Part 22 (1/2)
Cindy looked like she was going to have a heart attack. ”Oh my G.o.d! Who's your agent?”
”Frankie,” Sharon interrupted Denise, ”so Frankie and us are all going to Hollywood.”
Holly couldn't hold her laugh in.
”Oh, don't mind her, Cindy, she's just excited,” explained Denise.
”Wow, and so you should be!” Cindy looked down at Denise's boarding pa.s.s on the table and nearly had heart failure. ”Wow, you girls are going to Lanzarote too?!”
Denise grabbed her boarding pa.s.s and shoved it in her bag, as if that would make a difference.
”I'm going there with my friends. They're just over there,” she turned around again and waved at them again and they waved back again. ”We're staying in a place called Costa Palma Palace. Where are you guys staying?”
Holly's heart sank. ”Oh, I can't quite remember the name, girls, can you?” She looked to Sharon and Denise with wide eyes.
They shook their heads vigorously.
”Oh well, not to worry,” she shrugged her shoulders happily, ”I'll see you when we land anyway! I better go now and board, I wouldn't want the plane to fly off without me!” She squeaked so loudly that the surrounding tables turned to stare. She gave each of the girls a big hug and tottered off back to her friends.
”Looks like we needed those knuckle-dusters after all,” Holly said miserably.
”Oh, it doesn't matter,” perked up Sharon, always the optimist. ”We can just ignore her.”
They all stood up and headed over to the boarding gate. As they made their way to their seats Holly's heart sank once again and she immediately dived into the seat on the far side of the aisle. Sharon sat down beside her and Denise's face was a picture when she realized who she had to sit next to.
”Oh fab! You get to sit beside me!” Cindy squeaked at Denise. Denise threw Sharon and Holly a nasty look and plonked herself beside Cindy.
”See? I told you that you'd find yourself a little friend to play with,” Sharon whispered to Denise. Sharon and Holly broke into fits of laughter.
TWENTY-SEVEN.
FOUR HOURS LATER THE PLANE glided over the sea and landed at Lanzarote Airport, causing everyone to cheer and applaud. No one on the plane was more relieved than Denise.
”Oh, I have the biggest headache,” she complained to the girls as they made their way to the luggage reclaim. ”That b.l.o.o.d.y girl just talks and talks and talks.” She ma.s.saged her temples and closed her eyes, relieved at the peace.
Sharon and Holly spotted Cindy and her crew making their way over to them and they dashed off into the crowd, leaving Denise standing alone with her eyes closed.
They beat their way through the crowd so they had a good view of the luggage. Everybody thought it would be a great idea to stand right next to the conveyer belt and to lean forward so that n.o.body beside them could see what was coming. They stood there for almost half an hour before the conveyer belt even started moving and a further half an hour later they were still standing there waiting for their bags while the majority of the crowd had headed outside to their coaches.
”You b.i.t.c.hes,” Denise said, angrily approaching them, dragging her suitcase behind her. ”You still waiting for your bags?”
”No, I just find it strangely comforting standing here and watching the same leftover bags going around and around and around. Why don't you go on ahead to the coach and I'll just stay here and continue enjoying myself,” Sharon said sarcastically.
”Well, I hope they lost your case,” Denise snapped. ”Or even better, I hope your bag burst open and all your big knickers and bras are spread all over the conveyer belt for everyone to see.”
Holly looked at Denise with amus.e.m.e.nt. ”You feel better now?”
”Not until I have a cigarette,” she replied, but she still managed to smile.
”Ooh, there's my bag!” Sharon said happily and swung it off the conveyer belt, managing to whack Holly in the s.h.i.+ns.
”Ow!”
”Sorry, but must save clothes.”
”If they've lost my clothes I'm going to sue them,” Holly said angrily. By now everyone else had gone and they were the only people left inside. ”Why am I always the last person waiting for my bags?” she asked her friends.
”Murphy's Law,” Sharon explained. ”Ah, here it is.” She grabbed the suitcase and once again whacked it against Holly's already sore s.h.i.+ns.
”Ow! Ow! Ow!” Holly yelled, rubbing her legs. ”Could you at least swing the b.l.o.o.d.y thing the other way?!”
”Sorry,” Sharon looked apologetic, ”I only swing one way, darling.”
The three of them headed off to meet their holiday rep.
”Stop, Gary! Get off me!” they heard a voice screeching as they rounded a corner. They followed the sound and spotted a young woman dressed in a red holiday rep uniform being attacked by a young man also dressed in a holiday rep uniform. The girls approached her and she straightened herself up.
”Kennedy, McCarthy and Hennessey?” she said in a thick London accent.
The girls nodded.
”Hi, I'm Victoria and I'm your holiday rep for the next week.” She plastered a smile on her face. ”So follow me and I'll show you to the coach.” She winked cheekily at Gary and led the girls outside.
It was two o'clock in the morning, and yet a warm breeze greeted them as they stepped outside. Holly smiled to the girls, who felt it too; now they were really on holiday. When they stepped into the coach everybody cheered and Holly silently cursed them all, hoping this wasn't going to be a cheesy 'let's all make friends' holiday.
”Woo-hoo,” Cindy sang over to them. She was standing up from her chair and waving at them. ”I kept you all a seat back here!”
Denise sighed loudly over Holly's shoulder and the girls trudged down to the backseat of the bus. Holly was lucky to sit next to the window, where she could ignore the rest of them. She hoped Cindy would understand that she wanted to be left alone, the major hint being that Holly had ignored her from the moment she had tottered over to their table.
Forty-five minutes later they reached Costa Palma Palace and the excitement once again returned to Holly's stomach. There was a long driveway in and tall palm trees lined the center of the drive. A large fountain was lit up with blue lights outside the main entrance and to her annoyance everybody on the bus cheered once again when they pulled up outside. The girls were booked into a studio apartment, which was a nice neat size containing one bedroom with twin beds, a small kitchen and living area with a sofa bed, a bathroom, of course, and a balcony. Holly stepped onto the balcony and looked out to the sea. Although it was too dark to see anything, Holly could hear the water gently lapping up against the sand. She closed her eyes and listened.
”Cigarette, cigarette, must have cigarette,” Denise joined her, ripping the cigarette packet open and inhaling deeply. ”Ah! That's much better; I no longer have the desire to kill people.”
Holly laughed; she was looking forward to spending time with her friends. ”Hol, do you mind if I sleep on the sofa bed? That way I can smoke...”
”Only if you keep the door open, Denise,” Sharon yelled from inside. ”I'm not waking up in the morning to the stink of smoke.”
”Thanks,” Denise said happily.
At nine o'clock that morning Holly was woken up to the sound of Sharon stirring. Sharon whispered to her she was going down to the pool to save them some sun beds. Fifteen minutes later Sharon returned to the apartment. ”The Germans have nicked all the sun beds,” she said grumpily. ”I'll be down on the beach if you want me.” Holly sleepily mumbled some sort of response and fell back asleep again. At ten o'clock Denise jumped on her in bed and they decided to get up and join Sharon at the beach.
The sand was hot and they had to keep moving so as not to burn the soles of their feet. As proud as Holly had been about her tan back in Ireland, it was obvious they had just arrived on the island, as they were the whitest people there. They spotted Sharon sitting under the shade of an umbrella reading her book.
”Oh, this is so beautiful, isn't it?” Denise smiled, looking around.
Sharon looked up from her book and smiled. ”Heaven.”