Page 1 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
CHAPTER 1
“We’re trending, Kate!” Jess walked briskly beside her old school friend through the lobby of the Charleston Hotel Group headquarters. “Look at this!”
She turned her phone towards Kate, who gave it a polite glance.
Jess read on: “‘Hollywood comes to the west of Ireland:Linford, County Mayo, prepares for Hollywood stars Afric Brooks and Spencer Torres.’ Oh, this is so cute! ‘A romantic comedy at Linford Castle’.”
Kate shot Jess a look. “Uh-huh, I might die of excitement.”
“I suppose you should save that for your wedding,” Jess deadpanned, as they got into the waiting lift. She pressed the button for the second floor. “I’ll just have to be excited for the two of us.”
Kate laughed. “Okay, it’s kind of cool.”
“Beyond cool.” Jess dropped her phone into her bag. “This is the biggest thing since the celebrity wedding and I kept worrying they might change their mind about using Linford. Actors can be pretty superstitious. At least this time we won’t have to worryabout disappearing brides or the Linford Curse. These are movie people – total professionals.”
“Hm.” Kate’s eyes narrowed as she checked her appearance in the mirrored wall, before tucking a plain white blouse into her skirt with her free hand. “I’ve been thinking, Jess –”
“So have I,” Jess said quickly. “I was thinking that there’ve been so many problems since the group bought the place, and now for the next six weeks I can just forget about Linford and concentrate on our other hotels.”
The lift stopped, and Kate held the doors for a moment, her gaze gentling. “Listen, Jess, maybe you should take some time to do something nice for yourself too. Why don’t you let me book a spa day for us at the weekend? My treat?”
“Oh, you mean because …” Jess shook her head and smiled brightly. “That’s lovely of you to offer but, seriously, don’t worry, Kate. I’m fine, absolutely fine.”
The doors began to close.
“Lunch?” Kate said
“See you then.” Jess turned away as the door closed and headed down the corridor to her own small office.
She sighed as she went in. Since her relatively recent promotion to head of marketing for the Charleston Group in Ireland, things hadn’t exactly been plain sailing. The previous July, the four-hundred-year-old Linford Castle in Mayo, which the group had bought and upgraded to a five-star hotel, had hosted the celebrity wedding of the year. On the same day she and Simon had called off their own wedding right outside the church.
Across the road from the office, a flock of swans swooped down, landing gracefully on Dublin’s Grand Canal, just as the sun slipped behind a dark cloud.
Jess leaned across her desk to switch on her laptop. As she sat down, her thoughts drifted back. Ever since that weekendten months previously, her life had changed dramatically. Not because of what had happened at Linford Castle, or because of her cancelled wedding but because of Adam – her hen-weekend one-night-stand. The man she’d leapt into a relationship with then, only to have it fall apart so spectacularly just months later.
She sighed. For a while, her life had felt like a Spanish telé novella without the English subtitles. At least now there was far less drama. Outwardly, at least.
She dug her fingers into her scalp, threading them back through her long, brown hair. Maybe she should listen to her family and just live in the moment.
But, at thirty-one, single, and back in her childhood bedroom, living in the moment was easier said than done. And pretending everything was alright was utterly exhausting.
Things had been especially awkward these last few days, as her parents tiptoed around, afraid to say anything that might upset her. Eventually, she’d have to move out and rent somewhere. For now, it was taking every shred of energy just to show up for work and do her job.
Her office phone rang and she took a breath before answering. “Jess Bradley, marketing manager.”
“Jess!” Frank Charleston’s voice boomed down the line. “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure, I’ll be right there.” Jess hung up and grabbed her phone and a notepad.
Frank was standing looking out the huge window in his office but turned, smiling, when she came in.
“How are you doing?” The head of the Charleston Group studied her for a moment.
“I’m great, thanks.”Everything is great.Maybe if she kept saying it she’d eventually start to believe it.Bright smile, Jess.
“Good, good.” He gestured to the chair nearest Jess before easing himself into his own. “So, as you know, we’re closingLinford to the public next week because the Hollywood people are arriving.” He cleared his throat. “But I just heard this morning that Ian Finnegan has had a bit of bad news. His brother in Australia has cancer, and it’s not looking good. Ian’s taking leave of absence to go out and be with him.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” She pushed away a sudden, sharp memory of what she and Ian – Linford’s event manager – had managed to pull off the previous July and instead focussed her attention on Frank.
