Page 47 of One Summer Weekend
‘… very stimulating debate,’ the announcer was saying. ‘Let’s have a comfort break before our final session – back here in ten minutes.’
I jumped up instantly.I would go straight to the room, where Jack would be waiting—
‘Alicia!’ This was Lionel – to my relief; I’d been half-expecting, ‘Aleesha!’
I stopped and turned to him. ‘Yes?’
‘Good discussion back there. Not easy to argue against God’s gift.’
A faint smile. ‘Thanks.’
‘Are you staying for the dinner later?’
‘I’ve got other plans.’
‘Oh.’ His voice flattened.‘Nice meeting you.’
‘And you.’
I spun round, and found myself face to face with Troy; I managed a hasty step back to avoid cannoning into him.
‘Be careful, Aleesha.’ His hands gripped my upper arms, as if to steady me.
‘Oh, Iam, believe me,’ I said, sweetly. ‘I’ve had three long years of practice at being careful.’ Until last night, of course. Last night, I had abandonedmy carefulness and discovered something beautiful, and right, and shared.
I jerked my arms free, banking on the fact that Troy wouldn’t cause a scene in public. As I marched away, I was vaguely aware of Di moving in, preventing him from following. I felt a surge of gratitude, mingled with pity.
‘Alicia, wait!’ Wanda’s voice, just as I was nearing Reception.
I stopped and turned,covering my frustration with a polite smile. ‘Yes?’
She herded me to one side. ‘I just wanted to thank you.’
‘Oh – what for?’
‘Put it this way – when I listened to Troy this morning, I was a convert. Now I’ve changed my mind. It was when you said “the map is not the territory” … I thought, yes – how can the coachee know what they’re letting themselves in for? I mean, that’s trueof any sort of coaching, but especially this total immersion of his. And if he doesn’t feel any responsibility …’ She shuddered.
‘I appreciate you telling me this, Wanda.’
‘Aren’t you coming to the next session?’
‘Sorry, I’ve got to make an urgent call.’
‘Okay, maybe we can catch up later.’
I nodded brightly and edged towards the staircase – better than waiting forthe lift and risking another interruption. Up I went, two stairs at a time, and reached the room at last, a breathless apology on my lips. But there was no answer to my knock. No Jack – not even a stone-faced one – coming to let me in. Maybe he was having that nap he’d mentioned. I would need to get another key card …
Back down the stairs to Reception, rehearsing my request:Have you a sparekey card for room 109? My boyfriend’s fallen asleep.
When at last I blurted this out to the man behind the desk, he looked at me in surprise. ‘Your key card’s here, your boyfriend handed it in when he left.’
Stay calm … deep breath.‘Did he say how long he’d be?’
The man pursed his lips. ‘Sorry, no message.’
‘When did he go out?’
‘Five minutes ago, maybe ten. No morethan that.’
