The door to Reception closed, shutting out Penny's taunts. Audra trudged to Dennis' office, where she found him reclining in his chair as far back as it would go, his feet up on the desk.
"I need a new ID for the guest in Maxima," she announced. "He says he lost his somewhere on the mainland. Whatever he did with it, he needs a new one. He can't open his mouth without suggesting sex."
Dennis raised one eyebrow. "Did you give it to him?"
Audra laughed dully. "What? A well-deserved slap or a kick to the balls? No. He deserved both, though. Sex? Not a hope in hell."
"Do I need to download the recordings from your ID?"
She shrugged. "No need. He didn't have one, so nothing got recorded. He knew about the voice recordings, too, though I didn't think guests were made aware of that. Maybe he lost his on purpose. He sure said a few things he wouldn't want to come up in court."
Dennis nodded. "Just making sure. I'll call Reception and get them to issue a new one for him. Maybe we should chain it around his neck like a collar."
Audra managed a weak smile. "Collaring the VIPs. Sounds like a service we can offer those whose tastes run that way. You should mention it to Hana. She's the activities coordinator."
"Maybe I will." Dennis waved her away. "You look like I feel. Go grab some grub and then get to bed."
Audra gave him a limp salute and headed off.
Annette's voice rang out, "Audra? Is that you? Can you come in here for a moment, please?"
Audra swore under her breath and hitched her smile back up. "Yeah, it's me. What can I help with?"
"It's the Pearls. I just got a call from there."
Audra crossed her fingers behind her back.
"The VIP in Maxima was so impressed by you that he wants a live-in maid for the rest of his stay. For the next fortnight. He specifically requested you."
"I'll kill him," Audra blurted out, bunching her hands into fists.
Annette's jaw dropped. "You'll what?"
Audra took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. She had to keep a cool head and present this in the right light. Her job depended on it. "I've just worked a full week, including extra hours and being on call, before I worked fifty-five hours straight, without a break, with this guest. That's more than a week's work in two days. Not even mine shift workers do that. And he's a demanding one. I'm so tired that I'm scared I'll say or do the wrong thing right now. Give me a couple days' rest and maybe I can return to the Pearls, if I'm still needed, but right now...I'm an occupational health risk to guests and staff alike."
Annette seemed to consider her words carefully. "Jackie's back next week and she can take over from you then. Can't you just see out this week?"
Heloise knocked on the door. "You needed a new guest ID?" She handed the wristband to Audra, who fumbled and dropped it on the floor.
Audra slid to the floor after it, cracking her head on the desk. "Fuck." It took her a moment to add, "Sorry. Like I said, so tired I have no filter between my brain and my mouth. Right now, I'm not sure I'd even notice if I called one of the VIPs a demanding arsehole instead of just thinking it."
"But who can I send? Penny just came to me to say Pamela's been taken sick with a sudden attack of gastro."
Penny poisoned her, Audra was sure of it. Audra had heard Penny talk about the housemate who tried to steal her boyfriend and how she'd slipped poison into the girl's food. Somehow, Pamela had managed to piss her off, too. What if it was because she'd caught Penny banging the chef in the laundry?
"Send Penny," Audra suggested. "She's been dying to work in the Pearls ever since you gave them to me."
She shouldn't wish Penny on Jay or vice versa, but right now, Audra didn't care. They were both adults who could fend for themselves. And if they managed to kill each other, she wouldn't complain. As long as they let her sleep and she got her job application in on time.
Annette nodded. "Sure. I'll send her right over with that new ID band so she can introduce herself."
Then Penny wouldn't be in the staff dining room when Audra got there. If she hurried, maybe she could avoid the bitch altogether.
"Can I go?"
Annette didn't even lift her eyes. "Sure, hon." She dismissed her with a flick of her wrist. Audra had never felt more grateful to the woman.
FORTY-TWO
"There," Audra breathed, pleased at the result. Her curriculum vitae had matching headings and made her sound like an ideal employee who'd do anything, go anywhere and still be sunny. She'd proofread her selection criteria responses so many times that the words blurred on the page, but she was certain there were no mistakes. The Bureau of Meteorology HAD to take her as a graduate for next year's intake.
Just as long as she submitted the application in time. She had twenty-six hours until the deadline.
Part of her wanted to take the extra time to perfect her application, but Audra had seen the satellite uplink knocked out before. It took a week to get the repair guy out. A week she didn't have.
No time like the present.
Audra switched on her laptop's wi-fi connection, waiting for the uplink to go live. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. Her future was about to take off, she knew it.
The laptop beeped and an error message popped up on the screen. It couldn't find the wi-fi network. Audra swore and told it to look again. Three times the error popped up and three times she jabbed the cursor at the button, commanding it to retry.
Fuck.
Audra closed her laptop and tucked it under her arm. Carefully opening the door to her room, she peered out at the veranda. It was deserted. She slipped out and hurried to the IT office where she found Cam and Seb, the two computer experts, playing poker.
"The wi-fi's down," she announced.
"No, it's not."
"I can't connect in the staff accommodation."
"Nah, there wouldn't be much of a signal there."
Audra wanted to slap him. Both of them. "It's usually fine. What's wrong with it now?"
"Nothing. The router's out at one of the villas on the other side of the lagoon. Loses a lot of signal strength."
"But I need it."
"You could just plug your PC in to one of the ports here. What's so urgent, anyway?" Seb asked.
"It's personal," Audra snapped.
Cam perked up. "Video call with your boyfriend back home?"
"Maybe."
"Well, if it's privacy you want, you could just go sit on one of the villa verandas. What's the name of the one where the executives are staying?"
"Albina?" Audra suggested.
"That's it. Pick the one next door and sit on the veranda. All the privacy you could want," Cam assured her.
Seb coughed.
"Thanks, guys." Audra left.
As the door closed behind her, she caught the hissed words, "D'you think she'll flash him her tits?" followed by, "Shhh! What's her IP again? And don't move the mouse this time or she'll know!"
Great. Jay wasn't alone in having an obsession for her boobs. For the first time, she wished she worked in a ski resort where her winter clothes would be so bulky no one knew she had breasts. If she didn't get this graduate job, maybe that's what she'd try for next.
What was she saying? Of course she'd get this job. She just had to apply for it.
Straightening her spine, Audra strode confidently toward the Pearls. She'd sit on the Pinctada veranda and send her hopes for the future winging across the water to the east coast office that had the power to grant dreams. It was time for hers to come true.
FORTY-THREE
"Come on, baby, you can do better than that!" Jay's laughing voice taunted.
Audra's steps slowed. She didn't want to run into him on the narrow path. Hugging her laptop to her chest, she prayed he'd ignore her. After all, it sounded like he had someone else to occupy his attention now.
She rounded the corner to find the path mercifully free of rock stars.
He groaned, the sound coming from her right, w
here the thinning jungle gave way to the lagoon. "Five minutes more, baby, and you'll set a new record."
The path to Pinctada passed the lagoon and Audra couldn't seem to stop herself from taking those extra steps to see what she both dreaded and hoped for. Jay stood knee-deep in the lagoon, buck naked, while a girl in a maid's uniform deep-throated him. His eyes widened as he spotted Audra and the girl inhaling his dick choked, spraying fluid everywhere. Audra hoped it was vomit, seeing as that's what she wanted to do.
"It's not what it looks like," he protested weakly.
Audra forced herself to shrug, as if she didn't care and couldn't feel bile rising up in the back of her throat. "It looks like you're getting a record-breaking blowjob from an expert. Aren't you going to make the most of it, or are you just going to blow her off like you do everyone else? Don't stop on account of me." Audra averted her eyes and hurried away, struggling not to be sick.
Silence hung in the air for a few seconds before Jay shakily proclaimed, "I knew you couldn't beat the record. Your arse is mine!" He didn't sound half as happy as he had before Audra's appearance.
Behind her, she heard Penny's giggle, followed by a splash and a shriek. "Ooh, Jay...yes, yes!"
Audra was going so fast she almost slammed into the group of executives from Albina. She apologised and moved aside to let them pass.
For a moment, she considered warning them about the R-rated scene around the bend, but thought the better of it. Penny would take what was coming to her. Damn it, Audra had never blown a guy in her life, but for a moment there, she'd been jealous of Penny. Not for choking on his cock, but because she'd had her hands on his abs as if they were hers to stroke. Audra wanted to break every one of those splayed fingers for touching what she couldn't have and the other girl had no right to.
Meanwhile, the Albina executives had discovered the porn show in the lagoon.
"Oh my God!"
"Are they having anal sex?"
"Nah, just doing it doggy style, I think."
"Is that Jay Felix?"
"I can't believe they're allowed to do that here, where anyone could see them!"
Audra swallowed and resumed walking, reaching Pinctada and falling to her knees on the veranda. Waking her laptop, she waited for the wi-fi to link up and almost cheered when it connected. The email was ready to go, so all she had to do was hit SEND. Which she did.
A few seconds later, she was rewarded with the Bureau's automatic response that her application had been received.
Audra shut the laptop down and set it carefully beside her. Now all she had to do was wait and hope.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow she'd start hoping. Right now, all she could think about was Penny digging her claws into Jay. He'd forgotten her already, just as she'd expected. What she hadn't expected was how much it would hurt.
Why was life so unfair? A week ago, all she'd wanted was to get the job of her dreams and her life would be perfect. Now, she couldn't seem to summon any enthusiasm for the job. Her thoughts weren't of storm clouds and heatwaves, tides and tempests, but the heat of a man's hard body against hers. She wanted Jay. Who preferred Penny.
Audra hugged her knees to her chest, laid her head on her arms and cried her heart out.
FORTY-FOUR
Later that evening, after watching the Albina guests leave in the thumping helicopter, Audra lay on her bed with her laptop, waiting for the wi-fi to connect. She'd seen the IT guys carrying all the gear back from Albina, so she figured everything would be back to normal. Sure enough, this time the connection worked on the first try. Her email chimed, telling her she had a message from Sam, wanting a video call.
Audra didn't hesitate. Waiting only long enough for the webpage to open, she initiated the call.
"Did you get them? Did you? They're sold out everywhere!"
The Chaya tickets. Which, despite her threat, she hadn't sold. And she couldn't. Even if she hated Jay, she couldn't do that to her sister.
Audra summoned a smile. "Yeah. Happy birthday, I guess."
Sam's happy scream set Audra's teeth on edge, but she didn't complain. She'd rarely seen Sam so happy. Sam's voice slowed into intelligible speech again and Audra realised she was talking to someone off-screen.
"Who else is home?" Audra asked.
"Just Ben," she said, then frowned. "He says he needs to talk to you."
The room blurred as Sam twisted the webcam to face Ben.
"Hi," he said, mirroring Sam's frown. "Your car rego's overdue. And the insurance, too."
Audra blinked, then remembered. "I gave you the money for that before I left. In cash, remember?" It was the last money she'd had at the time – she hadn't even had a couple of dollars for a bottle of water at the airport.
"What? Oh, so that's what that was for. I used it to replace my tools. They got stolen off Joe's ute when we were at lunch a week after you left." Ben shrugged. "I'll have to owe you."
Audra wanted to reach through the screen and throttle him. "That was more than a thousand dollars, Ben! Money to pay those bills that I gave you because I trusted you!"
Ben's eyes dropped to his lap. "Yeah but...I forgot, and when I found the money, it was like a miracle. Joe was going to take another apprentice instead if I didn't replace those tools. I'll pay you back, honest."
No, he wouldn't, because he'd never have the money, Audra thought but didn't say. Instead, she sighed. "You better. So I have to find another grand so you can pay the bills?"
Ben hunched his shoulders. "Um, probably more than that. Y'see, there's fines for paying late and for driving unlicensed and the car'll need to go over the pits for inspection, so there's inspection fees, too."
Audra felt all her savings slip away. "How much?"
"Leon says about three grand. No, wait, four including the rego and insurance."
"Four thousand dollars? My car's not worth that! What the hell for?"
Ben mumbled something that Audra didn't catch, so she asked him to repeat it. Her older brother pressed his lips together as if he didn't want to.
Sam shoved his shoulder and the room blurred again as she turned the camera back to her own face. "If he won't tell you, I will. All the taillights are gone and the blinkers, too. The hatch on the back doesn't close properly on account of it being bent out of shape, so you'll need a new one of those, too. Leon said that's why the police declared it not roadworthy any more. Even if you replace the lights, exhaust fumes will creep into the car unless you can shut it."
"Leon? He's not supposed to be driving," Audra began ominously.
"Nah, he got doctor's approval a fortnight ago, but he didn't have a car, so he borrowed yours." Sam grinned gleefully. "You should've seen him hit the letterbox on his first drive. One minute it's there, the next, SMASH. Bricks and dust everywhere. I never liked that letterbox."
"Leon. Our brother, Leon, who crashed his car and nearly killed himself, has been driving my uninsured and unlicensed car for a fortnight?!"
"Four weeks, actually," Sam volunteered. "He has a new girlfriend and he couldn't take her on a date on the bus, so he borrowed your car."
"BEN! I trusted you!" Audra bellowed.
A firm knock sounded at her door.
"I'm busy!" she called.
The knocking resumed.
Swearing, Audra told Sam, "I have to go. I get paid in a couple of days. I'll sort something out." She terminated the call, crossed the room in two strides and yanked open the door. "What?"
Serge folded his arms. "You all right?"
"Fine." Audra waved at the laptop. "Family problems."
"I heard. Actually, I think everyone on this side of the lagoon heard. If you need someone to talk to, you know I'm here."
Did his gaze drop to her chest, or was she imagining it? Jay couldn't be right. He couldn't be. Serge wasn't interested in her boobs or any part of her body. "Thanks, but I'm not sure there's much to say. What do you do when you want to kill your family?"
Serge grinned. "Work out. It's why I got int
o fitness, I guess." His smile faltered. "If you want, I have tomorrow morning free. I could give you a training session. Help you work off all that frustration."
She wished with all her being that she could take Penny's advice and take him to bed, eyeing the bulging biceps that showed at their best when he had his arms folded like that. She had frustration on all sides tonight.
Shit. Take advice from Penny, the bitch who gave blow jobs to every dick she saw and called HER a slut? The girl who was probably wrapped around Jay right now? Fuck no. Just the thought of that made her want to hit something.
"Yeah. Sure. Tomorrow," Audra said finally.
"It's a date." Serge sauntered off.
A date? Well, maybe. Tomorrow, she'd see. Right now, she just wanted to go to bed and sleep before anything else happened. Tomorrow couldn't be worse than today.
FORTY-FIVE
"So, you all set for this morning's session?" Serge greeted Audra as she set her breakfast on the table beside him.
She waved at her gym clothes. "As ready as I'll ever be. You know, you don't need to do this. I feel bad taking your time for free when you could be helping paid clients."
"Actually, you're doing me a favour. I need to get my hours up before I can take my next assessment. I'm ten hours short and if you want, they're all yours."
Ten hours? She'd never spent more than an hour in a gym and it'd been years since she'd done that. "Let's see how I go today first."
"Go for a high-protein, low-carbohydrate breakfast. Not too much fruit and sugar." He jerked his chin at Audra's bowl of mango yoghurt and muesli.
Audra opened her mouth to mutiny.
"Whew, that man has the stamina of a stud bull!" Penny stage-whispered as she plopped a plate of pancakes on the table. To Audra's horror, the girl slid into the seat beside her.
"What are you doing here?" Audra demanded.
Penny shrugged. "A girl's gotta eat. Can't live on cum alone." She winked as she rolled up a pancake and deep-throated it, much to the fascination of the IT guys at the next table.
Maid for the Rock Star Page 14
