“Okay.” Stella nodded, failing to hide how happy that made her feel. Her smile was so wide she was worried her lips might crack. “And don’t think I’m ignoring you when you’re lying by the pool today because truth is, there will be a lot of things going through my mind when I see you. But I can’t have anyone notice I’ve taken a special interest in one of the guests, if you know what I mean.”
“Sure. I understand.” Lisa leaned in closer. “And now that I know you’re happy with this arrangement, I’m sure you won’t mind if I kiss you again.”
“I’ve been staring at your lips since I woke up,” Stella admitted, then pulled Lisa against her and claimed her mouth.
Lisa kissed her back, deliciously slow and deep, causing a flash of intense arousal to shoot between her thighs. The sound of their moans filled the room again and Stella was pretty sure she’d be late for work if it wasn’t for Pablo, who started pawing her. “Hey, stop it,” she said with a chuckle, and lifted him off the bed.
Lisa laughed when he immediately jumped back on and settled between them. “Jealous much?”
“Only a little,” Stella said with an eye-roll. “He’s always like that when…” her voice trailed off and she winced. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to insinuate that I have women over all the time.”
“But you do?”
“Occasionally. I’m sorry, I—”
“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t owe me anything. We’re just having fun here.” For a split second, a hint of worry crossed Lisa’s features, but she shook her head and smiled.
“Even if you’re okay with it, I don’t want you to think I’ll sleep with someone else tomorrow because I don’t want to,” Stella protested. “I’m notthatbad.” She rubbed her temple and sighed. This conversation wasn’t going well at all. Even though admittedly she did regularly have women over, she was certain that none of them would be on her mind after last night. She couldn’t tell Lisa that though, because it would just sound like she was getting way ahead of herself. Her mind was a fog as she searched for something to say, but Lisa took her hand and pulled her back in.
“Why don’t we just forget about this conversation?” She ran a hand through Stella’s hair and shot her a mischievous look. “I like you and you like me and that’s that. We’ve got at least ten minutes before I have to get dressed, so let’s make the most of it.”
24
The three men in suits were back today, accompanied by a fourth who was a lot younger. Lisa glanced at them from the poolside as they came out of the back door with a young woman she recognised, and she wondered if they were part of the management team. She’d seen them in the reception area before, but the way they were glancing around the premises made her think they were seeing the poolside for the first time. It seemed silly to wear suits in this weather, and she quietly chuckled when she saw one of them loosen his tie and pull at his collar. If they were management, there was a lot she’d like to say to them, but going on the state of Paradise Hotel, she suspected they’d become immune to complaints.
She turned back to her phone when a notification from the website she’d booked Paradise with came in.‘Would you please take a moment to rate your stay?’The reminder came in daily and soon, she’d have to decide whether she wanted to prolong her stay or not in case Paradise would be fully booked in August. Upon arrival she’d never have considered it, but things were different now that she was having ‘fun’ with Stella. Not that she expected anything to come of it—in fact, she hadn’t even considered something more serious—but it was good for her, she decided, as she’d rarely felt this alive and happy. Besides, she hadn’t found a job yet and that was her one and only goal. Perhaps she’d be luckier in the coming weeks. New vacancies were opening again, and she’d widened her search to Scotland and Ireland.
Checking Paradise’s availability, she saw that there were a couple of rooms free for the same price, but she still hesitated for a moment as her finger hovered over the ‘book’ button. She could move to another hotel, but from what she’d seen, they were all more or less the same in Benidorm and she liked having Stella to look at while she was out here. Finally, she took the decision, praying she wouldn’t regret it as she booked the room. She’d done nothing but curse the hotel so far, but it was time to stop the negativity right here and now and just get on with it because so far, every day had been better than the previous one.
The review link came up again, and Lisa mindlessly pressed it and saw that Paradise Hotel had an average score of three-and-a-half stars which wasn’t great, but it certainly wasn’t as bad as she’d expected. Even more surprising; the majority of reviews were five stars. Then there was a batch of one-star reviews and a couple of two, three, and four-star ones.
Just out of curiosity, she scrolled to the five-star reviews first.‘Camilla G, Leicester. Unlimited booze, sun and fun. What more could you wish for? Had an amazing time here and the staff are lovely. We’ll certainly come back next year,’the first one read.‘Miranda B, Luton. You get what you pay for so don’t expect luxury. However, we had so much fun. Manuel from the animation team was a hoot and we made friends for life and can’t wait to return,’another one said. Scrolling down, Lisa continued to the one-star reviews.
‘Jack B, London. Due to house renovations, we were a little short on cash this year, so I suggested we’d try one of these all-inclusive holidays. My wife still hasn’t forgiven me. The name of the hotel sounded promising but the harsh reality upon arrival was shocking to say the least. After a shabby painting fell off the hook, we discovered a hole in the wall of our room the size of a tennis ball and there were cracks around it as if someone had beaten into it with a sledgehammer. We could see the neighbours through it, and they could see us. As it was high season, there were no other rooms available, and they refused to give us a refund. The hotel’s way of resolving the issue, was to place duct tape over the hole. The air con didn’t work properly so we complained about that too. On top of all that, my wife is allergic to gluten and potatoes, and there was literally nothing she could eat. Even the salads were bulked up with pasta and croutons. We couldn’t sleep from the noise at night so upon returning, we needed to take two extra days off to recover from exhaustion.’
Lisa laughed as she worked her way through the reviews, hugely entertained at the horror stories. When she’d gone through them all, she craved more as she hadn’t had so much fun in a long time. Premier Sunset—Paradises’ neighbouring hotel—was shown in the article along with a couple of other hotels in the area, and when she saw that Premier Sunset only had a two-star rating, she continued, eager to read what guests had to say about it.
‘Edith L, Kent. The name of the hotel, if you can call it a hotel, is totally inappropriate. ‘Black Hole’ would have been more suitable. There’s no sun as the hotel is standing in the shade of a much bigger hotel, and the window in my room wouldn’t open. The beer was lukewarm, I wouldn’t feed the food they serve to my dog, and the music was so loud I couldn’t hear my own voice. The carpet around the shower (yes, there was carpet in the bathroom!) was mouldy and I found a used condom under the mattress when checking for stains. I checked out after the second night and paid for a backpacker’s hostel in Alicante, which felt like The Ritz compared to Sunset.’
‘Peter M, Bristol. It took me three months to get rid of the fungal infection on my back after staying at Sunset. I also got a rash on my chest from the sunbeds, which faded after the staff told me to stop lying on them as some people were sensitive to the bleach that they use to clean them with. The bartender was nice but sadly, he had very little to work with as he was constantly out of stock. The rubbery microwaved lunch omelettes were full of eggshell and dinner was even worse. The electricity kept cutting out, leaving me in total darkness in my stuffy room on several occasions, so I had to venture into town to buy a torch. If you’re thinking about booking here, let me save you from a horrible experience. Don’t do it! You’re better off sleeping on the beach. At least you’ll have two of your primary needs covered: oxygen and light.’
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, hey, you.” Lisa sat up when she saw Stella standing by the end of her sunbed. They’d agreed they weren’t going to talk to each other here, but she clearly hadn’t been able to stop herself. “I’m reading reviews,” she said, turning her phone towards Stella. “Paradise Hotel and Premier Sunset. Do you ever read them?”
Stella rolled her eyes and laughed. “Don’t get me started. I know it’s far from perfect here and I actually agree with most of the bad reviews but let’s face it; you get what you pay for.”
“True.” Lisa shot her a wink and continued in a hushed tone. “Well, I’m going to leave a five-star review and rave about the cute poolside manager.”
“I appreciate that,” Stella said, fighting a wide smile as she glanced around to make sure no one was listening in. “Hey, I was wondering… Do you want to come on a hike with me? I’ve got the weekend off.” Lowering her voice, she added: “Please don’t feel pressured. And tell me if I’m being too much.”
“No, I’d love to go on a hike with you.” Lisa batted her lashes, loving Stella’s flustered reaction. “So, two days, huh?”
“Yes.” Stella stuck her hands in her back pockets and shuffled on the spot. “You could stay over if you want.”
“Hmmm…” The corners of Lisa’s mouth curled up as she lowered her big, black shades over her eyes. Stella’s proposal had aroused her immensely, but not wanting to come across as overly keen, she said: “That sounds nice. Message me where and when you want to meet.”
25
