The Love Resort (18 page)

They’d arrived at the romantic disco just after nine. The first thing Anne-Marie noticed was that there were five of them, not six. Jimmy was missing. She discovered that Jimmy had a bad case of seasickness and was in bed. So much for a romantic hero. They didn’t get seasick. Then Tim, of course, went to the bar and started lining up drinks. The other guests couldn’t fail to notice how he ordered four different drinks at a time, and then tried to get the others to do the same. The amount of alcohol he consumed in one night was more than most of the guests consumed in their whole stay. He was clearly taking advantage of her hospitality and she was mad as hell. She had been talked out of telling him off about breaking into the bar by Ed, who said that they needed to keep things sweet for the publicity, but she was itching to get her hands on him, jumped-up drunken bastard that he was.

Her paying guests watched the group with growing unease, and then when Tim started singing along to the disco, he had the cheek to try to make them all join in. Some of them did, others looked horrified. A few guests even walked out in protest. Anne-Marie was furious. The competition winners were cheapening her resort. When they were supposed to be making it classier!

‘It’s karaoke night on Mondays,’ Anne-Marie had protested in vain. Abigail was nowhere to be seen, Ed and Lily had gone to talk to all the other guests to pacify them, leaving her all alone with ‘those people’.

Lee asked Emily to dance and kept giving everyone the thumbs-up as they swayed along to Whitney Houston. He even had his hand on her bottom! Carla looked as if she would cry, until Tim grabbed her for a dance and then promptly fell on top of her. Anne-Marie didn’t know what to do; she wanted to kill them all.

She called a premature halt to the entertainment at eleven, sending the DJ away before she went angrily home. Then when she woke she discovered that Tim had found the karaoke machine and held his own karaoke night. The bare-faced cheek. And Ed and Lily hadn’t stopped him. They said they were unable to, because quite a few of the other guests joined in, but Anne-Marie didn’t believe that. They kept the barmen there until four, and they probably upset the other guests. After all, she’d had two complaints already that morning! She could no longer cope with them. It had only been four days and they were already ruining her life.

Her nerves were shot to pieces. The book that she was trying so desperately hard to write was being ridiculed by these people. Abigail wouldn’t be able to protect her forever and she had promised her a book. She couldn’t bear the thought of upsetting dear Abigail. But did these young hooligans care? Of course they did not.

One guest had been woken by Emily throwing her shoes at Lee, who’d ducked and they’d hit the guest’s window instead. Then Carla had been found crying hysterically by another guest, who had escorted her to Lily, who had to put her to bed. Lee was asking anyone who would listen to him, ‘What the fuck is it with women?’ and Tim had been singing ‘Hound Dog’ at full blast on a loop for half an hour. She was amazed that only two couples had complained. She guessed the others were far too polite. She wouldn’t entertain Ed’s suggestion that some of the guests had enjoyed themselves, she just wouldn’t.

‘I want them on a plane home,’ she screamed. ‘Today.’

‘Anne-Marie, we have the interviews of the competition winners tomorrow; we need them here for that. Otherwise how will we explain it to the magazine?’

‘And what if they go home and tell everyone, or a newspaper or something, that you threw them out? They’ll twist it and make us look bad,’ Ed added.

‘So what do you suggest?’ her eyes were blazing.

‘I suggest, darling, that you get tomorrow over with and then you give them a talking to,’ Abigail said calmly.

‘Oh, Abigail, where would I be without you? Will it really be all right?’

‘Of course, darling. Now Lily can deal with the guests who complained and maybe you should go for a lie-down,’ Abigail suggested.

‘I will, and don’t forget to keep an eye on things. God, Ed, Lily, you should never have let this happen.’ She swished out of the room.

*

‘That was some row we had last night,’ Lee said as he woke up.

‘I don’t really know what to say.’ Carla really didn’t; she didn’t remember much apart from sobbing her heart out.

‘It was my fault, you’re right; I behaved like a total wanker.’

‘Is that what I said?’ She couldn’t exactly remember. However, she was certain that Lee’s attention to Emily was the cause of the row. He’d spent nearly the whole evening with her. It rankled. It made her want to kill the other girl. Especially when they’d danced so closely together. Now it all flooded back. She was jealous but she was also humiliated because she was sure that everyone saw her crying.

‘Oh yes, but with a few hundred “fuckings” thrown in. I think I’m going to the gym and then to see if I can get a game of tennis,’ Lee said.

‘Fine.’ She didn’t have the strength to argue. She watched him go, and knew that she was in real trouble. Frustrated, she decided to spend the day on their private balcony, reading, recovering from yet another hangover and reflecting on where she was going wrong. She couldn’t help but blame Emily. Just because her boyfriend wasn’t there, she had to commandeer Lee’s attention. And he hadn’t been sorry. Not as sorry as he should have been. His apologies were perfunctory, but she could see his mind was elsewhere. She knew instinctively that it was Emily he was thinking about. She felt her stomach churn. She was close to losing him and she was scared.

*

‘Are you all right?’ Jimmy asked as Emily woke.

‘Why shouldn’t I be?’

‘Well, you were very angry with me for staying in bed last night and you lost your shoes.’ He had been unable to get any sense out of her when she’d got in. She had been acting like a madwoman.

‘Did I?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh, I was just drunk—you know what Tim’s like. Sorry.’ Jimmy opened his mouth, then closed it again. He knew better than to push her.

Emily and Jimmy barely spoke through breakfast. Jimmy didn’t understand it. He’d tried so hard to ask her about the evening last night. It was awful for him having to be away from her and maybe that’s why she was angry. She was upset with him for leaving her with two other couples, and he could see why. He was grateful that he felt better today, so he could make it up to her. He’d make sure he was by her side for the rest of the trip, and then she’d be back to her old self in no time.

‘Em, what do you want to do today?’ he asked.

‘Have you seen any of the others?’

‘No, no sign. Maybe if we go and sit by the pool, they’ll join us.’

‘OK, darling, that’s what we’ll do.’ Emily seemed to brighten; she even managed to give him a kiss.

*

‘Tim, you can’t drink that,’ Thea screeched as she woke up and saw Tim drinking red wine from a bottle.

‘Why, is there something wrong with it?’

‘No, Tim, there’s something wrong with
you
. It’s nine a.m.’ Thea woke in a foul mood, which she attributed to yet another hangover, and the fact that Tim had managed to disrupt the resort again last night. Through her hangover haze she could remember Anne-Marie’s fury. She’d tried and failed to stop Tim. Then Carla had been in a right state, calling Emily a whore, and sobbing. And she wasn’t sure but she thought that she heard Emily calling Lee a bastard and throwing her shoes at him. She rubbed her head. It had been a mad night.

‘Oh, I suppose it’s a bit early.’ He failed to look contrite.

‘Tim, you stopped drinking at four. Well, I thought you did, but maybe you didn’t.’

‘I did.’

‘That’s it. I’ve had enough.’ She flung herself out of bed, pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and, picking up her bag, she opened the door.

‘Where are you going?’ He sounded panicked.

‘Out,’ she shouted.

‘Thea, Thea, don’t leave me,’ he begged, as she walked away. She took a path that led her round the resort. She was fuming and needed to walk off the anger. She was tempted to go to Anne-Marie and ask if she could send her home, but then Anne-Marie would eat her up. Her disapproval of them had been clear last night. Under the influence, they’d found it amusing. Now, though, she felt ashamed. They were on a free holiday, thanks to Anne-Marie. The least they could do was to show her some respect. But she really felt that this holiday was a terrible mistake, that the competition was a mistake, that she wanted—no, needed—to go home. Tim was out of control, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

She felt herself begin to sweat, she was walking fast and the heat was getting to her. Her flip-flops began to rub at her toes, so she slowed down. She strolled, more calmly past the flower garden, past the perfectly manicured lawn. She could smell the scent of freshly cut grass mingled with the heat and the faint floral smell. She felt even calmer as her surroundings began to work their magic on her.

Thea returned to the room feeling fine. Her walk had helped to clear her head. She had to carry on, no matter how hard it was, and just hope that she could reassert some sort of control over Tim.

She let herself into the room and noticed that the drink was gone. Tim was on the terrace, eyes closed as if he was asleep. She was sure he’d just hidden the booze somewhere, but she didn’t like to ask, and when he finally woke up he didn’t mention it. She didn’t see him have a drink for the rest of the day; she was impressed with the effort he was making. He appeared to be genuinely contrite. Perhaps things would be all right after all.

*

Jimmy, after a silent day, was actually glad to see the others as they walked into the restaurant.

‘Come and join us,’ Thea said pleasantly. Tim was next to her.

‘Hi, guys,’ Emily said enthusiastically, as she sat down. ‘How are you?’

Carla asked Jimmy; Jimmy noticed that she ignored Emily.

‘Fine. Feel a bit stupid.’

‘There’s nothing stupid about seasickness. Every time I go to France on the ferry I suffer from it.’ Jimmy smiled at Carla, but then he wasn’t sure if he should. After all, Carla was acting as if Emily didn’t exist. He was confused, especially as the mood was fairly subdued. He felt as if everyone knew something that he didn’t.

‘I wonder what tonight has in store for us,’ Tim said.

‘Shall we order? I’m starving,’ Lee said quickly.

‘Sure,’ Carla said, picking up the menu.

The atmosphere really was strained; even Tim was quieter than usual, Jimmy decided.

‘What exactly went on last night?’ he asked good-naturedly. Carla and Thea looked at each other, then looked away; no one would meet his eyes. Jimmy began to feel panicked.

‘By the way, before we get carried away, we’ve had a warning,’ Thea said, ignoring Jimmy’s question. ‘I bumped into Ed earlier and he advised us, in that friendly way of his, to keep a low profile.’

‘What sort of warning?’ Jimmy asked, immediately feeling scared, especially as no one would tell him what they did last night. He assumed that they didn’t remember; he hoped that was all it was.

‘Best behaviour. Firstly, we were too drunk at Anne-Marie’s dinner. Last night, Anne-Marie was unimpressed with our behaviour—not you, Jimmy, obviously. Tomorrow we have our interviews and if we screw up tonight, my guess is that they’ll send us home.’

‘They wouldn’t,’ Emily gasped.

‘That would be awful,’ Carla agreed. Jimmy saw fear in both of their faces.

‘I think we should have a quiet night tonight, in that case,’ Lee suggested.

‘I agree,’ Thea said.

‘Perhaps we should stay in tonight,’ Jimmy offered, desperate to ensure there was no more trouble. He needed to find the perfect opportunity to propose to Emily after his previous attempts had gone so wrong. He couldn’t leave the resort until he’d done that.

‘OK, here’s what I suggest,’ Tim said. ‘I suggest that after dinner we all go back to our rooms, with our loved ones.’ Everyone looked at him suspiciously, especially Thea.

‘Where’s the catch?’

‘No catch. I want to spend the evening with my girlfriend, that’s all.’ Tim leant over and kissed Thea tenderly on the forehead.

Jimmy smiled. It was all going to be all right.

Ed felt relieved. He was sitting near them, and they hadn’t seemed to notice him. He could hear what they were saying and he was glad that he could go back to Anne-Marie with good news. They’d had two evenings of overindulgence but they were back to being as sensible as they were when they first arrived. His spying mission would be a success. His wife wouldn’t have reason to shout, swear or physically harm him. It was a good night.

After Lily’s efforts yesterday, he hoped that this would be the end of it. Although he doubted it. His wife was increasingly obsessed. At first it was a case of studying them for her book; now her orders were to ensure that they didn’t cause trouble. Well, thankfully, they were on best behaviour that night.

*

‘We need to talk,’ Thea said, as Tim sat on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the remote control, and she climbed on top of the pillows.

‘I’m sorry,’ he replied automatically without looking round.

‘Tim, what’s happening?’ she asked.

‘I’m just trying to have a good time.’ He looked at her. ‘What’s so wrong with that? I can’t believe we’re on holiday at a resort that actually seems to object to fun.’

‘I know, but we’ve caused trouble and, Tim, you have to admit you’re the ringleader.’ Thea stared at him, feeling wretched and worried and full of love.

‘I’m sorry, Thea, really, and I’ll behave myself from now on.’

‘You will?’

‘Scouts’ honour.’

‘Tim, I know you were never a scout.’

‘OK, I promise, Thea.’

‘Good.’ She sank back on her pillow mountain.

‘Why don’t you come here and we’ll snuggle up and watch this film?’

Thea moved into the crook of his arm and smiled up at him. He could be so cute when he wanted to be.

*

‘Lee, we need to talk,’ Carla started. She was sitting in a chair facing the television, which Lee was glued to. As usual. She decided to be bold. ‘About last night.’

Lee sighed. ‘I guess I owe you an explanation.’