The Love Resort (29 page)

‘If she does we’ll go to the magazine and tell them how horrible she was to us.’

‘Of course, she won’t do anything that would give her any bad publicity, would she?’

‘You know what, I don’t care,’ Carla started. ‘I’ve been such a fool. When I think back to university and the way that I devoted my life to Lee, I feel so stupid. Totally insane. I mean, I’m an intelligent, fairly attractive woman, who should be having the time of my life. But instead I became obsessed with him and now I can’t even remember why. Is that because I’m drunk?’ She lit another cigarette and burst out laughing, neither of them was sure why.

‘What do you think the others are doing?’ Carla asked.

‘Well, I suspect Tim is getting very drunk somewhere, Jimmy will be despairing, and Lee and Emily are probably boring the pants off each other. Although not literally.’

‘You think he’s boring?’

‘No, not really. I’m just trying to make you feel better.’

‘Well, I do.’

*

‘Tim, please get down,’ Jimmy said, frantically holding on to one of Tim’s legs. He had climbed into a DJ booth that sat above a dance floor, because there was no one in there and no music playing.

‘I’m fine; I was ever so good at climbing as a child.’

Jimmy wrangled but finally managed to get him back down—luckily, as the barmen were glaring.

‘Let’s get another drink and forget about the music.’

Tim looked at him, appeared to think for a second, then agreed.

‘Nice place we found here,’ Tim said as they went to sit at a corner table, where, Jimmy hoped, they couldn’t cause any trouble.

‘Tim, do you always behave like this?’

‘Like what?’

‘Like now. You know, getting behind the bar, stealing drinks, hitting on women and climbing up into booths.’ Tim was exhausting; Jimmy wasn’t sure how Thea coped.

‘Um, I don’t think so, but I couldn’t be sure. You’d have to ask Thea.’

‘If you do, then you can’t blame her for being annoyed with you.’

‘Annoyed? That’s the understatement of the century. She hates me.’

‘Anyone can see she doesn’t.’

‘Well, she should. Do you think that perhaps I should make an effort to be better behaved?’

‘Um, yes.’

‘OK, well, I will. Here’s a toast to the new improved Tim.’ Jimmy wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry as Tim charged his drink and downed it.

‘Mind you, I’m not sure that I’m the one that should be called insane here. What on earth were you thinking of with that girl? She walked all over you.’

‘Yeah and I still have the scars to prove it. What an idiot. Mind you, she’s gorgeous.’

‘I suppose so, but really bossy.’

‘I think the worst thing is that I feel such a wimp for letting her treat me like dirt.’

‘But if it’s any consolation, at least you and Emily were genuine, and you’re the only one Anne-Marie doesn’t want to kill.’

‘It’s not, but thanks.’

‘Oh look, the DJ’s started up. Let’s dance.’

‘Tim, are you mad? Me and you on the dance floor?’

‘Come on, Jimmy, do something that you wouldn’t normally do, for once.’ Madonna’s ‘Holiday’ blared through the bar.

‘Well, OK, but I’m not much of a dancer.’

‘Can’t be any worse than your limbo.’ As Tim, arms swinging, jumped on to the dance floor, Jimmy shook his head and followed him.

*

Anne-Marie poured two large glasses of brandy and sat down next to Abigail. ‘So, I’ve had papers drawn up. They have to agree not to speak to anyone about their time here, now that they’ve done their interview. I’ll make them sign it by threatening to sue them all, and we’ll be all right.’

‘Good thinking, darling. You seem to have everything under control.’

‘Oh, but it’s been hard. The hardest few days of my life. Could you imagine if Todd and Katie found out? Or if the press found out?’

‘They won’t, I promise. You have been more than kind to them.’

‘I know. They don’t deserve it. Any of it.’ Anne-Marie sighed. ‘I just don’t know...Abigail, are you listening?’ Abigail was looking at her watch.

‘Sorry, yes, I was just thinking about things, and my head.’

Anne-Marie gave her publisher a funny look. ‘Dear Abigail, I wish you’d let me get you a doctor—’ She was interrupted by an insistent knock on the door. She opened it and a distraught Katie, followed by Mary, her maid, walked in.

‘Katie, darling, what is it?’ Anne-Marie asked, gesturing furiously at Abigail to come and help.

‘This note.’ She handed her a piece of paper. Mary had hold of Katie’s hand.

‘What are you doing here?’ Anne-Marie demanded of Mary.

‘I need her, I need her,’ Katie wailed.

Anne-Marie and Abigail read the note and exchanged glances.

‘Marcus wanted to meet you by the shack. You’ve seen him before? You’re having an affair with Marcus?’ Anne-Marie’s eyes were wide with horror.

‘And you’re married to Todd Cortes,’ Abigail added, looking equally shocked.

‘The note is not for her,’ Mary explained, as Katie carried on sobbing.

‘Well then, who is it for?’ Anne-Marie asked.

‘It’s for Todd.’

‘Todd Cortes is gay?’ Abigail was wide-eyed.

For a moment the world spun and Anne-Marie thought she might faint. She took a deep breath and pulled herself together.

‘Right, let’s go.’ She grabbed her cloak. ‘Abigail, I need you with me.’ The four women marched determinedly out of the house and down the path.

‘Katie, did you know Todd liked men when you married him?’ Abigail asked.

‘I thought once we were married, I’d be enough.’

‘Of course you did, darling,’ Anne-Marie said. ‘What a cheating bastard. Imagine, on your honeymoon.’

‘It wasn’t exactly like that,’ Mary cut in.

‘What do you mean?’ Anne-Marie rounded on her; she didn’t like having a maid trailing them, especially when she had pride of place by Katie’s side.

‘She means that he was gay when we started dating and gay when we married. The Studio arranged it all so no one would think he was gay and also to boost my popularity.’

‘This is a fucking joke, right?’ Anne-Marie stopped dead.

‘No.’

‘So, you two weren’t for real?’

‘Well, I hoped we would be.’

‘Fucking hell, my resort.
My
resort
. Even you have tainted it.’

She looked at Abigail, and shook her head angrily.

‘Darling, let’s just get Todd first and then we’ll sort this out,’ Abigail soothed.

*

‘Strange...’ Ed said. He found the door to his house open but no one there. He and Lily had geared themselves up for the confrontation, but there was no one to confront.

‘Maybe she went out with the competition winners,’ Lily suggested, giggling then hiccuping.

‘Or maybe she’s been abducted by aliens,’ he suggested, a little tipsy. They’d had a few large brandies: Dutch courage.

‘Hang on, there’s a note.’ Lily picked the note up off the floor.

‘Who could this be for?’ Ed asked.

‘Oh my God, your wife is having an affair with Marcus!’ Lily exclaimed as she read it.

‘Really?’

‘And if we go and catch them at it, you can just divorce her,’ she added.

‘What are we waiting for?’

23

The
Staff

The Love Resort’s staff are specially trained to be discreet and non-invasive. Whatever their role, they are all highly professional. They cater for your every need but also know that this is your time and they will not encroach on that. Anne-Marie Langdale takes personal pride in her staff. If you have any comments to make on this matter, please direct them to her.

Guest
Handbook

*

Todd lay naked in Marcus’s arms. ‘Can I see you again?’ he asked, all rational thought forgotten.

‘You’re seeing me now,’ Marcus replied.

‘I know, but we can’t stay here forever.’

‘Sure,’ Marcus answered vaguely. ‘Kiss me,’ he demanded, and as Todd obliged a flashbulb went off and the door of the hut swung open.

‘What the hell...?’

‘What on earth...?’

‘Oh my God.’

Anne-Marie stood in the doorway, her arms folded. Todd jumped up and grabbed his clothes. Marcus looked ashen, as did another man, who emerged from behind a pile of diving equipment in the corner, clutching a camera.

‘Well, what do we have here?’ Anne-Marie asked, unaware where to start. Katie burst into noisy sobs. Mary held on to her and Abigail stopped dead.

‘Who are you?’ Todd asked, pointing at the man with the camera. His heart was thumping; he thought it might jump out of his chest.

‘Yes, who are you?’ Anne-Marie seconded.

‘Marcus’s boyfriend,’ he answered, looking terrified.

‘Marcus, how could you?’ Todd asked, feeling like an utter fool.

‘Todd, how could you?’ Katie demanded.

‘Marcus and Todd, and you...’ Anne-Marie rounded on the stranger, ‘...how could you?’

They all looked at each other, frozen in horror.

‘Right, I think someone needs to take control,’ Abigail said finally. ‘Marcus, Todd, put some clothes on.’ They obliged her.

‘That’s better,’ she stated, when the men were fully clothed.

‘Abigail?’ Anne-Marie looked near collapse.

‘It’s all right, darling; let me handle this for now.’ She moved forward. ‘Now, let’s start with you, Marcus’s boyfriend. Do you have a name?’

‘Adam.’

‘Adam. Would you like to start by telling me why you have a camera and why you were hiding?’

‘It was...’ he faltered.

‘You see...’ Marcus began.

‘Blackmail,’ Todd finished.

‘So, let me get this straight. You had no idea Todd was gay until you started serving him. Then you got a vibe that he might be, and told Adam.’

‘Yes.’

‘You must have thought this was a gift from God. A famous movie star, you’re his personal butler, he’s on his honeymoon and you think he’s gay. When you put it to the test, you discover that you’re right and you two hatch this plan.’

‘Yes.’

‘So you were going to blackmail him and you chose tonight.’

‘Yes.’

‘Let’s just skip the bit about Adam watching you do whatever it was you were doing—and I’m guessing you were doing more than swapping recipes—so you get your photo and then you both confront Todd and offer him your silence for how much?’

‘A hundred thousand dollars.’

‘A hundred thousand dollars? Are you insane? This man is worth about twenty million. Christ, that’s a ridiculously low amount.’

‘Aren’t you getting off the subject a bit, Abigail?’ Anne-Marie squeaked.

‘Oh, yes, sorry. Right, well, first things first. Let’s have the camera.’ She moved towards Adam. Adam looked at Marcus, who looked at Adam, just as Abigail grabbed hold of him; he threw the camera to Marcus, who made a run for it.

*

‘This is going to be fun,’ Ed said, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

‘And there I was feeling sorry for her. But now, you get a hassle-free divorce and we can skip off into the sunset.’

‘Yes, my darling, yes.’ The shack was in sight, and they just reached the entrance when they were knocked into by a man holding a camera. Ed grabbed hold of him. ‘Marcus, is that you?’

‘Keep hold of that man,’ a voice shouted from inside the shed, and despite Marcus’s struggles, Ed did exactly that.

Lily nearly fell over in surprise. It wasn’t what they’d been expecting, that much was clear.

‘Oh, Ed, thank goodness,’ Anne-Marie said.

‘Nice stop,’ Abigail added.

‘What’s going on?’ Lily asked, surveying the scene. Mary was holding on to Katie, who was crying. Abigail had her arms clamped around a man who Lily had never seen before. Anne-Marie was rooted to a certain spot, and Todd looked as if he was going to join Katie in her crying.

‘Is this some sort of orgy?’ Ed asked.

Abigail began to explain.

*

The six competition winners met at the appointed time. Although they had all had fun that evening, as soon as they saw each other again, they lapsed into silence.

‘Here’s the plan,’ Tim started, savouring his role of leader once more. ‘We get two taxis back. Emily, Lee and Thea go in one, we’ll go in another. When we get to the entrance we’ll sneak back in the way we came. We’ll all go straight to our rooms. When they ask us what we did, we’ll just say that we wanted to go out but we didn’t do anything to upset any of the guests, so they can’t be too unreasonable.’

‘Good plan,’ Lee said, slapping Tim on the back, as they went to find some taxis.

‘Yes, well, I seem to be good at being a fugitive,’ Tim replied.

‘Why do I have to go back with them?’ Thea asked, as she and Emily glared at each other.

‘I thought you didn’t want to be near me.’

‘Christ. It’s like a choice between two evils,’ Thea stated.

Thea purposefully sat in between Lee and Emily in the back of their taxi.

‘So, did you two have a good first date?’ she asked, her voice full of disapproval.

‘Oh God, it was our first date, wasn’t it?’ Emily replied, leaning forward to look at Lee.

‘Yup, babes, it was.’

Thea sighed. ‘So, did you have fun?’ she pushed.

‘It was wonderful,’ Emily replied dreamily.

‘Yeah, Em, it was really good. Thank you,’ Lee said. Thea could barely believe her ears.

‘Glad to see you’re not feeling guilty,’ she spat.

‘Actually, Thea, that’s not true,’ Lee replied.

‘Really?’ She folded her arms.

‘We talked about nothing else all evening. How it seems wrong for us to be so happy when we hurt people. But you have to know that we didn’t mean to. I didn’t set out to hurt Carla, I know I’m at fault, but I am sorry. I know what you think but I do care about her. She’s my friend.’

‘You should be telling her this.’ Thea wasn’t in the mood to forgive.

‘Like she’d believe him. I feel wretched about Jimmy, really I do. But, Thea, our relationship wasn’t working. They say you can’t help who you fall in love with...’ Emily trailed off.

‘Are you saying you’re in love?’ Thea’s eyes were wide.

‘Yes,’ they replied in unison.