The day before the ball, I was sliding down the bannister of the main staircase, minding my own business, when I flew off the end, straight into Cal Weston. We tumbled to the floor, landing at the feet of the London mayor, who very kindly helped me up.
‘Nice to see you too,’ Cal grumbled, scrambling to his feet, as Audrey escorted the mayor through to the restaurant with a pointed glare at me over her shoulder.
‘You shouldn’t come round corners so fast.’
‘You shouldn’t be sliding down the bannister.’
I awkwardly picked carpet fluff off my jumper as he bent down to pick up a folder he’d been carrying. I hadn’t spoken to him since the page-turning conversation. He definitely hadn’t been getting in anyone’s way at the hotel lately – in fact I’d barely seen him in the midst of the Christmas Ball lead-up chaos.
The hotel was now officially a Christmas wonderland, with the big tree up and decorations everywhere you looked. Mum had even put aside an evening to decorate the flat with me, which hadn’t happened in years. Sure, our decorations were not quite as elegant as the hotel’s, but, in my personal opinion, you can never have too many fairy lights. I’m not sure Fritz agrees. When I turned them on, he got such a fright that he barked madly at them, and now he just sits underneath the mantelpiece for hours, staring at the wires across it suspiciously until I switch them on and the barking begins again. For his (and Mum’s) sanity, I’ve been keeping him out of the flat and he’s been chilling in reception with Matthew, greeting guests dressed in his Santa’s Little Helper suit. It goes down a treat. A picture on Fritz’s Instagram of him in his outfit posing with Prince Harry got 47,000 likes.
Since that response, Fritz had become quite the diva. He turned up his nose at a crisp I offered him and then later on that day I found him downstairs munching on a plate of salmon that Sasha had prepared especially for him.
‘I was actually looking for you,’ Cal admitted, when I’d finished brushing myself down. ‘I didn’t quite expect you to launch yourself at me but –’
I rolled my eyes. ‘I didn’t launch myself at you, you got in my way.’
‘I wanted to tell you that I came second. In the journalism competition. Runner-up.’
‘That’s . . . amazing!’
‘I was pretty shocked. I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere with it.’
‘Cal, that is so great! I can’t believe Matthew didn’t tell me!’
He looked down at his feet. ‘I told him not to.’
‘Oh.’ I nodded, looking down at mine. ‘Sure.’
‘The ceremony is tomorrow night. I have to go and collect my award from Nicholas Huntley.’
‘Wow, you are going to be so star-struck.’
‘Yeah.’ He smiled. ‘Although, I’m sad to be missing the ball.’
‘The ball! Right! That’s tomorrow.’
‘I’ll try to make it for the fireworks. They’re always the best bit.’
‘They are.’
‘Remember how we always used to go sit up on the –’
‘Yeah, that was the best.’
He held the thin plastic folder out to me.
‘What is this?’ I asked, taking it.
‘It’s my feature. The one I entered into the competition. I wanted you to read it.’
‘Really? What is it about?’
‘Read it and see. I think you’ll like it.’
‘Thank you.’
‘No worries.’ He shoved his hands in his pockets.
‘Cal.’ I waited for his eyes to come up and meet mine. ‘Uh . . . I’m not just sorry about what I said at the party to Ethan Duke. I’m sorry for getting all wrapped up in going to the Christmas Ball and forgetting about . . . well, this. The article. Although, looks like you didn’t need me in the end anyway, so that’s . . . good.’
‘Thanks.’ He nodded and then gestured at the door. ‘I’d better get going. Enjoy the ball.’
I watched him leave and then pulled the article out of its folder.
The following evening, Sky met me on the first floor at the top of the staircase. I actually gasped when I saw her, that’s how beautiful she looked. She was wearing a strapless, slinky, figure-hugging gold gown with long diamond earrings and a diamond-studded clutch. Her dark wavy hair had been swept to one side, and pinned so that it tumbled over her left shoulder, and she’d really gone all out on the smoky-eye look, with thick black eyeliner and long full eyelashes.
‘You look incredible,’ she declared, as she held out my hands and looked me up and down. ‘Lewis has done it yet again.’
I had to agree that Lewis Blume had not done a bad job. All that measuring and poking me with pins on my shopping trip with Mum had totally been worth it. My dress was emerald green with a high neckline and a full skirt, so that when I twirled, it swished about very satisfactorily. It was the most beautiful dress I’d ever worn and when I had put it on, Mum’s eyes welled up – which NEVER happens – and she made an excuse about finding Fritz’s Santa hat so she could leave the room. My hair had been curled and pinned up, with some loose tendrils tumbling down around my face, sprayed perfectly into place. I looked a lot more grown up than I felt. The idea of having a date at the Christmas Ball this year, especially such a handsome one, was making my hands very clammy.
I really needed to buy that portable fan.
‘By the way,’ Sky said, as one of her assistants fiddled with the bottom of the dress, ‘I read the article. It’s amazing.’
I had left Cal’s feature on Sky’s bed for when she flew in late the night before, as I knew I’d be so busy helping Mum with last-minute preparations that I might not be able to talk to her about it.
‘He really captures the hotel, and all the history of it and the interviews with the staff were so interesting,’ she enthused. ‘And you get a very special mention right at the end.’
I blushed as I remembered the sentence she was referring to. I’d read it so many times, I’d memorised it.
The hard-working staff are full of passion and pride. The owner, Christine Royale, is the brains of the operation. And at the heart of it all is her daughter Flick – a sprinkle of fun who reminds us what Hotel Royale really is: a home. And, in the words of Dorothy, there’s no place like it.
‘Right, you’re ready to go,’ Sky’s assistant announced, straightening up.
‘One quick thing,’ Sky said to me, squeezing my hand. ‘I thought you said that the deal had been for him to write the article about me after he’d helped you out at the hotel.’
‘That’s right.’
‘Don’t you think it’s strange that he’d make that deal?’
‘What do you mean? It was an excellent deal.’
‘But when I saw Audrey this morning and mentioned the article, she said that the whole reason she’d suggested Cal teach you about the hotel was because she knew he had interviewed everyone here for the feature he was writing. That’s how he knew more than anyone else.’
‘So?’
‘Why would he then make a deal for an interview with me? He didn’t need it. He already had his entry for the competition. So why spend all that time helping you, for something he didn’t need in return?’
Her assistant coughed. ‘Sorry, Sky, Prince Gustav Xavier III is waiting.’
‘WAIT. WHAT?’ I blinked at Sky. ‘PRINCE GUSTAV IS YOUR DATE?’
‘He is so dreamy,’ she said, as her assistant checked her dress again.
‘But . . . isn’t he a bit . . . I don’t know . . . ’ I searched for the word and failed. ‘I mean, he didn’t even have an Instagram page until a couple of months ago. And . . . he didn’t know how to take a selfie! Who doesn’t know how to take a selfie?’
‘It’s so nice, isn’t it?’ She sighed. ‘He’s not into that kind of thing at all. It’s such a breath of fresh air. My last boyfriend wouldn’t stop taking photos of everything we did. Prince Gustav actually listens when you talk because he’s not busy picking a filter.’
‘Isn’t there a word for that? Old?’
‘He’s in his twenties, Flick!’ She giggled. ‘He’s just never really got into the whole social media thing. His Instagram page is really coming along, though.’
‘Oh. Well, OK then.’
Sky let go of my hand and winked at me. ‘Eek! I’ll see you down there.’
She elegantly swept down the stairs and I peeked over the bannister to see Prince Gustav wearing a blue sash at the bottom of the stairs looking up at her as though he’d just won the lottery. He spotted me and gave me a salute. I waved and then leaned back, shaking my head.
I did NOT see that one coming.
I waited at the top of the stairs, listening to the music of the band floating out from the ballroom and thinking over what Sky had said about Cal. I guess it was kind of weird for Cal to have made that deal when he’d already decided to do the hotel piece. But maybe he thought the interview with Sky would be better. Or maybe he was just being nice. Or maybe he had jumped at the opportunity to boss me around?
I was so deep in thought about it, I didn’t notice Audrey come sidling over from the lift and lean on the bannister next to me.
‘Your date is here. Though I can’t say much for his timing. He’s ten minutes late.’
I jumped to attention, and immediately began straightening my dress.
‘Stop fidgeting, you look lovely,’ she said sternly.
I took a deep breath, put one hand on the bannister and lifted the hem of my dress with the other so I wouldn’t trip, and then made my way downstairs to where Ethan Duke was waiting, looking so handsome, I couldn’t believe he was there for me.
‘Nice dress,’ he commented, holding out his arm.
‘Thanks.’ I smiled, taking it.
All eyes were on us as we came through the archway into the ballroom, taking a lot of the attention away from Fritz, who, as usual, was the main star of the show, perched on a velvet armchair by the door wearing his Santa suit.
The ballroom had been transformed into a winter wonderland. Every year, the decorations for the ball blow me away but this year it seemed even more amazing because I actually knew the work that had gone into it. Every tiny detail had been planned, each bauble and sprig of holly perfectly placed, and I even made Ethan stop to properly admire the crystal chandeliers – which I’d never taken the time to do before – as I knew that someone had been up a very tall ladder the night before, delicately attaching dozens of red and gold bows to the frames.
Timothy gave us some drinks and we made small talk for a bit, but Ethan seemed restless, as though he’d rather be somewhere else.
‘Is everything OK?’ I asked finally, giving up on trying to ignore his frantic glances around the room. ‘You seem distracted.’
‘Yes, sorry.’ He sighed. ‘I guess I’m feeling guilty about inviting you to be my date tonight.’
‘Oh.’
‘It’s just. I don’t –’
‘It’s OK, you don’t have to explain.’ I blushed.
‘No,’ he protested, putting his drink down on one of the tables. ‘I do. Everyone I knew was going with a date, and I had no idea who to take, so I just asked you because you’d been so nice.’
‘I’m not sure this is making me feel better.’
‘I’m explaining this badly.’ He sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. ‘I guess, I felt you actually listened when I talked to you.’
‘Well –’ I shrugged – ‘you’re Ethan Duke.’
‘You’d be surprised how few people in this industry really hear what you’re trying to say.’
He abruptly straightened up as he saw someone come into the room, not even noticing that in doing so, he’d knocked over his drink onto the table, narrowly missing splashing the Queen of Spain’s gown. I followed his eyeline and then everything made sense. His uninterested texts, his ‘playing-it-cool’ attitude, even that night at the fashion show and the car ride home.
‘Does he know?’ I asked, placing a hand on Ethan’s arm.
‘What?’ he asked, flustered.
‘Jacob. Does he know you like him?’
Ethan sighed and shook his head. ‘No. I’ve never told him.’
We both looked over at Jacob who’d sauntered into the room with a familiar-looking model on his arm. I remembered he had been standing next to Jacob when we’d gone backstage afterwards.
‘That guy was on Lewis Blume’s catwalk too,’ Ethan explained. ‘When we went backstage, Jacob told me he was going to ask him to be his date for the Christmas Ball and I had to get out of there right away – by a stroke of luck, so did you. I felt like such an idiot. But you were so nice in the car . . . and I thought it might be fun to come here with a friend, rather than as a third wheel with Jacob and his date.’ He looked over at the two of them chatting to Lewis Blume. ‘Have you seen that guy? How can I compete?’
‘Have you seen you?’ I retorted. ‘You were sculpted by the gods.’
He smiled weakly.
‘You should tell him,’ I insisted. ‘Maybe not tonight, but some time. How do you know that he doesn’t feel the same way about you?’
‘He would have said before now.’
‘He might be thinking the same about you!’ I pointed out.
Jacob saw us and waved across the crowd.
‘Go say hey.’ I nudged him.
‘Yeah, I will.’ He smiled at me. ‘I’m really glad you agreed to be my date.’
‘Me too. We’ll talk about the vlog later. I’m thinking I could talk about Colin Whittle.’
‘Who’s Colin Whittle?’
‘Oh, he’s a very important figure in the hotel’s history. You wanted to know about that sort of thing, right? There was this ghost and stuff . . . Trust me, it will blow your viewers’ minds.’
He leaned over, gave me a kiss on the cheek and made his way through the crowd. As I watched him leave, I was surprised at how . . . OK I felt. I should have been angry, or upset, or disappointed or something. But I felt fine. I think I had secretly known that Ethan wasn’t interested all along and at some point I suppose I lost interest too. I did feel a tiny bit mournful about that chiselled jaw, though.
I felt a hand on my elbow and found Grace beaming at me.
‘You’re here!’ I squealed, giving her a hug and then stepping back to admire her pretty pink dress and the delicate rose clips carefully pinned over her hair.
‘Is it lame to have brought my brother as my plus one?’ she asked, stepping aside to point at Olly coming towards us holding three drinks.
‘Hey,’ he said, passing one to each of us. ‘Wow, Flick, you look beautiful.’
I was so stunned by (a) seeing him there (b) the fact that he’d just called me beautiful and (c) how good he looked in a tuxedo, that I genuinely couldn’t scramble my brain together quick enough to reply.
‘You . . . uh . . .’ I spluttered.
Grace must have noticed I was just staring at her brother, opening and closing my mouth like a fish, as she interjected, ‘Mum said he looked like a young James Bond. I think he looks like one of those rubbish magicians at a kid’s party.’
‘Thanks, sis. Always there to bring up my street cred.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Where did your date get to, Flick?’
‘Oh,’ I began, finding my ability to speak, ‘he’s gone to say hey to someone. We’re just friends anyway. Are you both having fun?’
‘It’s great.’ Olly smiled.
‘This is the most amazing party in the world,’ Grace enthused. ‘Apparently the fireworks start soon?’
I looked over at Fritz, who was being shifted from his chair on to a velvet cushion before being rushed out of the room by Jamie.
‘Yes,’ I replied knowingly. ‘That’s the signal. Fritz hates fireworks. Jamie takes him for a snack in the kitchens when they’re getting ready to start. The fireworks are amazing. The terrace is a good view but the best view is –’ I suddenly had an idea. ‘Hey, do you guys want to get out of here?’
‘Uh, no?’ Grace snorted. ‘I am not missing a moment of this party. George Clooney is here and I haven’t asked him to sign my arm yet.’
‘I mean, to get a better view of the fireworks,’ I explained. ‘Wait for me in the corridor, I’ll be with you in a minute. Seriously, go on.’
I ushered the two of them back in the direction of the door and pushed through the crowd to Sky, who was listening to Prince Gustav telling her and a group of friends about the time he accidentally bought a canoe.
‘Prince Gustav,’ I said, interrupting his flow of conversation, ‘would you mind if I borrowed Sky for a moment? I promise I’ll bring her back.’
‘Where are we going?’ Sky whispered as I led her away.
‘I’ll show you,’ I explained as we approached the others in the corridor. Grace’s eyes widened to saucers when she saw who I was with. After hurried introductions – during which Grace just stared at Sky, not uttering one word – I led the way down the hall towards the lift. Just as I pressed the button, Ella and her parents came through the revolving doors. She saw me and froze, midway through taking off her coat.
I don’t know if a sudden Christmas spirit descended upon me or something, but seeing her alone, staring at us all together, I felt a wave of sympathy for her. I told the others to wait as I went over to where she was standing.
‘Oh, Flick, hi!’ Her mum smiled, fiddling with her earrings. ‘Don’t you look wonderful. You’ve really managed to find a good colour dress for that hair of yours. That must be so difficult. Did you know it’s Ella’s first year at the ball? We never miss it, of course.’ She waved at someone standing in the archway of the ballroom. ‘Oh, there’s Sally. I’ll leave you girls to chat.’
She swanned off, dragging her reluctant husband with her.
‘It’s good to see you, Ella,’ I began apprehensively.
She didn’t say anything.
‘I’m really sorry we fell out this term,’ I continued, taking her silence as nervousness. ‘I hope we’ll all be OK back at school. I know the others would like that too. We’re about to go and watch the fireworks. You want to join?’
She looked at those waiting for me at the lift. Her eyes lit up when she saw Sky and for a moment I thought everything might be OK, but then her gaze shifted over to Olly and Grace, and she flinched, returning quickly to her unimpressed facial expression.
‘Why would I want to hang out with you?’
‘Because we’re going to get the best view in the place. Trust me, I know.’
Her lip curled mockingly. ‘No, thanks. I think I’ll skip the staff quarters, and join the real guests. See you at school.’
She threw her coat to the porter and without another word, she swanned down the corridor and towards the ballroom, patting her coiffed hairdo neatly into place. I watched her go and then ushered the others into the lift, pressing the button for the fifteenth floor.
Grace patted my arm comfortingly. ‘You tried.’
‘You know what?’ I sighed, as the doors shut. ‘I have a feeling next term is going to be interesting.’