Free The Love Resort by Faith Bleasdale Page B

colours.’
    ‘Oh, yeah? You’re that confident?’
    ‘Yes. Favourite colour, blue; eyes, hazel; you squeeze the toothpaste, annoyingly I might add, from the middle; and you have an unnatural attachment to dead plants.’
    ‘OK, well, your favourite colour is green; your eyes are dark brown; you barely use toothpaste and your worst habit is, um, no, you’re perfect.’
    ‘Thank you, you’re not so bad yourself.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    ‘This holiday is going to be fantastic.’
    ‘Oh, it will be.’
    *
    A woman and a photographer stood by the check-in desk, looking conspicuous, and holding up a sign saying ‘Exclusive Holidays’ .
    ‘There we are,’ Emily said, pointing the woman out to Jimmy and then stalking up to her.
    ‘Hello, I’m Emily and that’s Jimmy.’
    ‘I’m Gemma and this is Paul.’ Gemma stuck out her hand and Emily grabbed it, shaking it enthusiastically. Jimmy nodded shyly. The photographer smiled and started taking photos.
    ‘Hello, are we first?’ Emily asked, startled by the flash.
    ‘Yup. What a lovely West Country accent you’ve got.’
    ‘North Devon,’ Jimmy explained timidly.
    ‘Well, welcome. Congratulations. I hope you don’t mind if we wait for the others, it’s just that you’ll get bored if I go through everything three times.’
    ‘Course not,’ Emily said, taking Jimmy’s hand and smiling up at him. Two more people approached; Jimmy couldn’t help but stare.
    ‘You must be Thea and Tim. I’m Gemma and this is Paul.’ Once again, Paul took a photo by way of greeting.
    ‘Hello,’ Thea said, before Tim grabbed her and gave her a snog. Everyone looked surprised.
    ‘Sorry, can’t help myself,’ Tim explained, kissing Gemma’s cheek.
    Jimmy shuffled from foot to foot. This couple seemed so glamorous compared to him. Especially as Tim was explaining that Thea was an actress and he was a writer. He saw that Emily looked impressed, and felt out of his depth.
    ‘Jimmy has his own car restoration business, and I help out in my parents’ business,’ Emily told them, as Jimmy continued to study the wheel of the luggage trolley. He was sure that if he had a spanner on him he could make it go straight.
    After a few moments of silence, Lee and Carla arrived. Introductions were made and then Gemma called for their attention. Jimmy thought the way that Lee strutted up to the group showed him to be pretty confident, although Carla seemed a bit shyer. Both Tim and Lee were far more confident than he was, and that worried him.
    ‘First we need a group photo. Paul?’
    ‘Righto. Now, men in a row with your women in front of you.’ Paul helped them arrange themselves, and then he rearranged them before taking the photos.
    ‘Fantastic,’ Gemma enthused. ‘Now I am going to check you all in together. Then you will go through to the departure lounge and wait for your flight. Please don’t miss it; there won’t be another free flight available to you if you do. The flight takes off at one p.m., which gives you just under two hours. It lasts for just under ten hours and you will be met at the other end by a representative from The Love Resort. If you can all give me your passports and follow me...? Any questions?’ she asked in a singsong voice. They all shook their heads.
    They stood behind her while she organised everything. She sorted out seat allocation and the luggage, while they all smiled awkwardly at each other.
    Jimmy held on tightly to Emily’s hand. He felt a bit intimidated. A writer, an actress, a soon-to-be lawyer and an English graduate. Despite Emily’s elevation of his own job, he still felt inadequate. Still, he told himself, they seemed friendly enough.
    ‘Great, you’re all ready to go. You’ve all got seats with your partners and I suggest it would be a good idea for you to try to stay together in a group. I know this is a romantic holiday you’re embarking on, but it wouldn’t hurt to bond a bit,’ Gemma suggested, and led them to passport