Chapter Seventy-Four
On Saturday afternoon, Emme opened her hotel room door to see Cat standing there with a care package.
‘You OK?’
‘No,’ she said, as she opened the door wider to let her friend in.
Cat placed the paper Migros bag on the desk in the room and took out some bits.
‘I got you biscuits, chips, chocolate, and I brought you some clothes – some of mine …’ she said, as she slunk into the chair next to the window.
‘Thank you Cat, you’re a hero.’
She nodded.
‘I bumped into Bill in Migros and he asked if you were staying with me. Said he wanted to talk to you …’
‘I bet he does. What did you say?’
‘He seemed kinda angry.’
‘Oh dear,’ Emme said, a rash creeping up her neck.
‘I said I didn’t know where you were … which he knows is BS. But, you know, hoes before bros …’ Cat tailed off and Emme appreciated the loyalty.
‘Well, I just don’t know what to do about that at the moment.’
Cat picked up a handful of grapes from the fruit bowl Tiago had sent up as he was ending his shift.
‘Tristan’s worried too. He called me, I don’t know how he got my number but he asked if I’d spoken to you …’
‘Great.’
Cat looked at her, puzzled by her sarcasm.
‘What did you say?’ Emme asked.
‘I said Lexy had gone psycho on you, but I couldn’t really talk … I was prepping breakfast, Gerard was in my ear.’
‘Did you tell Tristan where I was?’
‘No. Should I have? I wasn’t sure.’
Emme didn’t answer.
Cat twirled the empty grape stalk between two fingers. All Tiago had told her was that Lexy had slapped Emme over Tristan.
‘I thought it was going great guns with you!’
Emme shook her head.
‘You did warn me …’
Cat sat up.
‘Wait, what’s happened?’
Emme told Cat exactly what triggered Lexy to slap her. Because of Emme’s comment about Bill and Jenny. Because Lexy was so wound up about Tristan and Emme and seething with rage because she had fucked Tristan not even two months ago. Perhaps more recently too.
‘Motherfucker!’ raged Cat.
‘Well … quite,’ Emme said, solemnly.
‘I can’t believe it!’
Cat was so livid, she looked like she might have been duped too. ‘But … at the party …’
‘What?’ Emme asked.
Cat couldn’t speak.
‘So what are you going to do?’ she eventually asked.
‘He’s back on Monday and I just can’t bear to see him. He’s such a liar, Cat! Disgusting. I mean, you warned me … I knew it myself! But Lexy?!’
‘Yeah, he should have told you that perhaps there was a conflict of interest there. But, you know, after you told me and Tiago about you two, I was thinking about the party …’
‘What?’
‘When you guys went flying in a heap on the floor. He wasn’t looking at Anastasia. Or Vivian. He wasn’t looking at Lexy Harrington, that’s for sure. He looked genuinely worried about you. I should have guessed about you two there and then. He was all for you.’
‘Oh please, Cat! You of all people, after him and Anastasia …’
‘I dunno. At least hear him out. Does he know you know about Lexy?’
‘How can he? I doubt even Lexy knows I know.’
‘Well he knows something is off. He’s worried you’re not answering his calls and he knows Lexy has gone nuts.’
‘So what do I do?’
‘Don’t think about any of it yet. Let’s hit the mountain. I have tomorrow off. The Kivvi men are flying back into the country tomorrow and having dinner in Geneva when they collect Stella. We’ll get some air, the forecast looks great. I swear, the mountain always has the answer.’
Emme nodded. She had been skiing twice a week since that magical day in the gondola; she was even starting to envisage loving skiing one day.
‘For now, just stay here and keep ordering room service. Tiago’s on shift tonight, right?’
Emme nodded.
‘He’ll look after you.’
And just like that, Emme felt bolstered.