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‘A pleasure,’ he said with a respectful nod. ‘My name is Claus. Have you flown in a helicopter before, Ms Roberts?’ he asked, handing me some headphones, which I popped on. I shook my head. He said something else which I couldn’t hear. I nodded and smiled as he frowned. Luca lifted my left earphone.
‘The headphones don’t go on until we sit down,’ he said, smiling.
‘Ah, right. Sorry,’ I shouted as I took them off, wrapping them around my neck.
‘Ready?’ Luca shouted back over the deafening drone of the propellor. I gave him a double thumbs up and he nodded with authority at Claus, who opened the door to the helicopter and waved us in. Luca helped me up the steps as I pointed to my bag which was still on the floor. He dismissed me with a shake of his head, jumping into the seat next to me. The interior was spotless cream leather and smelt brand new, with bottles of mineral water for the two of us and a folded-up copy ofNZZin case we fancied perusing the latest business news. Definitely not. The pilot shut the door behind us and put our bags in the back. This was officially the most glamorous thing I’d ever done.
‘Good morning, Mr Blanchet and Ms Roberts, this is your captain speaking,’ Claus came through loud and clear, while flicking numerous switches and doing his final checks. ‘We are locked and loaded and ready for take-off. If you can ensure your seatbelts are secured and headphones are in position, we will be on our way.’
I smiled at Luca and leant back into my heated seat. He was so effortlessly comfortable in this environment, with his daddy-long-legs crossed and his headphones on, flicking through the newspaper. The engine started and I found my hand clasping his in fear as we took off into the sky. Music blared through the headphones as we flew off up the mountain, high above Verbier where the morning skiers went from colourful ants, to dots, to flecks as we climbed higher and higher into the sky.
‘So where exactly is the spa?’ I asked, as we dipped over the top of the mountain and started to head down the other side.
‘You’ll see,’ Luca said with a smile, ‘it’s not far – you can just about see the water through the trees.’ He pointed into the distance as the helicopter swooped down and my stomach dropped. I dug my fingernails into Luca’s hand, making him jump as a tiny square of blue on the horizon gradually got bigger, expanding into twelve blue circles as we approached the hotel.
‘I can see them now,’ I said, pressing my face against the window.
‘Those are the spa pools,’ he explained, ‘each one a different temperature and a different pressure. The combination is heavenly andthatis where we will spend the day.’ The engine changed tone as we started to descend, hovering over our landing spot for a few seconds before Claus slowly lowered the helicopter into the snow.
‘Welcome to Le Mirador,’ a tall lady with a beehive called out to us, as we made our way down the steps. She handed Luca and I hot towels to freshen up after our arduous, half-hour flight.
‘Thank you,’ I said, cleaning my hands and patting my face with the flannel before placing it back on the silver plate she was holding.
‘Mr Blanchet, we have your favourite suite all ready,’ she said, with a beaming smile. His favourite suite? Why would we need a suite? We were only here for the day? Oh God, what was he expecting? A kiss was one thing, and I had barely wrapped my head around that, but what happens in a suite was a different proposition altogether. Did I want something to happen? Was I even ready? Kissing someone other than George had been a welcome distraction, areally gooddistraction in fact, but I wasn’t sure I wanted anything else just yet.
‘Espresso?’ asked the voice of the beehive, holding out a small tray with two tiny coffee cups, interrupting my increasingly panicked thoughts. I dutifully knocked mine back. I was getting used to the bitter taste of an espresso in the mornings as part of my lady-of-the-mountains transformation. The large hot chocolates with whipped cream and marshmallows would have to wait for my days out with Xavier.
She handed a key to Luca with a leaf attached as a key ring. An actual leaf.
‘Would you like me to show you to your room?’ she asked.
‘I’ll take it from here,’ Luca said, popping the leaf in his pocket. He took my hand and marched us both towards the hotel entrance, which was made entirely of glass. It was so spotlessly clean, that the mountain reflected back as we walked through the automatic doors and into the glass lift.
‘Here we are,’ Luca said, unlocking a door withPenthouseetched into the wood.
I froze. I couldn’t just smile and waltz in there without saying something – I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.
‘Luca, before we go into the, er… bedroom… I wanted to say thank you so much for bringing me here – the helicopter ride was unbelievable, and this spa is honestly the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.’
Luca looked at me uncertainly, waiting for me to finish.
‘I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea, or should I say I hopeI haven’t given youthe wrong idea… it’s just that since George, I haven’t actually been with another…’
Luca frowned, confused. ‘The suite is just so we have somewhere private to get changed, Holly. The bathroom is through there.’
The suite was bigger than my London flat, which put my new life into sharp focus. Floor-to-ceiling windows gave us a 360-degree view of the mountain, with a private pool on the balcony and the jacuzzi already bubbling. Both the bedroom and lounge had open fires, adding a lovely, smoky smell to the space. A fully stocked mini-bar with Champagne, beers and snacks, and a walk-in wardrobe, which I wouldn’t be using. The bathroom was more like a spa than any bathroom I’d ever seen – a whirlpool bath for two, an enormous shower with different temperatures, scents and pressures, and a mini sauna. I could quite happily have stayed in the bathroom all day, going from bath to shower and back again.
‘It’s so beautiful,’ I said, turning to Luca. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘We have it all day, so we can get changed and relax,’ he said, his spicy aftershave making me feel slightly woozy as he wafted across the room and unzipped his bag. ‘I thought we could start with our own jacuzzi, before we head down to the others?’ he said, nodding out at the balcony.
‘Sounds good. I’ll just get my bikini on,’ I said, running to the bathroom to change.
Luca sploshed into the jacuzzi with two glasses in one hand and a bottle of Champagne in the other.
I hadn’t thought this through at all. I wasn’t body-confident enough to be running around in a bikini all day. I covered myself up with one of the dressing gowns and walked through to the balcony, gingerly stepping outside. Ahmablaaadygoddd. It was freeeezing. Luca watched me from the jacuzzi, looking deliciously hot and inviting. I didn’t want to take my dressing gown off in front of him, but I didn’t have much choice. I couldn’t stand around being indecisive, so I shimmied out of my robe and flumped myself in.
Luca laughed and handed me a glass of Champagne.
