Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
B ack in my suite after my shopping escapade, I decide that I can’t risk a repeat of the previous evening. My sanity and self-esteem must be my priority, and despite having had a positive day in the end, I know I’m vulnerable now that I’m on my own. I also finally feel the need to open up to someone about everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, so I message Cat to ask if she’ll join me for dinner in the hotel restaurant. Thankfully, she jumps at the chance to celebrate the start of her annual leave – she’s taken Friday off as well as the time we’re away.
To preserve my professionally applied makeup, I message Lottie with a quick summary of my day and let her know that I’ll call her in the morning. I have a much better chance of holding it together during an enjoyable evening out with Cat, than I would baring my soul on FaceTime. Lottie messages back soon after, telling me to focus on enjoying myself – she has a neighbour coming round for a sherry anyway – and that she’s looking forward to hearing my news tomorrow.
Lottie’s socialising with someone other than me? This must be a first in the whole time I’ve known her, and something I’m mighty pleased to hear.
I take advantage of the time before Cat arrives with a quick (face-up) cat nap in the giant bed before finishing off my look with one of my new outfits I brought back to the hotel with me– an understated, figure-hugging, olive-green dress, with cute strappy sandals, a fitted cropped cardigan and a liquid silver necklace.
I’m doing a slow twirl in front of the mirror, admiring my new look, when there’s a knock at my suite door. Flinging it open, I launch myself on Cat before she has a chance to enter the room.
‘Hey, honey. Everything OK?’
‘Yeah, fine.’ I bury my face in her shoulder to hide the fact that I’m already welling up.
‘How was your day at the spa?’ She gently prises me off her. ‘And your shopping trip? Oh my goodness, look at your hair… and your makeup… and that outfit. You’re stunning .’
‘Thanks. I’ve had an amazing time.’ I quickly perk up again. ‘I’m actually pretty pleased with how I look.’
‘You should be. Honestly, you look incredible. I feel like you’re living in a parallel universe to me right now – one where I’m stuck in Humdrum Land while you’re rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous in the swanky bar downstairs. Tell me, what did you do last night? Spend the evening drinking martinis with James Bond?’
‘Erm… not quite.’ I usher her back out the door. ‘I’ll tell you all about it over dinner.’
‘You did what? ’
We’re seated in Adair’s, the hotel’s classier than classy restaurant, and I’ve broken the news about meeting Dave.
‘I know, I know.’ I cover my face with my hands. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson. It didn’t turn out well.’
‘I can’t believe you would meet with him after everything he did,’ says Cat. ‘He doesn’t deserve a thing from you. What happened?’
I fill her in on the disaster of the previous evening and her reaction is stronger than I even expected. She’s probably the angriest I’ve ever seen her, and I find myself quite shocked by this.
‘ What an absolute creep . That bastard really couldn’t sink much lower. You deserve so much better, Emma… although…’
‘Although what?’
‘Well, I suppose it means that you can move on once and for all.’ She searches my face, obviously trying to gauge my reaction.
‘You’re right.’ I nod, after a short pause. ‘Though I still feel really raw and humiliated. I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to trust a man again, Cat.’
‘You will, honey, but it may take time. They’re not all like Dave.’ She sips from her water glass, looking thoughtful. ‘I guess now’s not the best time to ask if you’ve been in touch with that guy, James, after he gave you his number?’
‘I have, but only because he emailed about our freebies, and I went to collect them from the shop.’
‘Oh. And how did that go?’
I rearrange my cutlery distractedly. ‘Um… the freebies are great, but I managed to humiliate myself by spilling half a takeaway coffee down my front and rushing out of the shop.’
Cat’s hand goes to her mouth in much the same way as James’s did.
‘It’s fine, you can laugh.’ I give a resigned shrug. ‘I’m sure someday I’ll be able to as well.’
‘I’m not laughing, honestly. I feel for you.’ She reaches across and clutches my hand. ‘You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?’
‘No. Only my pride took a beating – again.’
‘Aww, Emma. I’m sorry. You know you don’t have to see James again if he’s having such a negative impact on you. Amber will obviously have something to say if you don’t keep to your bet and go on a date with him, but I’ll have your back, I promise.’
‘It’s OK, I’ll do it, just to shut her up. That is, if he hasn’t changed his mind after my dramatic exit today. Really what I need is a bit of time to get past what happened with Dave. The holiday will give me that. Oh, and please don’t share any of this with Amber. I will tell her, but I’m not ready for the tough love yet.’
‘Of course. I won’t say a word.’ She looks at me with a concerned expression. ‘Honey, why didn’t you call me? You shouldn’t have been on your own in such a state.’
‘I know.’ My shame comes flooding back. ‘I was beside myself and my anxiety had kicked in again, so I wasn’t thinking straight.’
I pause briefly as the waiter delivers the wine we ordered. We thank him and clink glasses.
‘You know, winning this money, it was like everything changed overnight. I thought all my problems were solved. It put Dave to the back of my mind, though only temporarily, I now realise. I could quit my job and leave my bullying boss behind – who, by the way, I only went and bumped into again today.’
‘ You didn’t. ’ Cat seems horrified .
‘I did.’ I shake my head, still struggling to believe it myself. ‘But it’s all fine, don’t worry, I managed to walk away with my dignity intact. I’ll tell you about that later. It’s been a whirlwind twenty-four hours.’
‘I’ll say.’
‘So, yeah, I thought my life was suddenly perfect, but I’m starting to wonder if anything’s actually that much better. Sure, I have lots of new stuff , but that’s about it. I’m clearly not over Dave. I just feel stupid and humiliated, and I’m starting to dread the idea of a new job as well. What if I end up with someone even worse than Karla for a boss?’
‘I don’t think anyone has the perfect life, no matter how much money they have,’ she says. ‘But you’ve not just got stuff , you’ve got opportunities you didn’t have before – and to be honest, I don’t think you could find a boss much worse than Karla.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ I take a freshly baked bread roll from the basket on the table and tear it with a sigh. ‘The thing is, Cat, I just can’t help going over it all in my head, how I didn’t so much as suspect Dave was seeing someone else. I mean, who is it? What if I know them? What if it’s Melissa?’
‘Does it matter who it is? Whoever they are, they won’t be a patch on you.’
‘Thanks.’ I give her an appreciative smile. ‘I can always rely on you to help me feel better. Anyway, I promised myself I wouldn’t spend another evening moping, so let’s talk about you. Has your mystery man been in touch? Are you still meeting him at the weekend?’
Right on cue, Cat’s cheeks turn pink. ‘Yes, I’ve had loads of messages and we’re still going out on Saturday.’
‘Oh, Cat. That’s fab. You’ll be planning your wedding in no time. ’
‘Please, don’t jinx it, Emma.’
‘Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.’ I give her a guilty grin.
With my confessions out of the way, and feeling lighter from having shared my woes, we’re able to kick back and enjoy our meal. We giggle while throwing back our oysters, unable to do so with even the slightest hint of elegance. I treat Cat to a blow-by-blow account of my shopping experience while we moan with satisfaction over our mains of roasted cod and confit duck. Then we fantasise about our upcoming holiday over scrumptious salted caramel parfait and decaf cappuccinos.
After dinner, we head up to my suite to chill out before Cat heads home. We’ve agreed that, as much as it would be nice to go to the bar, it’ll only remind me of last night. Anyhow, given I’ve paid a small fortune for the suite, we should really make use of it.
On entering the small living area, we gasp in surprise. Sitting on the coffee table is a bottle of sparkling wine in an ice bucket, accompanied by two Champagne flutes and a plate of mouth-watering French macarons in a rainbow of colours.
‘Hey, what’s this?’ I dive across to inspect the wine and find a card propped up against the ice bucket. Picking it up, I read the message and clamp a hand over my mouth.
‘What’s up?’ Cat asks. ‘It’s not from Dave, is it? If it is, we’re sending it back.’
‘Ha, like Dave would send me this after how things went down. It’s from the hotel. Listen to this: “Dear Ms Blake, we aim to make every guest’s stay a perfect one, and we heard that you need some cheering up. Please accept this gift with our compliments. We would also like to offer you a complimentary late checkout tomorrow. We hope to see you again soon, Guest services.” ’
Cat bursts out laughing. ‘ Oh, my goodness! You were right when you said the whole hotel must know what happened.’
‘Tell me about it.’ I groan, feeling really lame. ‘I’m surprised they’ve taken the sympathetic stance, given I was involved in a noisy argument in the bar.’
‘Well, you are paying them a lot of money to be here. And perhaps the barman and other staff members took your side in the end.’
‘Maybe.’ I eye up the chilled bottle of fizz. ‘Shall we crack this open?’
Cat whoops as I pop the cork and pour us a couple of glasses. We make ourselves comfortable, sipping away at our wine in between chatting and polishing off the whole plate of macarons.
‘I think we need some music,’ I announce, once the bubbles have got to work.
Retrieving my phone, I pair it to the Bluetooth speaker by the TV, select an upbeat playlist from my Spotify app and turn the volume up.
It doesn’t take long for us to get in the mood. After coaching Cat through her usual self-conscious stage, we end up dancing and singing the evening away, moving from room to room like a couple of excited kids, shaking it on the bed, even in the bathroom – something I could only do with my very best friend.
Eventually, we’re all played out, and as my bed is big enough to host a small family, Cat ends up staying over. It reminds me of simpler, more innocent times – the sleepovers we used to have when we were young. As I’m drifting off to sleep, my last thought is whether any hotel staff have passed my suite this evening while undertaking their duties. If they have, they’ll hopefully be pleased to hear that their gift very much did the trick.