“This,” he grinned, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “This is incentive.”
“That was a private message, which I sent to my husband,” I said, getting flustered. “You have no right to look at it. Delete it right now.”
“If I do… what will you give me in return?” he asked, standing up slowly and beginning to move towards me. “As an… incentive.”
“You–I… I’m… I’m leaving,” I said, backing away from him towards the door. “You need to delete that photo, Johan.”
“Maybe,” he shrugged. “But I think I might do something else with it first.”
I saw him begin to reach for the waistband of his running shorts.
“Ohmygod,” I screamed, putting my hands in front of my face. I turned and threw the door open, slamming it shut behind me as I plunged back out into the hallway and ran off down the corridor.
…
My heart was pounding, so rather than return to my room and risk waking Danny, I got in the elevator and headed back down to the lobby. Then, I called Steve.
“Hey, mate,” he said, answering the phone in a cheery Australian accent despite the fact that I’d surely woken him up. “What time is it Down Under?”
“It’s pretty late,” I muttered, my thoughts racing. “I know it’s the middle of the night for you.”
“That’s okay,” he said. “How’s Danny doing?”
“He’s asleep,” I said.
“Good, good,” he said. “How are you feeling? About tomorrow?”
“I’m really nervous,” I blurted. “There’s… there’s something wrong with Johan.”
“With Johan?” Steve said, surprised. “What do you mean?”
“He’s just behaving… really strangely,” I said. “He’s being kind of rude, and I’m worried that it’s going to affect Danny.”
“They’re just kids, Nikki,” he said reassuringly. “They get into arguments, then they forget about them.”
“But that’s the problem,” I protested. “Danny’s still a kid, but Johan… isn’t.”
“Look,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a problem, but even if it is, I’m not worried, because you’re our #1 problem solver.”
“So what I am supposed to do, Steve?” I said, my voice raising an octave. “Anytime Danny is having problems with a friend, I’m the one who is just supposed to solve them?”
“Don’t talk like that,” he chastised me softly. “He’s only made this much progress because you help him solve the problems that he isn’t ready to solve by himself yet. But he’s getting there, Nikki.”
“I know,” I said, shaking my head. “I know he is, but I…”
“Just do your best for him,” Steve said. “That’s all you can do, and it’s all that Danny could ask for.”
“Okay,” I whispered meekly. “I’ll… try.”
“By the way,” Steve said, his voice dropping seductively. “I like the souvenir you bought earlier.”
“Steve, you deleted that photo, right?” I said quickly.
“Are you crazy?” he laughed. “No way!”
“Steve, you have to delete it right now,” I insisted. “If Riley gets ahold of your phone, he could see it.”
“Babe, he won’t,” Steve said.
“Just… please delete it, okay?” I said. “I’ll feel better knowing it’s gone.”
“Okay, fine,” Steve sighed. “But only if you show me in person when you get back.”
…
I barely slept at all that night, tossing and turning silently, trying not to wake up Danny as he slept in the bed beside mine.