Page 5 of Nothing to Do

“Well, they’re not… serviced at the moment. We have a building on the north shore, but—”

“I can walk,” she said. “If you give me directions.”

“There are carts, but…”

Another but, a smile warmed her lips. “Is there a problem?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Poor guy hadn’t expected this. Given the other activity on offer, her desire to work put her in the minority. She enjoyed what she did, most of the time. It wasn’t easy, but she liked being thorough. Who didn’t want to do things well?

“Guests aren’t allowed… During their stay… Mr. Lowe’s team are the only press allowed. It’s an exclusive event.”

Her mouth opened in understanding. “Let me assure you that I don’t work for any media company. I also have never met Roman Lowe and am passing up that chance to get on with my day job.” The guy didn’t seem convinced. “To be honest, I’m more interested in receiving email than sending anything out. I shouldn’t need to make calls.” Though her boss would just love her being unreachable. “All I need to do is pick up my emails and pull a few things from my cloud… Can I do that?”

“I… don’t know. I have to check with my supervisor.”

“Okay.” What the hell would she do if they denied her access? Her hard drive contained most of what she needed to get started, but the cloud documents would become necessary along the way. “How about I go grab my things and come back? That will give you the chance to talk to whoever you need to talk to.”

And for her to come up with a few arguments if she had to push the issue. It wasn’t like she could just leave. The plane that brought them didn’t appear to belong to any commercial airline.

The guy relaxed a little and nodded. “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.”

“No problem,” she said, pushing away from the desk. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

She returned to her room to retrieve her laptop and folders. Everything was in the same place in her closet. Killing some time, she sat down to undo the sandals rubbing at the back of her ankle and switched them out for slip-ons. Giving the guy a few extra moments, she reapplied her sunscreen, put some shimmer on her cheeks and swiped on a little gloss.

Earlier that morning, Alessia spent half an hour putting on makeup. Should she make more of an effort? All she’d done was smudge on a little gold eyeshadow. The preened women at breakfast were so glamorous it was difficult not to be aware of her hang-ups. Still, she didn’t mind fading into the background when the others were so eager to be noticed.

When there was nothing else to do, she scooped her work things into an oversized beach-bag and grabbed her sunglasses and hat. If there was time at lunch, she might go for a walk on the beach or lounge in the sun a little. Should she put on a bikini beneath her clothes? No, then the temptation of the water would likely win out. If she wanted to swim later, she’d return to the room and change.

Back at the reception desk, she reconsidered that decision. If she was going to be away from her room to work, it would be nice to have the bikini as an option. The guy from earlier came scurrying out before she could progress beyond the contemplation stage.

“You have to sign these,” he said, putting a stack of papers on the reception desk in front of her.

“What is it?” she asked, scanning the first sheet. “It’s an NDA.”

Thea answered her own question before he could. Glancing at his badge to check his name, she read“Tom.”Herex’s name was Thom, pronounced the same, spelled differently. That was a shame for this Tom, she wasn’t likely to forget him.

“Yes,” he said. “Everyone else is signing them. It says you can’t talk to anyone about anything that happens here. It includes electronic means too.” His eyes rose like he was searching his thoughts. “Oh, and I was also told to remind you that the Wi-Fi can only be used at the corporate suite, and you’ll be the only one on it other than our staff.”

Reading between the lines, she smiled. “So if any secrets get out, you plan to blame me.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, ma’am, I’m parroting what someone else said. Feel free to read the NDA and sign it at your leisure. Though anyone who doesn’t sign will be transported off the island.”

Did that mean their plane was still there? Interesting, but not really relevant. Not like she was a pilot or would be able to afford so much as the fuel costs, if the staff wanted to charge her for using it to leave.

The NDA seemed standard. Anywhere else, she’d send it to lawyer-ex Thom to check it out. This time, given she had no intention of spilling secrets to anyone and hadn’t even met the big star, it didn’t seem like a big deal to sign it.

The page underneath gave more cause for concern. “This is a release,” she said. “Allowing you to use my image or words in marketing materials and/or press related to the event.” Tom remained blank. She pushed the NDA back to him. “Keep this one. I need a day with the other one.”

“Oh, I…” His color rose as he looked around. For whom? No one else was there. “I’ll have to check.”

She smiled and tucked the release into her beach bag. “You do that. I’ll make my way to the corporate suite… Can you point me in the right direction?”

“There will be a cart waiting for you in the main lot,” he said, picking up the NDA. “Without the release, I don’t know if you can…”

Shame for this guy. Obviously a worrier, his day wasn’t getting off to an easy start.

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