“A date, Maevey, not an orgy,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“Wouldn't put it past you.”
“Is that who you were with last night?” Mum closes the fridge and walks towards me. “Wasn't that a date of sorts? Or is today with someone else? Surely not!”
“Yeah. Kinda. And no. Not someone else. It's the same person. But last night wasn't a date, so...”
My father coughs and I want to throttle him. I haven't asked him if he told Mum about bumping into Jenna, but something tells me now, if he has, he has withheld some information. Well, I can do that too.
“We hadnon-alcoholicdrinks together last night,” I say with emphasis. “But today we're going on a proper date.”
“Aiden, we’ve only been here two days. How have you possibly met someone who you want todate?” my mum asks with the deepest frown she allows herself.
“She'svery pretty,” Maeve says, stressing the pronoun.
“I'll agree with that,” my father mumbles, confirming that he did indeed tell Mum about Jenna.
“WillIget to meet her? Seeing as everyone else in the family already has.” Mum holds her hands up in a very dramatic move that makes the rest of us look anywhere but at her.
I see an easy way out of here and I take it, shifting into first gear eagerly. “Sure, Ma. You can meet her. But not today, okay? Let me have today with her, then I’ll introduce her.” I step over to my mother who has her hands on her hips. I give her a kiss on the cheek, then turn and rush out of the door as quickly as I can because I'm not sure I sounded anywhere near convincing enough.
Introduce Jenna to my mother? Not in a million years!
Ten minutes later, I'm in the resort’s lobby armed with the banana and croissant I grabbed from the breakfast bar. My other hand is knocking on the door that has a sign that says, “Resort Manager”.
“Come in!” a voice calls and I do so while plastering a big grin on my face.
“Good morning, Resort Manager!” I say to Jake, who is sitting behind his desk, his eyes narrowing with suspicion when they see me.
“Hello, Irishman who snuck out of my sister's villa in the middle of the night!” He leans back in his chair as he signals for me to sit down opposite him.
“Wow, you're one of those managers. Eyes and ears everywhere?”
“Nah, she texted me this morning with all the juicy details,” he says. “Bravo, Marty O’Martin, bravo.”
“Bravo? Juicy?” I arch an eyebrow. “Tell me more about this text message.”
He crosses his legs and wags a finger at me. “Never. Besides, I’m more curious why you're here?”
“I need your help,” I say.
He groans. “If it's about the smell coming out of the drains in the beach toilets, or the wasps’ nest in the herb garden, I am aware of these issues and could really do without a reminder.”
“No, it's more about taking your sister out on a phenomenal date.”
He looks only momentarily impressed.
“Considering her ex-husband once took her to Paris just for macaroons, the bar has been set very high.” Jake gives me a pointed look. “But he was also an emotionally unavailable workaholic who made her miserable towards the end, so I’d say there's some wriggle room.”
I store all of this away for another time and press ahead with explaining what I have in mind. He listens and nods and, when I've finished, he claps his hands together.
“Easy,” he says. “And a very lovely idea, Marty O’Martin. All very simple, but very effective. Jenna will love it. Let's make it happen.” He’s about to reach for his phone but stops. “On one condition.”
“Name it,” I say, curious.
“Will you write the resort a review when you get home? Or better than that, before you leave. Long story but I’ve got to try and encourage some more word of mouth reviews and fast.”
“I can do that. Will get my sister and parents to do the same.” I nod and it pleases me to see Jake smiling as he picks up his phone and starts making some calls.
