The woman was about her age, but beautiful. Shiny and polished in a way that made Merrin wish she wasn’t always in a navy wool trouser suit, white shirt and the gold-and-navy cravat favoured by the hotel chain that issued her uniform.
‘Hello! Hello! God, it’s cold out there.’ The woman dumped two large leather overnight bags on the floor and rubbed the tops of her arms. ‘I should warn you to prepare for chaos!’ she said lightly, as she trod the two shallow steps and swept further into the reception.
Merrin liked her on sight. This was how it worked when dealing with the public all day, every day: she very quickly decided whom she liked and would go the extra mile for and whom she would not. And it was a decision largely predicated on how the person entering the hotel treated her. She thought ‘prepare for chaos’ an odd choice of phrase for someone with the poise of this woman in her tailored jeans, high heels and with a large mustard-coloured handbag hanging from her slender forearm; chaos didn’t seem like her natural bedfellow. That was until two adorable, shiny-haired twin boys ran in directly after her and, with arms wide like aeroplanes, whizzed around the reception like a couple of Spitfires mid dog-fight. They matched in chinos and mini blue Oxford button-downs beneath woollen tank tops, and Merrin wondered if she had inadvertently wandered into a Gap ad.
The woman smiled at them lovingly and shook her head. Merrin could see that far from their antics troubling her, the blonde lady clearly adored the chaos that these little scamps brought with them.
‘Freddie! Noah! Don’t touch anything. I mean it – nothing! And don’t go too far,’ she called out. Her accent was pure cut-glass and Merrin thought she’d make a lovely newsreader.
The boys, chubby little babies who teetered on fat legs, as if walking were still a novelty, ignored their mother and disappeared on to the deep sofa. She could hear them burbling sweet baby talk.
‘They’re lovely.’ She smiled at the woman who now rested her stunning Birkin bag on the countertop.
‘Yes, they are lovely, most of the time, but my God, don’t be fooled by their sweet faces; they can be absolute monsters. And they gang up on me, you know. There are many days when the time I love them most is when they are sound asleep and I get a big fat gin as a reward for surviving the day!’ She ran her hand through her hair, a large, square diamond sparkling in the chandelier’s light. Merrin wondered if it were baubles like that which kept the woman happy, maintained the illusion of love.
‘Well, we have a wide selection of gins and so I hope you enjoy your stay here. Would you like to check in?’ Whilst not wanting to hurry the woman, she had a million chores awaiting her attention.
‘Yes, please! Let’s do that. My husband’s parking the car and probably secretly smoking somewhere, which is why he’s taking so long. He thinks a handful of Polos can disguise the smell, the poor love.’
Merrin laughed, liking the woman’s easy manner. She understood. It was this quiet tolerance that kept the wheels oiled for her and Miguel too, turning a blind eye to his penchant for eating in bed, showering the clean bed linen with crumbs, and his love of the trashiest pop music her ears had ever endured. He, too, could no doubt give a dozen examples of habits of hers that drove him to distraction, but the two of them worked. They were mates who had good sex. That was it. He told her he loved her and, whilst she would not exactly call it love, she knew her life was better with him in it and was happy to have a partner in this sometimes transient environment, where they could close their door and play at families on a rare day off. But as for the future? Merrin wondered where she might venture next when she had a little more experience under her belt – a warm country, maybe? And if Miguel wanted to come along, that would be fine, but if he didn’t, she would miss the beautiful man, but that would be fine too.
‘We’re here for two nights and please tell me your swimming pool is open. I can’t function without my morning swim. My mother-in-law is treating us for Valentine’s and I want to make the absolute most of it.’
‘Well, how lovely!’
‘Oh, she really is.’ The woman crinkled her eyes in fondness.
‘Good news: the indoor pool is open in the spa and we have wetsuits if you fancy a dip in the outdoor pool.’
‘Really?’ The woman sounded amazed.
‘No, not really, it’s beyond freezing, you’d have to chip the ice off.’
‘Oh, my God! You’re hilarious!’ the woman yelled, throwing her head back to reveal her shiny, white teeth.
‘I have my moments.’ Merrin liked that this fancy-pants woman found her funny. ‘Have you travelled far today?’
‘From London. Thought we’d grab a couple of days away either side of this treat. We are actually en route to Cornwall for a flying visit.’
‘Oh, Cornwall! That’s where I’m from.’ She pictured the bay of Port Charles and felt the familiar pang of loss. She missed her mum’s cooking, sleeping in her childhood bed, walking barefoot over the cobbles, all the way down to the water’s edge, and even her fat sister. Wasting no time, Ruby was nearly five months pregnant and Heather had gone into knitting and crochet overdrive – the little babby had a whole wardrobe of impractical and beribboned items waiting in a drawer. Merrin felt strangely removed from her sister’s pregnancy, not only by the fact that she was physically absent, but also because becoming a mother was so far out of her sphere it felt very much as if Ruby, like Bella, was leaving her behind.
‘But you’re sensibly living away from the hordes during the holiday invasion?’ the woman asked.
‘Something like that.’ She smiled. ‘Can I take your name, please?’
Merrin opened up the computer screen to check the woman in and it felt as if the three things happened simultaneously. First, the little toddlers tumbled playfully from the sofa and came careering back to the reception desk, chattering and laughing loudly as they ran and shoved each other, before crashing into their mum’s long legs. Second, the woman spoke her name, clearly, audibly and without hesitation, but to Merrin’s ears it arrived as a garbled message that took a second to decode, and third, the door opened and in walked Digby Mortimer.
‘That’s Mortimer. M.O.R.T.I.M.E.R.’ The woman turned at the sound of the door opening. ‘Hello, darling, there you are! Just checking in. The boys nearly escaped and I am in need of a large gin! This lovely lady has been making me laugh. I’m sorry, I’m so rude, I didn’t ask your name?’
Weakened, she felt her body slide forward a little until her legs made contact with the back of the unit. It kept her upright. Aware that she was staring, but unable to look away, her stomach flipped and she found it hard to take a full breath. Her mouth was dry and she could feel the twitch of discomfort under her left eye, as beads of nervous perspiration gathered on her top lip.
There he was, right in front of her. She had imagined this moment many times and it was never like this. It was the first time she had seen him since she abandoned him on Reunion Point, where he sat holding the thin engagement ring that with shaking fingers and a shredded heart she had placed in his palm.
‘Merrin.’ She answered the woman’s question.