Powering Through: A Sequel to Learning To Swim For Real

Chapter 36: Magical

Jack was acting weird. In fact, if Kelsey didn't know better, she would've thought he was high, or at least hiding something. He kept popping into the bathroom of their hotel suite to take and make phone calls, and Kelsey knew for sure that on at least one occasion she heard him yell, "WHAT?" in an anguished voice while he was in there. But when he came out he merely grinned at her, saying something about how when nature called, you had to answer, or something stupid like that.

They had the one afternoon free for sightseeing, and Jack was distracted the whole time, looking at his phone. In the early evening, when he was using the bathroom in a pub, Kelsey looked quickly, telling herself that spying was an awful thing to do, especially when she was supposed to be turning over a new leaf and all that, but she just couldn't help herself.

His phone was locked, but she could see on the lock screen that his most recent texts and calls were from someone named Molly, and also from Kiki. Why was he talking to Kiki? And who the fuck was Molly?

When Jack returned, he picked up his phone immediately, which irritated Kelsey beyond all measure. What was he up to? She, Kelsey, had arranged this lovely day for the two of them, and he'd barely acknowledged her existence. Kelsey moodily picked up a French fry, or chip, as they called them, and ate it in one bite.

"Jack, what do you want to do next? You want to walk across Tower Bridge? Or see Portobello Market, or what?" she asked.

"What?" Jack asked as he typed out a text.

"Jack? I asked--do you want to jump off Tower Bridge? Or stab each other at Portobello Market?" Kelsey asked, grabbing another chip and jamming it into her mouth.

"Sure, sounds great," he replied, putting his phone down finally and smiling at her.

That was the last straw. Kelsey made a sound of frustration and rose, walking quickly back to the car. "Take me back to the hotel, please?" she asked. "No need to wait," she assured the driver. She turned around in time to see Jack's surprised face as he stood on the sidewalk, staring at the car. Kelsey smiled a tiny smile of satisfaction. This was an English speaking country, she reasoned. Jack could make it back to the hotel on his own.

When an hour had passed and he still hadn't returned, she began to worry. At the two hour mark, she began to text him, but got nothing in return. She looked out onto their beautiful balcony, and noticed that it had was getting dark, and had begun to rain. After two and a half hours, she finally took a bath to take her mind off things, and while she was in there, she heard the door to their suite open and close, and quickly got out and put on her pajamas, going out to see him with a towel around her shoulders.

Jack was stomping around their suite. He was drenched, of course, and shivering.

"Oh my god, Jack, where have you been?" she asked. "Why didn't you answer any of my texts?"

He turned to her. "Are you kidding? Where have I been? I've been walking back here, after you left me, five miles away."

"You walked?" Kelsey gasped.

Jack just nodded.

"Why didn't you just grab a cab?" Kelsey asked, thinking this was a perfectly reasonable question.

"I didn't have any money," Jack replied. 

"You have credit cards, don't you?" she asked, shocked.

"What?" Jack couldn't believe he was having this conversation. "I think we're missing the big picture here, the bigger question."

"Which is?" Kelsey folded her arms.

"Why did you leave me there in the first place?" Jack struggled to keep his voice down. He pulled off his sodden shirt and stood before her, hair wet and shirtless, looking pretty good, in spite of their circumstances.