Chasing Daisy

appearances!’
    Everyone in the hospitality area is staring at us. I will my face not to go red, but there’s no stopping it.
    Luis glances from Norm to me and back again before twigging. He rubs his jaw.
    ‘Oh, yeah. She’s good at cracking a whip, this one.’
    Norm guffaws and wanders off, leaving us alone. I look at Luis awkwardly. I don’t know what to say so I settle on my usual.
    ‘Can I get you anything?’
    ‘Is that all you’re going to say? “Can I get you anything?”’
    ‘Sorry, I’m a bit lost for words after our last encounter.’ I give him a challenging look, but he’s unperturbed.
    ‘How about, “How are you, Luis? What have you been up to? Sorry for depriving the swans of their dinner last week.”’
    ‘Oi, that was your fault,’ I say warningly. ‘If you hadn’t said something so stupid. . .’
    He stares at me directly and I struggle to keep eye contact, but I’m too stubborn to look away. I start to feel jittery and it strikes me as odd before suddenly he comes around the side of the serving table and grabs my hand. ‘Come with me.’
    ‘Hey, what are you doing?’
    ‘I want to talk to you.’
    I glance back to see a few people watching. ‘Everyone’s looking!’ I hiss as he drags me out of eyesight and up the stairs.
    ‘Who cares?’
    ‘ I care! They’ll all think something’s going on! Or something.’
    ‘Or something?’ He grins at me over his shoulder and leads me into his room. I shake my hand free.
    ‘What was all that about?’ I demand to know.
    ‘Look, Daisy, I’m sorry I said what I said. I didn’t mean it. You know I didn’t mean it. So can we just drop it?’
    I’m kind of pleased he wants things to go back to normal, but no, I can’t drop it.
    ‘I’d love to, but it still bugs me that you think Will wouldn’t have left Laura. How the hell would you know?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Exactly!’ I can’t help but feel a little angry. ‘You have no idea how close we were.’
    He puts his hand up and looks pained. ‘Just . . . Can we just . . .’
    ‘What?’ I ask crossly.
    ‘Can we just leave it?’ he asks again.
    ‘Just promise me to stop going on about it.’
    ‘I promise. What are you up to tomorrow?’
    ‘Oh. I don’t know.’ I’m flummoxed by his sudden change of subject. ‘Why?’
    ‘Want to come out to lunch with me?’
    ‘Um, I, yes, I guess I could. . .’
    ‘Good. I’ll come and get you at eleven thirty.’ He balances on one foot and tugs off a shoe. I stand there, still feeling confused, as he hops around and takes off the other shoe, before reaching for his flies. ‘Are you going, or what?’
    ‘Hmm?’
    ‘I need to get changed. So unless you want to see me with my kit off, you’d better leave.’
    ‘Of course, yes.’ I hurry out of the room.
    Catalina is here this weekend and she wasn’t originally going to come. Simon told Holly about this on Thursday night, which was their only night together before his wife arrived, so she and I haven’t been out on the town at all. Last year’s rickshaw fun seems like a distant memory, so to be honest, I’ll be glad to escape the hotel for a couple of hours, even if it is just with Luis.
    ‘Where are we going?’ I ask, when he comes to pick me up twenty minutes late on Saturday morning. Holly went out earlier to sneak some time with Simon while Catalina went shopping and she’s still not back.
    ‘Raffles,’ Luis replies.
    ‘Ooh, fancy,’ I tease.
    ‘Simon and some of the sponsors are meeting us there.’
    ‘Oh.’ I feel a bit put-out. ‘Don’t you think you should have warned me about that?’
    ‘I didn’t think you’d mind.’
    ‘Well, I might’ve worn something different.’ I indicate the khaki green sundress I’m wearing.
    ‘You look fine.’
    ‘I might not have.’
    ‘In which case, I could have told you when I came to collect you.’
    He’s already doing my head in. Why did I agree to this?
    The humidity hits you like a brick wall, here. Sometimes it feels difficult to breathe. We’re staying at a five-star hotel on Orchard Road, which is Singapore’s equivalent to Fifth Avenue. The concierge hails us a taxi and we climb in. Raffles Hotel is only about a ten-minute drive away.
    I’ve never been to the famous colonial-style hotel, but I’ve heard about it. We’re dining in the Long Bar Steakhouse and quite a few people are already seated at the table when we arrive. I count five men and one woman.
    Oh, cazzo , it’s