Page 6 of Another Lucky Number (Lucky Number #2)

Chapter Five

T he man does a double take, and his face breaks into the same amused – and slightly inviting – smile from earlier.

‘ Alors … what do we have here? It is the superstar from the karaoke bar.’

His accent is unmistakably French. And unmistakably sexy. Cat, Amber and I are goners the moment he opens his mouth. He may have offended me only minutes before, but my principles have already jogged across the terrace and dived into the sea.

‘ Mesdames , are you all right?’ He athletically leaps off his seat and approaches our table, making it clear that we’ve been staring at him for way longer than what would be considered appropriate.

I clear my throat, triggering my friends to surface from their own trance-like states.

‘Hi, I’m Cat.’ My bestie thrusts an overenthusiastic arm forward to shake his hand.

‘ Enchanté .’ He chuckles, giving it a squeeze. ‘You British are so formal. ’

Amber then introduces herself with a casual nod (much respect to that impressive turnaround).

‘Pleasure to meet you, Amber.’ The man pronounces it Om-ber, causing Cat to visibly swoon . ‘And the superstar chanteuse ?’ The man’s emerald-green eyes land on me.

I hold my hands up in a fanatical wave, then on realising what I must look like, quickly hide them behind my back. ‘I’m Emma. And singing that song was not my idea.’

‘I see. Enchanté , Emma.’ He smiles warmly and Cat and Amber gape open-mouthed as he leans in and greets me French-style, with a kiss on each cheek, his fruity yet spicy aftershave wafting into my airways.

The whole experience leaves me a little faint, and I have to put a hand on the table to steady myself. I turn to my friends, speechless and wide-eyed.

‘I see you’ve been sitting alone.’ Amber immediately seizes the opportunity. ‘That can’t be much fun. Would you like to join us, Monsieur …?’

‘Dumont.’ He flashes Amber a heart-stopping smile. ‘Sébastien Dumont. And I would be delighted to join you.’

Sébastien seats himself at the table while Amber signals to the waiter to bring another bottle of champagne. To our surprise, it arrives in record speed, along with more chocolate dipped fruit.

‘You are enjoying your holiday so far?’ Sébastien asks us.

‘It’s wonderful .’ Cat has a dreamy look in her eye and I’m unsure what’s at the root of this – the holiday or Sébastien himself. Or perhaps a bit of both.

‘That is good to know. And you are here for how long?’

‘Until next Thursday.’

‘ Really ?’ He raises an eyebrow. ‘ Moi aussi . Well… I leave next Friday.’

‘Are you here at the resort alone, Sébastien?’ Amber eyes him curiously and I give her a little kick, knowing fine well what she’s up to.

‘That is correct,’ he replies. ‘I am here mainly for business reasons, but also for some rest and relaxation.’

His eyes catch mine, sending a shiver of anticipation down my spine. I take a couple of swigs of champagne to distract my brain from complete sensory overload.

‘What kind of business?’ Amber continues her fishing.

‘Hospitality,’ he says. ‘I buy resorts, and make them the most desirable places to be in the world.’

‘Interesting. Resorts like this?’

‘Resorts exactly like this.’

‘Are you here to look at buying this one?’

‘ Amber .’ I quickly interject. ‘I’m sure Sébastien didn’t agree to join us for a game of twenty questions.’

‘It is fine, Emma.’ Sébastien waves his hand a gesture of calm. ‘I do not mind. No, I am not planning to buy this resort because I already own it.’

I almost spit out my champagne. ‘You own this place? What? All of it?’

‘ Oui. Or at least my company does.’

‘ Wowser .’ I’m thrown by this revelation. This guy is rich .

‘It’s such a great resort,’ says Cat. ‘The staff are all so happy and motivated.’

‘That is because I ensure they are paid fairly and are treated well. As they should be,’ says Sébastien. ‘And where do you all work?’

‘In boring offices.’ Cat looks glum all of a sudden. ‘Not amazing five-star resorts where the staff skip to work every day.’

Having been uncharacteristically quiet for a while, Amber sits forward, a worryingly mischievous look on her face. ‘Hey Cat, we don’t all work in boring offices. Not anymore.’

I shoot her a warning look not to disclose anything too personal. Not that this man would care about my lottery win. He must be a multi-millionaire – at a minimum.

‘Yeah, you’re right,’ says Cat. ‘Emma’s not tied down by the nine-to-five lifestyle right now.’

‘You are not?’ Sébastien regards me with interest. ‘Why is this, Emma? What do you do?’

‘Oh… well, I… uh…’ I trip over myself as I try to think how to clarify my situation. ‘I guess I’d have to say… I’m unemployed.’

This is the first time I’ve said these words out loud, even acknowledged my job status, and it doesn’t feel good.

Cringing at this, I direct my eyes to the ground to avoid Sébastien’s reaction.

There may be a good reason why I quit my job, but as Amber so kindly pointed out, I’m miles away from achieving my career dream right now – whatever that even is.

‘I am sorry to hear this, Emma.’ Sébastien seems a bit lost for words.

‘Now, come on. That’s not technically true, is it, Emma?’ Amber gives me a just-go-along-with-it nudge with her foot.

‘It’s not?’ I look up hopefully.

‘Not at all. Sébastien, Emma’s being modest. She’s actually a highly sought after professional, and until recently, she held a strategic level role in a large blue-chip company.’

‘Is that so?’ He looks at me with a curious expression.

‘It is,’ says Amber, before I can say a word. ‘She’s been on a short career break to undertake some important charitable work – such a selfless person – and she’s now deliberating her next career move: with a handful of unsolicited offers from big household names. Isn’t that right, Emma?’

This time it’s less of a nudge and more a foot wedged against my leg ready to boot me if I dare disagree.

‘Eh… that’s quite an image you’ve conjured up there, Amber,’ I say through gritted teeth .

‘She’s being coy.’ Amber’s quick to smooth over my comment. ‘Always does this when she gets a compliment.’

‘ Alors , Emma.’ Sébastien lets out a low whistle. ‘It sounds like you are an impressive young woman.’

‘I… um…’ I stammer. ‘I’m not sure—’

‘She is, believe me.’ Amber talks over me and looks Sébastien straight in the eye. ‘Honestly… so modest.’

‘And she’s not just super capable,’ Cat joins in. ‘She’s an amazing friend too.’

‘Oh, stop it, you two.’ I have no choice but to play along, screwing my nose up bashfully at my two friends fake-bigging me up.

‘So, Sébastien…’ Amber sits forward. ‘Surely a businessman like yourself is always on the lookout for talent like Emma. You must know that calibre of professional is very hard to find.’

Shit . I should have seen this coming. I dig the toe of my sandal hard into Amber’s leg but she kicks me back, causing me to yelp in pain.

‘Emma, ca va ?’ Sébastien looks alarmed. ‘You have been bitten?’

‘ No .’ I rub my leg. ‘I’m fine. Just banged my knee.’

‘Ah, OK. Do you need some ice?’

‘No, thanks. I’ll be fine.’ I plaster on my most convincing everything’s-just hunky-dory smile, despite the hot throbbing in my shin.

‘As I was saying…’ Amber draws Sébastien’s attention back to her. ‘Talent like Emma is very hard to come across.’

‘I would agree.’ Sébastien nods, while intermittently glancing at me to check I’m all right.

‘Especially for the more senior roles. There are not many people who have the full package, as one might say: excellent problem solving and decision-making skills, the ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity, and think at a strategic level. All that as well as possessing the positive behaviours of a natural and credible leader. To find all of this in one person? Trés difficile .’

We nod along as if this is the most insightful piece of information we’ve ever heard.

‘In fact, I am currently in the process of filling one of my senior roles,’ he continues.

‘It is a challenging process for this very reason. Sometimes I wish I could take the good qualities of a few individuals and put them together. That would create the perfect candidate but, of course, this is not possible. C’est la vie . ’

‘What about Emma for that job?’ says Amber suddenly.

I freeze, unable to comprehend what’s just come out of her mouth. Dropping hints is one thing, but this is quite another. I want to kill her for turning our rather enjoyable conversation with this French Adonis into a full-throttle career seeking mission.

Sébastien regards Amber thoughtfully. He’s obviously trying to think of a way to let us down gently.

‘I think… peut-être is too late to add Emma into the process. The interviews have already taken place. I am sorry, Emma.’

‘Not at all,’ I say, while burning with humiliation at being rejected for a job I didn’t put myself forward for. ‘Ignore Amber. She’s not serious.’

‘I’m deadly serious,’ Amber unhelpfully adds.

‘Well, as you said yourself, Amber…’ I’m now speaking very deliberately to convey the message that she needs to shut the hell up. ‘I have plenty of options, so I don’t need you making my decision harder.’

‘ Anyway …’ Cat leaps in to rescue the situation ‘Perhaps it’s time to call it a night.’ She gives a huge fake yawn, earning herself a strange look from Sébastien.

‘Yes, I think you’re right.’ I slither out my chair before Amber can make the situation any worse. ‘It’s been a long day of… lying by the pool.’

Sébastien watches us, eyes filled with amusement as we haphazardly gather ourselves together and extricate a protesting, champagne-swigging Amber.

‘Sébastien, it’s been lovely to meet you,’ I say. ‘Please do excuse us. We’re still a little jet-lagged. I’m sure we’ll see you around the resort.’

‘I hope so.’ He gives us a warm smile. ‘ Bonsoir, mesdames . It has been a pleasure.’

‘Bye.’ We give him an awkward wave and exit the terrace at high speed.