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No, the page wasn’t the problem.
It was the pressure. The drive to outdo himself. To make this chapter better than the last. For the book to be new and exciting in a world where the well of creativity had run dry.
And time was running out.
His agent had been on the phone only that morning to tell him the publishers were getting impatient. That he had missed his deadline, and they wanted to see something by the end of the week or they would insist on the return of his advance.
“Bloody ingrates,” he scoffed, leaning so far back in his chair until he was in real danger of falling on his arse. “You make them millions one day and they’re kissing your ass. But one little bit of block the next, and it’s ‘hasta la vista, baby’.” He emphasised the Schwarzenegger impression by shooting a finger pistol at the ceiling before a scream, then a splash, had him on his feet and looking out the office’s window.
Below, his daughter, Stacey, lay out on one of two inflatable beds drifting along the surface of the villa’s large pool, sunning herself while her friend Cassandra swam lengths.
The girls spent most of the week like that. Enjoying the hot summer days and the awe-inspiring views over the Bay of Gibraltar.
David had taken a moment to enjoy them too, though his view had been one quite different. His gaze followed the figure in the water, his eyes locking onto the sheer ivory white bikini as she power-stroked through the crystal blue water from one edge to the other. Without stopping, she dived under, rolled and kicked away from the wall to repeat the lap.
She did this five times before swerving and swimming towards the edge closest to the villa, where they'd left their towels.
It was a scene straight out of David's own dirty little movie. Time almost seemed to hold its breath as Cassandra pulled herself up easily out of the water, throwing back her bountiful mane of raven hair. Rivulets sparkled in the sun and cascaded down her long neck, full breasts and flat belly. Then she was up on her feet and towelling her hair, her head turning up towards the house. Finding him.
Their eyes met and David knew instinctively that she knew he had been watching her.
He'd been caught, but the idea only sent a hot shiver tingling up his spine as he dragged his eyes away. Feeling a little hot, he decided he needed to take a break.
And maybe have a little fun in the sun himself...
“Ah… this is the life!” Stacey sighed, stretched out across her inflatable.
Cassandra didn’t answer, just led back on her float and kicked gently away from the edge, sending her float drifting lazily back across the surface of the pool. Overhead, the sky was as blue as she had ever seen it. Stretched out below at the base of the western slope of the rock that dominated the eastern side, the slender crescent shaped town of Gibraltar seemed quiet and sleepy. Beyond that, the still azure waters of the bay stretched out as far as the eye could see towards the black lines of the distant Spanish coast.
It was paradise. Their very own little slice of heaven. Cut away from the rest of the world the way Gibraltar itself was separated from the rest of mainland Europe.
So then why couldn’t she bring herself to enjoy it?
‘I’m sorry, Cass, but you’re just too boring for me,’ Nathan’s voice answered, ringing through her memory, thick with all the self-assured arrogance she had once found so exciting.
Now it only made her skin crawl.
It shouldn’t have mattered. They’d only gone out a couple of times. Hell, they hadn’t even slept together yet. Not that he hadn’t been trying, of course.
It shouldn’t have mattered to her what he thought. But it did.
It mattered. She hated that it did, but it did matter to her.
It mattered because she’d always been that girl. The plain Jane that played everything safe, with her routine and comfort zones. Unadventurous. Unspontaneous. Boring.
“Hey Cassy, are you listening?” Stacey asked, loud enough to snap Cassandra out of her daze.
“Huh? What? Oh, sorry Stace…”
Pushing her sunglasses up into her sleek and tidy blonde bob, Stacey rolled over to fix Cassandra with a look. Concern shadowed her pale blue eyes. “Are you okay?”
“What?” Cassandra forced a smile that she knew wouldn’t reach her eyes. “Course I am… why… why wouldn’t I be?”
“How about because you’ve done nothing but mope since we got here.” She was right, of course. “Geez, girl, I told you the guy was bad news.”
“N-no… it’s just… err… Stace… do you think I’m boring?” Cassandra blurted out.
"What? No! Did he tell you that?" Stacey demanded, bolting up so fast the inflatable wobbled dangerously.
