He was just in time. As soon as he'd done that, Glory's hair came into view, then her face. "Ah, there you are," she said.
Alan's heart was pounding madly. But calming himself, at least on the outside, he said, "Yeah, I was just using the bathroom. The downstairs one was being used."
"Oh." By this point she'd made it up the stairs and was walking down the hall directly towards him. His explanation sounded very plausible.
Looking from side to side, she noted, "This is a nice house. I've never been here before." There were two bedrooms on each side of the hall before it came to an end at the bathroom. Amy and Brad had theirs on one side, and Eric and Suzanne had theirs on the other. (The fact that the two adult Pestridges had their own bedrooms showed just how far their marriage had collapsed.)
She felt a bit odd going upstairs in a strange house and was waiting for Alan to ask her what brought her there. In fact, she had a good reason for seeking him out, because Suzanne had basically told her to go up there to talk to him in private about how to resolve, or at least temper down, the whole Christine-Heather-Glory feud so it wouldn't divide their efforts against Ryan's gang.
But to her annoyance, Alan didn't ask her about that, or anything else. He just stood there, looking a bit fidgety.
As she got nearer, she asked him, "Which one of these is Amy's room?" She'd been specifically told by Suzanne that Amy had left the house, but she was just curious about her room. (She had an insatiable sense of curiosity in general, so this was no surprise.) She looked down at his crotch and noticed that he was covering what appeared to be a large bulge with both hands, and trying but failing to act casual about it.
Alan had a nightmarish vision of Glory walking into Amy's room only to find Amy gallivanting around without a stitch of clothes. Suzanne's bedroom was nearest to him, so he nodded at it and said, "This room is Suzanne's." He took her hand and walked into Suzanne's room, pulling Glory along with him.
"That's very nice, but why should I care if..." Her voice trailed off, because she took another look at his crotch and saw his hands were off it. Now there was no disguising a lewd bulge that was leaning forward at about a 45 degree angle, seriously straining the fabric of his shorts.
She grinned. "Young man, are you hiding a flagpole in your shorts or are you just happy to see me?"
"I'm happy to see you. VERY happy." He stepped forward and, in one fell swoop, took her in his arms and kissed her on the lips.
She broke the kiss and pulled her mouth away for a second, just long enough to say, "We shouldn't!" But she was the one seeking out his lips seconds after she'd made that pro-forma protest.
Their hungry kiss seemed to go on and on forever. When they finally broke lip-lock to breathe, she again protested, "We shouldn't." But his hands were already busy taking off her clothes, and her hands were busy taking off his.
"Damn you, young man!" she cursed as she pulled his shorts off. "Why do you always make me do these insane things? Suzanne sent me here to discuss important stuff with you, not play around! You said this is her room, right?" She looked around furtively, and then realized fully where she was. "Oh shit! Close the door!"
Sure enough, the door to the room was wide open. Alan, already buck naked, went over to it and closed it, but he didn't lock it.
He was having a great time. He was feeling the adrenaline rush of being in danger, yet he felt there was no serious danger. He thought, If Amy or Suzanne "catch" us, then so what? It might freak out Glory, but I know they won't really be bothered by it. Especially since it seems Suzanne sent her here. I'll bet Suzanne knew this would happen. That would explain why she shouted up, to make sure that Amy would have time to hide. But to what end? What's her scheme this time?
However, he was so busy thinking about Suzanne's schemes that he'd forgotten about Christine. Admittedly, Suzanne's shouted comment of "Almost everyone's gone home" caused him to assume that all the others had left. However, Christine was still there.
Downstairs, Suzanne was busily scheming, and part of that was getting everybody to go home. Heather had left early with Simone, even before the small group discussions were over, and then Katherine and Susan left as soon as they possibly could. Both mother and daughter had done an admirable job in not giving away any hint of their incest, but the easiest way to play it safe was to simply claim to be busy and go back to their own home, so that's what they'd done.
After Suzanne sent Glory upstairs, that just left Christine. Unfortunately for Suzanne's scheming, Christine recognized that Suzanne was a very smart person, so she wanted to discuss her offensive plan against Ryan with Suzanne at length, while also discussing Suzanne's plans to get to Ryan by going through the parents.
Even so, Suzanne would have been able to shoo Christine out of the house soon enough, except that Suzanne had to go to the bathroom.
That left Christine all alone, and just minutes before she'd heard Suzanne all but order Glory to go upstairs and talk to Alan about something related to the whole Ryan situation. She didn't catch just what they were to discuss, but Suzanne seemed to be taking her time, and the upstairs conversation sounded like one she wanted to get in on.
So Christine headed up the stairs. She figured she'd just be a minute, just long enough to tell Alan and Glory to come downstairs and join her and Suzanne so the four of them could have a really fruitful discussion. As she reached the top of the stairs, she thought, I don't understand why Alan and Glory had to go somewhere private to talk. I mean, are they talking about something private? I can't possibly see what that could be if it relates to the battle with Ryan's forces. Alan was just saying that we all need to get on the same page and communicate better. I should coax them downstairs.
As she made her way down the upstairs hall, she thought, I hope it's not a sexual thing. That would be really embarrassing. I mean, I saw them together on the beach. I know they're doing it. And when it comes to Alan and sex, the only thing I know is that anything is possible. Maybe I should turn back... Although, Suzanne did tell Glory to come up here, so that doesn't really make sense... But as her puzzlement grew, her curiosity drove her on.
"Alan?" she said aloud.
Just then, as she was passing Amy's door, Amy walked out into the hallway and literally ran into her.
"Oh! Christine! What are you doing here?" Amy was fully dressed by this point, and very alert to Christine's snooping. She strategically placed herself between Christine and the bathroom, preventing Christine from walking forward.
"Um, I was just..."
"You were looking for me? How sweet!"
"No, I'm looking for Alan and Glory. Your mother said they're up here talking about the whole Ryan-"
Amy blatantly yet convincingly lied, "Oh! Them. They were here, but they just left out the back way. Alan was up here to talk to me about something before they left. But actually, I'm totally glad to see you. I've got this idea..."
Amy took hold of Christine's hand and began leading her back downstairs while she prattled on off the top of her head about some half-baked ideas relating to the football game security. What she said wasn't important; all that mattered was that she was leading Christine away from where she knew Alan and Glory were getting it on.
Amy was glad to have her reputation. She knew that other people, including Christine, simply couldn't conceive that she would lie like that. Not sweet, innocent, space-cadet Amy. Even more, it would never occur to Christine that Amy would lie to help Alan and Glory have sex further down the hallway, even if she did suspect that Amy might be lying.
Christine let herself be led downstairs.
Amy hurried her off the upper floor as fast as she could without raising Christine's suspicions. She worried that Alan or Glory would cry out loud enough to be heard. She breathed a sigh of relief when she and Christine made it down the stairs and out of hearing range.
Suzanne soon managed to get Christine out of the house altogether, claiming with some validity that she and Amy needed to get ready for the game.
Christine thought it perfectly natural that the two people left in the house would be the ones who lived there. She wondered where Alan and Glory had gotten off to, but she didn't even consider the possibility that they were still upstairs, not when Amy was there too.
Alan and Glory didn't know it, and in fact they were barely even aware of the danger, but now they were in the clear. Furthermore, Suzanne's latest scheme was now back on track.