chest, she both liked and hated to have her back stroked.” He grinned at her. “She reacted the same way you did and it was the only way to get her to move.”

            Sydney folded her arms across her chest, secretly amused at his ingenuity. “You promised to stay in the bed.”

            “Mother nature vetoed that promise.” He rose again. “I wasn’t going to wake you up for a trip to the loo.”

            She scrambled out of the bed. “Well, now you have to give me something!”

            “Give you what?”

            “You know one of my secret places, now I get to know one of yours.”

            “I don’t have any secret places.”

            “Of course you do, everyone does.” She moved closer. “Come on, where’s the sensitive spot?” She poked his ribs. “Here?”  His chest. “Or here?” She watched his eyes widen when her fingers dangled around his neck. “Ooh, here?”

            He dodged her fingers and slipped past her. “Can’t you go back to sleep or something?”

            “Come on, fair is fair.”
            “I found yours by accident!”

            “So accidentally tell me where yours is.”

            “I don’t have a sensitive spot, honestly.”

            “Then why won’t you let me touch you?”

            “You…you need a bath, go wash up. You’re fingers are dirty.”

            Sydney laughed and tackled him to the bed, trying to get her fingers at his neck.

            “Stop! Sydney ! Stop it this instant!” His commands could hardly be taken seriously with laughter in his voice. He squealed when she started to tickle him. “Behave yourself!”

            Sydney laughed as she straddled him and continued to tickle. “Oh behave, baby!”

            “Please! Syd, I can’t breathe! Stop! Mercy!”

            Sydney stopped tickling him and dropped her hands to either side of his head as she leaned over him. “Do you concede?”

            “God, yes!” Nigel tried to avoid looking at the ample cleavage her tank top was offering him from her current position. “Anything, everything! I concede. Uncle, aunt, cousin, whatever you want.”

            Sydney grinned and went to touch his neck, startled when he caught her hand.

            “Anything but that!” he laughed.

            She tried with her other hand and he caught that one as well, he wasn’t as helpless as she thought. She smiled and knew that Nigel spotted the wicked gleam in her eyes as his eyes widened.

            “Don’t you dare…” he began but Sydney had already dipped her head to lick his neck. He squeaked and bucked her off him, putting his hand to his neck in defence as he rolled off the bed. “Wench!”

            Sydney, who had just managed to keep herself from falling off the bed and was still on all fours gaped at him, shocked and amused. “Nigel!” She started to climb off the bed towards him as he scrambled to his feet.

            “Keep your distance, woman!” he warned, his eyes dancing as he scrambled around to the other side of the bed.

            “C’mere, you little…” Sydney made a grab for him and Nigel scampered across the bed.

            “What’s got into you?” he asked, amused but also alarmed. Sydney was never this playful and she was brazenly flirting with him. “Are you under some woman’s spell aga…urk!” Sydney hopped over the bed and managed to pin him to the wall with his hands behind him. “Now see here.”

            “You’re enjoying it,” she teased as she wiggled her eyebrows as her lips neared his neck again. “I vant to suck your blood!”

            “S…Syd, don’t…”

            Sydney ’s smile fell and she lifted her      gaze to his. She was startled to see such apprehension in his eyes. “Nigel, I’m only teasing.”

            “Y…yes I know.” She was teasing but he was getting serious and that would never do. If he let her kiss his neck he couldn’t be held responsible for the consequences.

            “Then what’s wrong?”

            “Syd…it…it isn’t really appropriate, is it? A…All of this? I mean fun is…is fun but…but…”

            Sydney stepped back. Did he think she was trying to seduce him? She paused. Was she? She had honestly just been having fun. “You’re right. I apologize if I crossed the line.” She turned away and grabbed her bag. “I’ll go get that shower.”

            Nigel couldn’t leave it at that. He couldn’t let her think he was having inappropriate thoughts, or that he meant to scold her for having them. He caught her arm. “Syd.”

            She looked at his hand on her arm, and then up at him, her eyes flashing in self defence.

            “It’s just….it…my neck is sensitive and…and it…well it wouldn’t do for you to…to um…” He flushed and released her and he stared at the floor. “It’s extremely sensitive.”

            Sydney dropped her bag and turned to him. “How sensitive?”

            He rolled his eyes for a moment, wishing he were somewhere else. He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation. “Sensitive enough that a cold shower would be in very short order were you to…um...do that thing with your…ah…tongue again.”

            Her eyes widened at the confession. She pursed her lips sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Nigel.”

            So was he, sorry he didn’t let her finish. The idea of her lips on that one spot was suddenly very appealing, but he knew nothing would ever come of it. “Me too.”

            Sydney blinked. What did that mean? Was he sorry things got carried away, or that they didn’t go far enough? There gazes locked and held. Sydney took a step closer, as did Nigel. She could feel her head swimming, her body trembling with anticipation and while she knew it was wrong, she couldn’t stop it.

            Nigel seemed to be having even less success controlling his own reaction as his lips neared hers. Sydney felt her eyes close and tilted her head slightly, waiting, eager for his mouth to touch hers.

            A hard knock at the door startled them both back to reality and their eyes widened at what they were about to do. They quickly stumbled back from each other.

            “I…I’ll go bath…shower, I mean,” Sydney stammered, appalled at how flustered she was as she grabbed up her bag and hurried to the bathroom. She calmed herself almost immediately after a few deep breaths and a quick mental shake, then realized that she shouldn’t have let him check the door alone. She tossed open the bathroom door. “Nigel!

            The hotel room door was standing open and the room was empty.

She ran into the corridor. “NIGEL!”

Continued to chapter 6