Amsterdam

I'm late for work. Who cares. Gay Boss is away, Bimbo has taken the week off, Stoner is in Amsterdam, Scruffy Artist has locked himself in his office (he's slightly moody today), and I haven't bothered with the Accounts department. It gives me time to write about my trip...

Switzerland was truly amazing. We stayed in a wonderful hotel overlooking a lake. The mountains in the distance were breathtaking. I would have been happy to live there for the rest of my life... I'm not going to bore you with romantic stories. Besides, I'd rather keep those moments to myself for now. I may share at a later date.

It takes approximately 14 hours to drive from London to Switzerland so making little stops on the way back was part of our plan.

One of our last stops was Amsterdam. It wasn't technically en route but we both agreed that it would be worth the extra few miles. I called Stoner while we driving through Holland and asked him if he wanted to take a last minute flight and meet us there too. He agreed without persuasion.

We met up in a coffee shop called The Grasshopper. Stoner, being the expert on cannabis, chose a gram of Super Silver Haze from the menu. It was the most expensive thing on the menu costing almost double the price of the others. After rolling a spliff up Stoner took a long puff. He coughed deeply. Stoner smokes all the time and if he had a "virgin lung" cough then I should have realised that it was way too strong. I smoked it anyway and before long I felt the buzz kick in. I silently sipped my hot chocolate and tried to concentrate on the conversation between Solicitor and Stoner. The psychedelic dance music seemed to get louder and louder. I felt Solicitor push a bottle of water into my hands. He smiled and urged me to drink it. Did I really look that bad? God I felt like such and idiot!

We decided to pass on walking through the red light district. We'd all seen it before and it would have wasted time. We went to another coffee shop before stopping at a restaurant for dinner. During dinner Solicitors phone rang. He diverted the call without answering. It rang five more times before he switched off his phone.

Later that night he switched on his phone to check his messages. By then I was dying with curiosity. He swore under his breath and went for a shower. When it rang again I checked the name flashing on the screen. "Aimee"

Okay, I know I shouldn't have done it but I answered the call. Nobody calls someone 20 times in one day unless it was important. I couldn't help myself.

"Hello"

...Silence...

"Hello?"

"Are you Elise?" She knows about me!

"Yes. (Solicitor) is in the shower. Is everything okay?"

"I need him to come and get me"

At this point she started crying. Shit! Something bad must have happened to her. I started to panic.

"Whats wrong? Where are you?"

"In Paris. Please! I need someone here with me!"

"Are you hurt?"

... more sobbing...

I pounded on the bathroom door before walking in. Solicitor was standing naked in the shower with shampoo in his hair. God he's gorgeous! I told him Aimee was on the phone. He swore and quickly rinsed his hair. I handed him the phone and walked out of the bathroom to give him some privacy.

When he emerged he had a thunderous look on his face. Thinking that he was angry that I'd answered his phone I started to apologise. He cut me off and told me that he needed to go to Paris. He started dressing and packing and I felt a wave of panic. I sat down and contemplated on asking if I could come. Or maybe I should just give them some privacy. I was so confused!

"Elise! We have to go, can you start packing your things."

So I didn't even have to ask!

I called Stoner as we got into the car and explained that we had an emergency. He seemed too stoned to care. Probably finishing off that Super Silver Haze...