Maid for the Rock Star(34)

Audra reached down to examine one that came to rest beside her foot. "A bloody box of stress balls." She threw it at the wall and it bounced off. "Actually, that helped. Maybe we should keep these."

"You can pick them all up, then," Pamela grumbled. It took a lot to piss Pamela off, but Audra wasn't surprised at the girl's grumpiness today. They'd both heard Annette tell Audra to come by later that afternoon to fill in the paperwork for the permanent, year-round position. Audra hadn't realised that Pamela wanted the position, too, until she'd caught sight of the girl's sour expression. Now Audra wanted to apologise for her success.

Pamela wasn't Penny. She was just as capable a cleaner as herself, Audra knew, and if she had another job to go to, she'd happily leave the place to Pamela. Pamela's family lived in one of the small communities between the resort and Broome, so this was more home to her than it would ever be for Audra.

"Sure. These ones are all full of papers, so we should get one of the porters to bring a trolley to deal with them. Too heavy for us."

"I'll go get one," Pamela offered.

Audra nodded and took Pamela's place by the stack of boxes. Beneath the box full of balls was a much smaller one, which explained why the ball-box had overbalanced so easily. Stupid way to stack boxes, really, she thought as she lifted the little one. It was sealed with packing tape and addressed to...her. Well, Audra from Housekeeping, which was close enough. Not the conference people at all. It must have come on the boat with all the conference gear and accidentally gotten lost amid all the other stuff. The conference people probably hadn't even noticed.

It couldn't be from her family. They'd have used her full name and they'd have put a return address, even if they had sent something. This didn't have any postage marks or even a postcode on it. She pulled her multi-tool out of her pocket and selected a blade. Audra made short work of the tape holding it shut, but then she paused. Who'd sent her something?

She'd never know unless she looked inside the box. Swallowing, Audra flipped aside the box flaps to reveal a shapeless package shrouded in bubble wrap. Her hands shook as she cut the tape this time. There was a folded sheet of paper in the modern mummy wrappings, which had to hold the answers she sought. She focussed on that, trying to ignore the box with it until she knew more. Finally, she freed the paper and unfolded it with trembling fingers. It was a receipt from the electronics store in town. A receipt for the expensive DSLR camera she'd ogled in the window but known she'd never be able to afford. That meant in the box was...she swallowed and unwrapped it. Oh, it was the camera, all right. Twin lens kit, memory cards and all. She'd wanted a decent camera since studying photography at high school, but she'd never been able to afford it. Shit, she still couldn't afford this. It was worth as much as her car. If she'd doubted that, she had the receipt in front of her to confirm it. A receipt dated the previous week, the day she'd submitted her job application.

Only one person could have bought this. Jay.

Audra didn't deserve gifts from him. Not after what she'd done.

If she couldn't return the money, at least she could give this back to him. Numbly, she wrapped the coveted camera back in its bubbly shroud and entombed it in the box. She rose and marched out of the building, forcing herself to take the path to Villa Maxima. At least it was Maxima and not Pinctada. She wasn't sure she could bring herself to set foot inside Pinctada after her hurried departure last time. Once again, she thanked whatever powers that be that had allowed Jackie to return and care for the VIPs like she couldn't any more.

For a moment, Audra hesitated at the villa door, but she knew she couldn't keep the camera. Resolutely, she swiped her ID. The display beeped an error:

UNAUTHORISED.

GUEST NOT PRESENT.

CONTACT RECEPTION.

Someone had revoked her access to the villas. Probably a good thing. And if Jay wasn't home, she wouldn't have to face him. Setting the box carefully on the doormat, Audra turned and bolted back to the function centre, hoping Pamela hadn't missed her yet.





FIFTY-FIVE



Audra beat Pamela and the porter to the seminar room by less than a minute, she figured, glancing at her wristband as the porter loaded the boxes onto his trolley. No one need ever know about the camera or her unscheduled excursion to the villas.

She worked in silence for most of the day, turning the function rooms from a shambles into the uncluttered spaces they normally were. Good thing they'd dealt with the guests' rooms the previous day, because it was dinnertime before she cleared away the last load of boxes.

Serge was waiting for her outside the staff dining room, carrying a familiar package in his arms. "Looks like you've really impressed the VIPs, Audra. Jackie said this was yours."

Reluctantly, Audra took the box.

"She said he wouldn't use any packing tape, either. VIPs have their own strange ideas. I mean, who'd close a box with half the first aid kit?" Serge laughed.

She glanced down and realised that he was right. Jay had sealed it with some of the adhesive dressings from the hospital, then used a red marker to scrawl her name across them. The letters bled into the gauze, making it look gorier than it truly was. She wondered if even the illusion of bloodstained bandages had made Jay dizzy. Audra dropped the box on a table, and returned to sit beside it when she'd loaded her plate.

Serge slid into the seat beside her. "So what's in it?"

Something she didn't deserve, Audra thought but didn't say.

Jackie appeared beside the table, a look of grim determination on her face. "I'm under orders to make sure you don't try to return it. He said he'd pay for some of my son's flying lessons if I agreed. Don't you mess this up for me. Now, open it. We're all dying to know what it is."

One of the chefs appeared with a box cutter that she handed to Audra with a flourish. Now she was attracting a crowd – every staff member in the room was staring at her.

"All right." She sliced through the dressings and peered into the box. The folded receipt was on top, now with a message scrawled on the back:



Audra

Thanks for not letting me die.

Jay



She pulled out the well-wrapped camera and almost snorted as she realised he'd imprisoned two mango beers in the bubble wrap, bracketing the camera.

"If you try and take it back, I'll sit on you," Jackie announced. "Flying lessons don't come cheap."

Laughter surrounded Audra on all sides. She knew she was beaten. If only for Jackie and her son, she'd be forced to keep this outrageously expensive gift.

More than ever, she needed to find the money and return it to Jay. If she didn't, she'd have to take it out of her savings. No, she couldn't do that, but she did have to tell him. He deserved to know the truth.

Serge reached over her and snagged the beer. "I'll put them in the fridge for later, if you like. I'm up for tonight, if you are." He winked.

More laughter erupted, but it wasn't as loud as before, because people started to drift away, returning to their dinner and whatever had occupied their attention before. Uneasily, she wolfed down her food so she could leave and stash the camera away where she wouldn't have to look at it any more. Damn Jay for finding a way to make her feel worse.

As she scraped the last forkful of lettuce into her mouth, Serge snatched her plate and carried it to the washing-up racks. "Time for that interrogation," he said when he returned, rubbing his hands together.

Half an hour later, clutching a printout from the gym office computer, Serge walked beside her on the path to the Penguin jetty. "It's the only place on the island where we definitely won't have anyone listening," he insisted and Audra knew he was right. After all, they'd been sitting on the Penguin jetty when he'd told her his big secret and, to the best of her knowledge, no one else knew it. Shit, even Jay had thought she had a relationship with the personal trainer. As if any woman could tempt a man who preferred men.

She found her gaze drawn to the windows of Maxima as they walked past. Jay sat on the sofa with what looked like a bottle of bourbon in his hand, or something amber, anyway. Audra swore she'd take her room apart to find the money on her day off. It had to be there.

"You like him, don't you?"

Audra met Serge's eyes and then dropped her gaze. "Maybe," she said finally.

"He's a good-looking bloke, Jay Felix. Just my type, if I was his."

Audra sighed. "I wish he was, Serge. But he's a boobs man – or tits, as he calls them. He's made it abundantly clear that he's definitely into women and not men."

"I bet he is. Don't let them rule your life, Audra."

She stared at him. "What? My boobs?"

Serge burst out laughing. "Those, too, but I meant the hotel management. He's no better than you are. In fact, he probably has no idea that behind those boobs is an amazing woman he has no hope of winning. You and your new camera will be winging their way to paradise and a new job soon enough, and he'll have missed out."

"You're the only one who's even guessed. Most people think you and I are an item. Please, don't say anything."

"Keep my mouth shut for three more days? Sure. Well, unless Jay Felix's super-sexy gay doppelganger visits the island. Then you're on your own."

Audra nodded. "That's fair."

He wrapped a hand around her arm. "I mean it, though. The day you quit, go up to his house and ask him to have a drink with you."