The Love Resort

by Faith Bleasdale

‘I’m not drunk, am I?’ Tim asked. ‘Or am I dreaming? I mean, this might be one of those really unusual dreams I have where I’m locked away with you guys and two famous people. Really, my imagination—’

  ‘Why are you here?’ Jimmy cut Tim off.

  ‘We don’t know. We thought it was to talk,’ Katie said, sounding confused.

  ‘To us?’ Tim asked.

  ‘No, each other. We have no idea who you are,’ Todd pointed out.

  ‘Then we have a head start. Let me introduce everyone to you.’

  *

  ‘My God, that’s some story,’ Todd said. Sitting down on the floor, he pulled a crate next to him and gestured to Katie to sit with him. She was hesitant but as she was terrified she obliged.

  ‘Do you think we’ve been kidnapped?’ Thea asked.

  ‘Isn’t that a bit overdramatic?’ Katie said; Todd hoped it was.

  ‘We are talking about Anne-Marie Langdale. They invented the word “overdramatic” for that woman.’

  ‘If she has kidnapped us, then we could sue her,’ Tim said.

  ‘If we ever get out,’ Todd pointed out.

  ‘Todd, do you mind if I call you Todd?’ Todd shook his head at Tim. ‘We told you all about us, but, well, why are you here, exactly?’

  Todd sighed. How on earth would he explain things to these strangers? He looked at Katie, who was looking resolutely away from him.

  *

  ‘There’s no sign of Todd and Katie. Mary is hysterical. She’s told Erik that they’re missing so I had to pacify him and make sure he doesn’t go round blabbing. She said that Anne-Marie arrived, sent her to get breakfast, and when she got back there was no sign of them,’ Lily said. Panic was spreading; something was very wrong.

  ‘The competition winners didn’t answer their phones. I went to the rooms to find them open and empty,’ Abigail stated, as André nodded.

  ‘OK, did they take their stuff?’

  ‘Didn’t seem to have, although it was quite messy.’

  ‘Todd and Katie?’

  ‘No, nothing appeared to be missing there.’

  ‘Anne-Marie is not at home. No one has seen her either.’

  ‘What should we do?’

  Ed stood up and walked in front of his desk. ‘Lily, call their publicist and see if she’s heard anything. Abigail, you and André go and wait at the house. I’m going to get security, to see if they know anything.’

  Lily almost buckled. He was so sexy when he was in command.

  *

  Anne-Marie hid behind a bush. She had a pair of binoculars on her, trained on the bungalow. If they did manage to escape, she’d be the first to know. She would stay here for as long as it took, because she wasn’t going to let them out until their flights arrived. She thought about letting Todd and Katie go because they could order their private jet any time, but decided against it. She didn’t feel that that would punish them adequately. But this would, she thought, looking for any movement. All the awful, nasty people, shut away together. That would teach them to mess with her and her resort. She laughed manically as she congratulated herself once more.

  25

  Complaints

  We do not anticipate that you will have any complaints* about your stay at The Love Resort, but in the rare cases that you do, then please put them in writing to Lily Bailey, PR manager.

  Your stay has to be perfect for us to be happy, and if you feel that it isn’t, we will put it right for you straight away.

  Guest Handbook

  *All complaints will be evaluated. However, please ensure that they are of a reasonable nature.

  *

  Ed, Lily and Abigail sat in the office.

  ‘We’ve searched everywhere we can think of.’

  ‘Are we going to alert anyone?’

  ‘It’s too risky. Obviously I have to call Harriet, but apart from that, we need to keep it between us at the moment.’

  ‘What about Mary?’ Abigail asked.

  ‘We’ll have to keep an eye on her. We’re moving her to the house, where we’ll be based. If Anne-Marie shows up, it’ll be there,’ Lily explained.

  It had been a hellish morning. She picked up the phone, and dialled.

  ‘Harriet.’

  ‘Hi, Harriet, it’s Lily.’ Lily braced herself; Ed shot her a reassuring look.

  ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘Well, we sort of have a problem...’

  ‘Ed, I need to ask you something,’ Abigail beckoned Ed to the other side of the room, while Lily continued her conversation.

  ‘Go on,’ Ed said.

  ‘I want to leave. It’s been, well, it’s been interesting, but I know I’m not getting my book anytime soon, so I have to go and deal with the fallout from that. I also need to tell Philip about André. Actually, I’m taking him with me.’

  ‘But all the flights are full—we checked,’ Ed said, suddenly wanting Abigail to stay.

  ‘Darling, you obviously only checked economy. I have two first-class tickets to London this afternoon.’

  ‘Of course I did—old habits die hard,’ Ed laughed. ‘But I don’t know how we would have coped without you,’ he added graciously.

  ‘I think I owed you. Ed, I am sorry. Sorry I thought it would be a good idea for you to marry her; sorry that I treated you like you were, well, the hired help. I was such a bitch.’

  ‘I think you’re forgiven, and actually I now think I owe you.’

  ‘Well, I have my reward. I have André.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Lily asked, as she made her way over to them.

  ‘Abigail’s leaving us.’

  ‘Yes, Anne-Marie’s novel isn’t everything. My stay here, and meeting André, has shown me that. Besides, I have another idea up my sleeve. By the way, how did the phone call go?’

  ‘Just as expected. Harriet called me “fucking incompetent”, and told me that if I didn’t find her film stars I would be hung, drawn and quartered.’

  ‘Nice,’ Abigail said sympathetically.

  ‘Yeah, well, I knew that she’d respond like that; when she tells her boss he’ll say the same to her. Anyway, after all the swearing and shouting and threats, she told me she’s coming over and she said she was going to bring Todd’s brother. I asked her not to, but she hung up on me.’

  ‘Ouch.’ Ed took her hand.

  ‘Can you imagine? He’ll blame us too. Maybe we should leave with Abigail.’

  ‘Don’t tempt me.’ But they knew they weren’t going anywhere.

  Later, Ed, Lily and Mary sat at the house; all calls from the office had been diverted there. Senior management had been made aware that there was something wrong, even if details had been kept deliberately vague.

  ‘I should have been with her. I could have stopped whatever it was she’s done.’

  ‘She went out.’

  ‘I know, but I should have followed her. We knew that she wasn’t coping.’

  ‘And you were with me.’

  ‘Which is where I wanted to be, sweetheart, it’s just that I can’t help feeling that I could have prevented this, somehow.’

  ‘You two as well?’ Mary asked, wide-eyed. ‘There is just too much loving going on in this Love Resort.’

  *

  Anne-Marie was pleased with herself. Her plan had worked, it seemed. Half an hour and no sign of anyone breaking out. Of course they couldn’t get out; she had them just where she wanted them. She smiled at the warm sun, as she congratulated herself, once again, on her genius. She didn’t need anyone else. She could completely rely on herself. It was time she took control. She’d let Abigail control her for so long, Abigail told her what to do and she did it. Well, Abigail could go to hell. In fact, she was sure that that was exactly where the treacherous, adulterous, bitch would be going.

  She sat down for a moment. It was hot and she was tired from her nearly sleepless night. Then she lay down, and before she knew it, binoculars clutched to her chest, she fell asleep.

  *

/>   ‘We don’t know why we’re here. We were just on our honeymoon, that’s all,’ Todd lied.

  ‘You’ve been staying here all this time? And we didn’t know.’ Thea looked incredulous.

  ‘We had a secluded villa. The only day we went to the main resort was when we had a magazine shoot. I don’t know where you guys were.’

  ‘Oh, that must have been the day we did the island tour,’ Jimmy said, realising that that was the reason they’d been kept out of the way.

  ‘It’s incredible,’ Thea started, ‘that you are locked in here with us. I can’t believe she’d do that to you.’

  ‘That’s if you believe Todd,’ Katie stormed.

  ‘Katie...’ Todd warned.

  ‘What, Todd? What? Do you think we’ll keep this quiet? When the Studio finds out what’s happened they’ll be after your blood. And I am going to be the one who ends up humiliated.’

  ‘You’ll end up humiliated? Well, I’ll be the villain.’ Todd looked at her, and then at the six faces that were watching them with interest.

  ‘And you are! Todd, you slept with another man while we were on our honeymoon.’

  ‘Katie, please don’t.’ That was all hope of keeping it between them out of the barred and locked window.

  ‘Huh?’ Tim leant forward.

  ‘What? Don’t tell these people how my husband is gay?’

  A gasp rang round the room.

  ‘I was gay before I was your husband. Christ, Katie, you knew that, you knew I was gay and the wedding was a studio stunt to keep everyone fooled. You agreed. You married me because they told you to. They offered you a lead role in my next movie on the basis. That’s why you married me.’

  ‘No, Todd. No, I married you because I love you.’

  ‘How could you love me? You don’t even know me. Even when we were fake dating we had people with us at all times. We never even had a conversation until after the wedding. And then it was you trying to convert me to heterosexualism and me telling you that it couldn’t be done.’

  ‘I loved you.’

  ‘Katie, the only person you’ve ever loved is yourself.’

  Katie got up off her crate, Todd stood up too. ‘You are a fucking bastard. A fucking gay bastard.’ She pulled her hand back and slapped him.

  ‘And you knew all that before you married me,’ he spat, rubbing his cheek.

  ‘Is this for real,’ Lee asked, ‘or is this part of our challenge?’

  ‘Will you stop going on about the fucking challenge? There is no challenge. We’re locked up here because we’ve all upset the owner. Now, while all this is entertaining, I, for one, intend to find a way out.’ Tim stood up and began to try the door.

  Todd, glaring at Katie, went to help him.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Thea asked, approaching Katie.

  ‘It’s such a mess. Look at us. Big movie stars locked in a dirty house with you.’ She looked disdainful.

  ‘Well, at least people will probably be looking for you. Won’t they?’

  ‘Oh God, I hope so, I really do. Will we starve to death?’

  ‘She left us food.’

  Thea, Carla and Katie went to the kitchen and surveyed what they had. The dusty white counter housed enough food for a couple of days, but nothing beyond that. Resigning themselves to their fate, they began to put things away.

  ‘Jimmy, you’re a mechanic, aren’t you?’ Tim asked, his door examination proving fruitless.

  ‘Yes.’ He went to join them.

  ‘Well, you must know something about all this stuff.’

  ‘I know about cars, Tim.’

  ‘Well, cars have doors, don’t they?’

  ‘Not normally with big deadlocks attached.’

  ‘What about the windows?’

  ‘I checked them earlier; they’ve got heavy-duty locks on them too.’

  ‘Shit. Todd, was all that for real?’ Tim asked.

  ‘I’m afraid so. Katie, and Anne-Marie and her entourage caught me with another man in the beach shack.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’

  ‘No. And you all know now so it’ll only be a matter of time before the press finds out.’

  ‘Oh, I shouldn’t think we’d sell the story. Although you never know. It’s a good one and must be worth a fortune.’

  ‘Thanks, Tim.’ Todd smiled despite himself. The press would love this. If he was ever going to come out, then that would be coming out with a bang.

  ‘Lee, are we going to be all right?’ Emily asked, snuggling into him.

  ‘I don’t know, but my guess is that if Thea is right and we’re kidnapped, then we’ll be let out in time to get our flight.’

  ‘But that’s not for days.’

  ‘Well, that is the worst-case scenario. Look, I’m going to help the guys to see if we can escape. Why don’t you go and help the girls?’

  ‘Because they hate me.’

  ‘Emily, if we are really stuck here, now is a good time to try to make friends. I’m going to do that with Jimmy.’

  ‘I guess so.’

  ‘Don’t start being petulant. For once there are more important things at stake.’

  Emily kissed him and went to the kitchen.

  ‘This isn’t going to last us very long,’ Carla was saying, as they stood back and stared at the food on the counter.

  ‘It’s all going to go off in a few days,’ Thea pointed out.

  ‘That could be a good thing. It could mean that we’re not going to be here long,’ Emily chipped in as she approached them. Carla glared at her, and then relented.

  ‘Let’s hope you’re right.’

  ‘What do you suggest?’ Katie asked.

  ‘We don’t even have a fridge.’ They looked at each other in defeat.

  ‘That’s some story, Katie, you know—you and Todd,’ Thea said. She had stopped being star struck. After all, they were all locked up together, and to be in awe seemed stupid, especially after what they’d heard. It was so surreal: Thea wanted to be an actress and here she was with Hollywood royalty, in a dirty house in the Caribbean. She could barely believe it; she wasn’t sure that she did.

  ‘I know.’ Katie sounded sad.

  ‘You really loved him?’

  ‘He’s right, I didn’t really know him. But I loved Todd Cortes.’

  ‘Oh my God, who doesn’t?’ Thea laughed, and then added, ‘You’re not the only one who is disappointed that he’s gay. Not by a long shot.’

  ‘No, women all over the world will be weeping when they find out.’ Katie managed an uneasy laugh.

  ‘Which you think they will?’ Carla asked.

  ‘We can’t live a lie. It’s just a case of how much this will finish us. The Studio will drop us both, and the public will hate us for lying.’

  Thea couldn’t think of anything reassuring to say.

  *

  ‘I—and these men can vouch for it—am very good at escaping,’ Tim announced, puffing his chest out proudly.

  ‘Really?’ Todd was amused by this funny blonde British guy. In fact, he thought they made a really odd group. After the stories they told, he wondered why they hadn’t killed each other, although according to Tim they had tried. Jimmy was stiff, he moved a bit like a robot, but Todd guessed he was still a bit shocked by losing his woman to Lee. Lee had that sort of confidence that was attractive, almost cocky, but not quite. He was more composed than Jimmy, who Todd really felt sorry for. He looked as if he was holding all his emotions in, and would burst at any minute. Tim was just completely mad, and he guessed that Tim’s devil-may-care attitude had brought about their all being here.

  ‘Oh, yes. You see this isn’t the first time that Anne-Marie Langdale tried to incarcerate us.’

  ‘It isn’t?’

  ‘No, and last time we escaped.’

  ‘How?’ Todd thought maybe Tim was some sort of expert and he began to hope.

  ‘The last time we escaped, Tim, the doors were unlocked,’ Jimmy pointed out.

  ‘Oh, th
at’s just a detail. Now, let’s think. We definitely can’t get out of the door or the windows. So, I think that maybe we need to look at other ways.’

  ‘Hell, Tim, you’re a genius,’ Lee snapped. ‘Have you got any idea what these other ways are?’

  Todd looked around him. There was no way out.

  ‘I need time to think. Jimmy, are you sure you can’t break these locks?’ Tim asked.

  ‘Do we have any tools?’ Jimmy asked.

  ‘Good point, search the place for tools. There might be something lying around.’ Tim sounded hopeful.

  *

  ‘So we have a nail—which technically, Lee, I don’t think is a tool—a very small screwdriver and some sort of grippy thing,’ said Tim. He, Lee, Jimmy and Todd stood staring at their bounty as if it would suddenly become useful.

  ‘That’s a spanner,’ Jimmy pointed out.

  ‘So, can we do anything with this?’ Todd asked.

  ‘We could put up a picture, unscrew the bathroom cabinet and take some bolts off,’ Jimmy said grimly. ‘We can’t use these on the locks, it’d be hopeless.’

  ‘I hate to be defeatist, but I don’t think escape is an option,’ Lee said.

  ‘Then what do we do? Just accept things?’ Jimmy was getting slightly hysterical; Lee resisted the urge to take hold of him.

  ‘Jimmy, I think we have to. All we can do is hope that she comes back to let us out soon.’

  ‘We can’t stay here.’ Tim had a demonic look in his eyes. ‘We have to get out.’ Then he stopped, thought and smiled. ‘I mean, there’s only one bedroom, no bed, where on earth are we expected to sleep?’

  ‘This water isn’t going to last us very long,’ Katie said.

  ‘There’s sixteen bottles. Eight of us. Two bottles each.’

  ‘That’s only enough for one day.’

  ‘You drink two bottles of water a day?’ Emily was shocked.

  ‘Yes, of course. For my skin.’ She glared at Emily. ‘So she can’t be planning on leaving us for longer than that. Anne-Marie Langdale is the sort of woman who knows the value of water for the complexion.’ Katie smiled smugly. She snatched one of the bottles, opened it and drank thirstily.

  ‘Don’t you think we should conserve it, just in case?’ Emily asked unsurely.

  Katie shot her her best withering look. ‘Do what you want. I really don’t care.’ She took the bottle into the living room, and with all the grace she could muster, she sat herself on a wooden crate and tried to look like the star she was.