Chapter 9
Vidya grabbed her coat and scarf and hurried out to meet the guys.
They had decided that they would all go for a quick walk as part of their afternoon break.
Rather than wait for the lifts, she used the stairs.
When she appeared on the first-floor landing, she saw Leo crossing the floor below.
He was frowning at his phone as he walked, so she could observe him safely.
He was wearing his suit and had added a scarf, but no coat.
She thought of Angie’s comment that she couldn’t imagine him wearing anything other than a suit. Leo did look great in a suit though. Wait. Where had that thought come from?
Vidya blinked and paused to watch him approach the stairs. He had come to a halt because two elderly ladies were standing at the foot of the stairs with their wheely bags. He looked at them, his frown smoothing out.
Without the habitual crease on his forehead, his natural good looks shone through. She thought of him as angry looking, but as she got to know him better, she realised it was an expression of worry. He wasn’t perpetually angry; he was just permanently stressed.
‘Oh, good,’ the smaller of the two ladies said. ‘I was wondering where all the staff had disappeared to. Young man, will you carry the bags up for us, please?’
Leo shook his head. ‘I don’t work here—’
‘We need to get these to our room,’ said the other lady, as though he hadn’t said anything. ‘And these bags are far too heavy for us to carry up the steps.’
‘There’s a lift—’ He pointed.
‘Oh, I don’t like lifts,’ said the smaller one. ‘There’s only one little box I’m going into and I’m not coming out of that one. Come on.’ She gestured at the stairs with her chin.
Leo hesitated, then looked at the ladies again and smiled. It transformed his face. ‘Sure,’ he said. He bent his knees and picked up a bag in each hand and started up the stairs.
‘Oh, my, aren’t you strong,’ said one of the ladies, slowly climbing the stairs behind him. They nudged each other and smiled. One of them was clearly checking out Leo’s bum.
Vidya leaned against the railing and watched, amused.
‘Have you worked here long?’ one of the ladies asked him. ‘Will you be here next year?’
They reached the top of the steps and Leo tried, once again, to explain that he didn’t work there. The ladies weren’t paying the slightest bit of attention.
One of them pressed a note into his hand. ‘Here’s a tip, young man. Thank you.’
He took a step back, holding up his hands. ‘Oh. No, no. That’s—’
‘Please take it,’ said the woman. ‘Buy an ice cream for you and your girlfriend.’
‘I can’t imagine that a handsome young man like you doesn’t have a girlfriend.’
Leo took another step back, looking so flustered that Vidya giggled from her vantage point.
‘I must insist.’ The old lady reached out, grabbed his hand and pressed the note into it. ‘You’ve been very helpful.’ She looked back down at the deserted concierge desk. ‘You couldn’t request some more milk for our room, could you?’
Leo shook his head. ‘I’m so sorry. I can’t.’
‘Probably not trained on the system,’ said the other lady, sagely.
‘Something like that,’ Leo said. He wasn’t smiling, but there was a definite air of amusement about him. ‘I’d better get on. It was lovely to meet you.’
As he started to go back down the stairs, another guest, a man this time, approached the bottom of the stairs and said, ‘Ah. About time we saw a member of staff. I need some fresh towels. I’m in room—’
‘I don’t work here,’ said Leo. The frown returned to his face. ‘I’m a guest.’
‘Nonsense,’ the man said. ‘I saw you helping those women.’
Vidya decided to take pity on him and hurried to the stairs. ‘I’m so sorry I’m late,’ she said, when she reached Leo. She looped her arm through his. ‘Ready?’
The surprise on Leo’s face lasted only a second before it was swiftly replaced with his usual neutral expression. ‘Of course. Let’s go.’
When they got outside, Caleb was on his phone. When he saw their linked arms, his eyebrows shot up. Vidya quickly removed her arm.
‘Thanks.’ Leo stepped away and didn’t meet her eye.
‘I thought you needed rescuing.’
‘I did,’ he said.
Caleb finished his call and came up to them. ‘What’s going on?’
Leo glanced over his shoulder. ‘Let’s walk, please? Before someone else asks me to restock their room.’
Vidya explained and Caleb started laughing. ‘You’re useless, you know that. They walk all over you,’ he said to Leo.
‘They needed help with their bags,’ Leo protested. ‘And they didn’t like lifts.’
‘He can never resist helping an old lady in distress. They seem to sense it and home in on him. The number of times we’ve been late for social things because some little old lady wanted directions or help with bags …
’ Caleb shook his head. ‘They sense weakness, I tell you, and pounce on it. Like sharks with blood.’
Leo rolled his eyes. Vidya tried to work out if Caleb’s teasing was upsetting him or not.
‘It’s like walking around with a granny magnet.’
‘Stop,’ Leo said. ‘You make me sound like a pervert.’
Vidya glanced up at him. His expression was still neutral, but he had gone a bit red. Poor guy. He must be really embarrassed. She should rescue him. Again.
‘I thought it was nice,’ she said. ‘You made a pair of older ladies very happy.’ She paused and added, because she simply couldn’t help but tease him a little. ‘One of them was definitely checking you out though.’
Leo’s lips were pressed into a line. ‘That’s it,’ he said. ‘No ice cream for you.’
Caleb perked up. ‘Ice cream? What ice cream?’
‘The ladies gave him some money to buy ice cream for his friends,’ she said.
‘Well, it would be rude not to,’ said Caleb. ‘I’ll have a 99 Flake, thanks.’
At the bottom of the sloping drive, they crossed the road and walked along the promenade, parallel to the sea, where there was an ice cream van, not too far along.
‘Fine,’ said Leo. ‘Ice cream it is. What’ll you have, Vidya?’
‘I …’ She squinted at the big sign next to the van. She eyed the birds flying around. They’d probably nick whatever she got. ‘I’ll have a Magnum, please.’
Leo nodded and joined the queue, leaving her standing next to the sea wall with Caleb.
‘I’m not making it up,’ Caleb said. ‘Grannies do seem to know to ask him for help. Like they know he’ll be nice to them. Which is weird, because he doesn’t give off helpful vibes, does he?’
She watched Leo standing in the queue, shoulders raised, phone in hand. He looked so uncomfortable wherever he went. Then she thought of the moment of decision, when he smiled at the old women and picked up their bags. For that minute he had been a different person.
‘I think it’s because he was so close to his gran,’ Caleb said.
Vidya was still watching Leo. The sunlight caught the rims of his glasses and tips of his hair. When he looked down, the shadows made his eyelashes look long and his cheekbones dramatic. Wait. Why was she noticing this?
‘I know he doesn’t look it,’ said Caleb. ‘But our friend is a bit of a soft touch. He’s very kind. So, if you ask him for help, you’ll almost certainly get it.’
It was interesting that Caleb was telling her this, because she had noticed that too. But, why was Caleb telling her things about Leo? She hadn’t asked. Besides, her mission was to find out more about Caleb.
‘What about you?’ she said. ‘Are you the sort of guy who people come to for help?’
He seemed taken aback. ‘Me? I … don’t think so. As in, they don’t approach me the way they do with Leo.’
Vidya wondered why that was. They made an odd pair as friends.
Caleb was charismatic, with conventional good looks and easy-going charm.
Leo, on the other hand, walked around glowering.
What was it that made people go to him for help, rather than Caleb?
She looked up at Caleb, who was staring out to sea now.
It was something about Leo’s eyes, she decided.
Whatever his face was doing, you could always get what he was thinking from his eyes. He even smiled with his eyes first.
There she was, thinking about Leo again, when she should be finding out about Caleb. Focus. She needed to know what kind of person Caleb was. Nature versus nurture was all very well, but the baby could inherit his personality traits.
‘But if someone asks, you help, right?’ she said.
He was still staring at the sea, but frowning, uncharacteristically serious. He didn’t reply. It was almost as though he hadn’t even heard her. ‘Caleb?’ she said. ‘Is everything okay?’
He twitched. ‘Hmm? Oh. Yes. I’m fine, thanks.’
Leo returned with the ice creams, hunching over them a little to keep them safe from marauding seagulls. ‘A 99 Flake and a Festival. They didn’t have Magnums.’ He handed them out. He had chosen a strawberry split, which seemed at odds with his well-buttoned-up suit.
Caleb took the 99 without a word. Vidya watched as Leo raised a questioning eyebrow and Caleb returned his look with a minute shake of the head. It was the sort of nonverbal conversation she had with her sister. These two really did know each other very well.
‘Would you like me to leave you alone for a bit, so you can catch up?’ she said.
Caleb stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. ‘No. It’s fine. My mum’s split up with her boyfriend, and I’m worried about her, that’s all.’
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘I thought you were arguing with your girlfriend.’
Caleb gave a mirthless little laugh. ‘No. I don’t have a girlfriend right now.’
Vidya tried to tamp down the feeling of relief. It wouldn’t matter whether he was single. Udeni didn’t need him to be there for the baby, but as the protective big sister the idea he was with someone else made something inside her growl. ‘Is your mum very upset?’
‘Yes. Surprisingly so,’ said Caleb. ‘She was only with him for about a year, but the breakup seems to have hit her hard. I guess she really liked him.’
‘Poor Sandra,’ said Leo. He frowned. ‘Do you … need to take some time off and go see her?’
‘I’m tempted,’ Caleb said.
That was nice. He clearly cared for his mother. Oh, goodness. That could be the baby’s grandmother.
‘But it’ll be fine. She’s always like this. Big drama and then she gets over it. She’ll have met someone new in no time. She’s impulsive, is my mum,’ Caleb said to Vidya smiling.
Huh. So was Udeni. This poor baby was going to need some serious supervision to make sure it didn’t embrace spontaneity at the cost of common sense. Vidya nibbled at the chocolate shell of her lolly.
‘My sister’s like that,’ she told Caleb.
He nodded. ‘It’s a good way to be,’ he said. ‘Like I say, she’s never down for long. She’ll bounce back. But …’ He ate some ice cream and shook his head. ‘Well, I guess I worry about her a bit too much. You know how it is.’
She did know how that was. ‘I understand,’ she said.
For a moment, they were all quiet. Vidya kept a wary eye on the seagulls. Were they congregating?
Beside her, Leo bit another chunk of his lolly. He was staring intently out to sea. She glanced up at him and watched his jaw move as he sucked the lump of ice cream in his mouth. The cold had made his lips go red.
He was softer and kinder than she’d expected him to be. ‘How about you, Leo? Do you have brothers or sisters?’
‘Two sisters,’ he said. ‘I’m in the middle.’
‘What do they do?’
‘The older one is a teacher. The younger one followed my parents and took to the stage.’
‘Your parents are actors?’ She had not expected that. If anything, she’d imagined that he came from a long line of lawyers. She glanced between them. She was beginning to see why the two of them had found each other.
Leo rolled his eyes. ‘Yes. Theatre actors. Very keen ones. My sisters and I mostly grew up with my grandmother.’
‘Is that why you’re so helpful to old ladies?’
He glanced at her, his eyes creasing at the edges and the corners of his mouth lifting.
‘I guess it must be. My grandfather married his sister’s best friend, so I saw a lot of my great aunt too.
They taught me to never underestimate old ladies.
’ He nodded. ‘Always be nice to them. You never know what they’re capable of. ’
This made Vidya laugh. She thought of some of her own elderly aunts.
Of course, she had been taught to respect her elders anyway, but some of her aunts were formidable women.
One of them, a retired judge, was actually terrifying.
‘I know some women like that. My dad has sisters with big personalities.’
‘You’ll know what I mean then.’ Leo checked his watch. ‘We should head back.’
‘Yes, boss,’ said Caleb.
The smile faded from Leo’s eyes, replaced by worry. ‘We have a lot to get through. I’d hate to run out of time,’ he said. ‘Even with Vidya’s cunning AI solution, there are too many interconnected contracts to unravel in the time we’ve got.’
‘We can but try,’ said Caleb.
They walked back. Leo had finished his lolly, but Caleb and Vidya were still eating theirs.
A seagull dive-bombed Vidya. She shrieked and ducked, protecting what was left of her lolly. ‘Get away from me, you bastard bird.’
Caleb had covered his ice cream with his free hand. ‘The gulls really are aggressive here,’ he said. ‘Bloody hell.’
‘Do you think it’s the same one as yesterday?’ said Vidya.
She didn’t expect them to take her comment as seriously as they did.
‘Hard to tell,’ said Leo, thoughtfully. ‘You’d have to tag them to know for sure.’
‘Bet it is though,’ said Caleb. ‘A particular seagull who’s taken against Vidya.’
She looked from one to the other. They were discussing this with all the gravitas of a real problem. Peering at Leo’s face, she could see the amusement in his eyes. Okay, fine. She could do this kind of silliness too. ‘We should give him a name,’ Vidya said.
‘Charlie,’ Leo said, promptly.
She frowned. ‘Like … your manager?’
Caleb sniggered. ‘It would suit,’ he said.
Leo nodded. ‘Swoops in, makes a lot of noise …’
‘Shits on people and then swoops out again,’ Caleb finished. ‘Definite seagull.’ He finished off his ice cream and looked up at the birds wheeling in the sky. ‘I wonder why Charlie the seagull hates Vidya.’
‘Why does a Charlie take against anyone?’ said Leo. ‘It’s one of life’s mysteries.’
They reached the hotel again and Vidya felt her shoulders tense up. ‘Back to work,’ she said.
Caleb sighed. ‘Guess so. Assuming Leo can reach the meeting room without getting waylaid by old ladies.’