Gate 24

Chapter Seventeen

Bryon knocks on my door just as I’m about to go down for breakfast. Opening the door to him, I see the excitement on his face. “Hey, Ray! Tickets have been booked!” His voice is hushed; I remember that Lisa is down the end of the corridor. “Don’t leave Frankie. Pack tonight. You both have leave. Your pay check will be given to you today; Frankie and I paid for your ticket. Whatever you do, don’t mess this up. We’re gonna find Lisa during the day and talk to her as if we’re nothing but enemies. Don’t tell everyone you’re leaving until the very last minute; they’re meeting us before dinner.”

With that, Bryon skips down the corridor and I follow him with my key card in hand. It has been three days since we found out that Lisa had been as much of a bitch as she had been. Frankie had explained that she had managed to get the information from Lisa by eavesdropping on her; she was on the phone to one of the guys who kidnapped me and Frankie recorded the entire conversation – well, what she could hear of it. The man’s voice wasn’t audible.

Frankie then made one of the football guys – a guy called Vic – force her into submission. Frankie and this Vic person, both masked and at the ready with their questions and recording devices, asked her to spill the beans as to why she was trying to get me killed. According to her words, it was because she knew that I was talented in my field of work and she didn’t want anyone to be better than her at anything. She had plans to sleep with me from the start and poison me in my sleep. Of course, she refused to say some things; nothing was done when she refused because they’re going to keep it as evidence against her.

Making my way into the breakfast hall and snapping out of the daydreaming thoughts that I’d been having, I go and collect two drinks, one for myself and one for Bryon. By the looks of it, Frankie is already down here, waiting for us to arrive. The excitement on her face is special, unforgettable – she reminds me of a child who just received an expensive games console on their birthday or Christmas. She waves at me from across the room as I fetch myself a glass of water.

Drinking it as I make my way to her, I let the cold liquid seep down my throat. This urge for a cigarette is present, but I try to ignore it and think about the food that Bryon has fetched for me. “Y’know,” he says as he places a plate of croissants in front of me, “I will miss the free food once we get back to the UK, you know that.” He places a croissant in his mouth and smiles as the bliss overtakes his mouth. “Of course, I’ll be eating as much of this as I can before we leave to go home.”

Agreeing with him, I shove one of the chocolate ones in my mouth and realise that he is right – I am going to miss the food and the free drinks. Maybe we can apply for new hotels and stuff in the near future, so that we have another job from September until November. Or maybe we can be reps at a ski resort in the winter. This free food has found a way into my heart; I like being able to have five free courses every day without paying for the food. Maybe being a rep has damaged me in the sense that when I’m home, I won’t be able to have the food I want, whenever I want.

As we finish our food, the three of us head over to the pool; we’ll be leaving the other reps earlier today without notice just so we can pack and leave. IT’s really unexpected but it has to be done. Nothing can get in the way of us – even Lisa. That woman isn’t going to kill me. What even is her real name and how does she get the passports and paperwork to get over here with a name that isn’t hers? If it’s professional, it must cost a lot – that stems the question of: where the hell does she get all of the money from?

Speaking of the devil, she walks past Frankie and I; I grip Frankie’s hand and try to make it look as if Frankie and I are experiencing the bromance that we’ve discussed over the past few days. Bryon looks at us in disgust, trying to make it look as if he’s fed up with his sister. He isn’t in Lisa’s bad book, but he doesn’t exactly get on with Lisa. Then again, who does now that we know she’s such a douche?