vi / Lost in Hotels

Their luggage was about to show up anytime now; Dolores knew it.

They had been standing on the grey concrete for several minutes, waiting for their belongings to show up at the baggage claim, but whenever something remotely similar to hers showed up, someone was ready to claim what was theirs. Which meant that they still hadn't collected their things yet.

Or, well, Kieran had been lucky to get his bag. Her? Not as much.

"So, are we going to talk about the cat in the bag?"

Dolores furrowed her eyebrows. "The what in which bag?"

"The fact that you haven't said a word since we landed?" He shook his head. "Until now."

She widened her eyes in realization. "Oh, thaaat cat."

Kieran nodded once.

In her defense, she had been too busy freaking out on the inside after realizing the act was done and she couldn't fix her mistake (the one where she could buy the first ticket to Paris) without becoming broke. She only had what her parents had given her, and that money was already spent when she booked a flight back. 

She noted to herself to get a new job once she moved to a dorm.

Truth be told, the reason for why she was completely lost in her thoughts was because of how she couldn't believe her current position. She was currently at Heathrow, but that wasn't what she was thinking about. No, she was thinking about her actually being here (Britain!) and that it smelled nice. It had the typical airport smell: kind of fresh.

Oh, and the massive headache. It was one pm here in Britain, but back in California, it was still six in the morning. Way too early.

"I'm sorry," she grimaced. She wondered how to put her words together without sounding like an awful person. The last thing she wanted was for Kieran to second-guess bringing her with him. "I just really can't believe I'm here."

Kieran looked around, not replying to her. She wondered if she had said something stupid, but when he leaned in for the baggage claim and quickly picked up a small, black Samsonite suitcase, she let all her worries go.

"Thank you so much," she said when she clicked up the carrying handle. "You're an absolute lifesaver."

Kieran chuckled. "I don't know about that."

They started moving, suitcases following them as they followed the big yellow signs on the roof saying EXIT. The sounds of their suitcases were clacking on the floor behind them. Kieran looked like he knew where to go, so she just followed after.

"How are we going to do this now again?" Dolores nervously asked, observing her surroundings at the airport. A woman was harshly talking to her husband and some girl looked like she could use a good night's sleep.

"Two days at a hotel first and then staying at a friend's."

He had previously said the prices for the hotels were pretty expensive and it wouldn't do the both of them any good to spend all their money on a hotel for two weeks. His supposed friend was out of town and he had explained how it was alright for them to crash at his 'extra' apartment as long as they cleaned up after them. Kieran had said he was visiting his mother in Spain or something.

"Right." She sent him a curt nod. "And how much does that cost?"

"We're staying at a cheap one." When he noticed Dolores' uncertainty about the cheap part, he continued, "Park Plaza London Riverbank. It's a good one. Don't worry, it's all under control."

He was grinning.

"Okay." She trusted him. He seemed chill enough about it, so she figured that if he looked okay about it, then she didn't have much to worry about.

The weather met them as soon as they walked out. It wasn't cold, but it was chillier than California and she was glad she had brought a thin jacket with her. It had been her absolute goal to research everything about Britain–from the temperature to all the attractions she could visit. Knowing she had succeeded till now made her feel much more optimistic.

She couldn't help but to close her eyes and smell the air. It didn't stick out.

"I'm hungry."

Dolores opened her eyes and glanced at Kieran with an oh-my-god-I-know expression. "You literally spoke my mind. The food back there was absolutely horrible."

Kieran nodded, laughing.

"So how do we do this, then?"

He seemed like he was thinking, and she glanced around to watch her surroundings. People walked past them, not minding the two of them. They didn't matter, and as stupid as it might sound, Dolores liked it.

"I've got it," he said quickly, pulling out his phone and scrolling through it. After a few minutes he muttered, "Ragged Canteen . . . ?"

She slowly nodded. "Aren't you a veggie?"

"Uh, yeah?" He looked confusedly at her. "They sell vegetarian food, apparently."

Dolores had to shake her head at that and wondered why she had opened up her mouth. But, it was more funny than anything. "Oh."

He nodded. "Anyways, the restaurant near us is six minutes away, but it got shut down, so we've gotta take a cab to the nearest restaurant near our hotel. They've got good options, apparently. Just saw their menu. Usually I eat at Leon's when I don't feel like cooking, though. Then René makes the food."

She squinted. "René . . .?"

He formed his mouth in an 'o', realizing she didn't know his friends. She barely knew anything about him, but calling Kieran a stranger could possibly be seen as borderline offensive. She didn't know every detail of his life, but it didn't matter. Hopefully.

"My flatmate." She noted how he said flatmate and not roommate and scrunched her nose because she thought it was rather funny how he sometimes used British slang. Then again, he had lived here for roughly two years. Give or take, considering he was a sophomore next semester. "He's the one lending us his apartment here in London. I usually crash there when I get back from California."

"Ah, right. Must be rich." She muttered the last sentence.

"You have no idea." The tone of his was kind-of, in a not jealous way, really fascinated when thinking about his friend's wealth. "It didn't seem like he cared much, though. We're good."

She nodded.

She watched as Kieran pulled out his hand when a cab drove past them—which looked really cool for some reason.

A taxi drove past them, completely ignoring them, and Kieran muttered a low "fuck" under his breath as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Jetlag?" she commented.

She had to admit–she felt like absolute hell. The time zones were eight hours apart and she knew her sleeping pattern would get messed up. She liked her sleep, many thanks.

"Yeah. Back when I first walked into Brews, I was still recovering from the, uh—" He looked somewhere else for a moment, not meeting her eyes. "—time zones, I guess. Then I was alright again, but a week or so later, I was feeling so shitty again because of the jetlag."

Dolores nodded and stared at Kieran trying to call for a cab once again, this time much luckier. It parked in front of them, and the windows of it rolled down, only to reveal a man in his late forties. "Where to?"

Kieran asked the man to drive them to Leon Regent Street, which the man had been inclined to say yes to. It was a thirteen minute drive, the driver informed. The man had been kind enough to help them put their bags into the trunk, not before starting his tally and driven off to their final destination.

Dolores didn't know what had shifted in the air between her and Kieran, since he refused to look at her, and she wondered if the latest thing he had said was the cause for it. They had been alright on the plane, and then suddenly not? She hoped that wasn't the case, considering it would be a damn waste if he was the type of person to change demeanor like Dharla changed her clothes (quickly, and many times a day). He was too busy talking with the cab driver to clear up the confusion, anyway.

All she could do was listen to the conversation and hope she didn't make the biggest mistake of her life, which, admittedly, was dumb to think, but Dolores was in general a rather critical person, and she can't help it.

"The weather here has been terrible," the cab driver told them. "Raining non-stop for days. Finally some sun coming up now, but wouldn't count on it to last."

But Dolores looked out the window and didn't see much of the sun he was talking about.

"What're you going to have?" She asked as they stared at the menu.

They had walked into Leon, and Dolores tried not to care for the attention that had fallen upon them as they walked in with their baggage. As she said before, attention was the last thing she wanted.

Then again, she wasn't Dolores Reyes anymore because Dolores Reyes was the girl who doesn't want attention and hates not planning things. Dolly Reyes on the other hand, is a whole other issue. The thought of crafting herself—being someone she wants and not who the people around her has tagged her as–

–it was like she was re-writing herself.

Dolores Reyes had never written a novel she could call her favorite. Right now, though, it felt like she was doing just that. It was as if she was writing her favorite novel, her favorite character. As if things had suddenly started to make sense and everything she had done in her life, matched up to each other like they would do in the novels she had never finished writing.

This feeling–this very feeling–was unexplainable. She was afraid no one would understand it even if she tried tried to explain. So she didn't, because she knew explaining this—whatever moment of eureka she was having—would mean telling someone how her life, the one she had no control over anymore, was finally starting to unfold itself.

But how can you be so sure of your future and know it so well, when you don't even know yourself?

"The vegan plate, I guess." He didn't even check the menu, and maybe it was stupid, but his attitude was pissing her off.

Why was she going to suffer from his own coldness?

She knew she was being unreasonable and that he might have good reasons for why he was suddenly so . . . unbearable, but she was getting extremely tired. It had been less than twenty minutes, and he was still a quiet mess.

She nodded once. "Right." Kieran let a hand run through his face and she tried to craft herself into a new version of Dolores Reyes, Dolly Reyes, as she mustered up the courage to speak up. "Look, I'm not one to pry into whatever's up, but something is up and I'd be a bitch to not ask and you don't have to answer if you don't want to. That's totally okay." Please stop rambling, already. "So, are you okay?"

Kieran stared at her for a few moments and she wondered what he was thinking. It was definitely not like her to be so straightforward, but for once, she had to.

"Sorry if I've been distant, I've just been in my own mind. I didn't mean to make you feel weird or anything." He smiled.

Dolores didn't see the smile meet his eyes, but she didn't think to question it. She didn't think it was any of her business. If he wanted her to know, he'd tell.

"Don't worry about it," she offered a smile back. "We all have our ups and downs."

The food had come ten minutes later and they sat and ate in silence. Maybe it was for the best, because it seemed like Kieran needed to think. He looked thoughtful while eating.

Thirty minutes later they were finished. They dragged their suitcases to the Park Plaza Kieran had been talking about. Once they were there, and Kieran and paid the taxi driver, he looked up at the Plaza and whistled.

"Tall building," he commented and Dolores followed his gaze.

"It is."

They walked in and it hadn't taken them long to sort out where to walk. They walked to the woman behind the desk, and put on their big smiles.

"Hello. How can I help you?" The lady smiled at the two of them.

Her British accent was pretty, Dolores noted.

"How much does a room cost for three nights?" Kieran asked her.

Dolores felt butterflies in her stomach. It was all just exhilarating and her feelings and thoughts were everywhere. This was happening. It really was.

The lady behind the desk clicked around on her computer, a smile on her face. The both of them waited patiently, and the lady glanced up at them before naming her price in pounds.

Kieran looked at Dolores, expectantly. "Okay amount, isn't it?"

Dolores widened her eyes. "Uh, yes?"

She didn't know what to say. Completely lost at how the currency was in dollars. Maybe she should've Googled a bit more before walking headfirst into this trip.

Kirean nodded, looking back to the woman. "We'll take it."

Dolores sighed. Maybe this was too much. She was feeling really overwhelmed. She watched as Kieran paid. She noted to pay him back for that, too. Thankfully she still had plenty.

"One room for the two of you. Fourth floor. Vivianne will show you the way," the lady smiled, handing over the key to Kieran as she nodded towards the lady standing beside her.

Kieran sent her a polite smile back as he took it, "Thank you. When is the check out time?"

"As long as you're out of the room before four in the afternoon, you should be fine," the lady replied.

She went back to clicking on her computer and the pair walked over to the elevator in silence following Vivianne, dragging their luggage behind them. The lady pressed four once they reached the elevator.

It was an awkward silence, and Dolores figured Vivianne was a new employee. Kieran didn't bother to say much either. Once the elevator opened and revealed the fourth floor, Vivianne walked ahead and they followed after her. Kieran looked over to Dolores as if he might burst out in laughter because of the silence. She found his expression funny, and pursed her lips to not double out in laughter as well.

"Well, this is your room. Enjoy your stay," Vivianne politely smiled once they finally reached their designated room.

"Thank you," Dolores smiled, Kieran repeating the same words.

Walking inside the room, both stood there and laughed hysterically.

"I feel terrible for laughing, but that was awkward," Dolores said between breaths.

So maybe their humor sucked big time, but that was alright.

"Yeah," Kieran replied, trying to calm himself.

Grinning, Dolores looked around the room in contentment. There was a big window and the view didn't show the Thames, but it was just fine. One king-sized bed and a door in the room–Dolores recognized it as the bathroom and–her eyes went back to the one bed.

Oh, shit. One bed.

Closing her eyes, she sighed. How stupid of her to not consider that. While Kieran was busy talking to the woman about booking rooms, she had been lost in her own thoughts, looking as if she might burst out crying from feeling overwhelmed.

"You okay?"

Dolores nodded quickly. "Uh . . . one bed?"

Kieran raised an eyebrow. "It'll save money, won't it? Plus, it's a really big bed." He shrugged, the corner of his lips turned up, "I'll keep to my side; don't worry about it."

She glanced at the bed again and nodded, "Yeah, okay. Sorry."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What for?"

"I didn't mean to make it a big deal."

Kieran laughed. "No, shut up. It's my fault. I should've spoken to you about it to see if you were okay first."

"Don't worry! It's completely fine! It's just for two days–there's no issue."

She felt stupid (because yes, she knows she was already too deep in it, but her values are important to her. She didn't even do this kind of stuff with Nathan.), and maybe it was just in her head, but she also felt like a big time nuisance. But that's not her problem, right?

Kieran would have to deal, she concluded to herself. That was the only solution.

Okay, Dolores did care for Kieran and making him put up with her sleazy attitude was probably definitely not the best choice, but it was what it was.

"Anyway, dibs on right side," Kieran said, falling down on the mattress after placing his suitcase against the wall.

"That's so unfair!" Dolores shot back.

"Stop being a sore loser, Dolores."

She gasped, because truly, how dared he . . . "I am not! At least I'm not a bad winner, unlike a certain someone. I won't namedrop."

"Wow, your confidentiality is really showing here, Dolores," Kieran chuckled as he sat up on the bed and leaned against the wall behind the headboard.

"Say I'm a sore loser again. I'll fight you for real."

She walked over to her own side (the left side . . . unfortunately) and groaned when she laid down. The bed was nice. Not better than her own bed, of course, but it was still nice. Everything was better now that she had experienced how uncomfortable it was to sleep during the flight.

He widened his eyes, raising his hands in mock surrender.

"Kieran," Dolores yawned tiredly, closing her eyes. "I'm so tired. It feels like I'm going to die. Wake me up in two hours and then we'll go sightseeing."

It was two pm now.

"Sure," she heard Kieran say. "I'll nap too, while I'm at it."

"You do that," Dolores yawned again, drifting to sleep immediately after.

The details here on out will be kind of flimsy. For example, the hotel and the minimum details won't be accurate because even though I've been to London myself, I have not visited all these places so I'm kind of lost haha but I am trying  to keep it as accurate as possible.

So... Taylor's new album and the fact that London Boy fits this SO much! hehe sorry, can't contain my excitement. I added the song to the official playlist of this story!

Have you been to London? What places did you visit there?