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“And Angie?”
I glance around at Bill’s words, my hand resting on the door handle. “Yes?”
“Don’t forget to relax and enjoy yourself for five minutes.”
I offer a bland smile. Maybe when I have my eyes closed and can’t see or hear them. Even their voices are snooty. They are no one compared to Bill and his nephews, but if you listened to them all talk, you’d think the sun shone out of those women’s asses. At least, according to them.
Like a woman condemned, I make my way to the entrance hall, where Tiffany and Sarah are taking selfish, dolled up with false eyelashes, full faces of makeup and overly blown out hair. Aren’t we going to a spa? Aren’t they going to have facials and stuff? Isn’t all that a complete waste of time.
They barely spare me a glance until I come to a stop beside them. Sarah looks over first, quickly banishing the annoyed look from her face. I think someone – probably Ryan – told her to be nice to me. He ignores me, so I have no idea why he would tell her that, but I can’t imagine Bill or Timothy saying it, and they would be the only other suspects. Everyone else treats me much as Ryan does.
“Can we help you?” Sarah drawls, gesturing her phone in my direction. I offer a faint smile.
“Bill said we were having a girls' spa day. That’s fun, huh?”
Sarah blinks slowly, joined by Tiffany as their eyes dip to slowly peruse my outfit. If it was up to me, I’d be wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but Luka didn’t pack any of those. Instead, I’m dressed nicely in a cashmere sweater, chocolate trousers, and cute brown leather ankle boots. I look perfectly respectable. But I apparently don’t look how they expect me to. I mean, they’re in dresses and tights and heels, but still. I don’t lookbad.
“I don’t know if you’re ready, and the car has just arrived,” Tiffany pipes up, pointing a perfectly manicured fingernail at the window, where the town car has indeed pulled up.
Gladys chooses this moment to save me, appearing with my coat purse. “Here you go, Angie.”
“Thanks, Gladys.”
I let her help me into my coat as Sarah and Tiffany exchange eyebrow raised looks and swan out the door, which the driver has just opened for them. Gladys smiles warmly at me.
“Good luck. I think you’re going to need it with those two.”
I grimace, taking my purse and shrugging. “At least you’ll have a nice day here.”
I’m not kidding. I’ve seen Gladys up and down the stairs a million times a day fetching things those two ask for. She’s a housekeeper, not a maid. They need to learn the difference.
The driver is waiting for me, the back door of the town car held open. Oops, it will be getting cold in there. I don’t need to give them another reason to dislike me. Not that they needed any. I think they disliked me on sight. Sliding in, I take the seat with my back to the driver. The other two already occupied by Sarah and Tiffany, who are taking more selfies.
The door closes, and I smile again, trying to make it a little warmer this time. Bill's right. I should at least try to relax and enjoy myself. I’m technically supposed to be having some vacation time while I’m here. But they ignore me, finishing their selfies and turning to each other to gossip and giggle.
I sit with my smile fixed, attempting occasionally to join the conversation. I give up the fourth time I’m completely ignored. Okay then. This trip actually just got a little more relaxing. I tried. I’ll try again when we’re at the spa, that way I won’t be lying to Bill when I inevitably debrief him, but I’m not tying myself in knots to talk to two women who won’t even acknowledge me existence.
The spa is about half an hour's drive from the Manor, and I mainly watch the swirling leaves out the window. The driver pulls up at the door of the luxury spa resort, holding open the door and waiting for us all to get out.
“Good luck,” he smirks at me as I’m the last one out of the car. The others have already mounted the stairs, so they don’t hear him.
“I think I’m going to need it.”
He chuckles, nodding as he closes the door and climbs back into the car to go to park until we need him again. I follow Sarah and Tiffany up the steps, but they’ve already gone inside, not bothering to wait for me. I guess they only have to be nice when they are at risk of being overheard by Bill or one of the nephews. Interesting.
The receptionist is already fussing over them when I step inside. I guess Gladys name-dropped Bill when she booked. Why not? I usually do.
“This should be fun, huh ladies?”
The receptionist waits for someone to answer me, but when they don’t, she jumps in. Oh. This is going to be falling off a horse in front of your super good at horseback riding boss level of embarrassment. How fun for me.
“We have you all down for manicures, pedicures and facials first,” the receptionist chirps, casting an apologetic glance my way. “Then massages and a sauna to finish.”
It actually sounds really nice. It also sounds like there will be plenty of opportunities for me to initiate conversations with them. Perfect. I accept the glass of champagne offered to me as I formulate the perfect sequence of questions in my mind. This is going to be a challenge, but I’ve never backed down from one of them.
Bill glances up from his book as I slide into the room, closing it behind me. He smiles, setting the book down and steepling his fingers in front of his chin.
“Why are you hiding in here? Shouldn’t you be mingling out there?”
