‘Shush.’ A mischievous grin lights up her face. ‘It’s best to keep your opinions to yourself. The walls have ears around here.’
‘Noted.’
Mariola waves to the real porter who promptly rolls a gold birdcage trolley over. ‘Can you bring Harper’s suitcase to room 17 in the staff quarters?’
The porter, a baby-faced twentysomething, nods. ‘Of course. Can I take your rucksack too, Harper?’
‘Sure, thanks.’
‘So.’ Mariola turns to me. ‘Would you like a quick tour of the resort before you freshen up?’
‘Yes, please.’ My energy levels have spiked after the confrontation with Xavier. ‘I should let Gus know I’m here though, in case he’s waiting on me.’
Confusion plays across Mariola’s face. ‘Gus is no longer employed here.’ She quickly moves on. ‘Here is Café Sunrise, where we serve our buffet breakfast for guests.’
The efficient-sized restaurant is just as aesthetically pleasing as the lobby but I’m too stunned to take much in. Gus is no longer employed here? From our chat, I had the feeling he’d been around for decades, the way he spoke about changes made to the resort over the years, the different eras he’d been part of. As though he was one of the mainstays, part of the furniture.
‘Where did Gus go? He hired me a week ago and since then we’ve chatted by email most days. We were supposed to work together at the Barefoot Bookshop.’ Not once did he mention he planned to leave.
Mariola scratches the back of her neck but her smile is tight. ‘People come, people go. Here we have Kiosk Coco Loco. Staff are permitted to get smoothies, sandwiches, snacks here.’ She gestures to a pop-up stand with green coconuts on display. Mariola catches me eyeing them.
‘Would you like to try some fresh coconut water?’
The server cuts the top off a coconut, drops in a straw and hands me the whole thing. ‘Oh!’ It’s not as sweet as I imagined and has a slightly nutty flavour and a hint of salt. It’s refreshing, especially with the intensity of the humidity outside.
Mariola laughs. ‘Can’t get any fresher than straight out of the coconut. It’s good for hydration.’
‘It’s delicious.’ I thank the kiosk attendee and we continue on. ‘And bigger than my head.’
‘You think that’s big?’ She laughs. ‘We have a famous palm tree in the Seychelles, the Coco de Mer that produces the largest seed in all the world. It was pirates who first called it the coconut of the sea. It’s only found on Curieuse and Praslin islands. The seeds can weight up to forty kilos each and are known as the double coconut or the love nut.’
My brow wrinkles. ‘The love nut. Why?’
She giggles, a girlish sound as if she’s about to impart something a bit risqué. ‘Because of its unique shape resembling the pelvis and buttocks of the female form. It’s quite the sight. A bit of a natural marvel.’
‘This I have to see.’
‘We have a photo display in our tour office. I’ll show you later.’
We continue on our resort tour, my mind buzzing about a forty kilo coconut seed shaped like a woman’s lady bits and the fact that Gus is now MIA.
‘Has a new bookshop manager been hired to replace Gus?’
Mariola walks at a brisk pace ahead of me and so I quicken my steps to catch up. ‘Here we have the lagoon pool with a swim-up pool bar at the far end…’
Why is she pointedly ignoring my question? I go to ask but words freeze on my tongue, and I run into the back of Mariola because – holy moly – the lagoon is a showstopper. Turquoise blue like the ocean, it curves like a real-life lagoon; well, if lagoons also had a swim-up pool bar, that is. Rockeries along the length of the pool are home for a multitude of tropical plants that flutter in the breeze. White wicker sun loungers flank each side and yellow and white striped towels hold guests’ spots even though there is not a bather-clad body to be seen. It’s my pet holiday peeve, guests holding a spot when they’re not even around, but here there are plenty of loungers on offer. Maybe they’re having a languid late breakfast, the way you do when you’re not on a schedule.
‘Wow.’
‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ Mariola says, pride evident in her voice.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’ It’s so inviting, I’m tempted to jump in, for a brief reprieve of this relentless heat.
‘When Xavier told us the pool area was being redesigned, we didn’t quite expect this…’
I shade my face from the sun. ‘I love the way it bends and turns. It must give swimmers the feeling they’re in their own private pool.’ It’s designed in such a way that you can float under a palm-covered oasis for solitude or swim into the open section of the lagoon that features a waterfall.
We turn and head towards the beach. ‘This is the Cabana Bar.’ Mariola points to a decked area with tables and chairs. ‘It’s the best spot to watch the sunrise and set and is a popular hangout spot for the expats because of the view and the daily activities offered for guests.’ Mariola explains about their long-term residents, the expats, who rent their suites on a yearly basis.
