wake and still breathing heavily, she was forced to leap behind a large palm tree as Jasper stopped, looked around and then made his way to an empty seat by the window. Sitting down he immediately took his phone out of his pocket, carrying out another quick examination of the lobby area before making a call.
Desperately trying to get her breathing back under control, Fliss peered through the palm fronds and watched as her husband caught the attention of a waiter and ordered a drink. Deciding she was a little too close for comfort, she took a couple of careful steps backwards, weaving in and out of the greenery until she found another palm tree, slightly more generous in its foliage and a little further away from where Jasper sat. Standing on tiptoe she parted the leaves until she had a good view of the lobby and in particular, her husband.
‘Can I help you madam?’ asked a polite voice by her ear and Fliss whipped round to see a waiter by her side, the pair of them under the eagle eyes of the hotel manager who was keeping a respectable distance.
‘No thank you,’ whispered Fliss. ‘I’m waiting for someone.’
‘Then can I find you somewhere to sit? There are plenty of seats available.’
‘Oh that’s kind, but no, thank you. I've been sitting all day, I think I’ll stand.’
‘Okay,’ he looked over his shoulder at the hotel manager. ‘Then would you like to stand by the bar? Your, er, friend will be able to see you more easily.’
‘No! No, thank you but I … I …’ Fliss had a quick look through the leaves to make sure Jasper was still in situ, ‘I love the smell of these fronds you see,’ she improvised wildly. ‘They’re very calming after a long day, don't you think?’
The young man looked doubtful but obligingly stepped forward and took a sniff at the palm leaf Fliss was now holding in her hand.
‘I can't smell anything,’ he admitted. ‘In fact, I'm not sure they’re real.’
‘What?’ Fliss took a closer look. If they were fake, they were very good and for a moment she forgot about Jasper and his potential affair and stroked the palm tree, trying to work out if it were genuine. ‘But they look so realistic. Are you sure they’re fake?’
Fliss and the waiter both leaned closer to take a better look.
‘Can I help you, madam?’ At the sight of his waiter and the strange women both now huddled in the palm tree, sniffing its leaves, the Hotel Manager had abandoned his remote observation and was standing haughtily by their side.
‘No, thank you. I’m waiting for someone,’ Fliss responded a little snippily. Undercover work was all about blending in and remaining unnoticed as you kept eyes on your target. Several people in the lobby were now watching the red-haired woman and her obsession with the palm tree with growing interest. ‘I'm sure he’ll be here soon and, in the meantime, I’m quite happy standing here.’
‘I see.’ The hotel manager looked at her suspiciously. Her hair was a little windblown from her jogging, her lipstick a tad smudged and her coat had started to slide away from one shoulder as she nestled into the tree. ‘I think madam may have made a mistake. This is not that kind of establishment.’
‘What kind of establishment?’ whispered Fliss, bobbing down quickly as Jasper suddenly looked over in her direction.
‘The kind where women wait for men.’ The Hotel Manager looking down at her disparagingly. ‘I think it would be best if Madam left, now.’
Fliss turned to look at him, still half crouched behind the plant. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’ she demanded in outrage. ‘I told you I'm waiting for someone!’
‘Who?’
‘Well,’ Fliss screwed up her face as she considered how much to tell him. ‘A man …’
‘Okay, I need you to leave. Now.’ He had dispensed with both the Madam and the plum accent and the look he gave her was far from flattering.
‘Not like that, how dare you! Not just a man, my husband.’
He stopped, uncertainty clouding his face.
‘I'm sorry Madam, you're waiting for your husband?’
At least the Madam had returned. ‘Yes, well not exactly. I’m looking to see what kind of woman my husband might like …’
‘That’s it, out.’
A wave of his hand brought a security guard to his side, nowhere near as big as the last one Fliss had encountered but still large enough to give cause for concern.