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Authors: Danielle Shaw
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hotel.’
Ready for work, Sophie walked into the sitting-room seconds before Carlos’s verbal explosion. Rosa, she presumed, had just dropped her bombshell! Not even bothering to decipher the rapid exchange of Portuguese, she watched two pairs of eyes flashing like rapiers. Rosa’s, large, brown and childlike, filled with remorse and Carlos’s full of shock, indignation and disbelief. Suffused with embarrassment, Sophie stopped by the coffee table to retrieve her handbag and car keys. Until now she’d not really noticed Carlos’s eyes. Expecting them to be a warm, dark-chocolatey brown like Rosa’s, she was startled to discover they were an amazingly deep shade of navy blue.
Rosa turned pleading eyes in Sophie’s direction. ‘But it eez no problem... eez it Sophie? You tell Carlos it eez all right.’
‘I’m sorry Rosa. I don’t understand. What’s all right?’
‘Carlos can stay here tonight. He can sleep in my room and I can sleep on the sofa. I shall be quite comfortable.’
In perfect English Carlos broke in, ‘Most definitely not Rosa! Isn’t it bad enough you are staying in such a place as this, let alone sleeping on a sofa! What would your parents think if they knew?’
‘But I am very happy here with Sophie. She has been very kind.’
‘That’s as maybe,’ Carlos snapped, flashing navy blue eyes in Sophie’s direction. ‘This is hardly what you’re accustomed to. Nor is it what your parents are paying for!’
Seething with anger, Sophie snatched her jacket from the back of the chair.
‘Look Rosa,’ she said, ignoring Carlos completely. ‘I can’t hang around here any longer. I’m late already. If your cousin wants to go to a hotel why don’t you look in Yellow Pages? Failing that I suggest you draw lots for the honeymoon suite.’
‘Honeymoon suite?’ Rosa asked, bewildered.
‘Your bedroom,’ Sophie continued sarcastically. ‘That’s the one with the double bed. And whoever draws the short straw – namely my bedroom with the Z-bed – will find clean sheets in the airing cupboard! I’m afraid Augustinas are in short supply in Beckford at this time of night. No doubt between you, you are both capable of making a bed!’
Digesting her words, Carlos looked up, pensive and confused. ‘You are leaving Miss Fuller? Not because of me I hope? Surely something can be arranged?’
‘No, Mr Martins, I am not leaving because of you. I’m leaving because I have to go to work. Unlike some people round here I won’t be getting any sleep for at least another ten hours. During which time half of those hours will be spent dealing with the homeless and considerably less fortunate. And while my flat might not rate highly in your estimation, believe me there are those who would give their eye-teeth to sleep in a clean, dry bed – even if it is only at Victoria Villas!’
Storming from the flat, Sophie left Rosa pondering the words estimation and eye - teeth and Carlos the irate, trim figure in the blue and white dress.
‘Miss Fuller’s uniform? Of course – she’s a nurse! At the airport I thought she was Celia Sheffield’s maid.’
‘Of course she’s a nurse! I told you ages ago. Don’t you remember?’
Carlos shrugged his shoulders. When his cousin was on the phone she spoke far too quickly and was always changing the subject. As for the letters she sent home – her writing was barely legible. Maria Clara was forever complaining about it. He rose wearily from the chair, ‘I think perhaps you’d better show me the airing cupboard. It’s far too late to do anything else now. First thing in the morning I shall ring Miss Sheffield, then I shall make alternative arrangements for the remainder of my stay.’
*
‘Just who the hell does he think he is?’ Sophie cried, eyes smarting with tears as she swept into the office. ‘I never asked to have his spoilt, little cousin dumped on my doorstep did I? To think I’ve even been turned out of my own bed because of her. Can
Ready for work, Sophie walked into the sitting-room seconds before Carlos’s verbal explosion. Rosa, she presumed, had just dropped her bombshell! Not even bothering to decipher the rapid exchange of Portuguese, she watched two pairs of eyes flashing like rapiers. Rosa’s, large, brown and childlike, filled with remorse and Carlos’s full of shock, indignation and disbelief. Suffused with embarrassment, Sophie stopped by the coffee table to retrieve her handbag and car keys. Until now she’d not really noticed Carlos’s eyes. Expecting them to be a warm, dark-chocolatey brown like Rosa’s, she was startled to discover they were an amazingly deep shade of navy blue.
Rosa turned pleading eyes in Sophie’s direction. ‘But it eez no problem... eez it Sophie? You tell Carlos it eez all right.’
‘I’m sorry Rosa. I don’t understand. What’s all right?’
‘Carlos can stay here tonight. He can sleep in my room and I can sleep on the sofa. I shall be quite comfortable.’
In perfect English Carlos broke in, ‘Most definitely not Rosa! Isn’t it bad enough you are staying in such a place as this, let alone sleeping on a sofa! What would your parents think if they knew?’
‘But I am very happy here with Sophie. She has been very kind.’
‘That’s as maybe,’ Carlos snapped, flashing navy blue eyes in Sophie’s direction. ‘This is hardly what you’re accustomed to. Nor is it what your parents are paying for!’
Seething with anger, Sophie snatched her jacket from the back of the chair.
‘Look Rosa,’ she said, ignoring Carlos completely. ‘I can’t hang around here any longer. I’m late already. If your cousin wants to go to a hotel why don’t you look in Yellow Pages? Failing that I suggest you draw lots for the honeymoon suite.’
‘Honeymoon suite?’ Rosa asked, bewildered.
‘Your bedroom,’ Sophie continued sarcastically. ‘That’s the one with the double bed. And whoever draws the short straw – namely my bedroom with the Z-bed – will find clean sheets in the airing cupboard! I’m afraid Augustinas are in short supply in Beckford at this time of night. No doubt between you, you are both capable of making a bed!’
Digesting her words, Carlos looked up, pensive and confused. ‘You are leaving Miss Fuller? Not because of me I hope? Surely something can be arranged?’
‘No, Mr Martins, I am not leaving because of you. I’m leaving because I have to go to work. Unlike some people round here I won’t be getting any sleep for at least another ten hours. During which time half of those hours will be spent dealing with the homeless and considerably less fortunate. And while my flat might not rate highly in your estimation, believe me there are those who would give their eye-teeth to sleep in a clean, dry bed – even if it is only at Victoria Villas!’
Storming from the flat, Sophie left Rosa pondering the words estimation and eye - teeth and Carlos the irate, trim figure in the blue and white dress.
‘Miss Fuller’s uniform? Of course – she’s a nurse! At the airport I thought she was Celia Sheffield’s maid.’
‘Of course she’s a nurse! I told you ages ago. Don’t you remember?’
Carlos shrugged his shoulders. When his cousin was on the phone she spoke far too quickly and was always changing the subject. As for the letters she sent home – her writing was barely legible. Maria Clara was forever complaining about it. He rose wearily from the chair, ‘I think perhaps you’d better show me the airing cupboard. It’s far too late to do anything else now. First thing in the morning I shall ring Miss Sheffield, then I shall make alternative arrangements for the remainder of my stay.’
*
‘Just who the hell does he think he is?’ Sophie cried, eyes smarting with tears as she swept into the office. ‘I never asked to have his spoilt, little cousin dumped on my doorstep did I? To think I’ve even been turned out of my own bed because of her. Can
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