Читать книгу Essex Girls - Laura Ziepe - Страница 9

After two and a half hours, the girls were finally ready for their night out and decided to sit on the balcony and drink the vodka and orange they had bought earlier. It was a beautiful evening and Jade felt a wave of happiness wash over her. What was it about sunshine and warmth that made you feel so much better? Though she did have to admit she’d overdone it with the sunbathing on her first day; she always did. She’d never learn that putting on factor twenty just once for the whole day was not enough and now she felt a bit sore in the places she’d missed, like the very top of her stomach, just under her bikini.

‘This holiday is gonna be amazing, babe, I can feel it,’ Kelly said, joining Jade who was sitting at the table on the balcony reading a magazine. ‘Six more days of chilling out before we start work.’

Jade smiled at Kelly, who looked beautiful in her black dress and lightly tanned face. ‘It’s a shame Lisa couldn’t come too.’

‘She’d miss her lover boy Jake too much,’ Kelly giggled. ‘I’d say Marbs is more of a single girl’s place.’

‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Jade replied. Her gaze was fixed on the beautiful sunset. ‘I can’t believe the sun is still out, even at this time.’

‘I know, babe. The Spanish sun is so much hotter than the English one. Wish we could swap,’ Kelly said as she held her hands up and admired her nails.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I wish we could have their sun instead so it was always hot,’ Kelly said with a nod, as though she knew what she was talking about.

Jade was bemused. ‘But we do have the same sun. There is only one sun.’

‘Shut up! I thought there was a sun in every country. So you’re telling me there is only one in the world?’

Jade laughed, ‘Kelly, I do hope you’re winding me up.’

Kelly laughed, throwing her head back, her hair blowing in the breeze. ‘Actually come to think of it, that does ring a bell. I remember something about that in Mr Gregson’s science class. But, what about in other countries, like, I don’t know, Africa or somewhere, where it’s like the middle of the night or something and there’s no sun at all?’

Jade’s mouth curved into a smile. ‘For starters, it’s not the middle of the night in Africa, which isn’t even that far from here. Secondly, it’s all to do with the world turning round. Countries closer to the equator are usually the hottest too.’

Kelly looked mesmerised. ‘God, you’re so intellectual,’ she said seriously. ‘I don’t even know what an equator, or whatever you just said, is. You were always so good at science.’

‘I’m seriously not that clever at science.’ Jade couldn’t help but let out a short laugh. ‘I only got a C at school.’

Jade sipped her drink and winced at how strong Kelly had made it.

Kelly burst into laughter.

‘Are you trying to kill me or something?’ Jade said with a grimace, swallowing the liquid reluctantly.

Kelly held the palms of her hands up. ‘I didn’t put that much in, honestly!’

After a good few drinks, Jade already felt tipsy. They made their way to Sinatra’s bar, which was absolutely packed with people. Wow, Jade thought happily, this place was a lot classier than the dingy bars in Greece. She’d even spotted a few soap stars on their way there, how exciting. Maybe one of the hot male actors would fall in love with her and she’d be on the cover of Heat!

Kelly stood on her tiptoes and peered through the bar, spotting Adele and waving. She was sitting with another girl and two boys. She gestured for them to come over and they both kissed her hello.

‘Evening girls,’ Adele pouted. She turned to her other friends standing next to her and introduced them. ‘This is Gary, Lee and Sophie. This is Kelly and Jade.’

They all said hello to each other and Jade couldn’t help but notice Adele had once again managed to get another good-looking bloke. Lee was tall, with dark hair and stubble, and striking hazel-coloured eyes. How did she manage to get these men?

‘That’s my Lee I was telling you about,’ Adele whispered, checking that he couldn’t see.

‘Babe, he’s well fit,’ Kelly said eyeing him up sneakily without him noticing. ‘Absolute sort.’

‘So funny as well,’ Adele smiled, glancing in his direction.

They bought drinks and sat down beside them.

‘I feel smashed already,’ Adele said with a giggle and a hiccup. ‘The drinks here are so strong; the measures are a joke, just to warn you. The shots are definitely larger than at home.’

‘They can’t be any worse than Kelly’s!’ Jade laughed, explaining about the strong drinks they’d started their night with.

‘We’re going to TIBU after here, you girls coming? I’ll introduce you to Joe, who manages all the waitresses and staff.’

‘Ah thanks honey, it will be great to meet him before we start.’

*

The girls walked up the staircase to enter TIBU. Adele kissed the security at the entrance and also the snobby-looking woman with the clipboard, eyeing the rest of them up suspiciously.

‘Alright Alice, they are with me. These guys are workers,’ she said in a poised manner, as she pointed to Lee, Sophie and Gary, ‘and these will be starting work here soon.’ This was aimed at Jade and Kelly. ‘We were just going to have a few drinks and introduce them to Joe.’

Alice nodded and stamped their hands, allowing them all in for free. This was great, Jade thought!

‘We’ll get free drinks as well,’ Adele boasted, as she waved at and kissed all the waiters and waitresses and walked around the club confidently, chin lifted proudly. The outside bar was heaving, with every table packed, but before they knew it, space was being made for them at a table and a waitress appeared with glasses of champagne.

‘I love it here,’ Jade whispered to Kelly.

‘This is Marbs, hun!’ Kelly winked.

They chatted to the others, who all seemed nice enough, though Jade noticed Lee wasn’t as perfect as she previously had thought, as he seemed a bit arrogant and full of himself. They were briefly introduced to Joe, who seemed really busy, and Jade watched the waitresses at work to see what she would be doing in a week’s time. They were all slim and attractive, wearing tight red tops with the gold TIBU symbol. They looked really glamorous and once again, Jade felt as though she really needed to top up her tan and make an effort to look nice, in order to fit in. It was hard work trying to look amazing all the time in Marbella! Her make-up-free days in Bath seemed like another lifetime now. Kelly interrupted her thoughts by nudging her.

‘Is that the bloke from earlier?’ she asked, pointing discreetly to a man serving behind the bar.

Jade’s heart missed a beat. It was Sam, and he looked even better than she remembered. His tan looked darker, making his gorgeous green eyes stand out and as he laughed, she saw a smile that could have been from a Colgate advert. Wow. However Jade tried to play her thoughts down, worried that Kelly would say something in front of the others. ‘I think it’s him, not sure.’

‘Yes it’s definitely him,’ Kelly stated, staring.

‘Okay, well stop staring, Kelly!’ Jade hissed, afraid he was going to notice.

A little later the bar had quietened down and Lee and Gary had gone inside the club to chat to some people they knew, so it was just the girls left on the table. Adele spotted Sam and to Jade’s horror, called him over. If she says anything, Jade thought, I’ll just die, I know I will.

As if reading her thoughts, Adele whispered, ‘Don’t worry hun, your secret is safe with me.’

Once again, Jade tried to play it down, embarrassed. ‘I only said he was good looking. Honestly, I don’t want to be set up with him.’

‘Hey.’ Sam kissed Adele on the cheek as he walked over.

Jade quickly glanced at him. She could feel herself go hot and couldn’t even look for long in case he saw her staring.

‘How’s it going? Busy night?’ Adele asked, in her distinctively husky voice.

‘Yep, Saturdays are always busy though. Take it you have a night off?’

‘No, I just always sit here drinking when I’m working,’ Adele teased, pouting her lips and flicking her long dark hair over her shoulder. ‘Of course it’s my night off! Where you going tomorrow daytime?’

He shrugged his toned shoulders casually. ‘Don’t know. Plaza Beach probably, that’s where we always end up. How come?’

‘This is Kelly and Jade,’ she introduced, waving a hand in their direction. ‘You should come to the beach tomorrow with us, they’re going to be working here too next week. Bring some of the other boys as well?’

He smiled at Kelly and Jade and said hello, then looked back quickly in the direction of the bar. ‘Sounds good, I’ll BlackBerry message you. Better go, bar is getting busy again. Bye girls, nice to meet you.’

‘Bye,’ they chorused.

Jade watched him as he made his way back over to the bar. He was tall, just over six feet she guessed, with fairly broad shoulders and an amazingly toned body. She imagined how safe and protected she’d feel if he wrapped his strong arms around her. His white TIBU top brought out the colour of his striking, stunning emerald eyes. His fair hair had streaks of gold running through it, highlighted from the sun. Somehow he reminded her of Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic.

‘He is good looking,’ Kelly said when she noticed Jade glancing over at him.

‘Very,’ Jade replied dreamily. ‘He reminds me of Leo in Titanic.’

‘Deffo, babe. Oh my God, I loved that film so much. Do you remember we used to watch it over and over?’

‘Yes, it’s such a good film.’ Jade smiled at the memory. When they’d discovered the DVD they were hooked, and used to watch it eating Monster Munch crisps and Doritos with dips as they blubbered throughout the ending.

‘I’m not being funny, but whoever made that story up must have such a good imagination. They must be so intellectual. I’d love to be that talented.’

Jade laughed, almost spitting her drink out. ‘No one made it up, Kelly! It actually happened. The Titanic really did sink!’ She laughed even harder at Kelly’s incredulous expression.

‘Are you joking babe? Oh my God, shut up! I thought it was all made up! The Titanic really sunk? What about all those poor people?’ Kelly’s eyes were wide with amazement.

‘It’s a well-known tragic story and it was made into a film, silly.’ Jade wiped her eyes, which had started to water because she had been laughing so hard.

‘I just can’t believe that,’ Kelly shook her head, completely bewildered. ‘Poor Rose! Poor Jack! Whatever happened to her in the end? She didn’t marry that horrible bloke she was supposed to, did she? I mean, I know that necklace was pure beauts but he was just nasty!’

Jade burst out laughing again as she explained the characters were actually made up even though the story was true, leaving Kelly even more dumbfounded.

A few drinks later, she caught Sam’s eye and he smiled at her, making her heart somersault. It was official. Jade was in love.

*

Sam went back to the busy bar and thought about how much he loved his job. Hot girls everywhere, good money and baking sun every day; there was no other place he’d rather be. He looked over at Adele and the others. She was an odd one, Adele, wanting to spend the day together when he’d seen her with her new guy, Lee, several times. He doubted that Lee would be happy knowing Adele was going to the beach with her ex. It had been a long time since they split though, Sam justified to himself, and they were very young when they had dated. It wasn’t like there was any chance of any romance happening between them again anyway, no way. He couldn’t believe he’d gone out with Adele in the first place. She seemed to have become more full of herself recently and her looks meant everything to her, something that didn’t interest him. It was all about what you looked like, what shoes you had and how much your designer bag cost as far as Adele was concerned. She was a typical Essex girl, he decided, but he’d only been twenty-one when they’d met and if he was honest, he didn’t even know what he was looking for at the time. All his friends had started to date girls and Adele just came along, then before he knew it, they were a couple. They’d been more like friends really and he knew the relationship would never last from the first day. They still spoke when they bumped into each other at home, but that was about it. Then he’d seen her on his first day in Marbella and couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t bothered about her being there either way; they were still on friendly terms. Still, he was glad she was with Lee now and hopefully she would find the happiness she was after.

Sam wasn’t looking for any kind of relationship. Not while he worked in Marbella anyway. This was a place to be single, not loved-up with someone. He never understood girls that were constantly on the hunt for their Mr Right. It was like they felt pressure to settle down and meet ‘the one’, especially the girls he met over the age of twenty-five. He’d been on a few dates at home recently with older girls and it seemed all they wanted was a serious relationship. Their constant questions about whether he wanted kids in the future, and did he see himself married within the next five years drove him mad. It felt more like an interview than a date at times! His view on love was that it would happen when it happened, and in the meantime, he might as well have as much fun as possible.

The two girls Adele had just introduced him to seemed nice, especially Jade. She was very pretty too, which was a bonus. The beach should be a fun day tomorrow, he thought, as he poured glasses of champagne for two blondes who were eyeing him up.

*

Jade woke up the following morning with a dry mouth and pounding head. She needed a drink desperately and winced when she opened her eyes and realised they hadn’t bought any water the day before. Big mistake. She glanced over to see Kelly texting on her phone.

‘Morning babe.’ Kelly looked over when she heard her move. ‘I’m just texting Lisa and told her about our first night. She said she misses us already and told us to be careful with our drinks. Bless, she’s such a worrier.’

‘My God, my head,’ Jade groaned. ‘We forgot to buy water.’

Kelly smiled. ‘There are taps in the bathroom you can drink from, silly.’

‘What? You didn’t drink from them did you?’

‘Yes, why?’ Kelly answered, bewildered.

‘Kelly, you can’t drink water from the taps in Spain!’

‘Why?’ Kelly was bemused, her smooth forehead creased up.

‘They give you an upset stomach; just don’t drink from them, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Kelly said frowning even more. ‘Whatever you say. I always have though and I’ve always been fine. I’ve got paracetamol, but nothing to drink it down with if you can’t drink the water. Don’t worry, we’ll get ready quickly and then go for breakfast. Then we can quickly go to that market and head to meet the others.’

Jade agreed, forced herself out of bed and went to the toilet. She glanced at herself in the mirror and cursed herself for not being more careful in the sun yesterday. She had a red nose and had burnt under her eyes. She always burnt there, when on earth would she ever learn? She had a shower and promised herself that firstly, she wasn’t going to burn and look like a stupid patchy weirdo and secondly, she was going to try to make herself look amazing today, especially if the most gorgeous man on earth was joining them at the beach.

Jade came out the bathroom and Kelly went in for a shower.

‘Take your time by the way,’ Kelly called out. ‘It’s only nine. No one will even be up yet.’

‘Okay,’ Jade called back, glad she had time to make herself look half decent.

Jade looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She wasn’t what you would call ‘skinny’, especially since she’d got over her heartbreak and was back to eating slabs of Galaxy, but she was very slender. She had always wished she had bigger boobs like Kelly, and when she had the money she was definitely going to get her boobs done. It was so common in Essex that it was almost odd to have real ones! Kelly also had the curvaceous bum she wished she had, instead of her flat, saggy one, but she definitely would only go as far as a boob job, nothing ridiculous like bum implants! Overall her figure wasn’t at all bad though; going to the gym twice a week at university had paid off. She decided to wear her new lemon jewelled bikini and was pleased with how she looked in it. It was quite padded so gave the impression she had some boobs and the bottoms were stunning, with tiny encrusted jewels along the top. She’d never seen swimwear like it. She had to admit though, the colour would look better with a tan. Maybe she could put some fake tan on? Just until she got a proper one? She quickly got out her St Tropez set and quickly but artfully applied some. She just wouldn’t be able to go in the sea in case it came off patchy. She applied her sun lotion on top carefully, making sure she didn’t miss any part exposed to the sun. There, she looked better already. Now she just had to do something with her hair.

‘What shall I do with my hair today? It’s so boring,’ she moaned to Kelly as she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

Kelly looked up with a sparkle in her eye. ‘I’ll curl it for you if you like?’

‘Do you think it’ll look okay curly? I don’t want to look like I’ve got a poodle perm.’ Jade only ever wore her hair straight or left it to dry naturally, which gave it a slight wave.

‘I know what I’m doing, trust me. I’m a professional.’ Kelly took the curlers out of her drawer and plugged them in.

‘Thank you. I’ll put a bit of make-up on while they’re warming up.’

Jade didn’t want to look overdone; she somehow needed to look natural, yet amazing. She plucked her eyebrows carefully and coloured them in with her pencil from Benefit. She brushed sparkly tan Barry M eyeshadow on her eyelids and coated her lashes with mascara. Then she put bronzer on her face and cheeks as well as blusher on her cheekbones, and finished with a clear lip gloss.

‘Does my make-up look okay?’ she asked Kelly, who was tying up the straps on an amazing purple glitter bikini.

‘Perfect. Not too much and not too little. You look gorgeous. Sit down and I’ll do your hair.’

Jade knew it was ridiculous. Curling your hair just to go to the beach? She would never have dreamt of doing this in her wildest dreams a few months ago, but there was just something about Marbella and the people there that made it acceptable. She had to admit, Kelly did a good job and her hair looked very glamorous and bouncy. Kelly then backcombed all the back and sides. Wow, she was good. Her hair looked huge. She’d even give Cheryl Cole a run for her money. Jade then went over her make-up as she waited for Kelly to get ready.