Chapter 18 #2
‘It was a European kiss, a peck on each cheek.’ Karen holds up a hand as we all groan.
Everyone kisses like that in Europe; it’s the standard greeting.
‘Wait, wait, I know what you’re thinking, but ask CJ.
He sort of stayed close, like he was whispering to her.
It was all very clandestine. But here’s where it gets interesting – we then bumped into his partner and she was having lunch with another man!
What’s that about? If they had friends here, and it was innocent, wouldn’t they meet them together? ’
‘We’re reaching,’ I say with a laugh.
Karen shakes her head. ‘I’m not sure we are, Aubrey. At lunch, the woman – you know, the one who always speaks at full volume as if she wants the entire train to hear her witty repartee – was speaking so quietly we couldn’t hear a word. Isn’t that strange?’
‘Not really, I mean, it could also be innocent.’
Jasper must be on the same wavelength as me because he says, ‘We might need an Agatha Christie-like murder to make things interesting, because clearly we’re failing as investigators. A European kiss on the cheeks and using inside voices doesn’t cry foul play to me.’
Karen deflates as if we’ve taken the wind out of her sails. ‘Maybe you’re right. Still, it’s weird they didn’t spend the day in Hamburg together. Don’t you think?’
‘Not really. Maybe the woman is conducting a bit of business, and so the husband wandered around the market while he waited and ran into an old acquaintance,’ Barry says.
‘If it were me, I’d like to think I’d give my significant other some space, but I’d message her to check in, or if I saw something at a stall I think she’d like… ’
‘They broke the mould when they made men like you, Barry,’ Princess says with not an ounce of irony.
I stay schtum, but is there a development between these two?
It’s an abrupt change from her reeling when Barry gave her a long look at the first official sit-down dinner.
Is it just that they’re close in age and share some similar beliefs?
What we see as overbearing in matters of the heart by Barry, she sees as sweet and caring.
‘Thanks, Princess.’ He rubs the back of his neck and averts his gaze, suddenly shy.
I’m not an expert on love by any stretch of the imagination, but even I can see sparks flying.
Are these two meant to be together? These two who I have spent the last five days judging for their relationship ‘mistakes’ – Barry a stage-four clinger, and Princess, who has given up on love because of a curse, which really might not be a curse at all but a crisis of confidence after losing the three loves of her life.
I tap Jasper’s jean-clad leg and want to DIE when I see how close to his nether regions I’m touching. ‘Oh God, I’m sorry, I meant to tap your knee!’
‘Sure you did.’ He sends me a flirtatious grin that would make my legs buckle if I weren’t already sitting down.
‘Anyway…’ I struggle to remember my cunning plan. Ah! I lean in close, doing my best to ignore how within kissable distance he is. ‘What do you make of the Princess and Barry situation?’
‘Love hearts for eyes, right? We might have to kick them out of the group if this keeps up.’
‘Oh, imagine if they did become part of the Lucky in Love Travel Club! But Princess has sworn off love, you know, in the unlikely case that the man will also leave this mortal coil. Do we need to help this budding romance along?’
A slow smile spreads across his face. Jasper might be a romantic by the look of it.
‘Well, normally I’d say let nature take its course, but we’re only on the train for a couple more days and then the hotel for three nights.
There’s not much time, is there? Barry will return to Australia and Princess to one of her many homes abroad, so it’s not likely they’ll bump into each other. ’
‘Right. But how do we convince her that he won’t keel over and die if she pursues a relationship with him?’
Jasper rubs his chin. ‘We have to get the curse reversed.’
My forehead furrows. ‘You don’t really believe she’s cursed, do you?’
‘I’ve heard weirder on my travels, haven’t you?’ I acknowledge that with a nod. Jasper continues. ‘It’s more that Princess fully believes in it so in order for her to give her heart away again she has to fully trust that the curse is fixed.’
‘You’re a genius.’ Whether she’s cursed or not, we need to take her beliefs seriously.
She’s got a lot of love to give. Why can’t she enjoy time with a companion or partake in a full-blown love affair?
‘Between us, I’ve been doing a little digging into it.
And it turns out there is a solution for those who believe they’ve been cursed. ’
Jasper’s eyes go wide. ‘Really?’
‘Really. I found some people online who deal with such a thing. Perhaps I’ll reach out to them?’
‘Sure. Why not?’
Sabrina returns, hobbling slightly. ‘The Christmas dance battle is on in an hour and I hope you don’t mind but I registered you as a team.’
I dance about as well as I walk in heels. Badly.
Princess claps her hands, face lighting up. ‘A dance battle, you say? Yes, please! What’s the prize?’
‘Bragging rights. There are Christmas t-shirts to wear. Each table has a design made to match the song you’re given.’
‘What’s our song?’ I gulp. Please be something gentle and slow, like ‘Away in a Manger’.
Sabrina giggles. ‘It’s a song that’s been slightly amended to “Jingle Ladies”. There’s, um, tassels on the jingly bits.’
‘The jingly bits?’ I’m not loving this new development.
She points to her chest.
‘Ah.’
‘I’m not usually a fan of cheap polyester fabrics but I can make an exception for a dance battle if the prize is bragging rights – that’s something that money can’t buy, am I right?
’ Princess is jumping out of her skin while the rest of us are a little more lacklustre with our excitement.
‘Am I right?’ her guttural tone suggests we better agree with her or else.
Tiger Mum is back and we quickly nod, knowing refusal is futile.
‘Gather round,’ Princess orders while she brings up Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ on YouTube.
Oh no, that’s not a slow song at all! ‘Let’s figure out our routine. Jasper, you’ll be up front middle.’
‘Why me?’
‘Because you’re gorgeous,’ Karen says, rolling her eyes as if he should know why. ‘And quite honestly, their eyes will be out on stalks staring at you – is there any gyrating in the routine?’ She turns to Princess with a suggestive eyebrow raise.
‘There can be.’
‘We’ll leave that to Jasper,’ Karen says decisively.
‘I’ll only do it if Aubrey does it.’
I gasp. ‘Why me?’
‘You’re also gorgeous, so we’re covering all bases. And don’t even think of snatching this victory away from Princess.’
I promptly close my mouth against the eleventy-seven protestations that sit on the tip of my tongue. But then it dawns on me – he thinks I’m gorgeous, or is that a lie to get me to take the heat off him? ‘I’m really not much of a dancer.’
‘Don’t make the Tiger Mum roar,’ Karen says, challenge flaring in her eyes.
‘Fiiiiine.’ There’s no way in hell I’m gyrating. I’ll simply tell them in the heat of the moment it slipped my mind.