by Kate Frost
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The bookshop still stank of smoke. All the damaged parts had been removed, which left a good chunk of it without a roof. From being the island’s hidden gem, it was now a sorry sight, a scar on the otherwise perfect landscape. She knew it wasn’t going to remain like this, but still, with it in ruins, she felt that her time here was fragile even with the alternative bookshop on Reef. She used to have the mindset that things – however bad they seemed at the time – always worked out for the best in the end. That theory had been challenged with Amber’s death. She had no idea why she’d come here, except she wanted to get away from Aaron. Her whole time on the island was wrapped up in him; she felt let down and angry, confused and uncertain. She wanted space but more than anything she wanted answers.
It felt wrong and intrusive and very much like a bad idea, but having heard Aaron’s side of things, she wanted to speak to Zander. This really is a bad idea, she thought as she walked away from the burnt out bookshop. Instead of heading back through the trees to the main path, she walked towards a desolate Sunset Beach. A bank of clouds clustered on the horizon, partially blocking the moon and making the ocean seem dark and endless. She found the entrance to the hidden pathway nestled among the trees and carefully picked her way along it, cursing that she’d stormed off without her mobile to help light her way. But it wasn’t like she could get lost on an island this size. Even if she ended up going the wrong way, she’d eventually make her way back to the main path or the staff village or a beach.
A branch scratched the side of her face. The leaves were thick, blocking out what little moonlight there was. She inched forward, reaching out so she didn’t collide with a tree. She glimpsed light up ahead through the foliage. The trees looked like they were thinning out. A sliver of moonlight was reflected in the ocean.
She reached Driftwood Cove and almost turned back at the sight of Zander’s villa glowing in the darkness. She knew she shouldn’t be here, but she paced across the silky sand regardless, fuelled by the desire to find out the truth. If Aaron wasn’t going to be forthcoming, and instead accuse her and Zander of goodness knows what, then maybe Zander could shed some light.
Freya went up the steps but stopped on the edge of the deck by the pool. The whole front of the villa was open to the beach; it felt strange and wrong to just walk in unannounced. She shook her head, cursing herself for coming all the way here.
‘Freya?’
A woman’s voice made her look up. Maryam stood on the villa’s threshold, her hand pressed to her chest.
‘You made me jump standing in the dark like that,’ she said, walking towards her across the deck.
‘I’m so sorry. I probably shouldn’t be here. In fact, now I’m here I realise just how much I shouldn’t have turned up like this...’ Freya balled her hands into fists at her stupidity. ‘I’ll um, go. I’ll talk to Zander another time...’
‘What’s bothering you, Freya?’ Maryam placed a hand on her arm. It was a motherly gesture and the way she was looking at her with wide eyes full of concern made Freya long for the simplicity of when she had her own mother to turn to when times got tough. ‘You can talk to me. It sounds like you need someone to talk to. Zander’s not here at the moment, and I doubt he’ll be back until later this evening. Come.’ She led her across the deck and into the villa. ‘Take a seat.’ She gestured to the closest sofa. ‘I’ve just made myself a tea if you’d like one too. Camomile or peppermint?’
‘Peppermint, please.’ Even with the whole front open to the beach, it was the perfect temperature inside, the air conditioning taking the edge off the humid night. Freya sat on one of the sofas. There was a book on the coffee table with a bookmark wedged a third of the way through. Despite how busy he was, she loved how he found the time to read. But then this place was his escape, his refuge, and the time was his own here, with no family to worry about, plus he had Maryam to look after him. It was quite the existence. But lonely, he’d said as much.
Maryam placed steaming mugs of peppermint tea on mats on the coffee table.
‘Thank you,’ Freya said. ‘I really didn’t mean to intrude. I don’t know what I was thinking.’
‘It’s nice to have your company. Zander has appreciated it too.’
‘He has?’
Maryam nodded. ‘Of course. What happened to the bookshop really shook him up. And I know how much it upset you too.’
Sitting in Zander’s living room, with the sound of the ocean and the air conditioning cooling her down, felt so far away from the conversation with Aaron in his room. It almost didn’t feel like the two places could be on the same island.
‘Have you any idea how the fire started?’ Freya asked.
‘Is that what’s troubling you?’
‘Partly. There have been rumours...’
‘You know none of it’s your fault.’
‘I know. It’s just... Oh I don’t know. This might be easier asking you, as it’s not my intention to offend Zander, and he will probably be offended...’
Maryam laughed. ‘Just ask me, Freya.’ She patted her hand. ‘It’s okay. I won’t say anything to Zander if you don’t want me to.’
‘So, um, Aaron, who works in the dive school...’
‘I know who he is.’
‘I don’t quite know how to say this, but he’s accused Zander of being the father of his ex-girlfriend’s child.’
‘Yes, Zahida.’
‘You know about this?’
‘Of course.’
‘I really don’t know what to think.’
‘You’re close with Aaron?’ Maryam picked up her peppermint tea and blew on it.
‘I was. I’m not really sure any longer.’
Maryam nodded. ‘I presume Aaron told you Zahida worked for Zander. She was his housekeeper for a short while?’
‘No, he said they had an affair and he’s adamant that his son isn’t his. I didn’t know she worked for Zander.’
‘Aaron sees and believes what he wants to. He’s a hot-headed young man.’
‘But Zahida did work for Zander, here in the villa?’
‘Yes, she did for a while, but it only came about because I broke my arm and Zander insisted I went home and recovered there, and he took on Zahida. For whatever reason, Aaron didn’t trust Zander, so he automatically didn’t trust her. He assumed Zander’s intentions were romantic and not simply because she was a hardworking member of staff who deserved the opportunity and the pay rise. Aaron poisoned his relationship with Zahida. And he questioned the baby from the very beginning. I’ve not seen the child but by all accounts it’s obvious to anyone with two good eyes that it’s Aaron’s. But he became so soured by the idea that Zahida had an affair with Zander that he convinced himself otherwise.’
‘How can you be certain that nothing happened between Zander and Zahida?’
‘I know Zander. I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve seen the good and the bad, there’s been lots of both. I know what he was like in the past, but I also know what he’s like now. Zahida is a beautiful woman; the same as you. Aaron is as handsome as any model. The front of house staff are too; you could say everyone on this island is young and has a certain charm. Meena is a lovely lady. It’s not that being good looking gets you a job here... you weren’t chosen to run the bookshop because you’re beautiful, even though that goes without saying. You were picked because you were fully able to do a brilliant job and you’ve proved that. People may frown on the idea, but Loabi Fushi is a brand. It’s selling dreams and luxury, from those stunning over-water villas, to the people who serve the food. Zander’s business minded, but he’s also fair and rewards people for their hard work.
‘Zahida took over from me because she was excellent at her job and because Zander trusted her, not because he wanted her in his bed. Her father used to work for him on Makumathi. He rewards loyalty. Aaron just couldn’t see that. He saw a rich man with a tarnished playboy past handpick Zahida to work solely for him, in private, at
his villa. I understand how that must look to someone like Aaron. But he saw what he wanted to see and he believed his own story instead of the truth Zahida was telling him. He was so bitter and unwavering in his distrust for the woman he was supposed to be in love with that in the end he destroyed the relationship he had with her.’
~
Freya didn’t know what to do. Maryam had confirmed much of what she’d been worried about with Aaron. She was reluctant to head back to the staff village and risk bumping into him. She didn’t want to have to face him, not after what he said earlier and not after what Maryam had talked about.
‘You can stay a while, Freya. I know Zander won’t mind.’ Maryam was smiling warmly at her, almost like she understood the turmoil that was going through Freya’s mind. ‘I’m just going out the back to put some washing on. You don’t have to leave straight away.’
It was tempting to stay; it was private and out of the way, luxurious and so incredibly comfortable, the cool interior a blissful respite from the heat, the waves soothing in the background. But she felt like she’d overstepped by turning up. Just because she’d been invited back the other night, didn’t mean she could turn up whenever she wanted. Zander was her boss, he was the resort owner and whatever his housekeeper thought would be okay with him, he wasn’t here right now. Coming back after the fire had been a necessity. They had both breathed in smoke and needed to be checked out by the island doctor. He’d been caring and thoughtful, but that was very different from a friendship that allowed her to drop by whenever she wanted.
She ran her hand along the back of the sofa and wandered out to the deck. The moonlight caught the shimmer of the ocean as it gently moved. The L-shaped pool glowed a luminous blue, inviting and serene in the darkness. Only lamplight lit the villa interior and lanterns edged the decking, sending warm light into the glossy green undergrowth beyond. At least her time here had cemented her resolve to not return to London. Even though somewhere like Zander’s villa was so beyond her means, she knew she wanted to live somewhere with space, trees and lots of green, even if she wouldn’t be able to afford to live by the sea. She sat on the edge of the decking and sank her feet into the soft cool sand. Maybe she didn’t have to return home; she could go somewhere else after her time in the Maldives. She could set up her own bookshop by the beach or start a writing retreat somewhere hot and tropical. There were endless possibilities, particularly when she didn’t have anyone to entice her back home.
She gazed out at the bay. It felt like everything could be taken away from her at any moment. The bookshop had felt like her space, a bit of paradise on an island that was the epitome of paradise, but she was heartbroken at the possibility that it had been destroyed by Aaron, someone she’d put her trust in, someone she’d opened her heart to, someone who had lied to her. Potentially he’d put her whole reason for being here at risk. He’d put her in danger and left her, never intending to get help. She bunched her hands into fists. Her uncertainty about him had slowly been building ever since his mum had surprised them with the family lunch that had dredged up history that Aaron had wanted to keep hidden and a truth that Freya had known nothing about. And now this.
‘I thought you’d left.’ Maryam joined her on the edge of the deck. She smoothed out her tunic dress and folded her hands in her lap.
‘Not yet, not without saying goodbye. But I’ll go soon. However much I want to, I can’t avoid Aaron forever.’
‘You certainly can’t. It’s always best to face up to situations however uncomfortable they may be. It enables you to move on.’
Maryam had a wistful tone to her voice as if there was the weight of experience behind her words. That was one thing Freya was not prepared to put herself through again, allowing someone else to have such a negative impact on the way she felt. Over the past few weeks Aaron’s actions and his secret had had a similar effect on her mental health like when Owen let her down when she needed him most. She wasn’t going to put up with it any longer. She wouldn’t put up with it.
‘Do you miss your family?’ Freya asked, wanting to change the subject and get her thoughts away from Aaron. ‘I presume you spend most of your time living and working here?’
‘I do miss them, but Zander is as much family as my own flesh and blood. Without his kindness and generosity, life would have been incredibly challenging for us. My husband died in accident seven years ago, which is why I needed to work full time. My daughter and her family still live on the island I grew up on and my son has lived abroad since he was eighteen. He occasionally visits but we have the financial means now to travel and visit him too. I have a soft spot for Zander; I always have done. Despite his fame and fortune, he’s a tortured soul who’s dealt with a lot of sadness throughout his life, and I just want to see him happy. This island has begun to do that. He has a passion for making people’s dreams come true, which is a lovely trait, and I’d like to see his come true as well. This island is a start, the bookshop too.’
Freya didn’t know what to say. Loabi Fushi was as much an escape for him as it had been for her, for different reasons of course.
‘I trust you’re not in love with him?’ Maryam asked.
‘Who?’ The question took Freya by surprise.
‘Aaron.’
Her heart thudded and her cheeks flushed with the initial thought that Maryam was talking about Zander. ‘No, I mean I like him. I did like him. There have been other things that have made me question our relationship. I can’t be with someone I don’t trust and who doesn’t have my back. My last relationship was very much like that and I made a promise to never put myself in that kind of situation again.’
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Freya chatted with Maryam on the deck of Zander’s villa for another ten minutes before deciding it really was time she left. She walked back the way she’d come, across the sand to the path hidden among the undergrowth. It seemed even darker after the welcoming glow of Zander’s villa and she navigated her way slowly, branches snatching at her bare arms. It was humid beneath the trees and sweat dribbled down the side of her face. Insects chattered in the dry undergrowth and bats flapped between the tops of the trees. She was relieved to see the glimmer of the ocean through the thinning trees as she reached an empty Sunset Beach. Even though there was only a little breeze, it felt fresher out in the open. The sound of the waves lapping the shore were a tonic.
Freya reached the beach in front of the bookshop but decided to keep walking. She knew she was trying to avoid the inevitable, but figured if she stayed away from the staff village for long enough then Aaron would be asleep and she wouldn’t have to face him again this evening. A crushing tightness spread across her chest as she walked, a familiar stress reaction creeping up on her. It was the same way she’d felt about Owen when their relationship had disintegrated, but at least then she had physical distance between them. They hadn’t lived or worked together. They didn’t even live in the same London borough, so there was little chance of them bumping into each other, but here... There was no escape; no way she could avoid Aaron. She pounded across the sand until she was forced to slow down with the effort of powering through the silky grains. Villas glowed from behind their private screen of trees and laughter drifted towards her, emphasising her loneliness and disappointment of how her time on Loabi Fushi was turning out. It had been her escape, her few months to put her sadness, grief, and loneliness behind her, yet it now felt like it was all falling apart.
She stopped in the middle of the beach. She was nearing the jetty where the seaplanes landed and she could see Reef jutting out over the water, glowing invitingly. The guests would be finishing their dinner about now and having a romantic stroll back to their beach or ocean villas. She shouldn’t be wandering around looking miserable. She put her hands on her hips, stared down at the sand beneath her feet and fought back tears.
‘Freya?’
Startled, she looked up.
Zander was strolling towards her, dressed in a cream T-shirt, b
eige shorts and bare feet.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked as he reached her.
‘Yes, sorry,’ she said, trying to subtly wipe away tears. ‘I just needed to walk. I’m heading back to the staff village now.’
‘I’ll walk with you.’
Together they retraced her footsteps back along the beach. Freya’s heart pounded. She had no idea what to say. She’d just been to his villa, chatting with Maryam about him. It felt like a dirty secret hanging over her. They passed the villa where she’d heard laughter a few minutes earlier, and then went past the last villa on this stretch of beach, its warm-white lights disappearing behind them. It wasn’t completely dark; an occasional lantern nestled in front of the undergrowth lit the way and the moon poking above a cluster of iron-grey clouds sent a wash of silvery light across the ocean.
‘Do you want to tell me what you’re upset about?’ Zander’s voice sounded loud in the quiet of the deserted beach.
‘I, um...’
‘You can talk to me, Freya. I understand what a crappy time of it you’ve had these last few days. If you want to take some time off, that’s fine.’
‘No, it’s not that...’
‘Then what is it?’
They’d reached the beach in front of the bookshop. It was filled with memories that she’d treasure forever. She desperately didn’t want to lose that feeling. What had happened since the night of the fire had tested her happiness.
They stopped. It was where they needed to part ways; Freya past the bookshop and back to the staff village, while Zander would continue on to his villa.
Freya looked at him, a tall shadowy figure silhouetted against the silvery ocean. ‘I think I made a mistake believing Aaron.’
Zander nodded but didn’t say anything.
‘I put my trust in him and he let me down. The same way he let you down.’
Zander shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘Not quite the same way, but I’m sorry he hurt you. Do you love him?’
