Page 8 of Beck

He left the room, closing the door tightly behind him, and stared at it for a few seconds before heading to his room down the hall. It was identical to Kole’s except the opposite way around, the beds being against the same wall. He wasn’t completely confident, but he believed he would hear Kole shout if he needed him.

Stripping off his T-shirt, he grabbed his phone and texted Joey with an update about Ethan’s best friend.

BECK: Kole is in his room now. I’m going to order us some food and make sure he eats before he gets some sleep. I’ll keep an ear out as much as I can tonight.

JOEY: Thanks. That’s helped Ethan to relax. We knew it was bad, but we didn’t know how bad he could get. I thought therapy was helping.

Joey must’ve been waiting for an update to have answered straight away, but Beck pursed his lips at his words. Therapy wasn’t something that helped or didn’t. Sometimes, it helped that week. Sometimes, it didn’t help at all. Sometimes, it felt like jumping forward three steps before going back ten. It was a fluid experience, and one everyone felt differently about.

Beck shook himself, not wanting to take himself back to the times he spent in a therapist’s office, hoping they had a magic cure.

They didn’t.

BECK: It is helping, but he’ll have relapses, the same as anyone. Give him time. I’ll let you know if there are any problems.

JOEY: Thanks. Unless we hear from you, we’ll see you both in the morning.

Beck didn’t respond. Instead, he grabbed the takeaway menus from the drawer and flicked through them, deciding on Chinese. He wasn’t sure what Kole liked, so he ordered several dishes, knowing whatever they left, they could take home the following day. The rooms, thankfully, had small fridges. The takeaway place said they’d deliver it to the reception desk, so he rang down and asked them to let him know when it arrived. Then he took a shower and dressed in joggers and a fresh T-shirt.

Settling onto the bed, he flicked through the films and shows available on the TV, but nothing held his interest enough to watch it. He turned it off again and threw the remote onto the bottom of the bed. Just as he was about to go out of his mind, his room phone rang. When they said their food was there, he sprang up from the bed, slid on his trainers and left his room. He thanked the receptionist and carried the food back up. Maybe he’d gone a little overboard, but he didn’t care.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on Kole’s door, exhaling in a rush when Kole yelled for him to hang on. At least the man was true to his word, and from those few words, Beck relaxed at the calmer tone he had.

Kole opened the door, wearing similar clothes to Beck but with droplets of water soaking into the material, and waved him in. “Sorry, I was just finishing in the shower.”

Beck ignored the wet material as much as he could. “No problem.” He held up the food bags. “Dinner awaits.”

Kole grinned and stepped back from the door, gesturing for Beck to follow. “I’m surprisingly hungry.”

“Stress can do that to a person,” Beck replied and then felt shitty for bringing up the elephant in the room. “I got Chinese, but I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I ordered a load of stuff. Don’t worry, though. Whatever doesn’t get eaten, we’ll take home tomorrow.”

“You didn’t have to go to any trouble.”

Beck chuckled. “The only trouble was picking up the phone and ordering my favourite food.” He placed the bag on the small circular table in the corner of the room by the window. “Do you have a favourite?” he asked as he pulled the plastic containers from the bags.

“Not really. Though I suppose I tend to choose noodle options over rice.”

Beck grinned. “Well, it just so happens…” He pointed to the containers in order. “We have chicken chow mein, vegetable lo mein and Singapore noodles. Do any of those sound good?”

“I wouldn’t say no to vegetable lo mein.”

Beck handed it over. “Knock yourself out.”

Kole took it and settled into a chair at the table, tucking one leg beneath him as he sat. Beck handed him a bottle of water from the fridge and sat opposite him before freezing and clearing his throat.

“Um, is it okay if I stay to eat? I can go back to my room?” he said.

Kole smiled, his cheeks bulging, before he covered his mouth with his hand. “It’s fine,” he mumbled.

Beck relaxed and dug into his beef in black bean sauce. Silence descended, but it wasn’t fraught with tension like he assumed it would be between them. After all, they didn’t know each other that well. If he’d been the type of person to pry, he would’ve asked questions Kole probably wouldn’t want to answer, but Beck understood the need to keep quiet. To let things lie. To figure it out on his own.

“Is tomorrow going to be the same as today?” Kole broke the silence after taking a sip of water.

Beck nodded, chewing and swallowing his mouthful before answering. “Yep. Everything will happen the same. There might be a few more people than today because some people work Saturdays, but some might be repeat people who bought a weekend ticket.”

“Is there a limit to how many people can attend?”

“Yeah, but I think it’s a fairly high number due to the size of the place. And people don’t always stay all day, so there will be some leaving and some entering at different times. I don’t know the figures personally, but that’s just what I’ve seen over the years.”

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