‘Nonsense. Still, what’s done is done, and what a wonderful couple you make. And I, for one, am delighted to meet you, Cherry.’
‘Likewise,’ said Cherry, although she mistrusted the jovial lament. She didn’t really want to be meeting a load of strangers that included a girl who, it seemed, might hold a candle for Daniel, and was already feeling tired at having to fake-smile. And who was this girl, anyway? Was she some kind of ex? Cherry felt vulnerable not knowing.
‘So, shall we come in, Izzy?’ asked Laura, raising a stern eyebrow.
Daniel held Cherry’s hand as they were led into the garden and she was greeted by another breathtaking view. A curved infinity pool hugged the edge of the hillside, beyond which was the sea, its azure blue broken up every now and then with spray from the tufts of gentle waves. Lying by the pool were two svelte girls.
‘Look who’s here, Brigitte,’ called Isabella, and the tawny brunette squealed in delight. She jumped up from her sun lounger, her small, pert breasts jiggling in their bikini top, noticed Cherry, who stiffened. As she came over, she threw her arms around Daniel, pressing her breasts against his shirt. Cherry took an instant dislike to her.
‘It’s so good to see you. We missed you at Courchevel this year. Where were you?’
‘Studying,’ said Daniel briskly. ‘As I was last year, and the one before that.’ He took Cherry’s hand again. ‘This is Cherry.’
Cherry found herself moving in closer to Daniel and clutched his arm.
‘Hi,’ said Brigitte, clocking her move. ‘You don’t have to worry about me – we’re like brother and sister.’
Cherry smiled tightly, feeling wrong-footed.
‘Hello, Auntie Laura!’ waved Brigitte. ‘This is Nicole,’ she said, gesturing towards the long-limbed girl still on the lounger, who Cherry noticed had been watching the introductions.
Nicole slowly got up and made her way over at a speed that meant everyone had to watch and wait for her arrival. She kissed Cherry coolly on the cheek, but her greeting was far more friendly for Daniel. ‘It eez very nice to meet you,’ she said, with a lingering smile.
Was she flirting? Cherry glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed, but Isabella was talking to a middle-aged Frenchwoman – some sort of cook, it seemed – and Laura was carrying a tray of drinks out from inside. Brigitte had gone back to her lounger and was artfully arranging her body to catch the final rays of the falling evening sun.
‘Drink?’ called Laura, and Cherry took a beer from the tray. She followed Daniel to where the empty loungers lay by the pool and sat uneasily, watching Nicole’s look of satisfaction as Daniel took the lounger next to her. Laura and Isabella were at a table further up the garden and were busily engrossed in what looked like gossipy conversation. Cherry looked down at her dress, suddenly seeing a loose thread trailing across her knee. She was too embarrassed to pull it in case Brigitte and Nicole noticed.
‘So how’ve you been?’ Daniel asked Brigitte. ‘Found a job yet?’
Brigitte raised her sunglasses from her eyes and smiled. ‘Cheeky.’ Then she immediately slid them back down again and leaned back in her lounger, tilting her face to the early evening rays. They lit her skin and tawny hair a golden colour.
‘And you, Daniel?’ Nicole’s accent was grating on Cherry’s nerves. ‘What eez it you do?’
‘I’m a trainee doctor.’
‘A doctor!’ She gazed at him admiringly and Cherry seethed. Did she have to be so blatant? How did she not feel self-conscious meeting a stranger in her bikini? Is that what money did? Gave you an air of unbridled confidence? Cherry decided she didn’t like either of them but knew she should pretend she did. At least in front of Isabella and Laura.
Daniel was still waiting for an answer from Brigitte. ‘Well, have you?’
‘Just because some of us wanted to travel, expand our minds and see the world before we got saddled with a gruelling schedule.’
‘You went on skiing holidays and summer yachts. In fact, are you sure you even left Europe?’
‘Malta.’
‘In Europe.’
Cherry wondered if Brigitte had been joking, but, no, she’d lifted her sunglasses and was looking at him with a puzzled expression.
‘Is it? Oh well, geography never was my strong point. Lucky I’m not planning on being a global reporter or anything. I’d get totally lost.’
‘You’d just need to know which plane to catch.’
She sat up. ‘Really?’
‘No.’
‘I know you think I’m useless,’ she said, smiling as if uselessness were an admirable trait. ‘But actually . . . I am getting a job. One much closer to home.’
‘You are? Really joining the workforce?’
‘I’m waiting for Uncle Vic to find me an opening in publishing. A family friend,’ she explained to Cherry.
‘So nothing concrete yet,’ said Daniel.
‘You’re wrong,’ she said triumphantly. ‘He’s pretty certain there’ll be something in September.’
And she’ll get it too, thought Cherry darkly, without a thought for those who’d worked hard to gain a foothold in the industry, those who were more qualified, more passionate and who would probably be ten times better. Those hopefuls would be pushed aside and it wouldn’t even register with her.
‘What do you do, Cherry?’ asked Brigitte.
‘I’m an estate agent.’
‘Bet you get to see some nice houses.’
‘I do.’
Brigitte nodded appreciatively and that seemed to be all that needed to be said. Cherry noted how she’d naturally assumed or expected the houses to be nice. Perhaps she didn’t know small flats in large, ugly blocks existed.
Nicole started to apply some suncream. She poured a small amount onto her hands, then slowly and sensually rubbed it onto her skin, inspecting her arm as she did so, seemingly pleased with it. She sat up and started to rub the tops of her shoulder blades, stretched a little to try and get to the middle of her back. She gave a cursory glance at Brigitte, lying down with her eyes closed, and then turned to Daniel.
‘Excusez-moi, could you pleeze . . . ?’ she said, holding out the suntan lotion.
Cherry’s hackles went up. He looked on, unsure, a little embarrassed, then held up his beer bottle. ‘My hands are cold – you’re better off asking Brigitte,’ he said pleasantly.
She didn’t, noticed Cherry, the conniving little bitch. Just smiled and lay back on her lounger.
The Frenchwoman in the apron came to the doorway and Isabella looked up. ‘Wonderful!’ she said. ‘Madame Baudin says dinner is ready. Shall we eat outside?’
Brigitte got up and slipped on a flowing kaftan. Nicole stood and stretched languorously in her bikini, then went inside to freshen up, Brigitte at her heels.
‘I’m sorry,’ mouthed Daniel, and Cherry smiled and waved a hand to indicate she wasn’t going to be unsettled by a silly French girl. He waited until Nicole and Brigitte were out of earshot, then said, ‘Are you OK?’