Capítulo 53: Chapter fifty-one

Okay, first of all:

Who writes in top-secret code anymore?

Secondly: Is the note meant for me?

Hard to tell. Harry needed a way to give me the note, and the note is meant for me, and that's the reason he gave it to me. Or, the reason I'm leaning towards more, Harry simply looked at it, liked it, and decided he'd give it to me as a gift, and the note isn't meant for either of us.

But that does not mean I'm not going to investigate.

"Unpack and wash up, people," Lilli instructs, clapping her hands together. "We've got dinner booked and we can't be late!"

"You got it, boss lady. But I'm showering first," Emily exclaims, scooping clean clothes out of the wardrobe and making a beeline for the bathroom, closing the door before Lilli can object and drag her out to unpack her own things.

Lilli turns to me. "I guess we're on clean-up duty, huh?"

I bite my lip. Glance at her nervously. "Could you maybe do that?"

She gives me a look. "So you can, what? Obsess over Harry's gift to you?"

I shrug my shoulders, pulling my lips into a thin line. Maybe, maybe not, Lilli. "Well…"

"He's just a boy, and that," pointing at the doll still gripped tightly in my hand with the note tucked safely within it, "is just a doll." Without another word, Lilli begins to unpack. "Help me first, you can swoon over that later."

By the time we're ready, and even after letting the steamy gush of shower water cover me, which always gets the cogs in my brain turning, I still have no answers whatsoever. The note to me is foreign, and there's a hidden message, an underlying meaning – an inside joke, and I want in.

I'm thinking about Lilli's unease over Harry. And sure, there's been times where he's given some clues that he's changed, but today has shown me a completely different Harry. One who's been comfortable around me, with a gleaming smile that comes almost as easily as it once did. Lilli hasn't seen that. She doesn't have the experiences that I have had with Harry to say a thing.

The note is nothing, and the words are nothing to me, nothing to Harry, and the comforting thought is a blanket draping gently over me encouraging me to relax, relax, relax. And when I step out to see Harry tonight, all will be the same. Harry will smile, I will smile. He'll be kind, I'll be kind. And each precious moment will open a million possibilities for the next.

"You won't believe this, but we're early," Lilli tells us, brushing her hair out of her face as she leans down to tie up her Doc Martens. "I didn't realise that until after I had my shower."

Emily scoffs, flicking her dress in frustration. "All that hurrying for nothing!"

"Pfft!" I glare at her with a grin. "Says the one who sat and watched Aladdin for half an hour while we were actually doing all the hurrying."

Rolling her eyes, she goes to leave, and I catch up and throw my arms around her shoulders, pouting loudly. "I'm sowwy, Emiwy," I say, baby-voice in effect. "I didn't mean it."

Emily sulks a little and mutters something that sounds a lot like Prince Ali.

"Oh, get over it." Lilli punches me playfully in the back, then squeezes between us to open the door. "I bet you anything that the boys have been ready for a while now."

Lilli is not only right, but the boys even confess that they were about to be on their way out to the buffet to get snacks, they were so hungry. Of course, at the mention of snacks, Emily perks up, and I can't help but think about how tasty a caramel slice would be right now.

I give some thought to the coded note as we scale the stairs to Deck twelve, only half listening to what Emily's telling me. "So, you know how I usually take out the rubbish? Well my cat usually follows me down the driveway, but then this one time…"

Basically, there's a way of which I'm certain I can get some sort of answer from: Directly asking Harry about the note.

Okay. Not directly. More like, subtly hint at it. Or not at all. Not even mention the note, but talk about the doll in a way that would tell Harry that I know about the note, and he should probably give me some clues on how to decipher it.

A simple wink, perhaps. If Harry intended to give me the note, then he'll react to my wink. If he doesn't, then I know that it's not from him, and the note may be entirely unrelated to me. Unless, of course, Harry is a really top-secret spy agent who's too good at keeping things to himself.

As Emily finishes off her blabbering, I can't help but think about how attractive it would be if Harry was a top-secret spy agent.

"... And do you know how I knew she had been in the bin? She reeked! P-U!" I smile a little. "And it wasn't a bandana on his head! It was a freaking strip of washi tape!"

"Sounds like your cat had a good time," I say.

Emily nods eagerly, but then her smile morphs into a cheeky grin, and she lowers her voice to a hoarse whisper. "But not as good a time as when he discovered that there was a stray female cat living up the block, if you know what I mean."

My mouth is still slightly open from the randomness, and I can't help but almost lose it laughing when Emily winks at me.

"That's my favourite story," Ben informs us, happily meeting Emily's eyes. "She told me that one yesterday and I nearly died laughing."

"The last part isn't even funny!" Lilli butts in, super concerned. "Did you know that stray cats kill so much native wildlife every year in Australia? Isn't that right, Charlie?"

"Oi, stow that, Granger. And since when do you get confirmation from Charlie?"

Through all this amusing commotion, Harry's eyes lock with mine, and he nods towards the buffet, where they have caramel slices on display.

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