The Love Resort

by Faith Bleasdale

  ‘I’m glad you didn’t have to go,’ Patricia said.

  ‘And leave your fine company?’ He was all smiles again. ‘Not when we were just getting acquainted.’

  Carla’s eyes were wide as she noticed that Tim’s hand was on Patricia’s leg. She felt sick and looked at Jimmy. She then saw Patricia curling her hair around her fingers, and pouting provocatively.

  ‘Perhaps it’s time to call it a night,’ Jimmy said quickly. Without a word, Lee and Emily stood up and followed them out.

  ‘You go, I’m staying,’ Tim said, barely glancing at them.

  ‘That was weird,’ Lee said, shocked.

  ‘What on earth is he doing?’ Carla asked.

  ‘As if anyone would want her when they had Thea,’ Lee continued, and Emily took a sharp intake of breath.

  ‘Oh, look, Thea’s over there,’ Carla said, pointing to a love seat. She moved towards her, Jimmy hot on her heels.

  *

  ‘You know that we could be in big trouble,’ Lily said as she and Ed made their way towards the bar.

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I hope they’ve been behaving themselves.’

  ‘You know, Lily, I don’t care if they haven’t. Anne-Marie has had us doing her dirty work for her for far too long. If they’ve caused trouble tonight, then good.’

  ‘But we’ll get the blame.’

  ‘She can’t hurt us. She can shout or scream but she can’t change the way I feel about you.’

  ‘Still, it was a bit bad that we fell asleep. Shall we go and check that everything’s OK?’

  ‘Sure, if we must.’ Ed took Lily’s hand and led her towards the entertainment hall. Despite all his bravado, he knew that they would have to tell Anne-Marie something about how the competition winners had spent the evening.

  ‘Shit, isn’t that Lee and Emily?’ Lily asked. Ed nodded. They crept closer, but also stayed out of sight.

  ‘Wait,’ Lee was saying, as Emily started to go after the others.

  ‘Why, so you can tell me who else you fancy?’ Ed and Lily looked at each other in the darkness. Ed felt a sinking feeling; this wasn’t what they were hoping for.

  ‘Emily, don’t. I don’t fancy Thea.’

  ‘It didn’t sound like it.’

  ‘Oh, listen, I was making a valid comment. There’s only one girl for me.’

  ‘Carla?’ Emily almost screamed.

  ‘You know full well it isn’t her.’

  ‘Holy shit,’ Lily whispered.

  ‘I’ve wanted to do that from the moment I saw you,’ Lee said, after he’d kissed her.

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘But this is wrong.’

  ‘I know. But it feels right.’

  ‘Oh, shit, what now?’

  ‘Please don’t make me go back to Jimmy.’

  ‘Well, what else can we do?’

  ‘Let’s go to the hammock and spend a bit more time together. Please.’

  ‘OK, but then we have to go back to our rooms.’

  ‘I know.’ They kissed again, before walking off.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Ed asked Lily, as the sound of Lee and Emily’s footsteps faded.

  ‘To the hammock to drag them back to their rooms. If Anne-Marie finds out, she’ll kill them. And us.’

  ‘Lily, let’s leave them to it.’

  ‘But Anne-Marie...?’

  ‘Forget about her. Look, let’s think about us and let those kids do what they want. Never interfere in love.’

  ‘More like lust, if you ask me.’

  ‘That either.’ He winked. He didn’t have the energy to chase them round the resort and he didn’t care what his wife thought. ‘Come on, let’s go back to yours.’

  ‘Thea.’ Carla and Jimmy stood in front of her.

  ‘He’s a fucking shit,’ Thea said, wiping her eyes.

  ‘He’s drunk,’ Carla replied. ‘I’m sure that’s all it is.’ But she wasn’t so sure. Thea looked distraught and she had no idea how to deal with it.

  ‘He’s always drunk.’

  ‘Can we do anything? Jimmy asked, but Thea shook her head. Will you walk me back to my room?’ she asked tearfully. They nodded.

  Expecting Lee and Emily to be behind them, Carla turned round. She looked at Jimmy, as the penny seemed to drop.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Jimmy said, and took Thea’s arm. Carla followed in silence.

  ‘I feel like such an idiot,’ Thea said, as they reached her door.

  ‘Don’t. You’re not the idiot here,’ Jimmy said.

  ‘Not by a long shot,’ Carla added sadly.

  *

  ‘Should we go back to the bar and look for them?’ Jimmy suggested, once Thea was safely in her room. Carla nodded.

  They walked into the bar, and then stopped.

  ‘Shit,’ Jimmy said.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Carla agreed.

  The barman was dancing around screaming at Tim and the American woman, who were lying on the floor kissing. ‘I need to close up,’ he said, over and over.

  ‘Tim, mate, you’ve got to leave,’ Jimmy said tentatively, interrupting them.

  ‘What? Oh, hello, Jimmy. What did you say?’

  ‘The barman needs to leave,’ Carla repeated sternly.

  ‘Oh, bloody hell, does no one know how to have a good time in this place?’ Tim said.

  ‘You do,’ Patricia replied.

  Tim stood and pulled her up by her hand. ‘Give me two bottles of wine and I’ll go.’ The barman, looking totally out of his depth, did so. ‘Come on. Let’s go and make our own fun.’

  Carla and Jimmy watched, horrified, as they left together. For a fleeting second they’d forgotten about their own partners.

  He turned to Carla. ‘It’s all going wrong,’ he said.

  ‘Seems so.’ She had tears in her eyes.

  ‘Shall we look for them?’ Jimmy felt so lost.

  ‘I hate to say it, but it’s obvious that they’re together.’

  ‘And they’ve made utter fools out of us.’

  20

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  *

  The phone rang. Ed leant over and snatched it up, at the same time looking at the clock and seeing that it was only six in the morning. As he listened, he realised that perhaps Lily was right, and they should have put a stop to it.

  ‘Who the hell was that?’ Anne-Marie, wearing a pink eye mask, demanded.

  ‘That was Security.’

  ‘Why are they calling this early? Do they not know I need my sleep?’

  ‘Anne-Marie, there’s a huge problem.’ Ed was already out of bed, and feeling responsible.

  ‘You’d better tell me.’ Anne-Marie pulled her mask off and sat up.

  Ed explained while they dressed hurriedly, then made their way out. Anne-Marie strode purposefully; Ed held on to her arm. It was unusual for them to have any physical contact but she was so angry he felt he needed to support her. Probably because he knew that he could have prevented the latest debacle.

  They came upon a crowd of about ten couples, all standing and staring. Anne-Marie screeched and pushed her way through. Then she screamed. Ed covered his ears. Anne-Marie’s scream seemed to have woken the sleeping pair, who sat up and looked mortified. Anne-Marie turned to the audi
ence, switching on her sickly sweet smile.

  ‘I do apologise for this,’ she said. ‘I will make it up to you.’

  With that she grabbed Lee, pulled him out of the hammock, threw Emily’s clothes at her and ordered Ed to bring the two competition winners into the office, before stalking off. The guests who were watching hadn’t moved—seemed unable to move—and they stayed rooted to the spot, as she walked away.

  Ed had to listen to weak apologies and Emily’s familiar tears as he marched Lee and Emily up to the office.

  ‘You have to believe I’m sorry,’ Emily cried.

  ‘Save it for my wife.’

  Ed and Anne-Marie stood in the office. Lee and Emily faced them.

  ‘Would you like to explain yourselves?’ Anne-Marie asked frostily. Lee opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Emily burst into tears.

  ‘Well, those tears are very touching, Emily. But I am still waiting for an explanation.’ Anne-Marie glared at Emily, who stopped crying. ‘I know,’ Anne-Marie continued. ‘Let’s start with you, Lee.’

  Lee stared at Anne-Marie, but didn’t speak.

  ‘Well, as you both seem to be maintaining your silence, perhaps I should tell you?’ Anne-Marie’s eyes flared with anger.

  ‘Well, you see—’ Lee started.

  ‘Shut up. By the time Ed and I got down to the hammock, you’d attracted quite a crowd. At the resort, there are a few people who like to breakfast early, but after seeing you two, I’m sure they lost their appetites.’

  ‘Ed, have you called Lily?’ Anne-Marie shrilled.

  Ed nodded.

  *

  Summoned to the office Lily had no time to shower before she threw on her clothes and made her way there. She knew that Lee and Emily had been caught and couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about it.

  En route, she heard a shout, a squeal and a bang. She rushed to the bungalow it had come from.

  Tim was lying on the terrace outside, half-naked. A male guest was towering over him his arm drawn back ready to punch, and a female guest, also half-naked, was trying to restrain him.

  ‘Mr and Mrs Greyton, what’s happened?’ Lily gasped, coming up the steps.

  ‘Well, I just happened to get up this morning to find my wife’s side of the bed empty,’ Anthony Greyton said angrily. ‘So, I pulled on my clothes and went to find her. Well, I can tell you, I didn’t have far to go. I just came out on to the terrace to see them, there, on the sun-lounger, asleep together.’

  ‘Oh my God!’ Lily was genuinely horrified.

  ‘So, I picked my wife off, and hit this British upstart.’

  ‘Anthony, he’s related to royalty,’ Patricia cried.

  ‘I don’t care if he’s heir to the throne. He’s a shit and I should kill him.’

  Lily looked at each of them. Tim was rubbing his eye, which was beginning to show a bruise. Mrs Greyton was still not fully dressed, which was a little unnerving, and the couple next door had come out of their bungalow to see what was going on. Lily, thinking quickly, ushered the miscreants inside. She managed to get them to put their clothes on and, reassuring Mr Greyton that the matter would be dealt with, she marched Tim up to the office.

  ‘What’s he doing here?’ Anne-Marie demanded, when Lily pushed him in.

  ‘Ed, Anne-Marie, can I talk to you outside?’

  The three of them stood outside the office, each telling their story.

  Anne-Marie almost had steam coming out of her ears.

  *

  ‘So, Timothy, what do you have to say for yourself?’

  ‘Well, I can see how it might look quite bad.’ Ed fought the urge to find Tim amusing; after all, Thea wouldn’t.

  ‘Yes, quite bad,’ Anne-Marie concurred. ‘In fact, I’m finding it hard to think of how your behaviour could be worse.’

  ‘Well, you see—’

  ‘Shut up!’ Tim jumped. ‘I just don’t know what to do with you,’ Anne-Marie said, and began pacing.

  ‘The magazine,’ Lily reminded her, and Anne-Marie looked even angrier.

  ‘They’ll be here in just under two hours. By that time, I need to know that you and your abandoned partners are out of the way.’

  ‘What magazine?’ Tim asked.

  ‘Shut up. I cannot risk them being anywhere near the resort while I have such an important day,’ Anne-Marie fretted.

  ‘I can take them,’ Ed offered.

  ‘Take them where?’ Lily asked.

  ‘OK, here’s what we do. Lily, go and organise a mini-bus and a driver. Then get someone to pacify all the guests who witnessed any of this and, of course, Mr and Mrs Greyton. I will take these three, with their partners, out of the resort for the day. It will be the most uncomfortable day of your lives, of course.’

  ‘Oh, Ed, thank you.’ For once, Anne-Marie’s tone was of genuine gratitude.

  ‘You’re welcome. I’ll bring them back at six when everyone will be gone. Lily, see how much damage limitation you can do before the magazine people arrive and, if need be, appoint someone else to take over when you and Anne-Marie are tied up.’

  ‘Of course, Ed,’ Lily agreed.

  ‘As my husband said, it will be the most uncomfortable day for you, cooped up in a mini-bus with your real partners. I’m sure that will be a good start to your punishment.’ Anne-Marie widened her eyes.

  ‘Punishment? We’re not children,’ Tim said.

  ‘Well, you have all behaved like children. What will Thea, your girlfriend, say Tim?’ Anne-Marie demanded, as she descended, stabbing a finger at him.

  ‘Oh, Thea isn’t my girlfriend,’ Tim replied.

  *

  Carla woke to a banging noise. She thought it was in her head, then she realised it was the door. Slowly she got up and opened it. Ed and Lee stood outside—Ed with a kind and sympathetic expression and Lee looking sheepish.

  ‘You’ve got half an hour,’ Ed said, pushing Lee through the door.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what’s going on?’ Carla asked calmly. She had been so out of it last night that she’d passed out and hadn’t noticed that Lee was absent from her bed until he’d appeared at the door. Her tears had acted as a major sleeping pill.

  ‘It’s Emily.’

  ‘Really?’ The sarcasm dripped from her voice.

  ‘Yes, we got caught.’ Lee at least had the decency to be embarrassed.

  ‘Why her?’ Carla demanded. She had so much she wanted to say, and so many questions she wanted to ask, but that was the first one.

  ‘I don’t know. For some reason she’s different.’ Lee sat on the bed and sighed. ‘When I first met her, I fancied her, right, but then I fancied Thea too, because she’s a looker.’

  ‘Charming.’

  ‘Do you want to hear this or not?’

  Carla looked at him. Did she? No. But she knew that she needed to.

  ‘At first, I disliked the way she treated Jimmy, and the way she was this demanding princess, but I told her that near the beginning of the holiday and she had looked crestfallen. Since then, the attraction grew. Now I can’t get her out of my head.’

  ‘How lovely.’

  ‘And there’s something else,’ Lee said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Tim and Thea aren’t a real couple either.’

  His words were almost enough to shock her into silence. But then she remembered what being a fake couple on this holiday meant.

  ‘So, I take it that our holiday is in jeopardy now—not that it’s been a ball anyway?’ She started pacing. ‘Well, are you going to say anything at all?’

  ‘Carla, you’re a mate. I know what I did was wrong, but technically I don’t think it was.’ He cringed as he finished, as if anticipating her response.

  ‘Technically speaking, of course, you are single. However, let’s just get past the bullshit, shall we? Emily isn’t single. In fact you might just have managed to be responsible for the shortest engagement of all time. And then there’s me. Well, I’m just a mate, sure I am, but
that doesn’t mean that you have the right to disrespect me at all times. You have humiliated me with your comments, and now with your actions. They think we’re a couple and unless we come clean, then they think you cheated on me. Which doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you have fucking well let me down. You’ve used me for the last three years. Oh fuck it, what the hell was I thinking?’

  ‘What?’ Lee was backing against the wall as she advanced, eyes blazing.

  ‘I devoted so much time to you, to loving you. I didn’t ever think of myself, I thought only of you. This holiday, everything. But you know what, Lee? That wasn’t your fault—oh, no, it was mine. But I’ve had my epiphany now. I’ve seen the error of my ways.’ She stood close to him; she could feel his breath quickening. ‘I have been a major fool, but you know what? You’ve been an even bigger one. Because you knew how I felt and you let me. You knew I’d do anything for you and you let me. You say I’m a friend, but I’m not, because you probably treat a piece of shit better than you’ve treated me.’

  ‘Carla, I didn’t know,’ he’d protested.

  ‘You did. You just chose not to.’ She knew that was true. Lee, the first man she’d slept with. When she met him at university, at one of the student bars, she had been instantly smitten. She gave him her virginity, but when he said that night was a one-off, she had devoted her whole time there to changing his mind. This holiday, the whole reason she’d entered the stupid competition, was for that end. The Love Resort was supposed to make him see how he was really in love with her, not someone else.

  Oh God, she knew that he wasn’t the one to blame here. It was her. Her stupidity. Her devotion to a man who it was clear only wanted her as a friend. She had seen it yesterday at the magazine interview, but she’d pushed it back, and now the truth was staring her in the face and it wasn’t Lee she hated. It was herself.

  As she started to cry quietly, he apologised and admitted that yes, he did know she was in love with him, and then he apologised some more. Then he told her about the bus trip.

  *

  Jimmy had vowed not to cry. He was hurting more than he ever thought possible, he was confused and angry, but he wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of seeing him cry. Less than twenty-four hours ago he thought he was going to marry her and now he wanted to kill her.