‘Look, I do notworshipEthan Duke. I like him. He’s very nice and hard-working. You have no idea what he’s like.’
‘I know he cares more about his appearance than anything else.’
‘That is not true! If you talked to him –’
‘I don’t have to talk to him, I can tell from his vlogs.’
‘Youhave watched Ethan Duke’s vlogs?’ I had to admit I was kind of taken aback by this information. Cal was not really a vlog-watching kind of person.
‘Just a couple of them recently,’ he said defensively, shifting his feet. ‘Did he even talk to you properly at the party?’
‘Yes!’ I lied. ‘We had loads of deep and meaningful conversations! About . . . lots of stuff.’
‘Sure.’ Cal shut his book. ‘If you see my dad around, tell him I’m waiting for him outside.’
After that, I wondered why I missed him at all. He was so pompous and self-important. ARGH. He made me so angry, up there on his high horse as though he was some kind of wise old man in a lame fairy tale, lurking at every corner ready to tell you what to do and make you feel guilty about everything.
I decided to try to avoid him around the hotel, so I spent most of the time in the flat with Fritz, attempting to keep myself busy. Which is how Mum found me doing homework on a Saturday morning. ‘You know,’ I said, holding upLord of the Fliesas she leaned on the door frame, ‘this book is actually quite good.’
‘I’m sure William Golding would value your opinion.’
‘I mean it. I’m redoing my essay on it.’
Mum gave me a strange look. ‘Voluntarily?’
‘Sort of. I got an E on the last one but I hadn’t actually read the book then, so Miss Weatherton said if I wanted to have another shot, she’d mark it. I have to get it in before the end of term though.’
‘What’s with the sudden work ethic?’ Mum went to sit down on my bed and I swivelled to face her.
‘Nothing.’ I shrugged. ‘Olly was just talking aboutLord of the Fliesthe other day and he said that there –’
‘Olly?’ she interrupted.
‘Grace’s brother.’
‘I see.’
‘He said he thought I should try reading it. Him and Grace are really into books and music and stuff. They’re both super-intelligent. I don’t really understand what they’re talking about most of the time, so it would be nice to join in at least one conversation.’
She nodded. ‘Well, tell him thanks from me. So, do you think you might give yourself a break for a few hours?’
‘How come?’
‘I need your help with something.’ She looked at her watch. ‘I need you ready to go in five minutes. I’ll tell Jamie to look after Fritz today. We have an errand to run.’
A while later we were walking down Bond Street and Mum was telling me about the time she’d had to solve the dilemma of two high-profile guests each demanding the same room.
‘The key is to make every guest feel special. Their stay at Hotel Royale is a personal experience. Just like you did with Skylar Chase. You made her feel like she was the most important guest at the hotel.’
‘Shewasthe most important guest at the hotel.’
‘No.?Everyguest is the most important guest at the hotel. Does that make sense?’
‘I guess.’
She stopped in the middle of the pavement and looked down at me with a serious expression on her face.
‘Flick, do you know why the Christmas Ball is so important to me?’
