Breaking the Ice (36 page)

And when he came back she would be there waiting for him. She would apologise and say she understood and make things right between them. For the first time ever she couldn’t wait for the show to finish.

However, the audience bayed for two encores and due to having a party of disabled guests from Kent, getting everyone to leave promptly took longer than ever. Eventually, the auditorium was empty and Samantha hurried to lace up her boots and get onto the ice.

She began to skate around, practicing all that Jimmy had taught her, twists and turns and spins. She looked around the auditorium, searching for signs of someone entering but there were none. Perhaps he wasn’t coming, after all she had said to him. The horrible, horrible things. And what if he had believed the horrible things? She hadn’t meant it, she had been upset, she had been trying to deal with the situation the only way she knew how. He had to realise that.

She carried on skating, imagining the music, performing the moves as best as she could without a partner. She turned around on one foot and then looked again towards the entrance Jimmy usually arrived from. The door was unmoving, there was silence, apart from the sound of her blades on the ice.

She looked at her watch and tried to concentrate on her skating. He had to come here, she had to have the chance to say she was sorry and tell him how she felt. After everything she had been through, life couldn’t be that cruel.

She performed the fast step section of the routine, span around too quickly and fell with a bump onto the ice just as the door to the auditorium opened. Samantha looked up expectantly and scrabbled to her feet
, brushing the ice from her jumper.

‘
Bar’s all cashed up, is it OK if I go? My mate’s got a party,’ Milo’s voice called as he entered the arena.

Samantha felt tears spring to her eyes as she looked at her colleague. She could barely bring herself to speak, disappointed that he wasn’t Jimmy.

‘
Yes, you go. I’ll lock up,’ Samantha managed to speak as she skated towards the edge of the rink to leave the ice.

‘
Sorry about today Boss - you know - having a go at you about the hall closing and that. We know you did your best to keep it open. Aaron saw the news report, you breaking into the council offices with that plastic doll. Genius,’ Milo said with a grin.

‘
I’ve been under a lot of pressure,’ Samantha answered.

‘
Yeah, well, see you in the morning.’

‘
Yes, see you in the morning.’

‘
Your skating’s great by the way. My cousin skates a bit and not even she can lift her leg up like that,’ Milo remarked as he prepared to leave.

‘
Oh I can’t really skate, not properly - not any more,’ Samantha responded, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat.

Jimmy wasn’t coming.

As soon as Milo left the auditorium Samantha sat down and practically ripped the ice skates from her feet. She slipped her shoes back on, ran around the arena turning all the lights off and hurried from the hall to begin checking all the other rooms.

Twenty minutes later she was in the
repaired elevator of the Metropole, waiting for it to stop at the appropriate floor. Her heart was beating so hard she almost couldn’t breathe. She had run all the way there, it was almost a mile. A hundred different thoughts were going through her head. She didn’t know what she was going to say to him, perhaps he wouldn’t even want to see her, but she needed to see him. She had to look into the Minstrel coloured eyes, even if it was for the last time and tell him how much he meant to her.

The elevator doors opened and she hurriedly walked down the corridor until she got to Jimmy’s room. She stood outside, just looking at the room number, trying to compose herself and wondering what was going to come out of her mouth when she saw him. She raised her hand and knocked firmly on the door. Holding her breath she waited. There was the sound of movement inside and then the door opened.

Samantha opened her mouth to speak and then stopped herself. Her mouth was left hanging open like a jowly hound.

‘
Can I help you?’ the woman asked.

She was about forty five, had curlers in her hair and was dressed in a Metropole Hotel dressing gown. Samantha had worn one only that morning after her shower. It had been Jimmy’s and far too big for her but it had felt nice being wrapped up in something of his. She had sat on the sofa, curled her legs up under her, eaten the tuna bagel and drank the blackberry tea. For a second all her worries about the hall and reporters had evaporated. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

‘
I, er, um, I’m looking for Jimmy Lloyd, is he there?’ Samantha spoke, the words only just escaping.

Who was this woman? What was she doing in Jimmy’s room? Why did she look like
Robin Williams in
Mrs Doubtfire
?

‘
I’m sorry you must have the wrong room,’ the woman responded.

‘
No, this is his room, it’s definitely this room. I was here, only this morning, it was this room. I don’t forget anything, you see I have a great memory. It’s a curse but there you go and it was this room. Is he there?’ Samantha questioned as she tried to look past the woman into the room.

‘
No! There’s no one here, except me, trying to get some sleep. Do you know what time it is?’ the woman enquired.

‘
Yes, I do, I know. Could I just come in and look? I mean he should be here, this is
his
room,’ Samantha said still straining to see if she could look around the woman and into the room.

She couldn’t see anything, she could see the edge of the bed and that wa
s all. She had been in that bed - with Jimmy.

‘
I’ve told you, there’s no one in this room but me, now please leave,’ the woman spoke, stepping back into the room and preparing to close the door.

‘
Please, I’m sorry, you don’t understand, I have to see him. I have to tell him…’ Samantha began as she started getting emotional.

She could feel the laughter coming and she tried to breathe out to stop it escaping.
She puffed out long breaths of air and the woman looked at her in horror, wondering what was going to happen next.

‘
Are you alright?’ the woman enquired as Samantha breathed out and then let out a laugh she was unable to stop.

‘
Yes, I’m fine. I just need to see Jimmy. Are you sure he isn’t in there? Could I look? Please, just to make sure,’ Samantha asked as she coughed.

‘
If I let you look will you leave?’ the woman enquired, sounding very irritated.

‘
Yes, of course - absolutely,’ Samantha responded gratefully.

The woman stepped aside and Samantha hurried into the bedroom.

It looked different somehow. Bare. There was nothing of Jimmy’s there
. The dressing table was full of face creams and make-up products and there were three wigs on stands. Samantha turned around and looked at the bed. She had been in that bed, just last night - with Jimmy. Now it had an extra blanket on and there were more face creams on the night stand. How many face products did one person need?

‘
See, I told you. No one here but me,’ the woman spoke, folding her arms across her chest and staring at Samantha with an ‘I told you so’ look on her face.

‘
Could I just check the bathroom?’ Samantha asked.

‘
No you can’t! Come on, out!’ the woman ordered and she shooed Samantha towards the door.

‘
But, you don’t understand, this is important. He must have had to change rooms, could you…’ Samantha began as the woman ushered her out into the corridor.

The room door was shut in her face and Samantha didn’t know what to do. For a moment she just stared at the door, remembering standing there the previous night, recalling how Jimmy had com
e to the door looking worn down. Then she had drunk the vodka, then they had talked and then they’d made love.

There had to be some mistake. He must have switched rooms, he had to be here somewhere.

She ran. She ran down the corridor,
and down the stairs. He had to be here, he couldn’t be gone - it was just a case of finding him. The receptionist would know.

By the time she got into the reception area she was crying, she was sweating and she was gasping for air. She rang the bell on the reception desk and no one came. She banged it up and down, over and over, until it came apart. A piece fell onto the marble floor making a loud clatter.

Finally
, hearing the commotion, a dark haired woman in her twenties wearing a maroon Metropole hotel uniform approached the desk.

‘
Can I help you?’ the receptionist asked politely.

‘
I need to see Jimmy Lloyd. He’s staying here, he was here last night. I went to his room but he isn’t there and I need to see him. So could you tell me which room he’s moved to please,’ Samantha babbled, becoming more agitated by the moment.

‘
I’m sorry Madam, I’m not at liberty to give out that information,’ the receptionist responded with a smile that was somewhat smug.

‘
But I know him, he knows me - we know each other. I need to see him and he would want you to tell me which room he’s in,’ Samantha tried to explain.

‘
I’m sorry but we have strict privacy rules,’ the receptionist told her.

‘
Um, er, OK, yes. OK, hang on, I know his code word. I know the code word he used to book in here, it’s “Toronto”. “Toronto”, because that’s where he’s from – “Toronto”,’ Samantha stated loudly, banging her hands on the desk as enthusiastically as if she had just successfully answered the final question on
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
.

‘
In that case Madam I can tell you he checked out this afternoon,’ the receptionist informed, looking at the computer screen.

‘
Checked out,’ Samantha said in no more than a whisper.

‘
Yes Madam,’ the receptionist affirmed.

‘
No, there must be some mistake. He can’t have checked out, he isn’t leaving until tomorrow,’ Samantha spoke as she began to sway, feeling dizzy.

‘
I can assure you he checked out, this afternoon at three twenty. Now is that all Madam? Or can I help you with anything else?’ the receptionist wanted to know.

‘
He can’t have checked out, he can’t have. I need to see him, I need to - I need to…’ Samantha said, her words slowing up as her body began to shut down.

She gasped for air
and she looked for something to hold on to as the coughing started.

The chandelier on the ceiling above her head began to spin around as she looked up at it and the last thing she saw before she hit the marble floor was the receptionist’s name badge. ‘Tiffany’.

Twenty Four

Tiffany
had called an ambulance. The ambulance had taken Samantha to the hospital despite her gasped protestations. Then, such was her incoherent speech about trying to find someone who had to be at the Metropole hotel and her relentless repetition that there was a conspiracy to keep him hidden from her, they had called the
psychiatric
doctor. He had phoned Cleo and she and Jeremy had turned up within minutes. Cleo didn’t even have make-up on and she was wearing her Hello Kitty
pyjamas
.

On the drive home in Jeremy’s Jaguar, Cleo had bombarded Samantha with questions, none of which she had answered. She had completely lost the power of speech. She just sat in the back of the car, looking out the window, feeling like her life was over. She didn’t want to talk, what was the point? Talking wasn’t going to bring Jimmy back. She couldn’t do any more, he had gone and she had no way of contacting him. His last memories of her would be her telling him ‘Drink/don’t drink, I don’t care’.

Now she was led in bed, listening to Cleo and Jeremy discussing their action plan for dealing with her, right outside her bedroom door.

‘
No, she hasn’t been like this before. I don’t know what’s happened. When she left here tonight she wasn’t in this state, she was going to meet this Darren and sort things out. He’s going away or something,’ Samantha heard Cleo speak.

‘
They said she had some sort of panic attack and blacked out. Has she done that before?’ she heard Jeremy inquire.

‘
She does that sometimes. She’s a bit nervy, a bit cautious about things. Sometimes situations get on top of her,’ Cleo responded.

‘
Isn’t there medication for it?’ Jeremy asked.

‘
Jeremy! It isn’t an illness like that. She just doesn’t have much confidence, particularly with men. I don’t know why, I mean she’s not ugly or anything. But it’s worse this time, I think she really fell for this Darren,’ Cleo spoke.

‘
What are you going to do?’ Jeremy asked.

‘
I’m going to talk to her and see if I can find out exactly what’s happened and exactly what she was doing at that hotel,’ Cleo told him.

Cleo knocked on Samantha’s bedroom door and Samantha immediately snapped her eyes shut and pulled the duvet up around her neck. Cleo didn’t wait to be invited in before she entered the room and walked up to the bed. Samantha could feel her sister looking at her and a reflex reaction made her swallow.