Chapter 40
HALLE
It was Tuesday morning and I was on my way to the hotel restaurant to grab breakfast.
We’d exhausted all the supplies in our villa’s kitchen and to be honest, neither of us could be arsed to cook, so it made sense to get a bunch of stuff to take back to eat.
When I’d left, Jake was still in bed. I think that all of the excitement of writing his first song for ages, not to mention our hammock activities, had tired him out.
I was so happy he’d gotten his writing mojo back.
He credited me for helping him which was sweet, but I didn’t really do anything.
All I did was listen and encourage him. I meant everything I’d said: I believed in him.
He was so talented and I knew for a fact that he had a lot more hit singles ahead of him.
‘Hey, Halle,’ Sammie said as I walked into the restaurant. ‘I was hoping to see you.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. I wondered if you could do me a favour?’
‘Course! What do you need?’
‘You do nails, right?’
‘Yeah…?’ I frowned.
‘Great! The nail technician in the spa is fully booked today, but I have an important meeting and I haven’t had time to do my nails and I want them to look nice, so I wondered if you could help me out?
I know you’re on holiday so if it’s a hassle then I understand.
I don’t want to put you out, it’s just that—’
‘I’d love to!’ I jumped in, excitement fizzing in my stomach. ‘I’d just need to check with Jake to see what our plans are for today first, so I can text you to let you know a time. Would that work?’
‘Sounds perfect. And… actually, do you think you’d have time to do Jasmine’s nails too? She’s a Love Empress here. She probably would only want something simple like a French manicure. We’d both pay you for your time.’
‘No, it’s okay.’ I waved my hand dismissively. ‘I’d be happy to do it for you!’
‘You’re a lifesaver! I’ll wait to hear from you then, thanks!’
Once I’d loaded up a tray with some pastries and fresh fruit, plus placed an order for fresh pancakes, waffles and an omelette to be delivered, I literally skipped back to our villa. I couldn’t wait to tell Jake the exciting news.
When I burst through the door, I saw that Jake was already sitting outside.
I rushed over to him.
‘Guess what?’ I placed the tray on the table in front of him.
‘What, baby?’
‘I just saw Sammie and she’s asked me to do her nails! And the Love Empress woman who I think is her boss or something!’ I let out an excited squeal.
Jake smirked, then got up and wrapped his arms around me.
‘That’s so cool! Proud of you.’
‘I told her I’d check with you because I didn’t know if you had something in mind for us to do today and get back to her.’
‘Nope. Nothing that can’t wait.’
‘Okay, great! I’ll message to see if she’s free after breakfast. Then we’ll have the rest of the day to spend together.’
‘Perfect! And whilst you’re doing their nails, I’m gonna do some more writing. I’m feeling inspired.’ He dipped his head and planted a soft kiss on my lips.
‘That’s what I like to hear. You going to tell me what the song you wrote yesterday is about?’
‘It’s a secret. And it’s not ready. I wish I had my guitar.’
‘You didn’t want to bring it with you?’
‘Roger suggested it, but I thought there was no point and didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself.’
‘I can understand that. Maybe we could get it delivered?’
‘Yeah, maybe.’
The doorbell rang.
‘That’ll be the rest of the food.’
‘There’s more?’
‘Yep! If you’re going to be writing some hit records and I’m going to be doing my first proper nails booking in years, we’ll need to keep our strength up.’
* * *
A couple of hours later, I was on my way to Sammie’s office to do her nails. My heart thundered against my chest.
I couldn’t fuck this up. This was a great opportunity to dip my toe back into the water and build my confidence.
Apart from doing Vanessa’s nails, I hadn’t done anyone else’s for ages.
If I messed up on myself or Vanessa, it was fine, I could shrug it off and start again, but I couldn’t do that today.
Sammie was trusting me to do a good job and I didn’t want to let her down.
I knocked on the door.
‘Come in,’ she called out.
When I entered, her boyfriend, Romeo, was sitting on the edge of her desk.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,’ I said.
‘No worries! Romeo’s on a break, so he was just keeping me company.’
‘Nice to see you again, Halle,’ Romeo said. ‘Are you enjoying your time at the hotel?’
‘Loving it, thanks. Jake and I didn’t get off to the best start, but now we’re getting on like a house on fire.’
‘Reminds me of another couple.’ Romeo turned to Sammie and gave her a knowing look. I could literally feel the electricity crackling between them. I cleared my throat, worried that if I didn’t they might start banging on the table.
‘It’s so cool that you both work together.’
‘It is,’ Sammie smiled.
There was a knock on the door and a tall, elegantly dressed black woman walked in with an attractive man with dark hair and olive skin.
‘Halle, this is Jasmine and her partner Alejandro, who also works at the hotel.’
‘Good to meet you,’ Alejandro said.
‘Yes!’ Jasmine added. ‘It’s a real pleasure.’
‘Likewise,’ I said. ‘Wait, so you work as a Love Empress and Alejandro, what do you do here?’ I asked, hoping that it didn’t sound like an interview, but I was genuinely interested to find out. I had no idea there were so many couples here.
‘I am a Cuisine King, which is basically the head chef,’ he said in a deep accent which sounded Spanish.
‘We’re normally based at the Love Hotel in Spain, but we’re here for a few months to help the team here.’
‘Amazing! I’d love to hear how you all met!’
‘That’s enough to fill two books!’ Sammie chuckled. ‘We’re not supposed to talk about it, but in a nutshell, we met and fell in love at the Italian Love Hotel. At the time it was forbidden because Romeo was my Love Alchemist.’
‘No way!’ I gasped. ‘But what happened with your actual match?’
‘Let’s just say he was an arsehole.’ Sammie wrinkled her nose.
‘That is putting it politely,’ Romeo added in his thick Italian accent.
‘How come you got set up with him then? I thought the hotel were good at finding the perfect match?’
‘It wasn’t their fault,’ Sammie added quickly.
‘On paper my match seemed ideal, but let’s just say he lied about a few things…
Anyway, doesn’t matter. I’m glad it didn’t work out with him.
Otherwise I wouldn’t have found my real Mr Right.
’ She looked at Romeo with love-heart eyes and he leant over and kissed her gently on the lips.
‘Ooops, sorry for the PDA!’ Sammie said.
‘We’re supposed to keep things professional at work, but it’s difficult.
I mean, look how gorgeous he is! And with all the love floating around in the air at this place, sometimes it’s just too hard to resist sneaking a little kiss here and there.
’ Sammie winked. ‘I know we’re not the only ones.
Jasmine and Ale may look innocent but I’m telling you, they’re feral! ’
‘Excuse me?’ Jasmine raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. ‘I’ll have you know that Ale and I are always perfectly professional in front of guests.’
‘In front of guests, maybe, but don’t think I haven’t heard you two in your office,’ Sammie said.
‘Wh-what?’ Jasmine stuttered. ‘We’re always careful and I don’t… we always make sure that we don’t…’
‘Gotcha!’ Sammie cackled.
‘Wait. So you didn’t hear us?’
‘I was just pulling your leg. But your reaction told me everything I needed to know. See, Halle! I told you: feral!’
We all burst out laughing.
‘I think that is our cue to leave these ladies to it,’ Alejandro said to Romeo.
‘Sì.’ Romeo squeezed Sammie’s hand and Alejandro gave Jasmine a swoony look before both men left.
‘Shall we get started?’ I said. ‘Who’d like to go first?’
* * *
Jasmine’s nails were done and Sammie’s were almost finished.
Although Jasmine requested a French manicure like Sammie predicted, she was up for giving it a twist, so instead of a plain white tip, I’d created a seashell design and added a baby pearl in the centre of each nail.
Sammie said she was up for trying something more adventurous, so I gave her summery nails with a mixture of designs including palm trees and an orange starfish on her nude nails.
I was nervous at first, but they made me feel so at ease that it wasn’t long before I relaxed.
Happiness filled my chest. This was exactly how I’d envisaged things years ago: having my own clients and doing their nails whilst we had a chat and a giggle. I wished that I could do this all the time.
‘I can’t stop looking at my nails!’ Jasmine beamed. ‘They’re stunning. And you did them so quickly! Do you have your own salon back in New York?’
‘I wish!’ I said. ‘Then again, I’m not sure if I’d want my own salon. The dream would be to be freelance and work with different customers rather than in a fixed place. That’d keep my overheads low too.’
‘Great idea. Do you have an Instagram page with all of your creations?’
‘I don’t do social media,’ I winced. ‘I had a bad experience and it put me off.’
‘How so?’ Jasmine said.
‘I used to date someone famous and the comments got quite bitchy.’
‘That’s awful,’ Sammie said.
‘So sorry to hear that.’ Jasmine softened her voice.
‘Obviously it’s up to you, but maybe think about trying again.
You can control how it’s used and I think the community would be supportive.
Putting lots of photos will help you get your name out there and get more bookings.
It’d be a shame for people not to see how talented you are. ’
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ll think about it.’
‘Why don’t you take some pictures of Jasmine’s nails now?’ said Sammie. ‘We can take some of mine too when they’re dry. Then if you create a page, you’ll have some content ready.’
‘That’s really kind.’ I nodded, reaching for my phone, then tapping the camera button, before snapping away.
‘I’d better head to my meeting,’ Jasmine said. ‘Halle, could you get my purse out of my bag? My nails should be dry by now, but just in case.’
‘Oh, no, this is on the house!’ I said.
‘Sorry, but I can’t allow you to do that,’ Jasmine insisted and I reluctantly took her purse then opened it. ‘Take out fifty dollars, please.’
‘That’s too much!’ I shook my head.
‘My purse is on my desk, so you can take out the same amount from me too,’ Sammie said, ignoring my comment.
‘I can’t…’
Jasmine checked her nails were dry before taking both purses and carefully pulling out the bills.
‘Oops! Looks like neither of us have anything smaller, so you’ll just have to accept it.’ She handed the cash to me.
‘Thank you,’ I sighed. The money would come in handy.
‘No, thank you!’
My heart bloomed.
Vanessa was right before when she said I was living my best life.
I was staying in a dreamy five-star hotel, with the sweetest, kindest, hottest guy that ever walked the earth, enjoying amazing sex and now I was a step closer to pursuing my passion.
If I looked up the definition of being on cloud nine, there’d be a photo of me with a big cheesy smile.
The only snag was that things with Jake were temporary. But I wasn’t going to dwell on that. I wanted to focus on the here and now.
Maybe we could talk about the future later in a few days. I didn’t want this to end and I was pretty sure that Jake had feelings for me too, so there was still hope. It wouldn’t be easy, but I’d like to at least try.
The same went for my career.
I could do this.
I owed it to myself to give it my best shot.
‘I’m sure I’ll see you before you leave,’ Jasmine added. ‘But if I don’t, good luck with your nail business. I’m sure it’ll be a huge success!’
Warmth flooded my stomach.
Just like Jake, Jasmine and Sammie really believed that I had talent.
Jasmine had no idea how much her words meant to me.
I didn’t even have a nail business, yet, but seeing how happy and impressed Jasmine and Sammie were made me more determined than ever to turn my dream into a reality.