Page 29 of An Island in the Sun

The annoyance from last night seeded itself once again. Not only was she awake early, but she was incensed that she now had two blokes to get rid of before she could settle down and work. It wasn’t Raff taking advantage that she was most annoyed about, but the truth that if he hadn’t been so attractive, she would never have let him stay.

It was Wednesday and a working day; she had responsibilities and a career to focus on as soon as she’d rid herself of Raff for a second time.

With two men in the house, she showered first and dressed in black dungarees and a mustard yellow T-shirt, going make-up-free apart from mascara and a slick of red lipstick.

‘Come on then, Fudge.’ She smiled at him sitting in the middle of the floor waiting patiently. She ruffled his long silky ears, then headed for the door. Fudge immediately clattered after her, waking Bailey in the process.

It was the smell that hit her first, the staleness of BO, which, on closer inspection, was something far worse. She grabbed hold of Fudge before he got any closer to investigating the bowl of vomit. Emilio was as she’d left him last night, snoring, mouth open and dribble down his chin, except his shirt was now stained with the contents of his stomach. Tabitha tried not to heave. It was just as well she’d left a bowl next to him, although as much was out of the bowl as was in it. The table was littered with lager bottles, an empty bottle of wine was lying on the rug and the mug of coffee was where she’d left it, the spilt coffee now a cold puddle.

With fury raging through her, Tabitha pulled Fudge away and manoeuvred him and Bailey to the kitchen to feed them. She left them eating, stormed back into the living room and pulled open the doors to let in some much-needed fresh air. She breathed deeply, relishing the warmth of the sun and the far sweeter scent of the frangipani flowers as she contemplated what to do.

Sod it, she thought. She’d had enough. She had work to do. Raff and Emilio needed to go.

Touching Emilio’s arm, the only bit of him that seemed free of anything stomach-churning, she gently shook him. He groaned and shuffled onto his stomach. Tabitha swore, realising his vomit-stained shirt was now in direct contact with the sofa.

On the table, Emilio’s mobile flashed with a call, the phone on silent, the name Inez on the screen. His wife.Boy, is she going to be pissed, Tabitha thought as it stopped ringing. The screen showed he had four missed calls and countless unread messages.

As Fudge and Bailey headed into the garden, Tabitha stormed upstairs. She knocked on the guest bedroom door and, without waiting for an answer, barged in.

The blinds were closed and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust and see the shape of Raff sprawled on the bed.

‘Ugh, what time is it?’ he mumbled, reaching across to switch on the bedside lamp.

Tabitha took in his frown and eyes squinting in the sudden brightness, before her gaze travelled to his bare chest and flicked back to focus on his face. She grimaced at the way her heart fluttered. A knowing smile crept on to Raff’s face.

‘Emilio’s been sick and is still fast asleep. You need to sort him out and leave. I have work to do.’

‘Morning to you too.’

Tabitha folded her arms, fed up of his cockiness. ‘I’m serious, Raff.’

‘Okay, I’ll come down in a bit.’ He yawned.

‘No. You’re coming now.’ Tabitha stood her ground, glaring at him, wondering if he would defy her.

Raff snorted. ‘You might want to leave before I get out of bed.’ He gestured downwards to the sheet that wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding his lower half. ‘Kinda sleeping naked.’

Tabitha flushed, annoyed that he’d somehow got the upper hand and left her flustered. Snapping her eyes back to his face and meeting his amused gaze, she retreated from the room.

He was enjoying making her squirm, she knew. It could have been worse, he could have been lying on top of the sheet… Her cheeks flushed redder at the thought.

Downstairs, Emilio was beginning to stir and his snores had turned into groans. The fresh air and sunshine filtering through the open doors had gone a long way to ridding the room of the smell, but Tabitha knew there was the bowl of sick to deal with and the sofa and rug to clean, which needed to be done before Cordelia’s cleaner turned up tomorrow. Not really wanting to have an awkward conversation with Emilio, she scooted behind the sofa and escaped into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. She needed some and Emilio sure as hell did too.

Tabitha only returned to the living room when she heard Raff and Emilio talking. Raff was a little less distracting now he was dressed, but Tabitha tried her hardest to avoid looking at him as she placed the tray with the coffee pot, milk, sugar and mugs on the only clear bit of the coffee table.

‘I’m so sorry, Tabitha.’ Emilio looked up at her, his voice sounding as rough as hers had yesterday morning. His shirt was stained, his hair stuck up in all directions, and the aftereffects of the night before showed in his tired eyes and washed-out face.

‘I’m not the only one you’re going to need to apologise to.’ She gestured to his phone.

He scooped it up and groaned again. He glanced at Raff. ‘I have to work today. Told you going out was a bad idea.’

Work is the least of your problems,Tabitha thought.

Raff shrugged. ‘It’s not like I see you often.’

Tabitha just didn’t understand him. Was he really so self-centred he didn’t understand how his behaviour impacted others? It was obvious that Emilio’s wife had an issue with Raff – he’d said so himself – and yet Tabitha had no doubt that he’d been the ringleader, encouraging Emilio to ignore his wife and go out drinking. Tabitha would be pissed off too, if she was in the wife’s shoes; she was cross being the one to have to deal with them infiltrating her space. And she really did feel like that, desperate to be by herself again, enjoying her quiet life, working and exploring on her own terms without the inevitable disruption and confusion of another person. She’d been caught up in a misguided moment of drunken lust, but that was most definitely over.

Emilio took his phone and stood on the threshold between the living room and the terrace to call his wife.

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