The Love Resort (33 page)

‘Oh, that must have been the day we did the island tour,’ Jimmy said, realising that that was the reason they’d been kept out of the way.

‘It’s incredible,’ Thea started, ‘that you are locked in here with us. I can’t believe she’d do that to you.’

‘That’s if you believe Todd,’ Katie stormed.

‘Katie...’ Todd warned.

‘What, Todd? What? Do you think we’ll keep this quiet? When the Studio finds out what’s happened they’ll be after your blood. And I am going to be the one who ends up humiliated.’

‘You’ll end up humiliated? Well, I’ll be the villain.’ Todd looked at her, and then at the six faces that were watching them with interest.

‘And you are! Todd, you slept with another man while we were on our honeymoon.’

‘Katie, please don’t.’ That was all hope of keeping it between them out of the barred and locked window.

‘Huh?’ Tim leant forward.

‘What? Don’t tell these people how my husband is gay?’

A gasp rang round the room.

‘I was gay before I was your husband. Christ, Katie, you knew that, you knew I was gay and the wedding was a studio stunt to keep everyone fooled. You agreed. You married me because they told you to. They offered you a lead role in my next movie on the basis. That’s why you married me.’

‘No, Todd. No, I married you because I love you.’

‘How could you love me? You don’t even know me. Even when we were fake dating we had people with us at all times. We never even had a conversation until after the wedding. And then it was you trying to convert me to heterosexualism and me telling you that it couldn’t be done.’

‘I loved you.’

‘Katie, the only person you’ve ever loved is yourself.’

Katie got up off her crate, Todd stood up too. ‘You are a fucking bastard. A fucking gay bastard.’ She pulled her hand back and slapped him.

‘And you knew all that before you married me,’ he spat, rubbing his cheek.

‘Is this for real,’ Lee asked, ‘or is this part of our challenge?’

‘Will you stop going on about the fucking challenge? There is no challenge. We’re locked up here because we’ve all upset the owner. Now, while all this is entertaining, I, for one, intend to find a way out.’ Tim stood up and began to try the door.

Todd, glaring at Katie, went to help him.

‘Are you all right?’ Thea asked, approaching Katie.

‘It’s such a mess. Look at us. Big movie stars locked in a dirty house with you.’ She looked disdainful.

‘Well, at least people will probably be looking for you. Won’t they?’

‘Oh God, I hope so, I really do. Will we starve to death?’

‘She left us food.’

Thea, Carla and Katie went to the kitchen and surveyed what they had. The dusty white counter housed enough food for a couple of days, but nothing beyond that. Resigning themselves to their fate, they began to put things away.

‘Jimmy, you’re a mechanic, aren’t you?’ Tim asked, his door examination proving fruitless.

‘Yes.’ He went to join them.

‘Well, you must know something about all this stuff.’

‘I know about cars, Tim.’

‘Well, cars have doors, don’t they?’

‘Not normally with big deadlocks attached.’

‘What about the windows?’

‘I checked them earlier; they’ve got heavy-duty locks on them too.’

‘Shit. Todd, was all that for real?’ Tim asked.

‘I’m afraid so. Katie, and Anne-Marie and her entourage caught me with another man in the beach shack.’

‘You’re kidding?’

‘No. And you all know now so it’ll only be a matter of time before the press finds out.’

‘Oh, I shouldn’t think we’d sell the story. Although you never know. It’s a good one and must be worth a fortune.’

‘Thanks, Tim.’ Todd smiled despite himself. The press would love this. If he was ever going to come out, then that would be coming out with a bang.

‘Lee, are we going to be all right?’ Emily asked, snuggling into him.

‘I don’t know, but my guess is that if Thea is right and we’re kidnapped, then we’ll be let out in time to get our flight.’

‘But that’s not for days.’

‘Well, that is the worst-case scenario. Look, I’m going to help the guys to see if we can escape. Why don’t you go and help the girls?’

‘Because they hate me.’

‘Emily, if we are really stuck here, now is a good time to try to make friends. I’m going to do that with Jimmy.’

‘I guess so.’

‘Don’t start being petulant. For once there are more important things at stake.’

Emily kissed him and went to the kitchen.

‘This isn’t going to last us very long,’ Carla was saying, as they stood back and stared at the food on the counter.

‘It’s all going to go off in a few days,’ Thea pointed out.

‘That could be a good thing. It could mean that we’re not going to be here long,’ Emily chipped in as she approached them. Carla glared at her, and then relented.

‘Let’s hope you’re right.’

‘What do you suggest?’ Katie asked.

‘We don’t even have a fridge.’ They looked at each other in defeat.

‘That’s some story, Katie, you know—you and Todd,’ Thea said. She had stopped being star struck. After all, they were all locked up together, and to be in awe seemed stupid, especially after what they’d heard. It was so surreal: Thea wanted to be an actress and here she was with Hollywood royalty, in a dirty house in the Caribbean. She could barely believe it; she wasn’t sure that she did.

‘I know.’ Katie sounded sad.

‘You really loved him?’

‘He’s right, I didn’t really know him. But I loved Todd Cortes.’

‘Oh my God, who doesn’t?’ Thea laughed, and then added, ‘You’re not the only one who is disappointed that he’s gay. Not by a long shot.’

‘No, women all over the world will be weeping when they find out.’ Katie managed an uneasy laugh.

‘Which you think they will?’ Carla asked.

‘We can’t live a lie. It’s just a case of how much this will finish us. The Studio will drop us both, and the public will hate us for lying.’

Thea couldn’t think of anything reassuring to say.

*

‘I—and these men can vouch for it—am very good at escaping,’ Tim announced, puffing his chest out proudly.

‘Really?’ Todd was amused by this funny blonde British guy. In fact, he thought they made a really odd group. After the stories they told, he wondered why they hadn’t killed each other, although according to Tim they had tried. Jimmy was stiff, he moved a bit like a robot, but Todd guessed he was still a bit shocked by losing his woman to Lee. Lee had that sort of confidence that was attractive, almost cocky, but not quite. He was more composed than Jimmy, who Todd really felt sorry for. He looked as if he was holding all his emotions in, and would burst at any minute. Tim was just completely mad, and he guessed that Tim’s devil-may-care attitude had brought about their all being here.

‘Oh, yes. You see this isn’t the first time that Anne-Marie Langdale tried to incarcerate us.’

‘It isn’t?’

‘No, and last time we escaped.’

‘How?’ Todd thought maybe Tim was some sort of expert and he began to hope.

‘The last time we escaped, Tim, the doors were unlocked,’ Jimmy pointed out.

‘Oh, that’s just a detail. Now, let’s think. We definitely can’t get out of the door or the windows. So, I think that maybe we need to look at other ways.’

‘Hell, Tim, you’re a genius,’ Lee snapped. ‘Have you got any idea what these other ways are?’

Todd looked around him. There was no way out.

‘I need time to think. Jimmy, are you sure you can’t break these locks?’ Tim asked.

‘Do we have any tools?’ Jimmy asked.

‘Good point, search the place for tools. There might be something lying around.’ Tim sounded hopeful.

*

‘So we have a nail—which technically, Lee, I don’t think is a tool—a very small screwdriver and some sort of grippy thing,’ said Tim. He, Lee, Jimmy and Todd stood staring at their bounty as if it would suddenly become useful.

‘That’s a spanner,’ Jimmy pointed out.

‘So, can we do anything with this?’ Todd asked.

‘We could put up a picture, unscrew the bathroom cabinet and take some bolts off,’ Jimmy said grimly. ‘We can’t use these on the locks, it’d be hopeless.’

‘I hate to be defeatist, but I don’t think escape is an option,’ Lee said.

‘Then what do we do? Just accept things?’ Jimmy was getting slightly hysterical; Lee resisted the urge to take hold of him.

‘Jimmy, I think we have to. All we can do is hope that she comes back to let us out soon.’

‘We can’t stay here.’ Tim had a demonic look in his eyes. ‘We have to get out.’ Then he stopped, thought and smiled. ‘I mean, there’s only one bedroom, no bed, where on earth are we expected to sleep?’

‘This water isn’t going to last us very long,’ Katie said.

‘There’s sixteen bottles. Eight of us. Two bottles each.’

‘That’s only enough for one day.’

‘You drink two bottles of water a day?’ Emily was shocked.

‘Yes, of course. For my skin.’ She glared at Emily. ‘So she can’t be planning on leaving us for longer than that. Anne-Marie Langdale is the sort of woman who knows the value of water for the complexion.’ Katie smiled smugly. She snatched one of the bottles, opened it and drank thirstily.

‘Don’t you think we should conserve it, just in case?’ Emily asked unsurely.

Katie shot her her best withering look. ‘Do what you want. I really don’t care.’ She took the bottle into the living room, and with all the grace she could muster, she sat herself on a wooden crate and tried to look like the star she was.

Thea looked at her watch, it was eleven a.m. It felt later, as if they had been there all day, not just a few hours. She looked at Tim. He was humming contentedly; she was frightened, she acknowledged, not just for herself but for him too. Anne-Marie couldn’t keep them there too long, could she?

*

Todd looked at his watch. It was midday. It felt later. The time was passing so slowly, especially as resignation had settled in to the group. Katie, perched on her crate, was refusing to talk to, or look at, anyone. He tried to catch her eye but she was deliberately ignoring him. He owed her and he needed to try to take care of her; he had to make some sort of peace with her. However, she was intent on ignoring him. And he couldn’t really blame her. He sighed. He couldn’t bear it.

Todd stared at Katie again. She was clutching an empty bottle of water. He saw her look at her diamond-encrusted Rolex; he could tell that she was really fed up. He wanted to speak to her, apologise, to offer her some comfort. But how could he? After all they’d gone through he didn’t know what to say.

‘Food, anyone?’ Lee stood up, as did Emily. The other six just looked at him as if he was insane; no one spoke.

*

Jimmy seethed silently. His watch told him it was four in the afternoon, and Emily and Lee hadn’t returned from the kitchen. He heard the old giggle coming from them, which irritated him beyond belief. He was hungry himself, but there was no way he was going in there; no way he wanted to face them. It was bad enough that he’d lost his girlfriend—his brand-new fiancée—to Lee, whilst on holiday, but then to be locked away with them... It was more than rubbing salt into the wounds; it was worse than anything. He felt tears prick his eyes. How easy it seemed to call Tim’s truce. It hurt, yes, although he was beginning to see that Emily wasn’t worthy of him. Or was he? He put his head in his hands. Who was he kidding? What he really felt was that still, despite everything, he wasn’t worthy of her.

*

Carla looked at Jimmy, then at her watch. It was five, and as she looked out of the dirty window she saw the sun was dimming. She was so hungry, but Lee and Emily hadn’t emerged from the kitchen and it had gone quiet. God knows what they were up to. Carla shuddered. She wasn’t ready to deal with the reality of Lee with Emily, even if she had accepted it in theory. She still felt like a fool, but she couldn’t just forget how much she’d adored him for the past three years. Her feelings couldn’t be eradicated just like that.

Her stomach rumbled. She looked at Thea; begging her to understand.

‘I think we should eat.’ Her fears were apparent.

Thea nodded, gestured for her to wait there and went into the kitchen. Carla waited and saw her emerge five minutes later with Emily and Lee. Carla stood up and followed Thea back to the kitchen, as did Jimmy.

Thea saw a tiny glimpse of what might have been the sunset through the window as she emerged from the kitchen with a plate of sandwiches. Tim shook his head, as she offered him one.

‘Tim.’

‘Yes?’

‘Are you all right?’ It wasn’t what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t find the right words.

‘Oh yes. For a kidnap victim I’d say I was very well.’ He smiled.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Thea, please stop worrying about me.’

Would she ever stop worrying about him? She doubted it. She didn’t know anything else. She couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t worry about him; there probably had never been one.

Katie looked at the sandwich being offered to her and shook her head. Todd took one and bit into it.

‘Todd, a word in private, please.’ Katie stalked into the kitchen with Todd right behind her.

‘This,’ she pointed at him in case he was under any illusions, ‘is all your fault.’

‘I know.’ He put his sandwich down on the counter and sighed. He wasn’t in the mood for another row. There had been too many recently.

‘I can’t stay here,’ she stated simply.

‘I don’t see what choice we have.’

‘I am Katie Ray. I’m a famous film star. I’m locked up with a bunch of nobodies and I am not staying here.’

‘Katie, those are people out there. And they’re not exactly thrilled at being locked up either.’ He wondered if she was being a bitch just to get a reaction out of him. He wasn’t going to rise to the bait.

‘Oh, I’m sure they love it. Being locked up with us, famous people, who they could only dream of meeting. I have no hair-brush, no change of clothes, and no make-up. I simply can’t be expected to survive,’ she trilled.

‘But you will. This isn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened.’ He picked up his sandwich.