‘I think you’re best leaving things alone. She’s dead set on the police if she sees you again. There are lots of chauffeur jobs. I’m sure he’ll find something.’
‘Oh, what a mess. Well, she won’t have to see me again. Now I’ve got my laptop back, I can give Soraya the go-ahead to arrange the flight later today.’
‘You’re set on leaving?’
‘Yes, I’ll just get whatever flight comes next. I suppose I’ll have to get over to Nice.’
I look at my watch. I can be home by dinnertime if I get a move on.
‘Do you have to leave? It’d be a shame not to stay a bit longer and get some writing done in the sunshine.’
‘Oh, Elias. That’s a lovely thought but, I’ll be honest, the hotels here are going to bewayout of my price range. I’m only here because Soraya knew Gianni and we were supposedly staying at his apartment. It’s better I head home now.’
‘You could stay at mine?’
‘Yours?’
‘Well, when I say mine, I mean where I’m staying. It’s not mine, obviously. But there are two rooms on the yacht. I have one and you can have the other.’
‘Goodness. I couldn’t do that. What would your boss say?’
‘It’s fine. I’m allowed guests to stay. The boss is very easy-going, as I said before.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah, look, the Andalusia trip is seriously delayed. It’s fine. Please, come and stay on the yacht. It’d be wonderful to have company. In fact, you’d be doing me a favour. I promise I’ll be the perfect gentleman. There’s even a lock on the door if you don’t trust me.’
‘No, of course I trust you, but I can’t stay on someone’s yacht. Especially after what’s happened. Can I speak to the owner, perhaps, just to confirm it’s okay?’
‘I promise, it’s fine. The owner is very busy. To be honest, they hate micromanaging everything and would be more annoyed if I checked every detail with them. They leave everything to my discretion, and I say you’re welcome to stay.’
The sound of my phone ringing interrupts Elias as I see that Carol is calling. Soraya must have already shared the news with her. I can hardly even answer before I hear her practically screaming down the phone.
‘I can’t believe we stayed in the wrong place. Oh my god, we could have been arrested, and a hunky French policeman could have handcuffed us. No, seriously though, I can’t get over the fact that we got in the wrong car.’
‘I know. Imagine how shocked I was this morning.’
‘Soraya told me all about it. You poor thing. You must’ve been terrified.’
‘Yup, it wasn’t the best start to the day.’
‘So what you gonna do now? Are you on your way back?’
I look at Elias, who is standing close by.
‘Well, you remember Elias? He’s just kindly offered me a room on the yacht until I’m due for my flight, but yeah, Soraya’s looking at flights for today.’
‘Oh no she’s not. I’m ringing her as soon as I put the phone down to tell her not to let you come back. You’ve got the offer of staying on that fabulous yacht and you want to get on a budget flight home? Are you completely bonkers?’
I look up at the blue skies, the sea in the distance and Elias’s smile as he waits for me to get off the phone.
‘Look, I have to go. Poor Elias is standing here waiting for me.’
‘Oh my god. He’s there with you now? Well, I’m not going off this phone unless you promise you’re staying on that yacht tonight.’
‘Carol!’
‘Say it!’
