Twist Of Fate

Rehearsed and Fake

Harry's POV
"Thanks for giving me this room." I say to Kate, as I take out a new pair of shorts and a shirt from my suitcase. Carter was originally giving me a room on the first floor, near the kitchen. However, then, Kate said she doesn't want to sleep upstairs, something about the huge window seat and then she took the downstairs room. I know for a fact that she doesn't have any problems with window seats or huge windows because during this past month, whichever suite we've been in, Kate's always grabbed the room with the hugest window. However, I'm not stupid and I do know the reason why she gave me this room; because it's right next to Mus'.
"No problem. After all, I am playing the part of Cupid in your love story." Kate says, throwing herself on the bed. Suddenly, Mus enters the room with her arms stacked high with...some sort of clothing materials. Her eyes land on me and then travel from Kate to me, and then they land back on Kate.
"You both sharing a room?" Mus asks nonchalantly. However, I can see the flash of jealousy in her eyes, and the way she avoids eye contact with Kate, because there's anger in those beautiful orbs.
"Nah, I'm just here to watch Harry unpack." Kate says, shrugging her shoulders. Either she hasn't noticed Mus' change of tone, or she doesn't really care. I'm okay with either.
"Oh okay," Mus mumbles. I can see that she's not happy with the fact that my room is right beside hers. I've noticed another thing, this house has pretty thin walls and a lot can be heard through them. Another thing I've noticed is that the whole house is buzzing with excitement. Caterers and other staff members keep moving in and out. Carter is jumping around like a child high on sugar. However, Mus just seems disinterested with the whole affair. That's because her heart's not in this celebration!
"Right, Harry?" Kate asks.
"What?" I question, my train of thoughts colliding and falling off the tracks.
"You forgot to bring a tuxedo, right? And you need to buy one for the function, obviously. I've got a nice enough dress for the occasion, so I'm good. You, on the other hand, need to go with Mus to buy one. Right?" Kate widens her eyes, as if I won't get the obvious message.
"Yeah, of course!" I exclaim, a tad bit too excitedly. "After all, it is such a glorious occasion." I train my eyes on Mus while I'm speaking, and she looks up, shocked. I can see that my indifferent tone and nonchalant attitude is throwing her off.
"Carter can take him," Mus says.
"No, you have to! Oh, come on, Carter doesn't even know the guy. Imagine how awkward it'll be?" Kate says, typing away on her phone.
"Making new friends isn't a sin," Mus contradicts.
"Making friends with assholes is," Kate grumbles. Mus throws her a sharp look that Kate doesn't see, as she's still typing away on her phone.
"Please, you haven't even given Cart a chance!" Cart? Yuck! I want to gag, but control myself.
"Guess what, Mus? I've always been a better judge of character than you and I can tell that Carter is bad news. Have you seen how overly nice he is? It's like every word - every line - of his is memorized." Kate's anger has been fueled and she's speaking her mind to Mus. Honest to God, I feel that Bump needs this because she's doing something highly stupid.
"Kate! Don't speak about him in that manner," Mus retaliates. "He's a nice guy! Just admit it and let me be happy." Kate scoffs, gazing out of the window.
"Let you be happy? Your happiness isn't with that shit-face, it's with someone else in this room." Mus yells, annoyed. She actually lets out this very weird yell.
"Kate, just support me for once! And stop being a bitch." Mus drops the stack of clothes on the floor and marches out of the room. Since the clothes are scattered near the foot of the bed, I can see that they consist of long skirts, short crop tops and scarfs? What a weird assortment?
"Looks like those are for you," I tell Kate. She glances at the mess of clothes on the floor and huffs.
"I hate myself for doing this to her," Kate whispers. "But Mus needs a reality check and she's clearly not getting it any other way." I nod my head.
"Kate, you're doing the right thing," I assure her.
"I'm going to go now and talk to Liam." Kate says, getting up.
"Okay," I murmur.
*******
The night is as hot as the day over here. I mean, nights in the dessert are supposed to be cool. But no, not here. Tomorrow I need to go shopping for some sleeveless shirts and more shorts. I thought that since it's December, the weather will be cool. Well, I thought wrong. As beads of sweat form on my forehead, I make my way outside. The whole house is centrally air-conditioned. However, I'm still sweating just moving from Point A to Point B.
"Want one?" I turn my head to find Carter perched on the porch steps, having a cigarette.
"No, I don't smoke." I say, viewing the sky.
"Must be tough." Carter shakes his head, amazed.
"At least I'm not dependent on a stick to sustain me." Carter's head snaps toward me and his eyes narrow, but then he smiles; deciding to let my snide remark slide.
"Hookahs and cigarettes are probably two of the best things in the world." Carter says, looking at the cigarette in his right hand, as if it's his whole universe.
"Better than Mus?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Carter smirks.
"Nothing's better than Mus," he answer smoothly. A little too smoothly.
"So who'd you choose: Mus, or the cigarette?" I cross my arms in front of my chest and wait for his answer.
"Hell, Mus! It'll always be her," Carter speaks as if in a daze. I can tell why Kate thinks his lines sound rehearsed, they're too fake. Sure, he can fool others, but for good judge of characters, like Kate and I, he's an amateur.
"Of course," I murmur.
"Carter, come on in for dinner." Mus says, stepping out onto the porch. Her eyes land on me, and she clears her throat. "You, too, Harry." I nod my head, smiling.
"Right away," I answer.