The Great Escape

Chapter Two

Instant Attraction

'MRS. CARTER, CONGRATULATIONS,' BEAMED the hotel porter as he piled our cases onto a shiny brass trolley.

'Again, it's Miss Carter,' Abbie stated with an air of exasperation, as we stepped away from the open-air reception desk and followed him across the black granite lobby. He just shot a smile at us over his shoulder as he continued walking past the central fountain, then took one of the paths that led out from under the bamboo canopy, weaving its way between some lush vegetation to head to our villa. 'Seriously, what's with all the congratulations and the "Mrs. Carter" business since we arrived?' she asked me as we tried to keep up with him. What he lacked for in height, he made up for in the speed his short legs moved. It was quite comical to watch.

'I've no idea, but they seem to be treating us like royalty or something,' I confirmed, reaching up to touch the beautiful white flowers tucked into our hair. We'd been given them the moment a limousine had arrived to pick us up from the airport. Abbie swore she hadn't booked a limo, but the driver had insisted it was all part of "the package," along with the champagne and chocolates that were waiting for us inside. Add to that the receptionist's perplexed face when he'd offered us the keys to our private villa and Abbie had told him she was sure we'd only booked a standard suite, and we were all confused. But he'd insisted we were in a villa, and we'd decided it was pointless arguing with him. 'Exactly what package did you book again?' I asked.

'I didn't book a specific one, I don't think,' she replied, both of us panting slightly to be moving so quickly in the heat, which we weren't accustomed to. 'It was a last-minute booking. I just said I wanted to be anywhere but England, preferably somewhere tropical with free alcohol, and this is what the travel agent came up with.'

'Well, we need to send her a thank-you bouquet when we get back, as most last-minute packages aren't usually anywhere near as glamorous as this.'

'Tell me ... about it,' she huffed. 'Jesus, he's nippier than Usain Bolt. I feel like I'm trying out for the hundred-metre sprint.'

'Hmmm,' I confirmed, too breathless to reply and too in awe of my surroundings to focus on forming words. It was night now, and the sky was a deep indigo blue, bordering on black, and peppered with even more stars than we saw back in the sky above Dilbury. We were weaving our way through a lush green leafy garden, with walkways lit by flaming sconces stuck into the ground and the sound of some kind of crickets or grasshoppers chirping away in the background only adding to the tropical atmosphere. I hadn't considered myself to be stressed when we'd come away, but Abbie's recent pain had obviously rubbed off on me, as each minute that I breathed in the salty scent of the sea air and felt the heat enveloping me, the more my muscles started to release and relax.

'We are here, Mrs. Carter,' our porter confirmed, as he stopped in front of a beautiful white-washed bungalow with a pitched bamboo-style roof. Abbie just nodded, giving up on correcting his mistake, and let him open the door and deposit our cases inside. I quickly fished out some pesos for him and thanked him, calling on my rusty high school Spanish skills to try and be polite in a somewhat native tongue. 'Thank you, Mrs. Carter,' he beamed as he pocketed the notes I'd pressed into his hand and shook my hand vigorously before scurrying back in the direction we'd come from.

'Oh my God, you're Mrs. Carter now as well?' exclaimed Abbie. 'Do you think they just call everyone Mrs. Carter in case they forget our names?'

'No idea,' I laughed as I stepped inside our villa for the next two weeks, to find myself in a huge lounge with a dining area in the corner to my left. Soft lamps had been left on for us and showed a calming white interior, offset with metallic accents of shimmering gold, silver, and bronze. White granite flooring was cool under our feet, and the white painted walls and wooden furniture and shutters, which were folded back from the floor-to-ceiling windows, just made me feel immediately at peace. I threw open the double doors to our right as I looked for the smallest of the bedrooms, since Abbie had insisted on paying for the whole trip as she felt bad for dragging me along. 'Wow,' I murmured.