Chasing Daisy

by Paige Toon

  ‘I didn’t think you’d mind.’

  ‘Well, I might’ve worn something different.’ I indicate the khaki green sundress I’m wearing.

  ‘You look fine.’

  ‘I might not have.’

  ‘In which case, I could have told you when I came to collect you.’

  He’s already doing my head in. Why did I agree to this?

  The humidity hits you like a brick wall, here. Sometimes it feels difficult to breathe. We’re staying at a five-star hotel on Orchard Road, which is Singapore’s equivalent to Fifth Avenue. The concierge hails us a taxi and we climb in. Raffles Hotel is only about a ten-minute drive away.

  I’ve never been to the famous colonial-style hotel, but I’ve heard about it. We’re dining in the Long Bar Steakhouse and quite a few people are already seated at the table when we arrive. I count five men and one woman.

  Oh, cazzo, it’s Catalina.

  ‘Luis, hi,’ Simon says, standing up to shake Luis’s hand. I notice Pierre, the ex-test driver who replaced you know who, seated next to Catalina. He’s French, has floppy light-brown hair and is shorter than me by a couple of inches.

  ‘Daisy, hi!’ Simon jolts slightly as he reaches across to shake my hand. He’s clearly surprised to see me here, which makes me feel even more out of my comfort zone. I glance down at Catalina to see her mouth drop open as she places me as a front-of-house girl. Her eyes flit from Luis to me and back again and a nasty expression falls over her features. I realise that she probably thinks I’m one of his Screwdrivers and, needless to say, that does not sit well with me.

  ‘Take a seat, take a seat,’ Simon insists, indicating the last two chairs at the table. Luis pulls out one for me and I sit down next to Norm Gelltron.

  ‘And so here you are again!’ Norm booms, as a waitress comes over to take our drinks order.

  ‘Shall we order food, too?’ Simon suggests to a buzz of agreement.

  ‘Sorry,’ I apologise to Norm as Luis and I quickly scan the menu. Clearly we’ve arrived late and everyone is hungry. I’m not going to be able to relax for the life of me. I order a grilled seafood dish and decide to stick to still water, a bottle of which is already on the table.

  ‘I’m surprised to see you here,’ Catalina comments, turning her nose up at me. ‘Yes, I’ll have some of that.’ She nods at the water bottle I’ve just reached for, but I have to stand up and lean across the table to fill her glass. ‘That’s better,’ she says, giving me an evil smile. I look confused. ‘I recognise you now you’re being the waitress.’

  I don’t really know how to respond to that, but several people around the table shift uncomfortably in their seats. I’m angry, but I try to keep my emotions in check. I can’t make a scene here.

  ‘Have you spoken to my cousin recently?’ Catalina turns her attention to Luis.

  ‘No,’ he replies bluntly.

  ‘Luis got up close and personal with my beautiful cousin, Alberta, earlier in the season,’ she tells the sponsors around the table.

  ‘Cat . . .’ Simon warns, clearly embarrassed.

  ‘What, darling?’ she asks, playing innocent.

  ‘Aah, here come the starters,’ he says, breathing a sigh of relief.

  I am absolutely fuming. That bitch! How dare she try to humiliate me in front of everyone! At this moment, I strongly believe she deserves everything she gets. I can’t wait to get back to the hotel to tell Holly.

  The conversation carries on around me for a while as everyone tucks into their starters.

  ‘Can you spare a prawn?’ Catalina asks Simon, eyeing his plate.

  ‘Sure,’ he replies, pushing it towards her.

  ‘Oh, no, actually, I can’t,’ she says suddenly, glancing around the table as she pushes his plate back. A few raised eyebrows, but no one says anything, much to her dismay as I imagine she was just seeking attention.

  ‘All set for the race tomorrow, Luis?’ one of the sponsors asks him.

  ‘Sure am.’

  He was quickest in practice last night.

  ‘Must have something to do with the beard, eh, Daisy?’ Norm booms as a waiter appears to clear the table.

  ‘Beard? What’s this about?’ Catalina enquires.

  ‘Daisy’s grandmother shaved off his beard. Ever since then he’s had fire behind his wheels.’

  ‘How strange.’ Catalina sniffs, turning to Simon. ‘Didn’t you say Will drove better when he hadn’t shaved?’

  I tense up as Simon nods.

  ‘For Luis it seems to be the other way around,’ she comments, amused. ‘Oh, isn’t it a tragedy about Will. . .’

  Lots of ‘yes, yes, oh, yeses’ around the table. Pierre has the good grace to look awkward.

  ‘His poor girlfriend . . . Oh, what a lovely girl. He had such good taste in women.’ Catalina gives me a look that says, ‘unlike Luis’, and I’m about to stand up and throw a glass of water in her face when I feel Luis’s hand on my thigh, trying to calm me down. The waiters bring out our main course and everyone digs in, but I can barely swallow, I’m so angry.

  ‘So what about you, then?’ Norm turns to Luis and me. ‘Are you two an item?’

  ‘Hell, no,’ I snap.

  ‘That’s some reaction.’ He frowns and points his steak knife in Luis’s direction. ‘I would have thought this guy here would be a damn good catch for a girl like you.’

  ‘What do you mean, a girl like me?’ Right, I’ve had enough. If I lose my job, so be it.

  ‘Hey, hey, don’t get your panties in a wad.’ He holds up his hands, patronisingly, then gets stuck into his steak again.

  Luis speaks and his tone is hard. ‘You might know Daisy’s father, actually.’

  ‘Oh?’ Norm looks mildly interested.

  ‘Stellan Rogers. I believe he’s the main shareholder in your company?’

  I’ve never seen anyone backtrack quite so quickly.

  ‘Mr Rogers! Stellan Rogers! He’s your father?’

  ‘Is he?’ an astounded Simon interrupts. Catalina looks on, confused.

  ‘Mmm, yes,’ I reply. I didn’t really want the world and his wife knowing about my family, but quite frankly, fuck it.

  ‘Well, I never . . . I never . . .’ Norm stutters. ‘Goodness me, you pass on my respects next time you see him, won’t you? Goodness me.’

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Luis smirk. It’s everything I can do to keep a straight face myself.

  ‘Who’s Stellan Rogers?’ Catalina interrupts.

  ‘Daisy’s father, from the sounds of it,’ Simon replies, looking uncomfortable. My phone starts to ring inside my bag.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I murmur, rummaging around in my bag to dismiss the call. Moments later it rings again.

  ‘Don’t mind us,’ Norm urges. ‘You take it. It might be urgent. In fact, it could be your daddy!’

  ‘Excuse me.’ I stand up and answer the call. ‘Can you hang on for a moment, please?’ Then I walk quickly out of the restaurant before putting my phone back to my ear. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Daisy, it’s me!’

  Holly.

  ‘Hi. What’s up?’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘I’m at Raffles Hotel having the time of my life,’ I answer sarcastically.

  ‘Will you be long?’

  ‘I don’t know, why?’

  She sniffs.

  ‘Are you okay?’ I ask, concerned.

  ‘No.’ She bursts into tears. ‘Can you come back?’

  ‘Um, yes, I won’t be long.’ It won’t look good for me to walk out like this, but I’ve just about reached the end of my tether.

  ‘Thanks.’ A muffled sob and the line goes dead.

  I stare down at the phone with concern. ‘What’s up?’ I turn to see Luis standing there.

  ‘That was Holly. I have to go back to the hotel.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘She’s in floods of tears, I don’t know why. Probably something to do with Simon.’

  ‘Hmm.’
r />   ‘I guess I’d better come and make my excuses.’ I motion in the direction of the dining room.

  ‘No, it’s okay. I don’t want to put you through any more. I’ll tell them you had a family drama or something, that’ll shut them up.’

  I breathe a sigh of relief. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Let me walk you out.’

  I don’t argue with him. ‘How did you know about my father being his main shareholder?’ I ask as we head down the stairs. ‘Have you been researching me again?’ I give him a wary glance, but he dismissively shakes his head.

  ‘No. I saw that the first – and only – time I looked you up.

  Gelltron’s our top sponsor so, of course, I noticed his company name when I saw it.’

  ‘I had no idea.’ I don’t know anything about my father’s businesses. It strikes me that perhaps I should.

  ‘The look on Norm’s face . . .’ Luis grins at me.

  ‘It was pretty funny, wasn’t it?’ I grin back.

  ‘Well, seriously. He deserved it. What was he thinking, saying something like that?’

  ‘Mmm.’

  ‘He’ll be fawning all over you tomorrow, you mark my words.’

  ‘I’d rather he just kept his distance, to be honest. Cazzo!’ I halt in my tracks for a split-second before continuing.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Do you think Simon and the others will talk about it to anyone else? I don’t want it getting around, about me. Even Holly doesn’t know.’

  ‘Really? Why not?’ We reach the doors and Luis pushes through.

  ‘I just don’t want to go on about it.’

  ‘Holly doesn’t know about your family, yet you were upset she didn’t confide in you about Simon?’ His lips turn down at the corners as he nods for the hotel concierge to hail a taxi.

  ‘It’s not the same thing,’ I reply defensively.

  He doesn’t answer and I feel irritable. ‘Do you think I’m out of order?’ I ask suddenly. ‘Not telling Holly about my family? Where I came from?’

  ‘Yeah, I do a bit,’ he answers honestly. ‘What would it hurt?’

  ‘I don’t know. I guess I’m always just a bit worried that people will treat me differently, or think differently about me.’

  ‘Not Holly. Holly wouldn’t.’

  I don’t say anything. I know he’s right.

  ‘And I don’t either, for that matter,’ he adds as a taxi pulls up.

  ‘No, I know you don’t.’ I look at him and smile. ‘You’d give me just as much grief if I was a goddamn princess.’

  ‘Probably more,’ he replies and I laugh as he opens the door for me. I climb in as he tells the driver where to take me and hands him some money.

  ‘You don’t have to do that,’ I call through to the front window at Luis.

  ‘Va se lixar,’ he shouts back with a grin. The driver puts up the window and pulls away.

  Holly’s face is red and puffy when I get back to the hotel. She looks like she’s been sobbing her heart out into her pillow and there’s a pile of snotty tissues next to her to prove it.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask with alarm, rushing to her side. She sits up on the bed and draws me in for a hug as she cries into my hair. I let her carry on for a while before I gently pull away. ‘Tell me what’s wrong?’

  ‘He said they didn’t sleep together anymore.’

  ‘Who? Simon?’

  ‘And. . . that witchy bitch!’

  I take it she’s talking about Catalina.

  ‘And do they?’ I ask, tentatively.

  ‘SHE’S PREGNANT!’ Holly starts to wail.

  ‘Oh, Jesus,’ I murmur, although I’m not surprised something like this has happened. I put my arms around her and hug her tightly, half as a comforting gesture, half-hoping to muffle the sound of her sobs. It may be a pricey hotel, but the walls are so thin I heard our neighbours sneeze earlier.

  ‘I swear she did it on purpose. She must’ve suspected something was up,’ she says fervently. ‘She’s trying to trick him into staying with her, I’m sure of it.’

  ‘Does he even want children?’ I ask.

  ‘I don’t know! We’ve never talked about it. I kind of got the impression he was past all that, although I’m sure I could have persuaded him if I’d wanted to.’

  A wave of compassion passes through me. The fact that she was even thinking that she might one day be in a position to have children with Simon . . . Well, she’s more deluded than I thought, and I don’t mean that in a nasty way.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ I ask. ‘Has he called it off with you?’

  ‘No.’ She shakes her head.

  ‘Have you called it off with him?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘But you will, right?’ I frown at her.

  ‘I don’t know! Daisy, don’t look at me like that! I don’t know what I’m doing yet!’

  I back right off. It was bad enough when he was married, but now his wife is pregnant . . .

  His witchy, bitchy wife for that matter. But no, I still don’t approve. Yet Holly is my friend, and I need to be there for her.

  ‘So that’s why Catalina wouldn’t eat any of Simon’s prawn starter. You’re not allowed to eat shellfish when you’re pregnant, are you?’

  ‘What are you going on about?’ Holly looks confused.

  ‘Oh . . .’ I forgot she didn’t know I’d been out with them. I explain. ‘Luis took me for lunch with the sponsors and Catalina was there. Ooh, she was such a bitch!’

  ‘Was she?’ Holly perks up.

  ‘Yes.’ I tell her what she said to me and then hesitate before remembering Luis’s words about my lack of honesty. ‘Actually, Holly, there’s something else I haven’t told you.’

  ‘Oh, really?’ She looks intrigued.

  ‘It’s about my family.’

  ‘Right. . .’

  I sigh and spill the beans. Several ‘Oh my Gods’ and ‘Holy shits’ later, I finally get to the story about my dad being a shareholder in Norm’s company. Holly claps her hand over her mouth at the start, but is squealing with hilarity by the end. Surely it’s only a matter of time before the people in the next room complain.

  ‘How did Luis know about your family?’ she asks when she’s finally calmed down.

  Do I really have the energy for all of this today? No, but what the hell . . . I take a deep breath and tell her about Johnny. Nothing that would break the terms of my confidentially agreement, just the bare basics, that I worked for him and, yes, that I fell in love with him. I know my secret is safe with her.

  She’s dumbfounded by the end of my story. She shakes her head at me with awe. ‘God, you really are full of surprises. How did you keep all that to yourself?’

  ‘With difficulty.’

  She pulls a face. ‘And Luis knows everything?’

  I nod.

  ‘And he didn’t say anything to anyone?’

  ‘No. I’m telling you, he’s not a gossip. I trust him.’

  ‘You’ve said that to me before. And why is it you don’t want to get into his pants, exactly?’

  ‘Holly!’ Her comment takes me by surprise. ‘I just don’t!’

  She gives me a wry look.

  ‘Jesus, will everyone please stop going on about how much I should be with Luis!’

  ‘Who else is going on about it?’

  ‘My nonna. She’s thinks he’s better suited to me than Will was.’

  My heart clenches. It’s funny how sometimes I can say Will’s name so easily without thinking about him, but other times reality will hit me, and the pain does, too. It’s been almost three months and while the grief is definitely lessening, it often still hurts like he died only yesterday.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Holly sees my face.

  ‘I’m just tired. I don’t know how I’m going to work tonight.’

  ‘Shit! What’s the time?’

  I glance at my watch. ‘Car will be here in twenty.’

  ‘Bollocks.’ She leaps off the bed and ru
shes through to the bathroom. I hear the tap turn on and assume she’s splashing her face with cold water to tone down the redness.

  I change into my team uniform and she emerges a short while later.

  ‘Ready?’

  ‘As I’ll ever be.’

  It feels surreal going to work late in the afternoon like this. I barely see anyone from lunchtime during qualifying – I don’t know if they’re avoiding me or if it’s just a coincidence, but I’m relieved nonetheless. Holly and I watch from the pits as Luis swipes pole position before Kit Bryson, who’s now leading the championship, takes it back from him. The team is in high spirits regardless, because Luis is still on the front row of the grid.

  Now it’s race day – or should that be, race night – and I’m back in the pits again for the start. The track is floodlit so it almost replicates daylight conditions to make it less dangerous for the drivers. With the city’s stunning skyline and a view of the Singapore Flyer Ferris wheel glowing blue, purple and yellow in the background, the atmosphere here is electric.

  Luis was sitting on a table at the back of the garage when Holly and I arrived. His car was already on the grid, but he seemed in no rush to get out there. I was about to go and talk to him, but his expression was so serious and determined, I was worried I might distract him. Then he got up, pulled white earphones from his ears and stalked out of the garage to the pit wall. I had no idea he was listening to music. Now I’m wondering if he does so before every race, to psyche himself up. I was always so sidetracked with Will in the past, I never paid Luis that much attention.

  He has a fantastic start, overtaking Kit Bryson before the first corner and immediately putting some distance between him and the rest of the pack. But when, a third of the race later, he has to come in for a pit stop, something goes wrong with the fuel rig. It doesn’t detach from the car properly and Luis pulls away, dragging poor Dan with him. Luis stops a split-second later when he realises something’s wrong, and luckily Dan is unharmed, because mechanics in the past have broken their arms in similar situations. It soon transpires that the accident has relegated Luis down to fourth. What follows is one of the most tense and exciting races I’ve ever witnessed. In fact, if I weren’t so rooted to the spot, I’d be quite happy to watch on the big screen in the hospitality area so I could hear what the commentators are saying. One by one, Luis outbreaks Antonio Aranda and Nils Broden in front of him. The next pit stop goes perfectly and soon he’s right behind Kit Bryson again.