‘Yes, of course. Your first client is a facial and I’ve set the steamer up in the therapy room.’
‘Thank you, Rebecca. I have a spare hour after this appointment. I’d like to talk to you.’
‘Okay,’ replied Rebecca with a bright smile, wondering if Felipe had put two and two together and guessed that she might be leaving soon, even though she hadn’t even talked dates with him or Will. As much as she loved living here, sheknew she needed to leave sooner rather than later. Surely Inês would understand and release her from her contract as soon as possible. Will was keen to go home and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be around Felipe for any longer than she had to be.
She recalled their last conversation, when he’d asked if she were happy. She winced. Was she?Tornwould be a better way of describing how she felt. It was ironic. Will was offering everything she’d wanted for so long. So why did the image of his house and living there in the future suddenly present itself in shades of grey?
She glared at the bottles in front of her, deciding to find a task that required more concentration because this one was giving her too much thinking time.
‘I’ll be back in ten minutes and we’ll sit down,’ said Inês after a very relaxed client left the therapy room.
‘Okay,’ said Rebecca, who’d been looking at her calendar. How much notice was reasonable? she wondered.
When Inês returned with two coffees and a plate of pastries, Rebecca began to think this might be a charm offensive to ask her to stay a bit longer. Inês had never brought her so much as a glass of water before.
‘Let’s sit down.’ Inês nodded towards the seating area, which normally was out of bounds for staff.
Rebecca perched on the edge of the couch, her knees primly together, and took a sip of her coffee.
Inês opened up her laptop and Rebecca felt as if she were in an appraisal or something.
‘Felipe has sent me a proposal.’
‘Oh,’ she said, now primed for the worst and no doubt being held accountable for the ridiculous ideas.
‘For retreats?’
Rebecca nodded while Inês tapped on her laptop.
‘It’s a good plan,’ she said, looking up at Rebecca.
‘You like it?’ Rebecca couldn’t help the surprise spilling out.
Inês threw her head back and looked up at the ceiling. ‘I wasn’t happy when Felipe decided to employ a Pilates teacher– it wasn’t my idea and I didn’t see the point. I thought you were one of Felipe’s millions of girlfriends and he was finding a job for you. But the guests really like it andmore come for treatments after they’ve been to your class. I don’t know what you tell them, but… it’s been good for business.’
Her face softened. ‘And… you are a very good worker. Turns out Felipe was right. He did hire the best person.’
Rebecca found there was a lump in her throat at the rare praise, but at the same time a sinking feeling at the wordsone of Felipe’s millions of girlfriends.
‘I think you are the best person to organise and manage the retreats. It’s a full-time job. I want to build up the spa and Felipe says he’s too busy. I would like to offer you thejob. I know you have already discussed with him the outline of what would be required. I’ve gone into more detail and I have put together a job description.’ She glanced down at her laptop and pressed a few keys again. ‘I’ve emailed it to you.’
‘Do you know that Felipe works late into the night several times a week and that Maria and Ana are totally reliant on him?’ said Rebecca, realising that she had picked up Felipe’s trick of deflecting when she didn’t want to talk about something. It had been weighing on her mind that Inês didn’t give her brother enough credit, and although now wasn’t quite the right moment, she couldn’t help blurting it out.
‘ButMãeis the executive chef.’ Inês’s dark eyebrows furrowed in an alarmed V, reminding Rebecca of a flock of flying geese. ‘She should be running the kitchen.’
‘She does to a certain extent, but Felipe does all the related admin. Ordering supplies, equipment. He also does the bookkeeping, all the admin for the hotel. He even works in the laundry when Luisa is off.’
‘But that is ridiculous.’
Rebecca shrugged as if to say,Tell me about it.
Inês pursed her mouth and the lines in her dark, angular face relaxed with sadness.
‘That is my brother. Ever sincePaiandTiodied, he’s felt he has to look after us all. He did everything then, ran himself ragged but… I should have seen it. He still is, isn’t he?’
To Rebecca’s consternation, a tear rolled down Inês’s cheek. ‘I should have seen it. But I’ve been too wrapped up… my family, the spa… I can take on more to help him… but he has never asked.’
‘He doesn’t– so I think you should ask him how you could help more,’ suggested Rebecca.
