Never Going Back Again

14. Eve

The rising sun streaming through the window meant Eve found herself getting a little hot and sticky as she hoovered every inch of the carpet. She had the air con on cold as she readied the room for its next guest but the ever rising temperatures in London meant it wasn't cutting it this morning. She felt a slight sense of relief as she made her way into the bathroom which was a little cooler due to its lack of windows. She followed the same routine she did in every room as she started clearing the rubbish off the vanity unit which had been left by the previous guest.

Her mind began to wonder as she binned the half empty bottles of face cleanser and restocked the complimentary soap and hand moisturiser. What would it be like to have enough money to stay in a hotel room like this and leave half a bottle of cleanser to be binned? To have enough money that this, pretty expensive looking skin care product, wasn't important enough to take home.

Eve could only imagine. She'd never lived without worrying about money. Even when she lived at home her mum didn't earn enough that they were comfortable. Eve went without a lot as she was growing up, watching the girls at school come in each week with new Barbies, new watches, new make up and as soon as she left to live with Jake she had to earn a wage to support his habits. Skin care was not purchased let alone wasted in Eve's life. She dreamed that one day it might be different.

"You're a hard woman to track down in this place" Harry's warm voice came round the door.

Eve jumped at the sudden sound of Harry. She let out a controlled breath as she pulled off her rubber gloves and tossed them in her cleaning caddy.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to waste your time" She stood to face Harry.

Nudging the door open wider with his hip Harry said "I wasn't looking for an apology, maybe your number would be nice though...."

His boyish grin turned into one of uncertainty as Eve's eyes dropped to her feet.

"I can't give you that..." Eve wished the awkward silence would swallow her whole. Of all the way's she imagined having this conversation with Harry, in the bathroom of one of his hotel rooms was not one of them.

"Oh" Harry's lips formed a perfect circle as he stared at Eve.

"Because I don't have a phone"

Harry's eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline. "You don't have a phone? How do you survive in this world without a phone? I didn't think that was possible these days!"

Eve shrugged as she wrapped her arms around her body, as if that was going to keep her safe from this conversation. Slowly she looked up and Harry was still watching her, waiting for a response.

"I didn't have a lot of time when I left... and there's not many people that want to get in touch with me..."

"So no one, but me, wants to get in touch with you?" Harry asked incredulously

Eve shrugged stalling for time.

Eve saw the realisation flash across Harry's eyes as he considered he didn't know as much about Eve as he thought he did. This was not a look Eve liked to see on Harry's face. They'd been friends now for 4 months and right now Eve knew, Harry wasn't sure if she had parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts or uncles that might worry about her whereabouts and it hurt Eve to know she hadn't been as open with Harry as he had with her. For the first time she wished she'd shared more with Harry to rid that look from his face.

"I lost touch with my mum a long time ago and the only other person that might look for me is either hunting every corner of the earth for me or can't look for me at all"

Eve couldn't distinguish the look on Harry's face. Was it relief that she'd shared more than a scrap of information about herself or confusion at what she'd shared or pity that there was only 2 people in her life worth mentioning and potentially no one cared where she was.