Page 106 of What Happens in Paradise

‘Yay!’ They both cheered.

‘So happy for you!’ Stella added. ‘Make sure you ask for a shitload of money to reflect how brilliant you are at your job. And the use of a gorgeous villa so me and Max can come back and visit!’

‘I’ll do my best!’ I chuckled, feeling a surge of happiness flood my heart for the first time in days. I was so glad Stella and I were friends.

After saying our goodbyes, I literally sprinted to Hazel’s office, my heart pumping with excitement.

I knocked on the door.

‘Come in,’ she called out.

I pushed the door open, brimming with anticipation. My hard work was finally about to pay off.

But when I stepped inside, my eyes widened with shock because Hazel wasn’t alone.

Sat in front of her desk was Alejandro.

Panic ripped through me.

He wasn’t due at work for another three hours. I’d checked and Alejandro was definitely on the late shift, so why was he in Hazel’s office?

Bile rose in my throat.

Had he reported me for misconduct, because I’d ended things?

No.

As angry as he was, that wasn’t Alejandro’s style. He was a good man.

I had to play it cool. Act like I wasn’t affected and that everything was fine. She probably wanted to discuss my report and thought it was easier to have us both here because we’d attended the activities together.

‘Hello, Alejandro.’ I nodded in acknowledgement. ‘You wanted to see me, Hazel?’

‘Yes,’ she said solemnly. ‘I wanted to discuss your report.’

Phew.

My shoulders instantly loosened. See? I’d worried over nothing.

‘Of course! No problem! How can I help?’

‘I was particularly interested in Rick’s Café…’ She paused.

‘I know Hortense was unsure,’ I jumped in, ‘but I really feel it would be good for stimulating romance.’

‘Yes.’ Hazel raised an eyebrow. ‘You said that during our conversation. You also said there was abeautifulsunset, but you didn’t have a single photo.’

‘Apologies again about that.’

‘So you suggested I look for some online.’

‘Yes. They have some great ones on their website.’

‘Indeed. But you see, I wanted something more recent, so I searched online. They tend to have lots of different photos for places like this on TripAdvisor, social media and whatnot…’

‘Oh, I’m sure they have,’ I said calmly, wondering why she was giving so much importance to these bloody photos.

‘And they even havevideoswhich are even better, because it makes you feel like you’re there: right in the middle of the action. I found this one which was recently uploaded that I thought you’d be interested to see.’

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