Page 32 of Three's a Crowd
Once out of the airport, the limo drove through the suburbs of Nice and out to the autoroute.
Daisy settled back into the seat and watched the scenery flash by. Here, in the south of France, it was very green but with a slightly washed-out look, as if the sun had bleached everything with its intensity. The rushing by of the trees along the autoroute was mesmerising and Daisy found herself deep in thought. What on earth was she going to say to Zach when she saw him? She’d be friendly, but aloof, she decided. He was bound to be just the same: arrogant, self-important and derisive, but she’d have to ignore all that and just enjoy the experience for what it was.
Her skin tingled as she thought about seeing him again, though. She’d have to be very strict with herself. There was no point getting twisted into knots anyway, as Zach was bound to have a myriad of women hanging on his every word.
At the thought of him with other women, she experienced an intense rush of jealousy, like she had when she was young, and quickly shoved the thought to the back of her brain, giving herself a shake.
‘Are you okay? Are you cold?’ Adam asked, glancing over at her. ‘The air con is a bit fierce in here.’ He fiddled with the controls which were on a panel in front of them.
‘There, that’s better,’ he said, settling back into his seat. He put his arm around her and pulled her in tight to him, their earlier snappiness seemingly forgotten.
Daisy gazed up at him. He was such a handsome guy, with his chiselled jawline and bright-blue eyes. A lot of women would be falling over themselves to be with him, Daisy thought to herself. A lot of womendidfall over in front of him, in fact. He would walk into a room and turn heads, no problem. But for Daisy, he still didn’t have the ability to turn her to jelly, as Zach did. Not that that was everything in a relationship. Those sorts of feelings were for short-term flings, not long-term companionship.
‘Nearly there,’ Adam said suddenly, giving her a squeeze.
They’d left the autoroute and were now driving through the outskirts of Cannes. It seemed a pretty normal place to Daisy, not as swanky or showy as she was expecting – until the limo turned onto the Croisette.
There were crowds and crowds of people thronging the street which ran alongside the beachfront. They passed the Palais des Festivals where the red carpet was already laid out, ready to receive the actors as they made their way to the premiere showing of their film amongst the glare of the media and thousands of adoring fans.
Daisy watched the sunshine play on the waves as they continued along the Croisette. As they slowly moved down the road, hampered by the crowds of people crossing from one side to the other, Daisy gazed at the sea lapping against the beach, her sight line broken occasionally by the enormous boats moored along the docks, and the huge tents along the front, which had been erected to hold the celebration parties for the studios and selected guests once the films had been shown.
It was another world. You could practically smell the wealth in the air.
Facing on to the sea on the other side of the road were the grand hotels which she understood from her research would house the film studio executives and some of the stars of the films. Most of them had bars in their front gardens and these were filled with glamorous-looking people all dressed in the highest of high fashion, sipping cocktails and chatting to each other, their eyes hidden behind enormous sunglasses.
Daisy looked down at herself and felt like a frump in comparison. She realised with a lurch that she hadn’t packed very well for the holiday. Most of the clothes she’d brought were just plain shorts or skirts and vest tops, nowhere near the designer fare that was on show here.
Just as she finished this train of thought, the limo turned into one of the huge hotels which overlooked the sea, its sweeping driveway flanked by movie billboards. Daisy felt a shock of recognition as she noticed Zach’s broodingly handsome face looking out from one of them above the film’s title,Damascus Days. She glanced away quickly, looking for a distraction. Her eyes alighted on the sign on the hotel.
‘The Carlton!’ Daisy read in surprise. She was sure she’d heard that this was one of the places the movie stars stayed. Surely,theyweren’t staying here?
‘We must be meeting Zach here before we’re shuffled off to our skanky hotel in the burbs,’ Adam said with a raised eyebrow.
The limo pulled round to the front entrance and the driver opened Daisy’s door for her.
‘Are we meeting Zach Dryden here, then going on to our hotel?’ she asked him, as she climbed out as gracefully as she could, aware that there were a number of people watching to see who would emerge from the limo, hoping to spot a famous face.
‘No, Mademoiselle, you’re staying ’ere, I believe,’ he replied in a thick, French accent, offering her a hand as she straightened up.
‘Oh my,’ was all she could muster. The driver went round to get the bags out of the boot as Adam climbed out too. ‘Did you hear that? We’re staying here!’ she said to him, unable to keep the quiver of excitement out of her voice.
‘All right, be cool,’ Adam admonished, looking around as two stunning and very elegantly dressed ladies passed by, giving him an appreciative look.
Daisy rolled her eyes at him and followed the driver, laden down with their bags, in through the front doors of the hotel.
It took them only minutes to check in at the lavish reception and they were whisked upstairs to their room in a plush lift by a very efficient bell boy. At the door, Adam gave him a five-euro note as a tip, trying to look as if he stayed in this type of hotel all the time.
‘Whoa, look at this place. It’s bigger than our whole flat,’ Adam said with awe in his voice.
Daisy smiled to herself and shook her head. Well, this was not what she was expecting at all. There was more complimentary champagne in the huge, plushily furnished room, which Adam opened and helped himself to. He handed her a full glass and motioned for her to drink up.
‘I could get used to this,’ he said, drinking half of his own in one gulp.
She sighed in wonder, looking around and taking in the Belle Epoque furnishings and the long French windows that led out onto a balcony overlooking the sea.
Well, this was certainly going to be an experience.
8
