Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SIMON
“Hello stranger.”
I look over at the source of the voice as I exit my room and sigh heavily. Avery. I clutch my file closer to my chest as I try to walk past where he’s lounging against the wall.
“Not now, Avery,” I say and keep on walking. “I’ve a meeting with Angie and Conal about the menus for Christmas and New Year.”
He pulls a face, which I understand, that’s everyone’s reaction to Conal, but still he falls in step with me.
“Didn’t come back again last night, I see,” he says, his tone telling me like it was gossip I’d be interested in. Actually, I hope I’m not the subject of gossip amongst the staff. Most of them are pretty good, but one word in the wrong place could get me fired.
“Since when has what I get up to been of interest to you?” I say sharply.
“Since it’s become far more interesting than my life.”
“Well, I suggest you go find your own entertainment, then, and stop being nosy about mine.”
“Oh, so you are still up to something . . . entertaining, is it?” He waggles his eyebrows and looks leery; it’s very off-putting.
I groan inwardly. I should’ve just kept quiet. “Haven’t you got a job to go to?” I snap.
“I have, I’m just off there now. Catch you later, if you bother to make it back tonight.” He veers off across the resort and I turn away, hurrying into the hotel to Angie’s office. I’m going to make it on time—just.
The meeting goes relatively well, and we agree on what we’ll serve for the two-week holiday period.
There are a few special parties and events planned and we discuss those.
Angie listens to my suggestions for menu choices and agrees to some of them.
Conal, who despite being the bad-tempered arse he usually is, shows with his contributions that deep down he is an amazing chef.
I wonder what happened to turn him so sour, or if he’s just always been that way.
We talk about supplies and what we’ll need to make sure we have everything in place, and I agree to a stocktake after the meeting, then I’ll report back so Angie can make sure it’s all ordered today.
It is my day off, but that’s how it is in hospitality, and it won’t take me long as we keep the fridges, freezers, and pantry tidy.
We go through the staffing for those weeks too.
I’ve already worked on the rota, so although there are a couple of changes—as a server decided they’d had enough yesterday and walked out—it isn’t too hard to rearrange.
As soon as we’re done, I head over to the stores to check everything.
It takes longer than I expected but I arrive back in Angie’s office within an hour.
It’s already gone noon, and I’m aware of what I told Andrés, so I’m on edge as I knock on the door.
“Ah, thank you,” she says as I hand over the lists of what she needs to order. I turn to go.
“Simon?” she calls out as I reach the door, and I swivel back sharply. “Do you like it here?”
Shit, what kind of a question is that? Is it a leading question? Has she heard some gossip and is about to give me a dressing down? Or worse since she has the menus, rota, and stock for the next few weeks. I try to read her expression but it’s neutral.
“Um, yes, I do,” I reply. I’m not going to say no, which isn’t true anyway. But also I don’t want to be overly positive as it’ll sound false and she might be trying to catch me out.
“That’s good, then.” She smiles widely, which is somehow worse.
“Do you need anything else?” I ask tentatively.
“No, that’s all,” she says, clearly dismissing me. I leave and make my way over to the polo grounds with an odd feeling of disquiet.
I stand at the edge of the crowd. It takes me a moment to spot Andrés as he’s on the other side of the pitch, where the players and horses are.
He’s also surrounded by his team members.
It’s a good thing really, but still, I’m nervous as I make my way round the end of the pitch to where they are.
It’s one thing to meet Andrés and his horses, to have freaking amazing, mind-blowing sex, but meeting his friends?
It feels a step past hookup. But then aren’t we already several steps past that anyway?
I don’t know. There’s a part of me that wants to talk about it with Andrés, but also a big part that just wants to enjoy what we have as the outcome will be the same whatever.
Talking about it won’t change that fact, and it’ll just use up time we could be spending in much more enjoyable ways.
The match has already started, and as I walk past the end of the pitch the horses come thundering towards me.
The boards separating us, which are about hip height, feel like they’ll be way too inadequate if one of those horses can’t stop in time.
But they do. They spin round and head back up towards the other end, leaving me with nothing more than a coating of snow that is sprayed up from their hooves.
I shake myself down, pulling a face at the snow that slithers down my neck and chills my skin. I look up to see Andrés’ eyes on me, and his smile as he catches my eye goes some way to taking the chill off. He walks over to me.
“I almost thought you’d changed your mind,” he admits when he reaches me, a slight worry in his voice.
“I’m sorry. I needed to make sure we had everything in place for the holiday weeks. It took longer than I thought as I had to check the stock.” He nods, accepting my explanation.
“Come and meet the others.” I follow him over to the group.
I’d seen his teammates from afar when they were playing yesterday, but now up close I realise I’m way out of my depth.
Everyone looks like they just stepped out of the pages of the Hello magazines my mum loved to read.
The good genes just ooze out of them, and their clothes alone probably cost a few months’ of my salary.
I shouldn’t be surprised, given what Andrés has told me about them, but knowing and meeting them are two different things.
Andrés introduces Gabriel, his friend Linden, and Linden’s father Austin to me.
“Pleased to meet you, Simon.” Gabriel offers me his hand and I shake it firmly. “Is this your first polo match?”
“I watched some of the game yesterday, that you won, but I don’t know anything about it. Until a couple of days ago I didn’t even know you played on snow.”
“Yes, usually we play on grass, so for snow there are a few differences. The ball is bigger and brightly coloured so we can see it easier, we have three on a team instead of four, and of course, on grass the field is much bigger,” Gabriel explains.
“How much bigger?” I ask, watching as the horses run up and down in front of me. It looks pretty big already.
“Three hundred yards,” Linden says. And he must have seen my look of confusion when I can’t picture it, as he adds, “It’s about nine football pitches.”
“What is it with you English and the need to explain size in football pitches?” Andrés asks, looking perplexed.
“Pretty much everyone knows what a football pitch looks like, either from watching football or playing it. It’s almost a standard unit of measurement in the UK.” I can’t help chiming in, because I can absolutely imagine the scale of it now, and it’s big.
“Well said.” Gabriel beams at me and Andrés frowns. “Don’t worry Drey, we’ll turn you into a Brit in no time.” He claps him on the shoulder and I feel I might have won their approval in some way.
While we’ve been talking, the players and horses have come back off the pitch for a break. It isn’t long before they’re filing back on, though, and I ask about the structure of the game. It’s Gabriel who explains the basics.
“Each section, or chukker, is seven-and-a-half-minutes long. There are four chukkers to a match, though on grass we might play six. After each goal we swap ends.”
I stand with them and watch some more of the match but soon begin to feel cold. My thin coat isn’t adequate, especially after the coating of snow I received. I shiver slightly.
“Are you cold?” Andrés asks and I give a slight nod.
“Then let’s go inside,” he suggests. “I could do with a hot drink as well.” Linden and Austin agree, and we walk to the marquee. As we near the entrance I slow down.
“I don’t think I should go in there,” I whisper to Andrés, hanging back.
“Why?” he asks, confusion taking over his face.
“Lots of reasons,” I say quietly. “For a start, I don’t belong here with these people, and on top of that I could be seen by other staff.”
“Well, the first part is bullshit. But hold on.” I watch as he catches up with Gabriel. They have a short discussion and return together.
“Andrés says you’re worried about coming in. I’m inviting you as a guest, okay? And I’ll be upset if you refuse my invitation. Surely you’re allowed to do what you like in your free time?”
“Yes, you’re right. Thank you.” I don’t tell him there are definitely some things I shouldn’t do with a guest in my free time, but he doesn’t need to know that and I’m already in way too deep there.
“Good, then that’s settled.” He ushers me in through the door and the warmth hits me immediately. We make our way over to where Austin and Linden have found a table overlooking the pitch, where play is still going on. I take a seat next to Andrés and return his silent smile.
Gabriel asks us our orders, and they all opt for either Irish coffee or a hot White Russian.
A coffee laced with whiskey sounds perfect to help me thaw out, so I opt for an Irish coffee as well.
Gabriel goes off to the bar to place our orders, and Linden and Austin fall into discussing the game.
I look around trying not to feel even more out of place.
Andrés leans forward, his hand briefly brushing against my thigh—a small gesture, but I’m grateful for it.
“What do you think of them?” he asks with a hopeful expression, like my opinion means something.
“They seem like great guys, not stuck up like I thought they’d be,” I whisper, and he laughs out loud.
“What’s funny?” Gabriel sinks down into the chair on the other side of Andrés. Oh damn, my stomach clenches. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.
“Simon said he thought it’d be like hockey but it looks faster.”
“He’s not wrong. On grass the horses can get up to forty miles an hour.” Gabriel grins over at me and my stomach eases until he asks his next question. “Where are you from Simon?”
“Reading,” I say, not giving any more away and hoping he doesn’t pry. He might not be so accommodating of me being in here if he knew I grew up on a council estate on the edge of town, where my mum was a school cleaner and my dad was a bus driver.
“It’s a nice town, not too far away. I’m in Oxfordshire, as are Linden and Austin.
” He settles back, his attention drawn to a goal scored in the game outside, and I take a deep breath, allowing myself to relax for exactly three seconds before I see the tray of drinks being brought to our table, carried by Avery. Fuck!
He sets the tray down on the table and looks straight at me. I freeze; there’s nowhere to hide. It feels like time stretches, but it could only be the merest of seconds before his eyes slide away from me. He calls out each drink and distributes them in turn to everyone, leaving one remaining.
“Then this Irish coffee must be for you, sir.” He places my drink in front of me.
He looks at me, gives me a quick wink and a slight smirk, and then straightens up.
“Enjoy, gentleman,” he says and retreats.
I drop my shoulders. His look told me he won’t expose me but he’s not going to let me get away without telling him everything.
I put it out of my mind; that’s a problem for another time.
Right now I want to try to enjoy the company I’m in, especially with Andrés