We laughed at the same time. “I was very relieved when it went up in smoke,” I said.
“Me too,” he said. We both sat down just as the driver appeared. “Time to go.”
We walked out the door, passing a couple on their way out. We all waved politely at each other.
“Wow,” I said, looking at the yachts on the pier in front of us once we arrived. They were those grand ones, not the kind for mere mortals. It was the kind you might see in the pages of thePeoplemagazine. The kind of thing celebs cruise Turks and Caicos in.
“The perks of being a doctor,” I whispered over at Alex.
“I don’t save people’s lives every day, though.”
The pier jutted out into the calm, gold-tinged waters. The sun was kissing the horizon now and making it look like orange liquid was bleeding into the surrounding waters. We walked onto the pier and made our way towards the boats. The one at the very end was the largest, it also looked like it was expecting us. A red carpet rolled down the steps and onto the pier, its lights were on and a big “Welcome” sign was posted out front.
“I’m assuming it’s that one?” I looked at Alex and asked.
“I would think so,” he said as a man holding a tray of champagne glasses suddenly appeared out of nowhere and offered them to us.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” I whispered to Alex, taking two glasses and handing him one.
“Me neither,” he said.
“This way, please,” the man then said, waving an arm in the direction of a staircase that I’d only just noticed now.
“Oooooh, exciting,” I said, playful. We followed the man upstairs, but I wasn’t prepared for what we saw.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The upper deck was full of well-dressed people sipping champagne and cocktails. There was a big blue pool in the middle of it, dotted with floating candles. Rows of fairy lights stretched out over our heads and large colored paper lanterns hung from them. People stood around small tables draped in shiny tablecloths, or lounged on chairs by the pool.
“I didn’t know there were going to be so many people,” I said to Alex, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed.
“Me neither,” he replied, sipping his champagne.
We both turned as the movement of waving hands caught our eye. The hands belonged to the couple we’d seen at the hotel earlier. He and his wife looked slightly older, in their fifties maybe. Alex and I waved back at them and then the man was on his feet walking over to us.
“Hi, I’m Paul.” The man extended his hand and we both shook it. “And that’s my wife, Bethany.” He gestured behind him and we all looked. Bethany waved. She was pretty. She looked very well turned out and polished, like she was in one of thoseHousewives Ofshows.
“Would you like to come and join us?” he asked. It was one of those awkward moments where you can’t say no, even if you want to. So Alex and I agreed and soon we found ourselves sitting with Paul and Bethany, two total strangers, having drinks.
But it wasn’t that bad. Turned out we had some things in common. Paul was a doctor, the “cool” kind, a neurosurgeon. And his wife, Bethan, had been an accountant before becoming a stay-at-home mom of two. They were British ex-pats living in Dubai and had come here on their annual holiday without the kids,good to keep the romance alive, they said. They seemed nice enough, and we all fell into a comfortable, interesting chat. Alex and Paul started talking about something medical-related and Bethany told me all about her glamorous-sounding life in Dubai and how the other day, when she was on her way to fetch the kids from school, she saw a man walking his pet tiger. Apparently, you see those kinds of things rather often in Dubai. After about ten minutes of conversation someone familiar caught eye.
“Look, it’s Julian.” I nudged Alex and pointed in the direction of the bar. Julian looked up as I pointed. For a moment he looked confused, as if he didn’t recognize us, but then smiled and waved.
“Sorry,” I said to Paul and Bethany, “I want to say ‘hi’ to a friend. See you now.” I got up politely and made my way to the bar, Alex close behind me.
“Julian,” I said as we reached the bar and sat down. “You’re everywhere, aren’t you?”
“I could say the same for you,” he said with a playful smile. “So . . . what will it be?” he asked.
I shrugged and looked over at Alex. I wasn’t too fussed at this stage.
“We leave it in your capable hands,” Alex said.
“I heard what happened at the beach earlier,” Julian said, mixing the drinks together.
“God, you should have seen it. Alex was amazing,” I jumped in.
“I was just doing my job,” Alex said dismissively.
