Page 33 of Another Lucky Number

‘De rien. You are welcome.’ Sébastien gives a satisfied nod. ‘I will leave you alone now.’

I see him to the door, cringing as I pass the bathroom, and an instinctive urge to fix my earlier faux pas takes over me.

‘Thanks for coming round, Sébastien. I appreciate your concern. Guess I’ll need to transfer my stickies to Cat’s iPad then, if I’m going to be out and about.’

‘Your “stickies”? What is this?’ He looks at me quizzically.

‘Sticky notes. I use them for my preparation. Didn’t want to risk marking the paintwork in here.’ There, that’ll do it.

Sébastien’s face flickers in recognition. ‘Ah, oui, sticky notes on the bathroom tiles. Very creative, Emma. Though please know you may use our other resources as well as stationery. A laptop might offer better functionality for developing your presentation.’

‘Thanks, I’ll definitely do that. The stickies method I just find useful for my early thinking when I’m working on something big.’ This is actually true, despite me not using them right now – and having never used them in a loo.

Giving him a bright smile, I quickly usher him out of my suite before this conversation can go any further or he asks to see my creativity in practice.

Chapter Fifteen

Acouple of minutes after Sébastien leaves my suite, my doorbell chimes again. I fling open the door and my inebriated, giggling friends practically fall inside my suite.

‘Did you pull it off?’ Amber hops onto my bed and stretches out.

‘It took some Olympic-style sprinting, some chewing gum and some on-the-spot thinking – but yes, I did. And now I’m totally sober from the ordeal.’ I lie down next to her and Cat does the same on the other side.

‘Attagirl.’ Amber high fives me awkwardly from her horizontal position. ‘So, fill us in.’

The three of us stare at the ceiling, watching the relentless circuits of the revolving fan while I play back Sébastien’s visit – minus the bit where I gave him an unwanted image of me on the loo.

‘It’s great because now I can follow through with your plan, without worrying what he might think of me,’ I say as a finisher.

‘You didn’t need to worry in the first place, ya dafty. You made a big deal out of nothing.’ Amber affectionatelyknocks on my head with her fist. ‘Tell me, what was it like having sexy Sébastien in your room? Were you tempted to jump his bones? I would have been.’

I raise my eyebrows at her. ‘You mean you would if you didn’t have a doting husband back home?’

‘Obviously. So?’

‘Well, leaving aside him having made it clear he’s not interested in me that way, it certainly felt like therewassome level of sexual tension between us – at first, then it dissipated.’ I cringe at the memory. ‘Maybe I’m wrong though. My radar could be off.’

Unable to verify or nullify this statement, Amber and Cat say nothing in response. It’s another peaceful, companionable moment, where we could just be three friends chilling on the holiday of a lifetime with zero obligations. Unfortunately, that’s not the holiday we’re on.

‘Right, shall we get showered and ready for the evening ahead?’ says Cat.

‘Defo,’ says Amber. ‘We’ve got interview prep to do over dinner, and I’ve scoped out two different entertainment acts for us as company research afterwards.’

‘Let’s do it.’ I jump up and see them to the door. ‘Shall we do the seafood restaurant tonight?’ After my fish and seafood experience the evening before with Sébastien, I’m keen to try more of what this wonderful island has to offer.

‘Perfect, see you then.’ Cat gives me a wave as she and Amber disappear down the corridor, and I head for the shower.

A couple of hours later, we’re seated in Tide, the resort’s signature seafood restaurant, which is situated above the waves on a pier-like structure. It’s a mesmerising experience, especially having watched the incredible sunset from here, andnow with the swell of sea in semi-darkness, framed by a midnight blue, moonlit horizon.

‘I’m not sure I can ever go home.’ I stare out across the water dreamily. ‘Do you think if I get the job, Sébastien would allow me to base myself here?’

‘Ooh, yeah.Do it,’ says Amber. ‘I fancy a holiday home here.’

‘So,meliving here meansyouhave a holiday home?’

‘Eh,yeah.’

‘Ah, fair enough, I’d probably see it the same way.’ I chuckle. ‘You do know I’m not serious though, right? I’d miss you guys too much. And Lottie. Even my parents, much as they can be a pain in the backside. Anyway, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. I probably won’t even get the job.’

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