“Hey, I’m not a commitment-phobe. I just haven’t met the right woman,” Marcy said in a defensive tone. “I’ve met at least forty women this year and I swear, none of them were a good match for me. We just didn’t gel outside the bedroom, you know? They weren’t my type.”
“Hmm…” Lisa had her own theories, but she kept those to herself. Marcy was an attractive woman who many of her friends back home would have loved to go out with, and she could definitely see why she was popular with the ladies. “So, what is your type?”
Marcy was about to answer, then groaned when Zoe appeared and waved at Lisa from the doorway. “Anyone but her, that’s my type. What’s she doing here today?” she asked, lowering her voice.
“I have a meeting with Zoe and the general manager. We’re going through the wine list.” Lisa smiled and waved back at her. “Come on, be nice and say hello,” she urged Marcy, who begrudgingly stuck up her hand for a split second. Zoe mirrored the uninspired gesture and headed back inside.
“The wine list… okay.” Marcy stepped back and tapped her cap. “Well, I guess that’s a cue for me to go and get lunch. Have a great day if I don’t see you.”
“Thanks.” Lisa sighed and joined Zoe, who was waiting by the bar inside. “Hey, there. Would you not rather be outside?” she asked.
“No, the wine will heat up too fast outside and we need to taste it at the right temperature.” Zoe produced seven bottles covered with temperature regulating sleeves from a big bag she’d brought and placed them on the bar. “Anthony will be here soon.”
“We’re tasting, are we? I thought we were just going through the list.”
Zoe chuckled. “You’ve never worked in hospitality, have you? Everything needs to be sampled before it goes anywhere near a customer.”
“No, I haven’t,” Lisa admitted. “And I don’t know much about wine so I’m not sure how helpful I can be.”
“That’s even better.” Zoe grabbed three wine glasses, three water glasses and a bottle of cold water, then started opening the wine bottles to give them some time to breathe. “Think of yourself as the average customer. Anthony is a trained sommelier, I’m confident with wines and food pairings and you can pretend to be a hotel guest. We’re picking the house wines today. One white, one red, one rosé, and they need to appeal to a wide audience. And by the way, in my world, we don’t spit the wine back out,” she added with a wink.
“Good thing Stella is picking me up then,” Lisa joked, studying the bottles. This meeting was turning out a lot more interesting than she’d anticipated. “Are you sure we don’t need spitting cups?”
Zoe shook her head and laughed. “Nah. It’s much more fun this way.” She smiled over her shoulder when the door opened. “And here’s Anthony, so let’s get started.”
* * *
An hour and a half later, Lisa was feeling a little light-headed. Anthony had just left but she and Zoe had decided to stay and polish off their favourite bottle; a local white Verdejo. When Marcy returned from her lunch break, she offered her a glass as she passed them, but Marcy kindly declined and mumbled something about checking on a bedroom.
“I usually don’t pry so forgive me, but what’s your problem with her?” she asked Zoe when the lift doors closed behind Marcy.
“Nothing. I already told you, I don’t have a problem with her.” Zoe’s finger combed her black bob behind her ears, avoiding her gaze.
“Come on, it’s not just the bickering and disagreements about the kitchen layout in the past few weeks; you barely acknowledge her presence when she’s in the same room. Are you sure nothing’s happened?” Lisa didn’t want to press on too much but at the same time, she was tired of the tension. When she saw Zoe flinch, she shook her head and held up a hand. “I’m sorry, I’m overstepping.”
Zoe looked at her and shrugged her narrow shoulders. “No, it’s fine. It’s just that…” She hesitated. “I know her type and I don’t like that type. They have no regard for other people’s feelings and women mean nothing to them.”
“I think she seems very nice.”
“Yeah, well you’re not dating her.”
Lisa raised a brow. “Did you date her?”
Zoe remained silent for long moments, then shook her head. “No, I didn’t. As I said, I just know her type and she’s bad news.” She finished her wine and stood up. “Sorry, I have to go.”
Lisa shot her a regretful look. Marcy was clearly a much more sensitive topic than she’d anticipated. “I didn’t mean to—”
“Don’t worry about it, I actually genuinely have to go. My mother and I are cooking for my sister’s birthday party.” Zoe smiled. “I’ll see you next week for the kitchen walk-through.”
61
“Marcy, this is Stella, Stella, this is Marcy,” Lisa said. “But I believe you two have already met.” They’d agreed to meet at a bar in Altea so Marcy could drop by her mother’s gallery later.
Stella gave Marcy a hug and looked her up and down as she stepped back. Out of all the people Lisa could have befriended in Benidorm, Marcy, the biggest player of all, was the last person she’d expected her girlfriend to invite out for a drink, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “Yes, we’ve met a couple of times.”
“We fought over the same girl once,” Marcy said with a guilty grin. “Stella won and literally crushed my ego.”
“God, please don’t drag up old stories. I’m a good girl these days.” Stella pulled out a chair for Lisa and sat next to her. Marcy wasn’t wrong; she did get around before Lisa came into her life, and they weren’t much different back then.
