Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
The spa waiting room was peaceful, and after the morning she’d had, it was precisely what Alba needed.
It wasn’t silent exactly, there was always some carefully curated sound filling the space, but it had quite clearly been designed to make people feel as though raising their voices would somehow break the atmosphere.
Soft instrumental music drifted from hidden speakers overhead, barely loud enough to notice unless you focused on it.
Alba relaxed deeper into the armchair she was occupying and tried not to be painfully aware of the white robe wrapped around her body.
Spa robes were ridiculous things, really.
Too soft, too loose, and yes, too revealing if you shifted the wrong way.
And Ellie was sitting just inches away from her, wearing one.
Which was exactly the kind of scenario Alba had been trying very hard not to imagine since the moment they’d booked the treatments.
She kept her eyes on the small glass table between them, where two tall glasses of cucumber water sat untouched. Condensation had gathered along the sides of them, the droplets sliding slowly down the glass and collecting on the coaster beneath.
Anything was safer to look at than Ellie Hamilton in a spa robe.
Sitting beside her with one leg tucked beneath herself, Ellie exhaled a sigh as she tipped her head back and smiled. “This place is just…perfect. All of it.”
“Perfect? That’s quite the review.”
Ellie nodded towards the hallway leading to the treatment rooms. “If I lived near somewhere like this, I’d never get anything done. I’d just wander around in a robe all day and let people bring me tea.”
Alba laughed. “You already wander around school while people bring you a cuppa. This would only make it worse.”
Ellie lifted a brow. “I do not wander. I supervise.”
“You supervise with your hand in your pocket while drinking coffee.”
Ellie smiled, clearly unbothered by the accusation. “Well, I’m sorry, but that’s just what leadership looks like these days.”
God. Even their stupid little arguments made Alba feel things she shouldn’t.
Still, she was glad Ellie seemed relaxed again.
The morning had started awkwardly enough after their jacuzzi moment, but somewhere between swimming and drying off by the pool, Ellie had slipped back into the version of herself Alba had grown so fond of.
The version that laughed freely and teased her, the version that looked…
happy and ready to move on with life. Which was both comforting and extremely inconvenient because Alba had only just started to convince herself that she could survive the rest of this weekend without falling any further into the mess she’d already created.
Ellie leaned forward and picked up one of the glasses of water, sipping slowly before placing it back on the table. “You know what we should do tonight?”
Alba lifted a brow. “What?”
“Well, after all of this”—she gestured towards the treatment corridor again—“we should get cocktails at the bar downstairs.”
Alba’s interest piqued immediately. Though it always did when Ellie simply opened her mouth to speak. “Cocktails? You do realise we’re already at a spa.”
“Exactly,” Ellie said. “Which means we should fully commit to the experience.”
Alba snorted. “And cocktails are part of the spa experience?”
“They are if I say they are.”
Alba watched her. There was that brightness in Ellie’s expression that Alba was becoming far too used to. Something about being away from work, away from responsibility, seemed to have really brought Ellie out of her shell. God, it did things it shouldn’t do to Alba.
“And then,” Ellie continued, “we order room service. Something completely unnecessary. Dessert we don’t need…
maybe even more wine.” Alba folded her arms across her chest, enjoying every flutter of Ellie’s eyelashes and every word she spoke.
“And we sit out on our terrace with those ridiculous little twinkly lights they’ve got out there. ”
Alba could picture it without even trying to. The lake stretched out beyond them, dark and calm in the evening light. The fresh air drifting across the balcony and the glow of the little lights wrapped around the railing, all while Ellie was sitting close to her.
“That sounds…really nice,” Alba said.
Ellie smiled. “It does, doesn’t it?”
It did, but Ellie didn’t realise what she was suggesting.
In her mind, it was two friends enjoying the final evening of a spa weekend, and she would be right to think that because it was.
But Alba’s brain insisted on turning moments like that into something far more complicated than they needed to be.
She forced a smile anyway. “I suppose I can tolerate cocktails and free food.”
“Excellent.” Ellie beamed. “I’m glad you’re making the effort to do nothing and enjoy yourself.”
Alba rolled her eyes, but her attention drifted again as Ellie shifted in the chair. The robe moved with her, the soft fabric sliding loosely along her shoulders. Alba looked away immediately.
Focus.
Unfortunately, Ellie spoke again at precisely the wrong moment. “Have you even enjoyed this weekend, Alba?”
Alba glanced back at her. Of course she had, she’d had the greatest weekend of her life, but she couldn’t exactly explain that to Ellie. “It’s been great. I’m just not very good at relaxing.”
“Well, that means the massage is definitely necessary.”
“Yes.” Alba exhaled a slow breath. “I suspect it is.”
Right on cue, one of the therapists appeared in the doorway and smiled at them. “Alba and Ellie?”
They both rose to their feet.
“Your treatment room is ready.”
Alba nodded and followed the therapist down the corridor, doing her absolute best not to think about the fact that in approximately thirty seconds, she was going to be lying on a massage table in the same room as Ellie Hamilton.
Which, if her luck continued the way it had been all weekend, was probably going to destroy what little composure she had left.
Settled on the outdoor furniture, Ellie exhaled a deep breath and placed a hand against her stomach.
She hadn’t meant to eat so much food, but something about being away from home had loosened the restraints she’d been living under for far too long.
The usual weight she carried, the one that followed her from work to the house and back again, had lifted during the weekend.
She was grateful for that. After this, and after Alba being so amazing in offering it to her, Ellie felt like a new woman.
For once, she hadn’t spent the evening worrying about what she should be doing, she hadn’t been moping around her empty house, and she hadn’t been replaying the past. Quite frankly, she hadn’t been thinking about anything at all. And that freedom felt delightful.
As the breeze curled around the balcony, Ellie caught Alba’s scent drifting towards her. It was subtle, but it was enough to make Ellie shift on the cushion beneath her. She hadn’t planned on sitting this close. It had simply happened.
One moment, she’d been curling her legs beneath her on the couch they were sharing while they finished their glasses of wine. The next, she’d stretched them out without really thinking about it, resting them across Alba’s lap as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
Alba hadn’t reacted beyond shifting a little so she could sit more comfortably herself. There had been no hesitation and no awkwardness, just an easy adjustment that made the whole moment feel strangely normal. And because of that, Ellie had relaxed into it far more than she probably should have.
The hoodie she was wearing, Alba’s hoodie, hung loosely around her shoulders, the sleeves too long as she curled her fingers around the stem of her wine glass.
The soft fabric brushed her wrists whenever she moved, but it was the scent of Alba’s laundry detergent that had goosebumps spreading slowly across Ellie’s skin.
“I don’t know about you, but this weekend has been just what I needed.” Ellie shifted against the cushion, forcing her attention back to the lake. “I wish I’d done it sooner.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“It just wasn’t something that crossed my mind. Though I suspect the company is the reason I’ve enjoyed myself so much.”
Alba side-glanced at her, the corner of her mouth lifting. “Even after I beat you in the pool this morning?”
“You cheated,” Ellie replied. “And I’ll stand by that.”
Alba seemed uncomfortable with the initial compliment, brushing past it easily.
Ellie knew Alba struggled with praise outside of work, but here—away from school—it seemed even more pronounced.
Part of Ellie wanted to question it. To ask why Alba seemed different this weekend, softer in some moments and guarded in others, but something told her that pushing too hard tonight wouldn’t be wise.
“So long as you’ve enjoyed yourself, then I’m glad Lois had to cancel.” Alba sipped her wine and smiled. “Part of me came here for a reset too, but I’m not sure it’s really worked.”
“No?”
Alba lowered her gaze to the decking of the terrace. “I just don’t know where I’m headed, and I hate not being in control of things like that.”
“In what respect?” Ellie leaned in, curiosity pulling her forward. “In your personal life?”
“Yeah. My work life is pretty great, but for me, when I go home each day…I don’t know what to do with myself. The only time I feel remotely normal is if I’m spending the evening with you.”
Ellie’s heart ached at Alba’s confession. “Then we should keep doing that.” The thought of Alba feeling alone didn’t sit well with her. Not at all. “It’s been nice seeing you outside of work. And Colin, of course. I can’t forget Colin.”