I nodded, even though I wasn’t in any real danger of that happening. I’d never be a part of this world.Stay with me, Henry had said, but sooner or later, he’d lose interest in me and disappear from my life again. That was just how it went. People like him didn’t associate with people like me. I belonged to the dregs of society and he to the absolute elite. He was letting me peek behind the gilded curtain for now, but it was probably only a matter of time before he realised how little I belonged here and pulled the golden curtain shut before my face.
20
The smell of flowers is a reminder
of how sweet the moment can be.
Logan’s mindfulness calendar
Henry
I stared at the blinking cursor on my laptop. I couldn’t focus on my work. If I had been distracted in the past, it had usually been because I was worried about the hotel. But this time, I had a new distraction. A woman. Kate, to be precise. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. We hadn’t run into each other since I’d reluctantly left her in her room last week to go to yet another meeting with my dad and his lawyers. Throughout the meeting, I couldn’t help but think about Kate, picturing her lying in the bathtub, immersed in warm water that lapped at her naked body.
I would much rather have stayed with her than listen to my dad talk, for the hundredth time, about wanting to file a defamation lawsuit. His insistence that he was innocent was draining, and it was pushing me closer and closer to the breaking point. Kate, on the other hand, had a strangely calming effect on me. Not only wasshe the most intriguing woman I’d met in a long time, but she was also by far the most attractive. Ethan, with his preference for tall, slender supermodels who looked like they’d stepped right out of a vintage Victoria’s Secret catalogue, would probably have disagreed, but I liked Kate just the way she was. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was about her that captivated me—I barely knew her, after all. But something about her grabbed my attention, despite this being the worst possible time for such a distraction. I needed to focus on the hotel and the Pearl Gala, but that didn’t stop my mind from lingering on memories of our embrace, which had felt far too intimate and meaningful.
I wondered constantly how Kate was doing, what she was doing, how her first day of work had been. Was she still cleaning somewhere in the hotel? Or had she finished work for the day and was now back in her room? My offer to let her stay at The Darlington indefinitely had surprised her. To be honest, it had surprised me too, although I’d already briefly considered it. Not least because it would have been hypocritical to set her out on the street while raising money for the homeless. What had confused me, though, was how urgently I found myself wishing Kate would accept my offer.
“Henry?”
Rakesh’s voice was insistent, as if he’d been trying to get my attention for a while. I looked up at the hotel manager, who was standing at my desk, studying me with interest. How long had he been there?
“Yes?”
“I need your signature.” He pointed at a document he’d placed on the desk in front of me. The newly negotiated contracts for one of the hotel’s suppliers.
I grabbed a pen. “I’m sorry. I was lost in thought.”
“I noticed. Are you worried about the gala?”
“Yes,” I said, grateful for the excuse. It would have been pretty unprofessional to tell him that I couldn’t stop thinking about Kate.
“It’ll be OK,” Rakesh said. “The last Pearl Gala was great, and this isn’t our first rodeo. I’ve set aside two days in this week’s schedule just for the gala. Vivian and I will put together the guest list.”
I frowned. “You and Vivian?”
“Yes.”
“Who authorised that?”
“Vivian.”
Of course.
I gave him the signed contracts. “The two of us will put together the guest list. Without Vivian’s input.”
“Are you sure you have time?” The concern in his voice alarmed me. Things must have been bad if our hotel manager was so openly worried about me.
I ran a hand over my face, as if I could wipe away the tension, stress, and overtime that had written themselves across my features. “No, but I’ll make time.” Vivian would put together a guest list that worked in my dad’s favour, but I wanted one that served the hotel, the gala, and most importantly, a good cause. I wouldn’t allow the Pearl Gala to become the Richard Darlington show.
“OK, so I’ll call the meeting off with Vivian and schedule time for the two of us.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Do you need anything else from me?”
“No, you can go home. I’ll call it a day soon too.”
Rakesh’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and his eyes darted to the clock hanging on the wall. It was just before 7 p.m., andusually I stayed at the office until at least 9 p.m., sometimes longer. “Already?”
