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‘Sorry, I should’ve explained,’ she said. ‘It’s a raw-food, juice-only detoxing spa. Fantastic, isn’t it?’

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Holly was waiting for the moment. The moment when Sienna threw back her head and laughed in a remarkably similar manner to that of the receptionist. Or maybe she would slap Holly on the back and say, ‘Gotcha,’ or something equally cheesy. The moment was definitely going to come, wasn’t it?

Holly blinked a couple of times, opened her mouth, but found no words came out.

‘Wow, a juice spa. That is definitely something I’d never thought about doing.’ Faye broke the silence as she walked towards them. ‘But I’m sure it’ll be loads of fun, don’t you think, Holly? Holly?’

Even though her name was spoken, Holly took a moment to respond.

‘What? Oh, yes, right. Absolutely. Right… juice for lunch. And dinner?’

‘For three meals a day,’ the woman countered. ‘Plus, we do a mid-morning and mid-afternoon shot.’

‘Of alcohol?’ Holly asked hopefully.

‘Of detoxifying probiotics,’ the woman replied.

‘Right,’ Holly said.

‘I can put you all down for the daily specials if you would like? They are our most popular choice.’

‘That sounds perfect,’ Sienna said. ‘Right girls? Three daily specials?’

‘That sounds great,’ Faye replied, while Holly choked out a noise that sounded somewhere between a grunt and a sneeze, that everyone took as agreement.

With their meals written down, the receptionist smiled broadly.

‘Now, let’s show you up to your rooms. Dominique, can you get the ladies’ bags please?’

After Dominique, the bellboy, appeared from some hidden corner of the foyer and stacked their bags onto a thin trolley, Holly walked in silence at the back of the group. Juice, for an entire weekend. It wasn’t like she was a sugar addict or anything. Or no more addicted than the average person, anyway. Given how she spent most of her waking hours in a sweet shop, she had to make a conscious effort to ensure that she wasn’t constantly tucking into the sherbet lemons and chocolate-covered Brazil nuts. But a couple of small treats a day were expected in a role like hers.

Naturally, her love of baking also meant she was partial to the odd sweet treat there too, and normally she had a cake or biscuit for dessert. There was definitely sugar in those; she measured it out herself. But she still wouldn’t consider it an addiction. The same way she wouldn’t consider the glass of wine she had with Jamie most evenings an alcohol addiction. But then wine had sugar in too, didn’t it? Crap, who was she kidding? Two full days of just juice? How the hell was she going to cope with that?

She was about to ask if there were any other alternative options, on the possibility that she simply couldn’t survive on a mixture of cashew nut milk, açai, dragon fruit, and whatever other strange concoctions were in the specialist juices. But before she could speak, she heard a gasp.

‘Oh my God, it’s absolutely stunning!’ It was Faye’s voice, although almost immediately followed by Sienna’s.

‘Wow, I mean, I knew it was special, but wow, this is incredible!’

Momentarily pushing thoughts of food to the back of her mind, Holly stepped forward and looked into the room.

‘Wow,’ she said.

There were two double beds, all made with perfectly white linen, a bright contrast to the incredible dark wood of the walls. The paintings – they were all paintings, not prints or reproductions – were vibrant and yet tasteful and the walls had been painted with an ombré effect that ended at exactly the same shade of navy blue as the carpet, giving a feeling of continuity that was almost dizzying. But the star of the show was definitely the windows. The angle at which they had been installed flooded the room with light. But it was more than that. It made it feel as if the room was outside, as if they were at one with nature. It was absolutely breathtaking.

‘Sienna, this is beautiful,’ she said.

Sienna turned around and beamed.

‘Well, we have two rooms. Dominique tells me the one next door is just a single double. It’s up to you; I don’t mind sharing with one you girls or?—’

‘No, no, it’s absolutely fine,’ Holly said. ‘You take the room to yourself. We’ll share this one. You’re all right with that, aren’t you, Faye?’

It took Holly a moment to register Faye’s response, due to it being muffled by cushions.

‘I am never getting off this bed,’ she said, as she lay spread-eagled on the double bed, having appeared to have sunk a good two inches into the duvet.