Pablo let out a dramatic cry and tapped her cheek with his paw. When Stella buried her face under the covers, he started pouncing on her, excited by the mysterious moving mass.
“Okay, okay. I’m coming.” Stella groaned as she sat up, scratched his chin and gave him a kiss on his head. She hadn’t had a lie-in since she’d rescued Pablo, but even so, he was still her favourite. “You’re just greedy, you are.”
Pablo jumped off the bed and headed up the stairs towards the kitchen, looking over his shoulder every few steps to make sure she followed him.
Stella laughed at his enthusiasm as she tied her dressing gown and opened the kitchen cupboard, the sound immediately attracting her other four cats. “Hey, Yeti.” She bent down to greet her eldest, a fluffy, white cat. Then she patted Smelly, her big, long-haired ginger male, and finally the two grey brothers who she’d found by the roadside when they were kittens. “Good morning, Chicken. Good morning, Tuna.”
She made herself a coffee before she divided cat food over five bowls, put them on a tray and carried everything outside to the roof terrace that spanned half of the top floor. “Here you go.”
Chicken and Tuna were less interested in breakfast today and wandered onto her neighbour’s roof after a couple of bites. They preferred their favourite foods which they were named after, but Stella didn’t always have leftovers from Paradise Hotel, so sometimes they had to do with the basics. Pablo however, managed to finish his own breakfast along with the leftovers from the others in record time, then jumped onto her neighbour’s roof terrace. “Hey, where’s my thank you?” she called after him. “Don’t I even get my after-breakfast cuddle today?” The cat flap downstairs was barely used as they all preferred to wander the rooftops of the old town, along with dozens of other cats who lived around there.
The village of Altea was still sleeping, but Stella heard the owner of the café opposite talking to one of his staff members as they put their tables, chairs and parasols outside. The blue sky promised another sunny day and she expected it to get busy in town later as Altea was popular with day tourists who came to admire the cute, cobbled streets that were lined with flowerbeds, old white townhouses, and quaint shops and galleries. She walked to the edge of the rooftop, leaned over the wall and greeted the café owner, then sat down to sip her coffee while the town slowly came to life. It was just as well that she was up early; she could walk to the newsagent’s as soon as it opened and get her newspapers before her favourite ones were sold out. Grateful she hadn’t gone out last night, she cherished the tranquillity of her own company. Vera was a lovely girl, but they had never been more than distant friends with benefits. At twenty-four, Vera loved to party. She was cute and funny, and Stella had no doubt she was sleeping in some other woman’s bed right now as she still lived with her parents. That didn’t bother Stella. In fact, she kind of hoped Vera would find someone else to focus her attention on as she’d called her a little more than she was comfortable with lately.
The sound of a door opening turned her attention to the left. “Buenos Días, Benedicta.” Stella waved at her old neighbour, who walked out onto the adjacent roof terrace with a laundry basket.
“Hola, Stella!” Benedicta, who still had her curlers in her hair, pulled down her washing line and started hanging her big, white undergarments while she mumbled something to Pablo, who was rubbing himself against her legs, hoping for another snack.
Benedicta was lovely and tended to keep mostly to herself, but Stella’s other neighbours—a retired English couple—regularly invited her over their dividing wall to join them for sundowners when she was off work. She loved living here and although her parents had argued it probably meant that she’d never return to Seville, buying the narrow three-storey, two-bedroom townhouse was the best decision she’d ever made. With its exposed beams and bare walls, it had heaps of Spanish character, it was cool in the summer and the fireplace kept her warm in winter. The roof terrace that overlooked a quaint little square in the old centre of Altea was a bonus, and she found herself spending much more time up here than in the house itself. Her barbecue was set up in the corner, there was a dining table seating six, and she’d created a cosy seating area with an outdoor corner sofa, a coffee table and a large, square parasol that covered half of the area. She’d also installed a panel with a pull-down screen that served as a projection surface for when she had friends over for movie nights.
Even though her mortgage payments were fairly low, it hadn’t been easy to keep up with the payments last year while Paradise Hotel was closed. She’d had to work odd jobs in food delivery and fruit picking, and she’d rented out her spare room to keep the roof over her head. Unlike many of her friends, she’d been lucky to get through it and she finally felt like she could breathe again. Because right now, having a job and a home was everything.
Thinking back to Lisa’s comment about needing a place to live, she wondered what had happened to her. She’d seemed so low and hurt and lost, and even though Stella had apologised for Manuel and wanted to leave everything behind her now, she still couldn’t seem to get the woman out of her mind.
She contemplated stopping off at work on her way to the beach to see if Lisa was in her usual spot by the poolside.Why am I even considering this?It was silly that she was still bothered by the incident; she was used to troubleshooting and did it every single day. This was no different.
8
Lisa tapped on the link to another vacancy. The salary wasn’t even close to what she’d earned before but still… she would need something soon, and beggars couldn’t be choosers. Just as she was about to apply, a reminder popped up on her phone with a memory from exactly two years ago. It was a great picture of her and Sandrine, sitting in a fancy restaurant in Antigua. It had been their last holiday together, celebrating their four-year anniversary. Not much later, Sandrine had moved to New York.
An up-beat pop song started blasting through the speakers, announcing another ab-tastic class. Or perhaps it was a fit-tastic class, or a morning pool sing-a-long. Lisa sighed and noted that she felt even more self-conscious today. She’d never been insecure but recently, her confidence had plummeted to zero and she hated being the centre of any kind of attention. Deep down, she just wanted to be invisible, but being invisible wouldn’t help her land a new job. With an oversaturated market, it was survival of the fittest and although she’d been top dog before, now, she’d have to take anything she could get. Because if she’d learned one thing from the current job market, it was that there was always someone better, smarter, cheaper and more capable out there. And they were all ten years younger than her.
Keeping her eyes on her phone, she expected one of the animation team members to lure her into the pool, but they left her alone.Thank God. Their manager must have spoken to them. What was her name again?Lisa couldn’t remember, and although she’d kept an eye out for the woman today, prepared to apologise for possibly being rude, she hadn’t seen her anywhere.
Aimlessly, she clicked on the picture that took her to more pictures in the same album. A snorkelling trip, white sandy beaches, great food and early morning swims. They’d been so happy back then. At least she’d thought they were happy. They had a great flat in central London, interesting friends, amazing careers, fabulous holidays… And Sandrine had given all of that up for a job. Not evena jobin general. No, just a better job. Lisa had always known Sandrine was ambitious, she just hadn’t expected her to put her career before their relationship. And here she was. Alone, no job and no home. A lot had changed in a year.
“Hey there.” Lisa flinched as her eyes shifted to the poolside manager, who was standing next to her. “May I sit down?”
Nodding, Lisa pulled up her legs to make space on the lounger. “Go ahead.”
“I just wanted to apologise again for last night. I really appreciate that you haven’t filed a complaint yet and I sincerely hope you won’t. Some of the team members are very young and they don’t think before they speak.”
“Thank you.” Lisa’s eyes met the woman’s and she decided she looked sincere. She wasn’t wearing her red shorts, white cap and white polo shirt today, but denim shorts and a grey T-shirt. Her shortish dark hair was combed back and the way she kept running her hand through it told Lisa she was nervous. “And I’m sorry if I was rude. I’d rather just forget about it; it wasn’t even on the hotel premises, so I wouldn’t dream about filing a complaint.”
“I appreciate that. I’ve told Manuel and the others not to come near you again, although I know he’d like to apologise in person too.” The woman gave her a sweet smile and Lisa felt a little more at ease with her now. It was so strange to talk to people again, after hardly speaking to anyone apart from Ebony and her family face-to-face.
“No need.” Lisa smiled back at her. “What was your name again?”
“Stella. And you’re Lisa, right?” Stella held out her hand to shake hers. “I hope we can start with a clean slate.” She paused and regarded Lisa curiously. “How long will you be staying?”
“I booked the room for two months, but I might stay for three if I’m still in limbo.”
“In limbo?”
“Well, I need a place to live, and in order to find a place to live, I need a job so I can pay the rent. It’s a long story, I won’t bore you with it.”
“You’re not boring me.” Stella paused and held her eyes. “And I’m not working today, so I have all the time in the world.”
“I doubt you’d rather spend your precious day off listening to me whining than hanging out with friends or chilling out on the beach.” Lisa managed a chuckle.
