Page 21 of My Lucky Star
“Where did you find the robe?” I asked Cem.
“In the cleaning cupboard. I think it’s an original.” He patted on the gold-embroidered logo on his chest.
I swallowed a lump with my lasagna. I’d emptied my bank account trying to buy him clothes, when he was happy to wear a 100-year-old bathrobe. Was there any limit to my stupidity?
“Good for that movie, maybe?” Cem gave me another earnest look, but I only managed a meek smile.
“What movie?” Emir asked.
My stomach squeezed like a stress ball in a giant’s grip. This was my opening. “I work for the local film office. We have an American film crew who’re interested in using this hotel as a location. It’s absolutely perfect. The trouble is...” I glanced down at the remnants of my lunch, gathering courage. “They want to come in next Tuesday, for a recce, and stay here for a few nights. Could we relocate you to another hotel? We’d pay for it, of course.”
My heart pounding, I tried to read Emir’s blank face.
Cem spoke for him. “We can go somewhere else. We might even fly back to Turkey before then, right?” He eyeballed his brother, urging him to get onboard.
I gave him a grateful smile, although it bothered me that he seemed in such a hurry to leave the country. “Thank you, I—”
“No.” Emir straightened his back. “We’ve booked the entire hotel and paid for a month.”
“A month?” Cem howled. “You were planning on keeping me here for a month?”
Emir silenced him with one look and turned to me. “I’m not sure if my brother told you, but it’s vital that he keeps to himself, to avoid being recognized. So this arrangement,” Emir gestured at the room, “is for maximum privacy. We’d never achieve that in a regular hotel.”
I looked around, a bit confused. “We could arrange a very remote Airbnb. There’s plenty of choice in Hawke’s Bay. You could book into a place in the middle of the bush and never see another soul.”
Emir scoffed. “We booked this place through someone I trust. How can I trust a random person on a website?”
With a heavy chest and stinging eyes, I picked up my plate. “Thanks for the lunch.” I carried my dishes to the sink and proceeded to wash them, to have a moment to myself. A moment to think.
It shouldn’t have hit me so hard, I thought as I turned on the tap, hoping the sound of running water covered my sniffly breaths. I’d spent so much money on those useless clothes, and now I would fail Janie and risk losing my job over this.
How had I messed this up so badly?
Chapter 9
Cem
