Waking up

You wake up in a hotel that you don’t recognize. It’s a nice hotel. You sit up and try to remember.

You remember… hazily… seeing the pit, and Lara on her feet with the other woman, arguing. Do they know each other? Lara called her Chloe.

Fighting and arguing, but then you think you remember seeing them scaling the side of the pit, cooperating with each other to reach the top safely.

And now you’re here. You’re sore and tired, but you don’t seem to be hurt too much. Your skin is a bit red and chapped from the cold, but otherwise everything seems OK.

It’s a weird experience. It was a shock to go from the real world to a secret temple with lightning and that magic statue, and now it’s a shock to go back to the real world.

A few hours later you’re back on a plane to England.

Lara’s beside you, looking a little bruised, but otherwise OK. She’s been quiet, and you aren’t sure what to say either. A part of you is surprised by how subdued she is. You figured even after all that, she would laugh it off. Like, she wasn’t scared of getting shot at, she wasn’t scared of lightning…

Her hand is next to yours on the armrest, but she doesn’t try to hold it or flirt or anything. Maybe what happened really got to her. Maybe she’s shaken up, or there’s something you don’t know about that other woman. They did seem to know each other, but they must not be friends if they are so cool about pulling guns and stuff.

You have learned your lesson. You can be adventurous sometimes, but you are not an adventurer like Lara. You want no part of that crazy stuff. Lara promised that it would be safe and easy, but you have known Lara since you were both girls. She has always been the type to say whatever she thinks you need to hear to get you to go along with something. You should have known better.

At least everyone is OK, even that other lady. Presumably. You hope Lara didn’t shoot her or something after getting out of that pit.

“Is she OK?” you ask her quietly.

“Who?”

“That woman.”

“Chloe?”

“Yes.”

Lara rolls her eyes. “We called a truce. I’m sure I’ll see her again. She always tries to poach me. She’s a thief, not an archeologist.”

“Did you take the statue?”

“Yes.”

“Doesn’t that make you a thief too?”

“Whose side are you on?” Lara asks.

Your plane lands and soon you’re back at Croft Manor. There’s not much to say. You’re just happy to be somewhere warm and dry with good food. The first thing you do when you’re back is eat. For some reason the mountain climbing and the cold gave you an appetite, and hospital and airplane food wasn’t good enough. Then you take a long, hot bath.

After that, you feel almost normal except for the fact that you nearly died. And you saw magical lightning and a statue that gives mind-blowing orgasms if you touch it. Still, there was nothing erotic about what happened back there. If anything, Lara is embarrassed about it. After all, she probably wanted to show off and maybe even try to seduce you by showing her cool side. Instead she was getting her ass handed to you, then jizzing unconsciously with hypothermia.

Poor Lara.

But enough about her. Wrapped in a nice robe, you sit on your bed in the huge guest bedroom of Croft Manor with your phone in your hand. You should have called Riley sooner, but you weren’t sure what to say. Now it’s time. You have a couple texts from her asking how you are, and a missed call.

You call her and lift the phone, still not sure what you want to say. You just want to hear her voice.

The phone rings. And rings. It goes to voicemail.

You laugh bitterly and put the phone down. A second later, you receive a text from Riley: Can I call you in a few?

So she’s busy. You toss the phone on the bed and groan.

There’s a knock at the door.

“Can I come in?” Lara asks.