Donna Joy Usher - Chanel 02 - Goons 'n' Roses (12 page)

I was so relieved to have her back that I could feel the stress of the last couple of days starting to fade away. I pushed her hair back off her face and leant down to kiss her on the forehead, and then I followed Martine back out the door.

***

‘I need to get a little drunk,’ I said to Martine when we finally caught up with the rest of the gang.

‘A
little
drunk?’

‘Probably more than a little,’ I admitted. ‘But I’m going to settle for a little.’

It had been a confusing day. So much bad shit had gone down amongst some really good things. We’d found Mum, and the sexual chemistry between Billy and me had reached spectacular proportions. I was looking forward to spending the afternoon with him tomorrow, so it wouldn’t do to get
too
drunk.

We drank champagne and danced like crazy women but the whole time, a part of my brain was working on the problems at hand, until I reached a conclusion that left me standing still in the middle of the dance floor.

‘Shit,’ I said, grabbing Martine’s arm. ‘We shouldn’t have left Mum in her room. They know where her room is.’ The unspoken was that they also seemed to be able to gain access to our rooms willy-nilly.

I feigned illness and the two of us flagged a cab outside the club. The drive back to the hotel took forever. I fidgeted and tapped my feet whenever we stopped at a red light. Martine patted my hand, which I’m sure was meant to be soothing, but in her anxiety she was patting a little too hard.

Finally we were back at The Luxor. I found the key as we raced to Mum’s room, and slid it through the lock. It flashed red and beeped at me. I tried it again and then again.

‘Oh come on!’ I said as the electronic lock declined the card for the third time.

‘Is it the right one?’ Martine asked.

I swore and dug through my bag again, re-emerging with another card which turned out to be the right one. My hands were trembling as I swiped the card through the lock. I opened the door, fearing the worst.

What if she were gone, or worse still, dead? What if she were wrapped in plastic?

I didn’t think I would ever recover from that. I couldn’t believe how stupid we’d been, leaving her there alone.

Mum lay where I’d left her, snoring gently.

‘Oh thank God,’ I said, slumping onto one of the chairs.

Martine sat next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. I leant into her as I blinked back tears. ‘I don’t know how much more of this I can take,’ I said.

‘We’ve got her back now.’

‘We still need to find Trent.’

‘She’ll know where he is.’

‘You going back out?’ I asked, suddenly exhausted.

‘Nah. I’m beat. Want to go shopping in the morning after breakfast?’

‘Sure.’ I felt a little better at the thought. ‘Billy’s picking me up at one.’

‘Wooohhwoohhhhhh.’ She nudged me in the ribs.

‘I must admit, it’ll be nice to spend some time with him without
this
hanging over my head.’ I waved an arm towards Mum.

Martine kissed me on the cheek and stood up. ‘Sweet dreams.’

‘They’d better be sweet,’ I said.

Following her out the door, I went to my room and grabbed my pyjamas and toiletry bag. Then I went back to Mum’s room and had a shower, scrubbing at my orange arm with the exfoliating glove till my skin tingled. After that, I dragged on my pyjamas and climbed into bed beside her.

It took a little while for me to relax enough to sleep. But I finally felt it creeping over me and I let the soft sound of Mum’s snoring lead me into a deep slumber.

***

When I woke in the morning, Mum was sitting on the end of the bed staring at me.

‘You’re awake,’ I said.

‘Chanel.’ I wasn’t sure if she were asking me a question or just saying my name.

‘Are you feeling okay?’ I said.

‘Dandy.’ She smiled. ‘Well I do have a little headache.’

‘I’m surprised you’re out of bed,’ I said, sitting up. ‘You were smashed.’

‘Yes, well, I was so relieved to get away.’

‘What’s with the accent?’ I said.

‘Oh, it’s all part of my disguise.’ She stood up. ‘I need to stay in character.’

‘You’re going out?’

‘Yes, I need to get…’ Her voice tapered off as she looked around the room; one finger tapping gently on the end of her chin.

‘Trent?’

‘Yes,’ she swung back towards me. ‘I need to get Trent.’

‘Do you know where he is?’

‘He got another hotel room for us to hide in. I went to the club last night to find you.’

‘And got drunk.’

‘Nobody’s perfect.’ She headed for the door.

I swung my legs out of bed and said, ‘Mum, I don’t know if you should go. You don’t seem yourself.’

She laughed as she opened the door and said, ‘I won’t be long.’

‘But wait,’ I said. ‘What happened to you? How did you get away?’

‘It’s a long story,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell you when I get back.’

I went back to my room and got changed, ready to meet Martine for our morning’s shopping. Then I went back to Mum’s room to leave her another note. It was as I entered the room that I noticed something odd.

Mum never went anywhere without her handbag, and yet it was still lying by the small writing table where she had placed it on arrival. I checked inside it and noticed her wallet was still there. The only thing she had taken with her was the swipe card that had been lying on the corner of the table.

Maybe she did have a head injury. Or perhaps her mind
had
been addled by drugs. I left the note, adding the fact that I had her phone, and placated myself with the knowledge that she was going to get Trent.

***

I stared at the chocolate fountain, watching the smooth, creamy chocolate cascade over the ledges until it pooled, glistening in the bottom. My hand twitched towards it and Martine slapped it away.

‘Don’t even think about it.’ She had on her new black pumps, a navy blouse with black pants and another new day wig. This one was brown and curly.

I’d gone for khaki cargo pants and a white t-shirt. If I
did
lunge for the chocolate it was going to make one hell of a mess.

The waitress seated us outside at a shady table for four. I took the seat closest to Martine and stared up at the brilliant azure sky. Finally, I felt like I was on holidays.

‘Is Tess okay?’ Martine asked.

‘Seems a little distracted. Hopefully they’ll be back when we get home and we’ll get some answers.’

‘Should we change hotels?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve been wondering the same thing. Trent will know what to do.’ It seemed stupid to be hanging around at The Luxor, but until we were all back together again it was our only way of finding each other.

The waitress arrived with our hot chocolate and chocolate croissants – I knew I’d feel ill afterwards, but hey, you only live once – and we started eating.

I was half-way through my croissant when the chair on the opposite side of the table from me was pulled out and Mickey took a seat. Riley stood behind him, his hand resting just inside the edge of his trench coat.

‘Oh come
on!
’ I said, eyeing my croissant. There was no way I was going anywhere till I had eaten that baby. I picked it up and took a big bite, chewing noisily as I stared at Mickey.

‘Come quietly and you won’t get ‘urt,’ Mickey said.

I pointed at them and said to Martine, ‘Meet Mickey and Riley.’

‘Charmed,’ Martine said. ‘Chanel’s got a hangover. You might want to let her finish her breakfast. Would you two gentlemen like something while you wait?’

‘A coffee would be good,’ Riley said. Mickey turned and looked up at him. ‘On second thoughts, don’t worry about it,’ Riley added.

‘Hows ‘bout you tell us where Tess is and we’ll leave you to your breakfast.’

‘I honestly don’t know,’ I told Mickey. It was technically true. She could be anywhere between The Luxor and the hotel she and Trent had holed up in. I beckoned the waitress over. I was going to need another chocolate croissant.

Mickey didn’t look happy about my order of another croissant and extra hot, hot chocolate, but I didn’t care. It had been a hell of a few days and I was almost at my limit.

‘How’d she get away?’ I asked.

‘Climbed out the window.’

Martine and I started to laugh. ‘You left her a window to climb out of?’ I said.

‘It was on the second floor,’ Riley said. ‘And she was asleep.’

‘In a bed with sheets?’ Martine asked.

‘Yeah.’ Mickey shifted uncomfortably. I was guessing The Rose hadn’t been too happy with him.

The waitress deposited my croissant and hot chocolate taking Martine’s and my empty cups away with the money for the extra order. ‘Don’t worry about the change,’ I called after her. We weren’t going to be there much longer.

‘You gunna drink that or what?’ Riley asked, staring at my cup. Steam was rising off the creamy froth.

‘You want it?’

He shook his head.

‘Really? ‘Cause I got it especially for you.’ I picked the cup up and threw the contents over Mickey and Riley. Then I shoved the table as hard as I could into Mickey, knocking him and his chair backwards.

I jammed the croissant in my bag as Martine and I took off, out of The Chocolate Bar and across the car park towards The Venetian Casino. I could hear Mickey and Riley screaming and swearing behind us.

I was happy I had obeyed my instincts and worn flat shoes again that day. Martine was having no problems keeping up in her pumps, but then her legs were twice as long as mine and she could dance in skyscraper heels.

We darted across a bridge that spanned a man-made canal and into the entrance to the hotel.

‘Holy smoking Batman,’ Martine said, stopping to stare at our surroundings.

I felt like we had wandered into The Vatican. We stood in an enormous foyer, lined with ornate, gold-topped pillars. The ceiling, which arched up and away from those pillars, was covered in rich paintings in brilliant colours.

I grabbed Martine’s hand, and we tore down the hallway, trying to put as much distance as possible between ourselves and Mickey and Riley.

‘Which way?’ Martine asked as I stared open-mouthed at the central foyer that had opened up in front of us. A round platform, covered in an enormous mosaic, dominated the space.

‘That way.’ I pointed towards a sign for Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

We raced down the escalator, paid the entrance fee, grabbed our brochures and darted into the museum, hoping to lose ourselves amongst the crowd and the life-like statues.

‘Oooh look, it’s Madonna,’ Martine squealed.

‘Shhhh,’ I said, waving my hands at her. We were meant to be keeping a low profile.

‘She looks so real. Quick get a photo of me with her.’

‘Martine,’ I said, nodding my head towards the entrance.

‘It’s
Madonna
,’ she said, as if that made all the difference.

I rolled my eyes and pulled Mum’s phone out of my handbag. It had some croissant flakes stuck to it. I blew them off and then snapped a photo.

‘Come on,’ I said once I’d finished, ‘we need to get away from the entrance.’

We walked through the displays until I was happy that we were far enough from the front to hide if Mickey and Riley came in, and then I stopped to admire Sandra Bullock.

Martine let out a little screech. ‘OMG, it’s Brangelina.’ She flapped her hands in excitement.

‘It’s like they’re aliens or something,’ I said, staring at the life-like representations of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. ‘I mean surely two people can’t be
that
good looking.’ I ogled Angelina’s lips trying to ascertain if they could possibly be real.

‘Can you take a photo of me with George Clooney?’ Martine asked. She bent over and pretended to kiss his cheek. I pulled Mum’s phone back out and snapped from a few different angles.

‘Do me,’ I said, handing her the phone.

It was while she was taking my photo that we heard the kerfuffle at the entrance.

‘Sir,’ a woman said. ‘You have to pay an entrance fee. Come back.’

‘Quick,’ I said to Martine, dragging her into a dimly lit corner. ‘Stay very still.’ I hooked my arm through hers and pasted a wide smile on my face; freezing, so that only my eyeballs were moving.

Mickey and Riley prowled into the music room of Madam Tussauds. Hot chocolate covered their clothes and they looked pretty pissed. I held my breath and stared straight ahead while they scanned the crowd of people.

‘Mummy,’ a young girl asked. ‘Who are they?’

‘I don’t know,’ a woman said. ‘Let’s see what it says in the brochure.’

I shifted my eyes to watch Mickey and Riley as they headed into the Sports Arena section.

‘Mummy.’ I cut my eyes back to the little girl who was tugging frantically on her mother’s arm. ‘That one’s eyes are moving.’

I stared straight ahead again as her mother glanced up. ‘Don’t be silly,’ she said. ‘It’s just an optical illusion.’ She continued to search the brochure for a few more moments before looking back up at us. ‘I wonder if they made a boo boo with this one. The wax on her arm is a strange colour.’ She reached out and poked my arm. ‘Wow, she feels so real.’ She jabbed me a few more times. ‘She’s warm and everything.’

‘Do you mind?’ I asked, moving my arm away from her. All the prodding was beginning to hurt.

The two of them let out squeals of fright and jumped away from us.

‘Really?’ Martine said. ‘Who just goes around poking people like that?’

‘We, we thought you weren’t real,’ the woman stammered.

‘And it’s not a boo boo,’ I said, holding up my arm, ‘I just haven’t had the time to remove it.’

Mickey and Riley were nowhere to be seen so we started working our way back to the entrance in the opposite direction to where they had gone.

‘They have to be in ‘ere somewhere,’ I heard Mickey say.

Shit, they were just around the corner. Martine grabbed my arm and pointed to a large bed. Hugh Hefner sat in the middle holding a drink. Next to it was a rack with bunny ears hanging off it and a ‘Please Have a Seat’ sign.

We grabbed a pair of bunny ears each, shoved them on our heads and jumped onto the bed, one on each side of Hugh, and then we froze.