The Roof!

Ah, the roof. Pretty plain as roofs go.

A terrace between two sloping sections of actual roof-tiles and all that - with...not much there.

One entrance from the back of the roof, where it joins a small spiral staircase leading to a landing. Several deckchairs are arranged at seemingly random intervals on the terrace, all rarely used.

Bit of a deckchair graveyard really.

Of course, it's also a secluded spot for activities that could do to remain private.

Vanessa, looked from left to right before entering the roof.

Russell stepped out from behind an overturned lounger with a grin.

"Boo!" He smirked in a moment of childish amusement, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Vanessa couldn't help but give out a little scream. She pretended to frown at him. "Rus, don't do that. You scared me." She slapped him playfully on the shoulder. Sometime during the two weeks he was here, she'd stop calling him Jamie.

Rus continued to grin. "Aww, where's the fun in that?"

He laughed as she slapped his shoulder, and pretended to flinch. "Domestic Violence!" He protested.

"Oh shut up." Vanessa said but the effect was overshadowed by the smile she was wearing.

Russell stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow as an idea occurred to him.

"Alright then." He replied, kissing her.

She was pleasantly surprised and she slowly wrapped her hands around his neck, kissing him back.

Russell smirked into the kiss and wrapped his arms around her.

It was at moments like this that all the deception, secrecy and...what could possibly be construed as betrayal, was worth it.

Suddenly the roof door opened. "Where the bloody hell am I... ?" Susanna, one of Hector's wicked sisters, appeared.

It took a surprisingly long time for the sound of another person arriving to be processed by Russell's brain.

Eyes widening, he hopped away from Vanessa immediately.

This was going to be awkward.

Vanessa pulled away from Russell and tried to look... well she tried not to look like she'd just been snogging. But it was too late, Susanna had seen everything.

Susanna for the most part tried to look scandalised, but her scandalised look was being undermind by her apparent glee. "Vanessa? Oh dear...."

Russell saw some sort of glee in Hector's sister's eyes which he did not like. Not even slightly.

Everyone knew they weren't the best of friends, but malice seemed to be there.

He took a step nearer Vanessa again. She'd seen everything, and he didn't like the look on her face one bit.

Susanna gave out a dramatic sigh. "This... this rather disappointing." She said clicking her tongue. "Dear Hector will be... he'll be devastated." Either Susanna was the worst actress in the entire world or her delight was just too much to bare.

Russell felt his skin crawl at the obvious delight in Susanna's voice. "Look-We didn't want to hurt Hector- he doesn't need to know anything about this!"

"It'll just...it'll just hurt him! Where's the benefit to that?" He swallowed. For some reason, he had a feeling that was exactly what Hector's sister was seeking to achieve.

"Please Susanna... don't..." Vanessa was speechless, she was still reeling from the shock. Her heart was pounding. She didn't exactly want to hurt Hector.

"Don't?" Susanna said incredulous. "Why shouldn't I? Hector's my brother... he's got every right to know!" And with that she turned on her heel and left them on the roof.

Russell was stunned. More than stunned. Of course he'd thought about what would happen if they got caught, but he hadn't expected it.

"...Sh!t."

His voice was low. He glanced across at Vanessa, eyes wide. "What the hell do we do?"

"We have to... we have to talk to her." She said running after Susanna.

Russell nodded numbly, running after Vanessa and vanishing from the rooftop.

((To...a thread I shall create?))