Chapter Twenty-Six
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
POOL PARTY
To get into the spirit of things, Kya did it all. She shaped her brows and extended her lashes. She waxed anything that could be waxed. She went shopping with Hugo for party clothes – a new little black dress, a similar style in white, two miniskirts and an assortment of tank tops. Instead of waiting around for Quinn to pick her up, she showed up at her door with a box of California-style pizza, a gag gift with sentimental value. She kissed Quinn in the back of the black car taking them to the storied beach resort, for luck but also for fun. The one thing she would not do was hold her hand when they pulled up to the hotel’s crammed entrance.
‘You go first,’ she said. ‘I’ll follow in a minute.’
Quinn slipped off her ultra-glam sunglasses and eyed her. ‘Are you serious?’
She looked so betrayed; Kya felt like the villain in her fairy tale. ‘We talked about this.’
‘You said no PDA. You said nothing about walking two steps behind me. I think you’re taking this way too far.’
Kya pointed out the window. ‘Every single person out there has a phone. Every phone has a camera.’
‘I know how technology works, Kya.’
‘I’m just saying—’
‘All you’re saying is that you don’t want to be photographed with me.’
‘It’s day one. Let’s pace ourselves. We can go viral some other day.’
‘How do you know we went viral?’
‘Because I looked it up!’
‘We said we wouldn’t give energy to trolls!’
‘While we were away, sure,’ Kya said. ‘But we’re back in the real world, where trolls can cause real damage.’
The driver got their bags out of the trunk then came around to open the door. ‘Sorry, ladies. They’re asking me to move out of the way. It’s crazy busy here.’
It was, as he’d described, crazy busy. Was it so unreasonable to play it cool?
Quinn slipped out of the car and climbed the steps to the hotel lobby – alone.
Past the glass doors at the hotel was a different world, opulent, over the top, overflowing with giddiness. Emotional baggage left behind on the back seats of cabs, BLU was the place for fun. At the customer service desk, champagne was offered and turned down. Quinn was scheduled to play in a few short hours; she would need a clear head. The suite wasn’t ready yet. The clerk apologized for the delay, but the hotel’s social media coordinator had a suggestion. She had arranged for interviews with prominent outlets.
‘They’re waiting,’ she said. ‘You could meet with them now, if you like?’
Quinn agreed. ‘Let’s do it.’
They led her to a seating area where she answered questions on music but also topics as far-ranging as travel, hobbies, favourite foods, and celebrity crushes.
This was the way to play it, Kya thought, watching from a safe distance. It was easy enough to blend in with Quinn’s entourage. As far as anyone knew, she could’ve been her assistant. She just wished the pit in her stomach would dissolve.
The interviews did not last long, either that or Quinn put an end to the whole thing by rising to her feet. She came over to Kya and, avoiding her eyes, said, ‘Sorry about that.’
‘No, it’s fine.’
An attendant approached with their keycards in neat little envelopes. ‘Your suite is ready. Joseph will escort you.’
On the ride up to the twentieth floor, Joseph entertained them with tales of the hotel’s illustrious past, the list of famous guests who’d stayed at the very suite assigned to Quinn, and epic parties. ‘There’s a lot of excitement around your event,’ he said. ‘Is this your first time playing here?’
‘It is,’ she said. ‘I’m excited, too.’
Kya was grateful for Joseph. All that talk served as a buffer. She only had to listen, and Quinn could go on avoiding her eyes, as hostilities strengthened, and a sort of cold war had begun.
A box of British chocolates and a handwritten note were waiting at the suite. The pillowcases were embroidered with Quinn’s initials. But what really had Kya were the premium toiletries that she would be taking with her. With a press of a button, Quinn drew back the drapes to take in the vast ocean view. It was perfect except for the menacing clouds rolling forward.
She frowned. ‘The party is outdoors, poolside.’
‘Are you worried you’ll get rained out?’ Kya asked, already checking an app for weather predictions.
Quinn refused to even consider this. Turning her back to the window, she said, ‘Let’s unpack.’
Quinn took her garment bag into the bathroom and looked around for a steamer. Kya had packed light and her simple outfit didn’t require any special care. She could take it easy for a while, rest up before the big event, but the tension was such that she couldn’t relax. Quinn was upset with her. Nothing would be right until she smiled at Kya again.
Unsure of what to do with herself, Kya placed the vlogging camera borrowed from Adrian on its charger and went out onto the balcony. The wind was picking up. At the pool below, guests were packing and heading indoors. Kya caught the flash of lightning that ushered in the storm. The sudden downpour had everyone scurrying. Heavy sheets of rain completely obstructed the view. Raindrops needled Kya’s face and arms, prompting her to rush back inside.
Inside the darkened suite, Quinn was in the bedroom, searching for the light switches Joseph had pointed out a moment earlier. Someone knocked on the door. Kya answered. It was the event coordinator. She showed up with a bottle of champagne, as if the sparkling wine could make up for the weather.
‘Hi, I’m Jenna,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry the weather isn’t cooperating! We’ve been on storm watch all day, and we think it’s wise to postpone the event for a couple hours. The skies should clear up around seven. If you agree, we’ll post the change in schedule.’
Quinn nodded, biting into her lower lip. What choice did she have? Kya felt for her. This wasn’t the smooth start she’d hoped for, and Kya hated the part she was playing in it.
‘In the meantime, we invite you to visit our spa. I highly recommend the hot and cold experience. By the time you’re done, you’ll be nice and relaxed and ready for a great night! How does that sound?’
‘Sounds wonderful,’ Quinn said.
She had a good attitude; Kya would give her that.
Jenna rattled a few more benefits of the unplanned delay. ‘Plus, it’ll be a lot cooler. Less humid. The sun doesn’t set until seven forty-five, so we’ll catch that golden hour. The photos will be gorgeous.’
‘It’ll be fine,’ Quinn assured her.
‘Great,’ Jenna said. ‘I’ll get the ball rolling.’
Quinn’s mask fell away as soon as they were alone. ‘Is this a bad sign?’ she asked.
‘It’s not a sign, it’s a storm.’ Kya hoped this was the one time her pragmatic mind and logical thinking could be of some use. ‘You heard Jenna. The skies will clear. The heat and humidity will let up, and you won’t miss golden hour.’
Quinn again nodded. Although, she did not look convinced. ‘We have the afternoon free. What should we do? Are you up for the spa?’
‘I won’t turn down a massage,’ Kya said.
‘All right,’ she said. ‘I’ll make the call.’
Considering the state of their relationship, a cryo-chamber was ideal. In the suite, there’d been nothing but cold air between them, anyway. The icy fog fit their mood perfectly. But when they progressed to the sauna, Kya, fully thawed, couldn’t take it anymore. She wished she could rewind the clock, start again, from the day they first met.
‘Do you think we’d be hanging out together if Hugo hadn’t asked you for a favour?’ Kya asked.
‘I wanted to spend time with you.’
That was nice of her to say, but Kya couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to spend time with her in those early days. She hadn’t wanted to spend time with herself. ‘I’m just surprised at how far we’ve come, considering how it started. It was so random.’
‘It didn’t start as a favour to Hugo,’ Quinn insisted. ‘It started in the ladies’ room at Blood Orange. We were at the sinks, our eyes met in the mirror. Don’t you remember any of this?’
Kya was in such a state that night, but her encounter with Quinn in the ladies’ room had stopped time. The memory, still vivid, set her mind aflame. ‘I remember,’ she said quietly.
‘There’s nothing random about us.’
‘I know that.’ What she didn’t know, or fully understand, was why Quinn was still in such a mood. Seated across from her on a teak bench, wrapped in a thick white towel, arms folded, hair piled on top of her head, she seemed angrier than earlier. How was that even possible? ‘Why are you so mad?’
‘You should know.’
‘Well, I don’t.’
Quinn let out a breath. ‘I can’t deal in half measures, Kya. As basic as this sounds, it’s all or nothing for me.’
The heat fuelled Kya’s exasperation. All or nothing? They were only going to be in each other’s lives for another week. What was she expecting from her? ‘Don’t you think you’re overreacting a little?’
‘I don’t,’ she said stubbornly.
Her stubborn streak had always infuriated Kya, but in a good way. Now she was no longer sure. ‘Is it so much to ask to fly under the radar for a while?’
‘A while is all we have.’
‘Exactly! There’s no need to blow up the internet. Don’t you care about all those things they said about you … about us?’
‘If I’m with somebody, I’m with them. I don’t care what anyone has to say. I don’t care how many photos they post. I don’t care if they shred me to pieces in their comment sections. I simply don’t care. That’s who I am, Kya. I’m just wondering who you are.’
‘That’s not fair.’
‘Maybe, but here’s the thing. A week, a month, a year, it makes no difference to me. I’m here with you now, and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.’
‘Quinn …’ Kya’s voice cracked, which was fine since she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. All her arguments were melting in the suffocating heat.
‘I know all this started because some idiot took a photo of us and posted it on the internet and said some pretty shitty things, but guess what? I love that photo, and I’m grateful to the wanker who took it. It says everything you won’t … The way you look at me … Had I not seen it, I would have never known how you feel. So now it’s up to you to decide how this week will go. I’m telling you right now, I’m not one to walk on eggshells.’
Someone opened the door to the sauna, looked from Kya to Quinn, and made the smart choice to walk away, leaving them to roast alone in their private hell.