Alex turns and goes back to his seat opposite. Chloe lies there, blatantly lusting over him as he gathers his stuff, not bothering to speak to me until he disappears from sight.
“Okay,” she says, her eyes wide with excitement as she turns to face me. “Tell me everything. But mostly abouthim. Wait; we’re going to need cocktails first.”
She looks meaningfully in the direction of the pool bar, which I guess is my cue to go and get her a drink.
“Don’t you want to go and get changed first?” I ask, hopefully. “You must be tired after your flight. And you still haven’t told me what made you come out here?”
“Stop trying to change the subject, says Chloe, who knows me too well. “Out with it, Summer. Who’s the hottie and what’s going on between you two? The truth this time, please.”
“He’s not a hottie, he’s just Alex,” I say defensively. “And nothing’s going on. Like I told you, he was just helping me do my back. You know how easily I burn in the sun.”
“Summer, he had his hands all over you,” Chloe says. “And you had your eyes closed, and that expression on your face you get when you see Theo James in something. Come to think of it, your man Alex does have the look of Theo James, doesn’t he? Only, like,hotter. If that’spossible.”
“It’s not,” I say shortly. “Anyway, Alex isn’t that hot. He’s not even particularlynice, if you want to know the truth. He’s a bit arrogant and up himself, really. I don’t evenlikehim.”
“Excuse me.”
There’s an agonizing silence as Alex brushes past me and picks something up from the ground next to the sun-lounger I was using.
“Must have dropped this earlier.”
He holds up his key card, then turns on his heel and walks off before I can stop him.
“Oh, my God!” Chloe puts her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with horrified laughter. “Did you see his face? That toldhim! Don’t worry, Sum; if you don’t want him, I’ll have him. I’ll soon put the smile back on his face, don’t you worry.”
She winks at me cheekily, but I can’t bring myself to reply. I’m so mortified that I want to crawl under the sun lounger and quietly die.
“Do you think he heard that?” I croak.
“Oh, he heard it all right,” says Chloe, giggling. “Looked like he’d been kicked in the goolies. But enough about him; I want to hear about you, and what you’ve been getting up to since you abandoned me at New Year.”
“I didn’t abandon you, Chloe,” I point out, my mind still fixed on Alex, and the hurt look I’m sure I saw in his eyes before he walked off for the second time. “You didn’t even notice I was gone. You were too busy with Prince Charming.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t call him that,” she says, grinning. “He was no gentleman, let’s put it that way. But Summer! I couldn’t believe it when I got your message. You! Flying to Spain on your own? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you leaveMargateon your own, never mind leaving thecountry.”
“That’s not true,” I protest weakly. “You’re just exaggerating for dramatic effect. I do plenty of things on my own.”
“Well, okay,” she concedes. “You do. But not likethis, Summer. This is huge. For you, I mean. For most people, it’s just a package trip to Tenerife, obviously. But for someone like you, it’s huge. Which is why I had to come out here to support you.”
I look at her suspiciously. Unless we count her occasional offers to do my hair for me, Chloe’s never ‘supported’ me with anything in her life. That’s not how it works with us.I’mthe one who does the supporting; because I’m the one in the supporting role. Chloe is the main character; which I’m guessing is the real reason she’s here now. No show without the big star, right?
“So, you said you figured out where I was staying from Instagram?”
“Yeah. That was easy,” she says dismissively. “Like I said, you’d tagged the hotel and everything.”
I nod slowly. I clearly have a lot to learn about this whole ‘leaving your life behind’ thing. I didn’t realize my life might try to follow me.
“So I click on the location in your post, right?” says Chloe, looking longingly at the pool bar. “And it takes me to a page with all these other photos that have been taken in the same place.”
“Uh huh.”
I’m only half-listening to her, because my mind still insists on replaying that horrible moment with Alex on an endless loop, so I can feel terrible about it all over again.
I have to find him and apologize. I have to tell him I didn’t mean what I said.
“Well, you’ll never guess what I found?” Chloe goes on, looking pleased with herself. “OrwhoI found, rather?”
My entire body goes cold, despite the heat of the day.
