The High Life (The Mercury Travel Club #3)

Chapter Five With a Little Help from My Friends

Saturday proves very hard work. Word has got round that there will be a new travel agent in town, so it takes all our persuasive powers to convince customers that they should nevertheless book their holiday now — with us. We do fill the Niagara Falls trip but my jaw is positively aching from smiling and pretending all is well. I am certainly ready for a party.

That night, I pick up Michael then Patty and Jack on the way to dinner. We’ll get a cab back because I most definitely need a glass of wine. The boys have been assigned the back seat. They are obviously keen to impress our hosts and have come armed with copious amounts of flowers, chocolates and wine. Patty, on the other hand, intends to impress through her sheer presence. She’s taken the ‘glam and gorgeous’ dress code to mean ‘use as much perfume as you can’ and the car smells like backstage at a beauty pageant. She is also wrapped in an enormous feather boa that she has to keep flicking round her neck as it gets blown away by the car heater fan which she’s turned on full whack.

‘Turn the heater down,’ I tell her, spitting bits of fluff and feather.

‘Are you kidding? It’s like the Arctic in here. Stop the car. I’m getting in the back for some bodily warmth.’

I have to do as I’m told or I know she’ll try and climb over the seat. Michael gets out and offers her his space but Patty settles herself in the middle, then drags him back in.

‘You two are keeping me warm,’ she says snuggling down between them.

I smile at Michael in the rear-view mirror and he gives me a look of mock horror in return. At least he’s getting to know my friends rather well.

We pull up outside our hosts’ door and my passengers pile out of the back seat. I, on the other hand, step elegantly out. Charlie and Peter greet everyone with big kisses.

‘I’m not even going to ask what you were all up to back there,’ says Peter to Patty. Charlie accepts all the gifts and adds, ‘Come in, beautiful people and have some champagne.’

We head into their gorgeous home and our perfect hosts hand us a perfectly chilled flute.

‘This is already better than Angie’s cooking,’ says Michael, accepting some bite-size tapas with his spare hand.

‘I’ll have you know, I can order a mean takeaway,’ I counter. ‘I even dial the number myself.’

‘I give her that,’ agrees Michael, grinning at me.

We all sit down and Patty nestles onto the sofa between Michael and Jack.

‘A man sandwich,’ she declares.

‘With a tasty filling,’ says Michael, getting an appreciative nod from her.

It is so good to be back with my best friends and I’m happy that Michael seems to fit right in.

‘So you don’t fancy being a lady of leisure?’ he asks Patty.

The room goes quiet as everyone else looks up horrified. The idea of Patty with time on her hands doesn’t bear thinking about. Jack chimes in, expressing our collective thoughts.

‘I can’t think of anything worse. This woman, no matter how much I love her, should never be left to her own devices. Heaven knows what I’d come home to. Please, everyone, find her a job.’

‘Which suits my many and varied talents obviously,’ adds Patty.

‘They’re certainly varied,’ I murmur and get a cross-eyed tongue poke from my friend, demonstrating at least two of the aforementioned talents.

Peter calls us to the table and serves a starter of stuffed roast peppers.

‘This is truly gorgeous,’ says Michael. ‘If you offered it on Dinner Date you’d definitely win.’

That’s our guilty pleasure. In the absence of my girly best friend, I’ve subjected Michael to a few of mine and Patty’s old favourite TV programmes. We have a giggle guessing the compatibility of couples trying to find love by cooking for each other. Honestly, the producers of this show must be in stitches as they pair up vegans and butchers to see if things ‘heat up in the kitchen’. Michael gets especially heated up if it’s a woman cooking some fabulous cordon bleu dish and the oik about to visit is armed with petrol station flowers and a bottle of Blue Nun. The fact that he believes a man should know how to treat a lady bodes well, I always think.

Back at the table, Charlie is quizzing Jack about his new role.

Jack tells him that he’ll be helping children with severe allergies and skin conditions. ‘Getting back to what I did before — having spent years applying aftersun to ladies who cruise,’ he adds.

‘Don’t knock it,’ says Patty. ‘All that practice has made those hands pure magic.’

Jack shakes his head. ‘What do I do with her?’ he asks.

‘Ignore her. It’s always worked for me,’ I reply.

‘Doctor, great hands, working with children. If you ever come over to the other side I’d have no problem fixing you up,’ says Charlie and gets a rap on the knuckles from Patty.

‘Step away from my man,’ she warns him.

The evening is simply glorious. Peter follows the starter with an incredible platter of seafood and the wine continues to flow. Jack is the only one who gets the theme.

‘Been inspired by somewhere?’ he asks.

Charlie blushes a little and I work it out for myself. Since they got back, the couple have never stopped raving about the tiny island resort in Formentera that they visited earlier this year: the food, the wine, the sun. You’d think they had shares in it. Peter, however, looks horrified to think his hosting skills may have slipped.

‘I never thought,’ he says to Jack. ‘You’re probably sick of all this. You were probably looking forward to good old fish and chips or a steak and kidney pud.’

‘There’s never any shortage of British food aboard the cruise liner,’ Jack reassures. ‘And of course I come home to a tasty British bird every day.’ He raises his glass to Patty.

‘Ker-ching.’ Charlie toasts the bad pun and Patty gets up to curtsy.

‘I couldn’t have put it better,’ she concedes graciously. ‘Come on then, why don’t you show us the pictures of this island that’s inspired you so much.’

Charlie leaps up and joins Peter to upload their honeymoon photographs to the TV. I’ve seen them before but it’s probably impossible to tire of those turquoise seas. Formentera is a tiny island in the Balearics but a world away from the packaged tour scene. It’s where the old hippies used to convene but now it’s the A-listers who go there to get away from it all and, now, Charlie too. The setting is so picture perfect. If the couple we know weren’t standing in the middle, you’d think they’d been Photoshopped.

‘It’s hard to believe that places like this really do exist,’ I say. ‘It’s just so romantic and not that far away.’

Michael subtly takes my hand but Patty notices and gives me a sly wink.

‘You two look like catalogue models,’ she says of Charlie and Peter, ‘selling pristine linen or maybe denture fixative. If you bite through a prawn in the next shot it’s the latter.’

‘Gee thanks, I’m not that decrepit,’ says Charlie. Then he sighs and freezes the picture, zooming in on a small white building in the background.

‘This is where we stayed and there’s our personal hideaway. We went there every evening,’ he says. ‘It’s just paradise on earth.’

‘The thing is,’ he continues, ‘I’ve heard they’re looking for investors now to help grow the business. What if the new investors change it? I’d hate that. It feels like our special place and ours alone.’

‘I’m sure they won’t change it that much,’ I try to reassure him.

‘I hope not,’ he says. ‘It feels like an intrusion already.’

Some might say that I’m giddy on the wine or simply high on friendship, but I hear the words of my hero echoing through my head: Focus, Respect and the Next Big Thing. This is it. Fate is calling, it has to be. This is — The Next Big Thing.

‘Charlie,’ I declare, ‘we should invest in it and keep it just as it is.’

Everyone stares at me but Charlie’s facial expressions move from shock, to questioning, to delight.

‘Do you think we could?’ he asks.

‘Yes, it’s just perfect. It’s a beautiful place with a good climate all year round so we could do winter getaways too. And the timing, well, it’s karma, it has to be. Richard said to deal with a competitor, we have to stick to what we’re good at and look for the next big thing. This is it.’

‘Richard?’ asks Michael.

‘Didn’t you realize your girlfriend has Mr Branson on speed-dial?’ Patty has confused him even further and gets a scowl from me.

As I’m making this up as I go along, I honestly have no idea what it would entail but fortunately Peter steps in.

‘Well, you’re not buying a resort, you’re simply investing in it to get the exclusive rights. It’d be sort of like owning a share of a very fancy holiday villa and being the only people allowed to let it out.’

‘But aren’t things OK with Mercury as they are?’ asks Michael. ‘How would you manage something like this?’

‘It would be quite ambitious I suppose but there is a really competent team on site who run everything already,’ says Charlie, starting to consider the possibility. ‘And it would mean we’d have something really very special to offer our customers. What are your thoughts, Angie?’

My mind is running at a million miles per hour. Richard’s advice seemed to make sense, but now that they’re taking my idea seriously, I can see this is a big move. I trust Charlie and he knows Mercury better than anyone, so yes, it would be a fantastic offer for our customers. Yes, it would be unique and it could be our next big thing. But, back to Michael’s question — how would it work? How much would it cost? I need to work this out for myself. Richard Branson wouldn’t invest on a whim. My heart is thumping so loudly, I’m sure the room must be able to hear it.

‘I love the whole idea but why don’t we start with a sensible move,’ I say to calm myself down and get my business head back on. ‘Let’s find out how much it is and who’s staying on in the management team, then get some ideas for the holidays themselves. That way we can create some projections and make sober decisions.’

‘Drunken ones are far more fun,’ hiccoughs Patty as she gets up to head to the kitchen, no doubt for another bottle of cava.

Charlie hugs me and the mood in the room lightens. It feels like we’re going from having a reunion dinner to an all-out party. Charlie grabs the flutes and leads a toast.

‘To Mercury and Angie — the Island Queen,’ he says and everyone follows.

Michael gets up. ‘All these bubbles are going to my head,’ he says. ‘Mind if I have a look at your garden?’

Peter gets up to show him the way and Michael holds out his hand for me to join him.

‘Please feel free to pull out any weeds,’ shouts Peter as he leaves us alone.

Outside, the clear night air is instantly refreshing. Michael links arms with me and leads me to sit in the love seat at the end of the garden. He lights the storm lantern on the little table and sitting silently we watch the silhouettes of our friends getting more and more animated as the bubbly flows.

‘Tell me if I’m wrong,’ says Michael, ‘but I think you made that suggestion to cheer Charlie up.’

‘Maybe to begin with.’ I shrug, not really sure myself.

‘It’s a big move,’ he continues. ‘If you didn’t mean it, I’ll help you find an excuse to get out of it.’

I’m slightly taken aback.

‘Don’t you think I can do it?’

‘Of course I do.’

He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. I know he means well but he has to understand how much Mercury means to me.

‘We have to do something,’ I tell him. ‘There’s a new guy on the block now and even if he makes mistakes at the beginning, he’ll soon learn and he’ll have new ideas. We can’t just stand still. Charlie loves this place and a beach bar has been his dream life ever since I’ve known him. He didn’t have to give me the chance to become a partner in Mercury — he could have kept me on as his assistant but he didn’t, he took a chance on me when I needed it most. Now if I have the chance to help him live his dream and help Mercury at the same time, I should. If we find that the numbers do stack up, how could I refuse?’

Michael kisses me on the forehead. ‘If you’re sure you want to, I will be with you all the way.’

I relax and smile at this lovely man. ‘Thank you.’

Over his shoulder I can see Patty at the window watching us. She forms a love heart with her hands and beats it against her chest. I try to shoo her away without attracting Michael’s attention. It doesn’t work and he turns to see what I’m doing. Luckily she stops just before he sees her.

‘I guess they want us back in,’ he says, so arm in arm we head back into the house.

‘You could run Top Gun holidays complete with a volleyball tournament,’ Jack is saying as we rejoin our friends. ‘Patty knows all the songs.’

‘This is a beautiful premium location,’ protests Peter. ‘Not an episode of Love Island with a bit of Danger Zone thrown in.’

‘We could host weddings,’ Charlie adds, ‘maybe specialize in the LGBT market.’

‘Oh and have those beautiful yurts opening up onto the beach,’ Michael adds. ‘I could build them for you.’

‘What a gorgeous idea,’ exclaims Peter. ‘Big safari tents would be fabulous there.’

‘A sort of a Camp-Glamp then,’ I add.

‘And I could sing “Wind Beneath My Wings” as they walk down that sandy aisle,’ declares Patty, determined to have a role. ‘Come on everyone, this deserves a conga!’

She lassos Peter with her boa, pulling him up from the sofa then grabs his waist, pushing him around the room. Jack bellows with laughter. I’m beginning to think Patty has found herself a one-man audience who seems to love every anecdote she tells and every song she sings. Patty never really stops doing either, so this is quite a match. Jack soon joins in and Michael looks at me. I release him, so he submits to the inevitable. Only Charlie and I are immune to Patty’s magnetism and we watch her lure the others Pied-Piper style around the room.

It’s a funny old conga. Patty like a tall blonde nautical figurehead, clenching the eternally young-looking Peter with his dark hair and twinkly green Irish eyes. If any of us have a portrait in the attic, it’s Peter. Behind her is Jack, a salt-and-pepper Captain Birdseye, then Michael, who is taller than everyone and has the slim muscular frame and light tan of someone who works outside most of the time. His fine sandy hair is turning grey at the edges but it makes him look like the proverbial gentle giant. I remember him showing me a picture from 1977 when he was eighteen and going through his punk rock phase. Poor lamb, his hair was so soft it just wouldn’t stick up, so he had these little tufty spikes which he told me took a whole can of hairspray to achieve. To add insult to injury, he’s always had a kind, squashy face and pale blue eyes that could do no wrong — hardly the make-up of a rebellious punk rocker. He must have been glad when that era ended.

‘It’s a nice dream,’ says Charlie, bringing me back to the topic of conversation while we have some privacy, ‘but it would be huge.’

‘We don’t know yet,’ I tell him, now determined I’m going to consider this seriously. ‘We need to see the numbers and the plans and we can’t make this decision at a party, no matter Patty having already chosen the soundtrack.’

He squeezes my hand. ‘That’s why I need you by my side. I’m far too emotional about that place. You need to keep me grounded.’

I nod and, putting my hand over his, we seal a silent pact to keep each other safe. A little shiver tingles through me.

‘It’s exciting and scary at the same time isn’t it?’ I confess. ‘But people say you should do the things that scare you.’

‘It’s not always the best advice,’ says Charlie. ‘I wouldn’t swim through a crocodile pit or get up to a Patty-led conga. Just think, this might make us eligible for International Business of the Year.’ Charlie lights up the words with his hands.

I was utterly obsessed with Mercury winning a business award last year. I’d been through so much with the divorce that I desperately needed to win, just to prove things were finally on the right track. We eventually won the People’s Champion category and the memory of getting up onstage to collect it still sends an overwhelming wave of joy through my body. I have the cut-glass trophy boxed up in bubble wrap, ready and waiting to take pride of place on the mantelpiece of my new home. We also each got a very fancy fountain pen with ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Winner’ engraved on it. Mine lies in my top drawer and I take it out every morning, sitting it on my desk so customers can see it and I can relive the joy of that night.

‘Now, now, no getting carried away. We’re taking this one step at a time,’ I remind him.

‘Obviously...’ Charlie shoves me excitedly. ‘But can you believe we’re even considering this? We’ll be mixing with the celebs — we could even invite your hero over for inspiring us.’

That seals it.

‘Richard,’ I’m saying as I show my hero around our fabulous resort. ‘As you can see we’ve followed your advice on the Next Big Thing. It’s not quite Necker but I hope you enjoy it here. Come and meet Charlie, he insists on running the cocktail bar himself.’

We sit down to sunset-coloured cocktails Charlie has specially created for the visit. I’m wearing expensive white chiffon and am barefoot, enjoying the feel of the warm sand on my feet. Obviously, after several hours of hardcore pumicing, my tootsies are beautiful...

I’m wondering what happened to all the little fishes that used to nibble peoples’ feet... ? Would they have been released into the ocean? But they’d have a taste for human flesh — that’s a B-movie eco-disaster just waiting to happen...

‘Yoo hoo,’ calls Charlie and I shake myself back to reality but I’m still concerned about those fish. I’m going to have to google that.

‘You get the prospectus,’ I say, shaking myself from my gorgeous dream, ‘and then maybe we could take some time to think it through without the help of our enlightened friends.’

I nod at the scene in front of us. Patty has started teaching the boys her Gangnam-style moves and it’s not attractive. There isn’t an ounce of rhythm between them and I’m not sure what dance Jack is doing but it bears no resemblance to anything else going on.

‘Yep, I don’t think we’re going to get a sensible suggestion from this lot now,’ acknowledges Charlie.

‘Err, serious bunch over there,’ Patty yells from the dance floor/lounge rug. ‘If you’re not joining in then we seem to have run out of bubbly over here.’

‘Dear Lord.’ I leap up to get another bottle and avert this major crisis affecting my friends.