Page 43 of The Wedding Pact

‘Your food has been delivered, ma’am, if you’d like to come in and eat,’ he says with a polite smile.

‘Great. Thanks,’ I say, tossing my book onto the small table next to the lounger and getting up, giving my back and shoulders a quick stretch before following him into the villa.

Raffa is still at the table with his laptop open, but when he sees me coming in, he closes it and pushes it to one side, rather than moving it fully off the table. I guess he’s intending to get right back to work the moment we’ve finished eating.

My stomach sinks at this inevitability. I’m craving spending more time with him one on one, but I guess that’s unlikely to happen.

‘Hey,’ he says, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms above his head, then rubbing at the top of his shoulders and neck, which have to be sore from him being hunched over a laptop a lot recently. ‘Good book?’

‘Yeah, it’s great. I have no idea who the murderer’s going to be. It has me foxed,’ I say, sitting down opposite him.

We sit in silence as Ahmed puts plates of amazing-looking food in front of us from a silver wheeled trolley – grilled lobster with all the trimmings for Raffa and a delicious-smelling fish curry for me.

We both thank him at the same time as he gives us a small bow and excuses himself.

I notice he’s also brought us a large pitcher of ice-cold water as well as a bottle of white wine and two wine glasses.

‘Do you want some?’ Raffa asks, already picking up the bottle.

‘Sure, I’d love some. But just a small one,’ I say. ‘I don’t want to be hungover for the wedding ceremony tomorrow. It starts at ten, right?’

There was a full itinerary on a printed card sitting on the coffee table when we arrived here, which I’ve taken a bit of time to study so I’ll know what’s expected of me and when.

He nods as he pours a smallish measure of wine into both of the glasses.

‘Yeah, so hopefully it’ll be over by midday, including all the wedding photos.’ He grimaces at this. ‘We can come back here and hang afterwards if you like. I’ll have to get my head back into work, so I won’t be going to the buffet lunch. I’ll have to show my face for the dinner though, or there’ll no doubt be hell to pay.’

A frustrated sort of sympathy washes through me at the thought of him beavering away in here on his own while the rest of the island parties. How awful that he feels so removed from the joy of this event.

But I don’t say anything. I get the impression anything I did say wouldn’t be received well, especially if I pointed out the pity of it.

Seemingly oblivious to how his predicament is coming across, he lifts his glass and holds it out to me, waiting for me to lift mine too before clinking them together.

‘Cheers,’ he says, then takes a long sip.

I take one too, then pick up my knife and fork and start eating. Now I’ve smelt the food I’m suddenly ravenous.

It seems Raffa is too because it’s a few minutes of us both wolfing down our food before he lowers his cutlery and says, ‘Oh, hey. I finally managed to get hold of Elliot earlier and I asked him whether he’s involved in the project to rebuild the coral reefs here.’

He pauses for a second and a flash of what looks like concern crosses his face.

‘Is everything okay with him?’ I ask, my interest piqued by the mention of his enigmatic friend.

He waves his hand. ‘He’s been a bit off the grid and not answering my messages in the last week, so it’s a relief to know he’s not completely disappeared.’

‘Oh yeah?’ I say, waiting for him to add to that. I feel like there’s something he’s not telling me and I’m intrigued to know more about his elusive ex-business partner.

He shakes his head, frowning, as if to expel dark thoughts from it.

‘Anyway, apparently he’s invested quite a bit of private capital himself here to help support the United Nations Development Programme to rebuild the coral and he donates a percentage of the profits from this hotel to help keep local projects running. So that’s cool of him.’

I guess I’m not getting any more gossip about Elliot’s private life then. Maybe later.

‘That’s super cool of him. Why were you asking him about it? Is it something you’d be interested in getting involved in too?’

‘Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it since we got back from the reef. It’d be great to put some money into investing in the future of this amazing country. You’re right, it’s a travesty to think it could disappear if we don’t actively do something about it. According to Elliot, the people who live in the Maldives rely on the coral reefs for their survival so it’s a big deal to keep them alive.’

‘Sounds like he’s pretty clued up.’