Pirates' Lair

by Jane Corrie

  In the end, Thea had said something about her making a point of doing the rounds before she had looked for employment, but had no objection to going anywhere that Pauline thought would make a nice afternoon out, and Pauline had suggested a visit to the Mountain Top Hotel that sat high on the hill overlooking the beautiful Magens Bay, and from there to a laze on the beach.

  Wearing comfortable jeans and a light cotton top, Thea stood beside Pauline, similarly dressed, and

  looked out at the magnificent view spread out before them on the balcony of the Mountain View hotel. In the hazy distance could be seen the vague shapes of the British Virgin Islands, and Pauline mentioned this as they gazed out over the greeny-blue waters of the bay, purplish coloured at the edges in the far distance, denoting reefs of coral. The arms of the island that formed the bay were clothed in verdant green and looked like virgin forest land, and it was hard to imagine that the island was in fact as small as it was, for there were other bays further along the coastline, all with the same golden beaches that lured one away from the towns.

  While they sipped at their banana daiquiris, the hotel speciality, Pauline recounted a tale of how one of their guests had unwisely refused to listen to the local advice on the strength of the delicious drink and had even made a bet with his fellow tourists on the amount he could consume without side effects. The result of this and his subsequent actions back at the hotel, which included among other things a solo performance of the dance of the seven veils, minus the veils, in the hotel dining room, had not unnaturally alarmed a few of the more timorous guests, and caused a few others to seriously consider signing the pledge!

  These little amusing anecdotes helped Thea to forget her previous visit there with Marcus, for she had keenly felt his absence while she had stood gazing out across the lovely bay, hearing once again his strong deep voice recounting the past when piracy was in its heyday, and the island provided a haven for such awesome characters as Bluebeard, Captain Kidd, and Captain Henry Morgan, to

  name but a few of the men who had once struck terror in the hearts of those unfortunate enough to be waylaid on the high seas.

  This had invariably invoked other memories, for she had recalled Michael's quip of being in 'pirate country' and had made her wish that she had stayed back at the hotel, or suggested somewhere else that they could go, but her low spirits had soon been dispelled by Pauline's vivacious chatter.

  So the second week passed by pleasantly enough, and she was looking forward to a change of shift the following week when she would be on duty from two until ten. The late evening shift was taken over by the hotel porters who combined the checking in of guests and the carrying of luggage to the appointed rooms with no great difficulty, since few guests arrived during that period.

  Pauline, however, was not so thrilled at the prospect of working until ten, for her John was still on leave, and would be until the end of the week. That, she had said, was the only complaint she had against the job, but you couldn't have everything, and considering the fact that this was only the second time in six months that her duties had clashed with John's off period, she didn't really have a complaint. She would be seeing him anyway in a fortnight's time.

  Thea found that she enjoyed the afternoon shift better than the morning one, for apart from the fact that her evenings were taken care of, and the loneliness, not to mention her longing for Marcus's company, there was much more activity in the hotel lobby.

  Around eight-thirty and onwards, the lobby

  would be crowded with guests waiting to be picked up by taxis, either going on an evening tour of the island's night spots, or to a private dinner and dance.

  The women were invariably dressed in evening wear, the dresses of various styles and colours giving the select and rather formal reception area an entirely new look that was refreshingly exhilarating to Thea, and by the end of the week she was seriously considering asking to be put on the afternoon shift permanently, as it would solve quite a few of her problems. There would be no broken dates for her to worry about, and with no further word from Marcus, or visits from him, she could safely assume that he had agreed to abide with her decision to go her own way from now on.

  By the Friday she had made up her mind to approach the manager with her request to be placed permanently on the afternoon shift, but she had not as yet told Pauline of her decision. Explaining the reason why she wanted to do that shift was not going to be easy, she thought, especially as Pauline had tentatively suggested that John could bring along a friend of his and they could make a foursome up next time he was on leave. It was going to be even harder explaining that this was the last thing Thea wanted, and was sure to evoke a few unwanted questions from Pauline, whom she would find looking at her in a kind of odd assessing way as if she was an enigma to her, and wanted to be able to place her in the right category.

  As she did not want to hurt Pauline's feelings, she resolved to tell her of her decision that evening before she approached the manager with her re-

  quest. By nine-thirty she would have ample opportunity of a private word with her, as the desk would be quiet by then.

  Shortly after nine, however, an incident occurred that made her hastily revise her earlier thoughts of staying on the afternoon shift, when the last person she wished to see walked into the hotel.

  Sapphire was just as lovely as she had remembered, and the scent of her heavy perfume reached over to Thea long before she reached the desk.

  At first she did not see Thea, but approached the further end of the desk where Pauline stood. 'Tell Mr Bois I'm here,' she drawled in her husky voice, as if speaking to a bellboy.

  Pauline's brown eyes took on an innocent look as she asked, 'And who shall I say wants to see him?'

  Sapphire's black eyes snapped in fury. 'Miss Durley,' she snapped back at her.

  Pauline gave a feigned hurt look as she rang through to her uncle, leaving a furious Sapphire to tap her heels while she waited, and it was then that she saw Thea, who was trying to look very busy checking the guest list.

  `Well, well, look who's here,' she drawled. 'So you took my advice after all. How clever of you! I did ask Marcus where you'd got to, but he didn't seem to know,' she added slowly.

  The last part was said in a manner that suggested that he hadn't cared either, and Thea caught the implication as Sapphire had intended that she should, but her steady grey eyes did not flinch as they met Sapphire's malicious ones.

  `I think I'll accept Mr Bois's invitation, after all,'

  she went on in a hard voice. 'It could prove interesting.'

  Thea's gaze left Sapphire and rested on Pauline, whose dislike of the woman was plainly shown on her face as she said haughtily, 'My uncle will see you now. You know the way to the office, don't you?'

  With a curt nod at Pauline and an airy wave in Thea's direction, Sapphire left for the manager's office.

  Thea drew in a deep inward breath. What an objectionable woman she was, she thought, and could not understand her attitude at all. She was no threat to her now. She had got out of Marcus's life, and there could be no reason now for her to vent her spite on her.

  Pauline's questioning brown eyes met Thea's dismayed ones and Thea looked away quickly. Now she would have to explain how she had met Sapphire, she thought miserably. 'I met her at a party,' she said lamely, in answer to Pauline's silent question.

  `And got the wrong side of her, obviously,' Pauline replied dryly. 'Not that I'm surprised. The only friends that woman has are gentleman friends—she doesn't waste her smiles on women, especially the young and good-looking ones. She was one of the reasons I told you to steer clear of Marcus Conan, she's been hunting him for years. She mentioned him, didn't she?' she added thoughtfully. 'Why should she ask him where you were?' she demanded curiously.

  Thea shrugged as casually as she was able to. 'Because Mr Conan took an interest in me, I suppose,'

  was all she could come up with, but it served her purpose.

  `That figures,' P
auline commented dryly. 'That would be enough to make her set the gun sights in your direction. I wonder how she took the news of his engagement to your friend,' she added with a smile. 'Fit to chew nails, I should think! All that ammunition wasted! If I didn't dislike her so, I'd feel sorry for her,' she added with a wicked grin.

  Thea was grateful for the intrusion of a few guests at this point and hoped that that would be the end of the conversation. She also hoped that Sapphire's talk with the manager would last long enough for her to escape out of her vicinity when her shift ended in precisely fifteen minutes' time.

  When Thea had thought that Sapphire's arrival was a disturbing event, she had not known that there was worse to come, for when Sapphire had emerged from the manager's office only a short while after she had gone in there, she had settled herself down in one of the club chairs in the lobby and giving Thea a tight smile had said, 'Don't bother to ring for a taxi for me, I'm being picked up.'

  Pauline had given Thea a conspiratorial look before they were again immersed in their duties, and Thea was glad she was being kept busy, for she could feel Sapphire's eyes upon her from where she sat in the lobby with one elegant leg crossed over the other, her tight figure-hugging evening dress with a slit down the side giving any interested male a teasing glimpse of a long, beautifully tanned leg.

  A few minutes later came Thea's second shock of the evening with the arrival of Marcus, who gave

  her a quick acknowledging nod before he looked over at Sapphire and enquired if she were ready.

  Thea did not wait to hear Sapphire's reply but deliberately took her time in searching for a guest's mail in the pigeonholes below the keyboard, and by the time she had located the mail and turned back to the desk Sapphire and Marcus had left.

  Pauline's remarks on this little episode did not help either. 'Well, fancy that! I should have thought he'd be with his fiancée, wouldn't you?' she said. `Still, I guess old habits die hard,' she added suggestively.

  That was all she said, but it confirmed Thea's private thoughts on the matter. It had not taken long for Marcus to revert to his old way of life, and Sapphire had been part of that life, she thought bitterly.

  For once she was pleased that Pauline would not be accompanying her back to their room, for John was waiting for her in the hotel bar, and Thea badly needed some solitude in which to recover from the unexpected events of the evening.

  After a quick shower Thea got ready for bed, but knowing that she would not sleep slipped on her dressing gown and stood by the bedroom window gazing out on to the twinkling lights of the town. Where were Marcus and Sapphire now? she wondered. Had they gone back to Sapphire's flat She gave a small shudder, although the breeze coming in through the open window was not a cold one. Stop it! she whispered through clenched teeth. It was no concern of hers what they were doing.

  She moved swiftly away from the window as if by the very action she could stem her thoughts, but it

  was no use. Sapphire might not be a very nice person, but there was no doubting the fact that she was lovely. There was no doubting the fact that Marcus was a man either, and that he obviously found pleasure in her charms.

  How could she have been so naïve? Thea asked herself bitterly, as she recalled Marcus's feather-like kisses, as if she had been a fragile article that would splinter into a thousand pieces if roughly handled. She then thought of the marriage that had almost taken place. Poor Marcus, she thought bitterly, he must have been dreading the event. Her small hands clenched together. Well, she had saved him from that unhappy involvement, and he was now free to bestow his favours elsewhere.

  Her eyes were bleak as she got into bed. She couldn't imagine him kissing Sapphire like that. She closed her eyes as the image of Marcus with Sapphire in his arms floated before her. Why had she to accept Mr Bois's invitation to sing at the hotel? Pauline had said that they rarely put on any entertainment in the hotel as there was plenty to be had in Charlotte Amalie, and on the whole most of the guests preferred to choose their own style of entertainment.

  Thea had never heard Sapphire sing, but by all accounts she was a popular singer and much in demand. Why then had she bothered about this small hotel? There were plenty of hotels in and around the town, with a larger guest contingent than this one.

  Her eyes flew open as the thought occurred to her that perhaps she had known that Thea was there, then she shook her head slowly. She couldn't have

  known, she had been genuinely surprised to find her there. It must have been very gratifying for her to have Marcus pick her up like that, in full view of his ex-fiancee, she thought bleakly.

  Thea bunched the pillows under her head. Marcus had known that she worked there, though, hadn't he? He had known where to pick Sapphire up. She frowned. Of course he couldn't have known that she would be on duty, she could still have been on the morning shift. Thea frowned as she recalled the way he had first glanced at her before looking at Sapphire, almost as if he expected to see her on duty. Again she shook her head. He couldn't have expected to see her, because if he had known her duty shift then what happened would have been a deliberate act on his part to cause her some embarrassment, and she couldn't believe that for one minute.

  It all added up to one huge and very discomfiting coincidence, and Thea wondered miserably how long Sapphire's contract would run and whether she could possibly keep out of her way, and Marcus's too, as it was more than possible that he would make a habit of collecting Sapphire after the evening's performance.

  One thing was certain, she would not seek a permanent job on the late afternoon shift, and if possible she would try to change her duty hours if Sapphire was still around when her next afternoon shift came around. If things got too tough, then she would move on, get a job on the other side of the island, without Marcus's help this time. In fact, she thought sleepily, it might be as well if she did that anyway. That way she could be sure of keeping her distance.

  CHAPTER THREE

  THEA'S hope of avoiding Sapphire now that she was back on the morning shift proved to be wishful thinking on her part, for although a week had elapsed since she had seen her, her picture was displayed in the foyer announcing the fact that she would be entertaining the guests on the Saturday night, and every subsequent weekend after that for three months.

  `Uncle says it's an experiment,' Pauline commented when she saw Thea looking at the poster shortly after it had been placed in the foyer. 'If it's successful, then he'll get in more evening entertainment. I only wish he'd chosen somebody else to start us off with,' she added, 'but I suppose everybody else was booked solid for the season. Sapphire pleases herself where she works, and doesn't take on long commitments and we all know why, don't we?' she tacked on meaningly. 'A certain person might want her to sing at a special party.'

  Thea had looked at Pauline. 'Marcus Conan, you mean?' she had asked, although she knew the answer.

  Pauline had nodded knowingly. 'Of course,' she said. 'He's her open sesame to all the hotel bookings she gets. She has no worry about looking for work, not when she has friends like that. If that's what you can call it,' she tacked on meaningly.

  After this, Thea had quickly changed the conversation. She could see that Pauline was settling down to a good gossip, and was sure to mention Marcus's fiancée sometime during the conversation, and the less said about that the better, from Thea's point of view.

  The stark fact that Sapphire's future was assured by her connection with Marcus echoed her own unhappy experience. Thea would not have got the job she now held if it had not been for him, she was absolutely certain.

  It was not as if she had wanted his help, she thought bleakly, but she had got it all the same, and that placed her in the same category as Sapphire, just one of the women in his life. Even though the help he had given her was not given for the same reasons that he had helped Sapphire with her career it still made her feel like an unwanted dependant, and hurt her pride.

  Now that she had had time to reassemble her thoughts on the su
rprising appearance of Marcus that night, she had undergone a change of opinion. The excuse she had brought forward earlier, that he could not have known that she was on duty, no longer held credence. He must have known why Sapphire was there, and had probably arranged the whole thing.

  This conclusion had brought her to another and even less palatable conclusion, and that was that there had been a purpose behind his action. What that purpose was, Thea couldn't even hazard a guess, and it annoyed her. It could have been his way of keeping tabs on her, but this seemed a ridiculous way of going about it. He could have done that without too much trouble, she thought; she was

  employed in a hotel that was under his managerial control, and there was certainly no need to foist Sapphire on her. He could not have been blind to the animosity Sapphire held towards her.

  It could also have been an egotistical action on his part. Under that smooth exterior of his, was he absolutely furious with her for breaking off the engagement? she wondered. Michael hadn't been the only one who had said that he was hard. Pauline had hinted as much as well, she recalled. In which case, the sooner she got out the better, Thea told herself, although she could hardly believe that a man of Marcus's stamp would stoop to such petty retaliation. On the other hand, he must have known that Sapphire's presence in the hotel would make life difficult, for her. She took a deep sigh. Nothing was adding up.

  At the thought of explaining to Pauline why she wanted to change her job, so soon after she had started there, Thea almost changed her mind, and wondered if she could possibly hang on until Sapphire's three-month run was over, but the thought of seeing Marcus collect her from the hotel each evening, for she was bound to have to do another late afternoon duty during that period, gave her the courage to go ahead. She was still in love with him, no matter what type of man he was, and she had been hurt enough without having to suffer the torment of seeing him with someone else. Only by removing herself right out of his vicinity could she hope to survive and make another life for herself.