The Hart Hotel

Chapter Six 13th May 2019, One too many.

Nathaniel laughs, taking another swig of his double Jack Daniels and coke. "I can't believe you did that," he chuckles at Janice, spilling a little of his drink onto the table.

"I did, I did. You should have seen the look on the guy's face, my friend Anita was so happy... well, not exactly happy but she loved how much I care about her," Janice adds, taking a sip of her lemonade and ice.

"I can't believe you shoved him out into the hall naked," he cackles, "like that's true love that, she should be proud".

"Well, no one gets away with cheating on my girl. It was worth it though, I told her everything. Every little detail and how embarrassed he was. At least I left him a sock to wear on his thing though" she says defensively.

"But it came off," Nathaniel's laugh ruptures louder.

A few heads turn in his direction, Janice blushes a little and leans in closer.

"Well... he had it coming, he isn't exactly innocent because I heard he did it to a few girls before my friend Anita, but he never did it again after that," she notes, smiling cheekily.

"I bet he didn't," Nathaniel says, taking another swig of his drink.

Janice sighs, "I'm not a bad person, but what would you have done?".

"Probably called him out... but I like your style," he praises.

"Why thank you," she says through her smile, glimpsing at him occasionally.

"I think I've had one too many," Nathaniel notes, rubbing his index finger and thumb against the bridge of his nose.

"You have drunk a lot... but I've enjoyed talking to you," she agrees.

She looks Nathaniel in the eye, his eyes bloodshot and his head swaying a little.

"Are you stay-staying long?" he asks, slurring his words a little.

"A week or two, yes. I told you that a while ago," she reminds.

Nathaniel raises his brows, "Oh yeah, sorry about that".

"How far along are you again?" he asks, unsure whether he has already asked it.

"Sixteen weeks I think," she says, trying to calculate when she found out. She nods to herself, "Yeah around sixteen weeks".

"Do you know what you're having?" he asks, running his fingers through his short tight curls. He itches his head and runs them down the back of his neck.

"A human I should hope," she jesters, smiling widely as she takes a sip of her drink. Nathaniel shakes his head, letting out a low hearty chuckle.

"For real though, do you know the sex?" he asks more seriously, making sure not to slur his words.

Janice purses her lips, "I'm not sure, I've got to go for another scan in a week or so... on my last one they said they weren't certain".

Nathaniel nods, taking in the information; "What do you want it to be?" he asks.

She shrugs, "I wouldn't mind either, I still have some baby clothes I bought for my friend. I knew she wanted a christening, so I bought a beautiful white satin dress for her little girl".

"That's lovely, how come you haven't given it to her?" he asks curiously before adding, "has she had her baby yet?".

Janice tilts her head side to side, "Yeah she had the baby, but she lost it... but I couldn't bring myself to throw them away".