The Time Bubble Box Set 2, стр. 272
Credit card in hand, I got back on the phone and foundmyself the swankiest hotel I could in London. This turned out to be remarkablyeasy and much cheaper than I expected. I guess they didn’t have a huge numberof bookings on New Year’s Day. The previous night would have been a differentmatter, but many of those who had stayed over for the fireworks would be goinghome today.
I dosed myself up with Lemsip, booked a taxi to take me tothe station, and within an hour of arriving at Oxford station found myself inCentral London.
I went for a walk around Harrods looking at all the things Icould buy if I so desired, but there seemed little point as I couldn’t take anyof it back through time with me. In the end I just settled on a very expensivesilk negligee which no one else would ever see but I could wear tonight to makeme feel good.
Then I took myself off to my £800-a-night hotel where I gota pleasant surprise when the man on the desk offered me a free upgrade to thepenthouse suite. I gave them my credit card details and told them to chargeeverything to that. Then I got on with the business of spoiling myself rotten –massages, spa, room service, the lot.
I was all alone but I didn’t care. This was pureself-indulgence and I was going to squeeze as much out of the experience as Icould. I was getting such a buzz out of it that my hangover soon disappearedand even my cold seemed to abate. It was amazing what a little pampering coulddo for the body and soul.
As the day wound down, and I glugged down £150 bottles ofwine, in my little silk negligee in my penthouse suite, I formulated the nextstage of my plan for the next day. By the time I had finished I was quite drunkagain – both on the wine and on the power – but at least there would be nohangover to worry about this time.
If everything went to plan, Rob was in for another bad day.
Chapter Nine
2019
I was woken by the pulsing of the alarm from the speakernext to my bed.
“Alexa, stop,” I said, keen to shut her up before she wokeRob. She obeyed and the sound ceased, leaving him thankfully still snoring inbed beside me. He was in exactly the same position as he had been before andthe room smelled, suggesting he had been letting off in his sleep again.
I felt a sense of déjà vu – something I guess I was going tobe experiencing a lot.
Being woken up by Alexa while it was still dark at this timeof year meant I must be on a day shift at work. I had forgotten to check mydiary to find out, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going in anyway.
Taking care not to wake him, I took my bag into thebathroom, turned on the light and checked my diary. I was indeed due in for8am. I also noted that it was a Tuesday, which meant there was a good chance hewould be working, too. I was counting on him being out of the house today as anessential part of my latest dastardly scheme, which I now went over once againas I performed my morning ablutions.
My initial desire for revenge had been temporarily sated bymy bit of fun with the video, but now I thirsted for more. I wanted him to feelthe pain and the humiliation of discovering your partner in bed with someoneelse.
Was I being overly vindictive? Maybe, but he had really hurtme at the time and it seemed only fair he should get a taste of his ownmedicine.
I had another eight years to play with and had wonderedwhether doing what I planned to do in this particular year was the best timing.It was only a year before we had broken up and I had later found out he hadbeen sleeping with Emma for at least three years before that. So that meant theaffair was going on now.
If I did the dirty on him this year, would he even be thatbothered? My plan could actually backfire. What if he cared for me so little bythis time that my betrayal might actually be an opportunity for him? It couldbe the green light he had been waiting for to get rid of me and legitimise hisrelationship with Emma.
If I waited a few more years until before Emma had comealong, would that be more effective. And would it be fair? I genuinely believewe were happy back then, so I could hurt him a lot more, but was it morallyright to do that? Would I be punishing an innocent man for crimes he had yet tocommit?
I decided I didn’t want to wait. I had my mind set on aparticular course of action and I didn’t want to waste any time. There wereother reasons, too. Gary, my intended conquest, was single right now and wouldprobably be highly receptive to my advances if I approached him in the rightway.
Further back in time he would be in a relationship, and Ididn’t want to mess that up for him unnecessarily before it came to its naturalend. Plus, there’s no guarantee that he would even consider sleeping with mewhen he had a girlfriend. From what I had seen he didn’t mess around when hewas in a relationship, unlike some I could mention.
I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to persuade himthat sleeping with his best mate’s girl was a good idea. I was going to have tocome up with something pretty convincing, I knew that. His reaction to Rob’scheating in the video was the key to all this. I just needed to provoke thatreaction and the rest should fall into place.
By the time I was showered, dressed and ready to go, Rob wasstirring. I went downstairs, made him a cup of coffee, wishing I could lace itwith something. Unfortunately we were right out of polonium-210 so I settledfor two sugars,