Page 28 of Dance Dirty With Me

“Oh, be realistic, Baby. Life isn’t like that.” I emphasise his nickname to show how naive his outlook is. “It can never be like that.” I pull away from him and clamber off the bed, angry with the world and myself for letting it get to me and for taking it out on him. I glance back at him. Hurt lines his face and he presses his lips into a thin line.

I walk over to the record player and put on some soft music.

“I know that, of course. I’m not naive.” His voice is quiet but resolute. I walk back over to the bed where he’s lying on his back, the sheet draped across his hips. “But if we give up trying, if we give up hope, what is there worth living for?”

His eyes flick to mine, and they seem to shine with a lifetime of knowledge. I know our time together is limited, though, and I don’t want to spend it fighting.

“You, you’re worth living for,” I say, climbing back onto the bed. I cover his body with mine and kiss him until nothing else exists except us in that brief moment of happiness.

I say goodbye to him with the first light of dawn, lingering on the porch steps for a last kiss. I watch until he’s out of sight, and when I turn to go back inside I see Vivianne Pressman on the path leading from Robbie’s cabin. She’s looking straight at me.

“Baby?” Lisa’s sleepy whisper seems loud in the early morning gloom of the cabin.

“Shhh,” I say, quietly slipping between the sheets of my own bed. There’s still an hour before I need to get up and I want to use it.

“You were right about Robbie.”

I turn over to face her and see she’s lying on her back, staring straight up at the ceiling.

“I went to see him last night, but when I got to his cabin he was with someone else.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out like that.”

“You can crow about being right about him.”

“I would never do that.” I mean it. We might bicker, but I would never gloat about something that made her unhappy.

She turns her head to look at me.

“Where have you been? You weren’t here when I got back. Have you just snuck in?”

She turns over fully to face me. In the half light her dark eyes glisten with excitement. I don’t answer her so she prods some more.

“What’s her name? How come you get to have all the fun?”

I look at her. What would she say if I told her the truth. Would she be shocked, would she tell our parents? Even though the semi-darkness lends itself to half-whispered confessions, I can’t do it, I’m not brave enough.

“It’s nothing like that,” is all I reply, and I turn my back on her, making it clear I don’t want to talk.

I eat my breakfast slowly. I feel like I’m living two separate lives and it’s exhausting me. I barely raise my head as Max and Nicola appear at our table. It’s such a regular occurrence that I don’t bother to acknowledge them. I’m probably going to be volunteered to help Nicola again, so I concentrate on finishing my breakfast instead. I didn’t get enough sleep, so the next best thing I can do is fuel myself.

“It’s a sad day today,” Max declares. “It’s never good when you find a bad one amongst your staff.”

“What happened?” asks Lisa, eager for gossip, and Max turns back.

“Last night a watch was stolen from one of our guests. Not just any watch, a Cartier. Vivianne Pressman, who comeshere every summer, says it was stolen from her cabin last night.”

My ears prick up at the name, the same lady who propositioned Johnny yesterday.

“She said she went for a walk late, and when she returned it had disappeared. She says she saw the head of my entertainment staff, Johnny, hanging around last night. The Pressmans are such good patrons, it’s a shame this has happened to them. Come, Nicola, you can learn what it’s like to sack someone.”

They turn and begin to walk away. My blood goes cold. They can’t just believe that woman, can they? Without evidence? A thousand thoughts run through my head, but I can’t sort them all out at once. There’s only one thing that’s clear. I know how much this job means to Johnny and I can't let such an injustice occur, no matter the consequences.

“You can’t fire him,” I say loudly enough to get the attention of Max and Nicola. When they return to the table I repeat the words quieter. “You can’t fire him.”

“Why not?” Max asks.

“Because he didn’t do it. He didn’t take the watch.”

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