With Soraya relaxing, we pull off the dust sheets in the living room to find Louis XVI cream sofas hiding underneath.
‘Wow, this furniture looks expensive. We’d better not put our feet up on this,’ says Carol.
‘Yes indeed,’ I say, marvelling at how the chandelier lights reflect on the Louis XVI marble coffee table as I remove the next dust sheet.
‘You wouldn’t want to put your tea down on this without a coaster,’ I say.
‘I could really do with a cuppa now, couldn’t you? I’ve got a bit of a headache coming on,’ says Carol.
Although Paulo left us with the key for this place, he hasn’t left us with much else.
‘At least I brought tea bags with us. Although I’m not sure there’ll be any milk here. Let’s check the fridge,’ I say.
We move to the open-plan kitchen where I find that the fridge is completely empty.
‘He hasn’t had that fridge on for ages,’ says Carol.
‘No. Soraya said that he’s definitely been in Dubai for a good few months. I’ll switch it on now and in the morning when it’s not so dark, we’ll walk down and try to find a supermarket.’
‘Yeah. Thank goodness I took that bottle of water off the flight. I’m parched. Come on. Shall we check out the bedrooms next?’ says Carol.
We venture into a corridor to try the various doors. I never knew apartments could be so big. The first door is locked. I start to worry that all of them will be and we can’t access the bedrooms, but thankfully, the next door leads us into what must be the master bedroom. Carol barges in before I can get close.
‘Oh my god. No way! You’ve got to come and see this,’ says Carol.
‘It’s nothing scary, is it?’
‘Come and see.’
I peep my head around a door that leads off from the master bedroom, with no idea what I am about to find.
‘Goodness, how the other half live, hey?’ I gasp at the walk-in wardrobe that looks like something from a Hollywood A-lister’s mansion. It feels bigger than the whole flat I own back home.
Once we have calmed down on the excitement, we pass through a sliding door in this Tardis-like room and find ourselves in a yoga studio. A yoga studio off a bedroom!
‘I reckon if this place was for sale, it wouldn’t even have the price on. It would be one of those “price on application” places,’ says Carol.
‘Yeah, you’re right there. I suppose we should give Soraya this room, but I don’t think even she brought enough clothes to fill this wardrobe up.’
We check out the next set of doors, which lead us into two further spacious bedrooms with en suites. Carol and I agree which rooms we’ll take between us, and luckily, there’s no squabbling, as every room is equally fantastic, with sweeping curtains and over-sized beds.
Carol tries the locked door again as we pass it on the way back into the lounge.
‘I wonder what’s in there then?’ she says.
‘Come on, it’s none of our business. Perhaps it’s a study that Gianni wants to keep private.’
By the time we finish removing all the dust sheets from each room, the place looks like a show home, and we get Soraya back inside.
‘You two are the best. Thank you. I would have helped if it wasn’t for my allergies. I promise.’
‘Don’t think about it. Now, I just wish we could all have a cuppa. But that will have to wait until morning as there’s no milk,’ says Carol.
‘Right, okay. Well, how about the first one up in the morning goes out to buy the milk?’ I suggest.
‘Sounds like a good idea. I’ll set my alarm. I owe you both after you’ve sorted all of this,’ says Soraya.
‘Let’s see in the morning. I don’t know about you two, but I’m shattered,’ I say.
