“There you go,” Damon pulled my cut hair from his wrist band and dumped it into a bin. “What’s your hair made out of?” He joked, pulling the last strands from his watch, and didn’t notice my flaming cheeks or the anger burning in my eyes. “It nearly broke the band on my watch.”
“You bloody idiot!” I looked at him totally dumbstruck. “I can’t believe you just did that!”
“There was no other way,” Damon looked taken aback by the anger that I was sure was reflected in my eyes, “your hair nearly broke my watch strap.”
Of all the nerves. You can replace a goddamn watch strap! That chunk now meant I would have to get the rest of my hair cut to match. I’d gotten my hair done just two days before. I took a deep breath and my eyes met Hayley’s, my best friend and bride-to-be. I could see her pleading look, so I took another deep breath and plastered a smile on my face. I made a mental note to find a salon the next day to get my hair fixed; I would have to move a few things around though.
“Let’s go grab a quick snack and some tea,” Hayley said, putting her arm through mine and leading me away from Damon. “Thank you,” she whispered when we were a little away from the men.
“It’s fine,” I told her. “I will go get it fixed tomorrow but I am going to have to move a few things around depending on when I can get a hair appointment.”
“I’ll get Garry, the concierge, to find you the best salon around, on me, of course,” Hayley smiled at me as we were led to a table in the hotel’s dining room.
“You don’t have to do that,” I smiled at my friend. “I’ll speak to Garry.”
“Speak to Garry about what?” Garry popped up next to us like magic.
“Carla needs an emergency haircut. Please find her the best stylist there is and see if they can fit her in tomorrow. Also, put it on my hotel bill, please.”
“Of course,” Garry nodded, “that’s the reason I’m here. I saw what your guest did to Miss Reynolds’ beautiful hair.” He looked at my hair, “So I took the liberty of booking you an appointment with the stylist you booked for the wedding party. She’ll see you at eight in the morning.”
“Garry,” I’d never been so grateful for a busybody in all my life as I was right then. “You are a gem.”
“I do what I can,” Garry grinned, then beckoned a waiter over. “I can recommend the vanilla chai tea with the cream scones.” He winked before slipping away as quietly as he’d appeared.
“Chai tea,” Damon shuddered, walking in on the back end of the conversation. “I’d rather drink ditch water.”
“Should I order you some?” I said, giving him a sweet grin.
“Funny,” Damon leaned back in his chair as Drew, Hayley’s fiancé, joined us.
“Some more guests arrived.” Drew shook his head. “But it also includes mine and Hayley’s mother. They’ll take over for the meet and greet with new guests.”
“Oh, good.” Hayley said, relieved. “I was getting so tired of standing there and smiling like the Cheshire cat.”
“You’ve no idea how happy I am that you made it here, Damon,” Drew grinned at Damon; like myself and Hayley, they’d been best friends forever.
“There was no way I was going to miss this,” Damon said as he ordered a coffee while the rest of us took Garry’s advice and got the vanilla chai latte.
“Have you had time to prepare anything for the week?” Drew asked Damon.
“Actually, I’ve managed to book a few things and I did some more planning on the plane over here,” Damon flicked through his phone and showed Drew the list of activities he had planned.
Drew handed the phone to Hayley who let me have a look with her.
“You do know that most of these things you’ve planned need to be booked weeks in advance,” I told Damon rather smugly. I just couldn’t help it. It felt good to see him crash and burn.
“You know nearly everyone on the island, Carla,” Drew looked at me.
Uh-oh! My mind started to tick over trying to find a quick exit to get out of what I knew Drew was going to say next.
“Yes, she does,” Hayley looked at me and made the face that she always did when she wanted me to play nice with others. “Carla has planned many events on this island over the years. She knows just about everyone you need to contact for those events.”
“Would you mind helping Damon get these things organized, please, Carla?” Drew asked me with his big eyes and a soft plea in his voice.
“Drew, I’m so busy with all…” I jumped when Hayley kicked me beneath the table.