Malta Novel - Untitled - Chapter Three

Malta Novel - Untitled - Chapter Three

The golden smell of pancakes dragged Elle out of her dream, and she awoke with a jolt.

It took her a moment to get her bearings. Sleek grey curtains, shiny black furniture, feather soft mattress… oh yes. She was in the guest room of Zachary Vella’s penthouse apartment. Fuzzy memories of last night and a bottle of red slunk back into her mind.

Her stomach growled, willing its owner to get her arse up and follow the delicious scent of homemade breakfast.

Hastily pulling on a light-weight sweatshirt she didn’t really need on, but no way was she facing Zach in a slinky short pyjama set, she tiptoed over to the door. Peering through the crack, she suddenly checked herself. Why was she acting like some kind of spy? It wasn’t like she could avoid meeting Zach in his own place, especially if he was the source of mouth-watering batter.

Squaring her shoulders, she swung the door wide open and strode down the corridor into the main living space.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of Zach topless in low rise lounge shorts, dominating the kitchen area with a frying pan in one hand, a spatula in the other. A bowl of chilled batter stood on the counter, alongside the raw ingredients, a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice, and a tasty range of pancake toppings.

He lazily flipped the pancake high into the air and caught it back in the pan. “Good morning, Smelly Ellie.” He finally looked up and grinned at her; she noticed his eyes drag down and take in her shapely bare legs.

Clearing her throat and crossing her arms self-consciously around her waist, she brought his attention back to her face. “Good morning.” Be civil.

“Pancake?”

“Yes please.” She approached the counter cautiously and pulled out a bar stool.

He slid the pancake onto a green plate and handed it to her. Her first bite was heaven. “This is Granny Zeppa’s recipe!” She exclaimed, shoveling in another forkful, and savouring the buttery goodness as it melted in her mouth.

“What else would it be?” He turned from his place over the hob and gave her a mock-offended look.

“God, I haven’t had pancakes like this in years!” Memories flooded back of childhood holidays in Malta, Alessia fighting Elle for the first pancake her grandmother had made, that time Zach replaced the maple syrup with marmite… “There’s no marmite, is there?” Elle used her fork to lift up one side of her pancake and peered suspiciously underneath it.

“No! I can’t believe you remember that.” Zach laughed. It was a deep belly laugh, not the fake, polite laugh Elle had grown accustomed to over the last few years. Okay, so she’d watched a few TV interviews when they happened to be on telly. It wasn’t like she purposely tuned in. “Don’t worry, I disposed of all marmite-related items in preparation for your arrival.” He smirked.

Elle rolled her eyes and bit back a grin. “Liar!”

Zach slid another pancake onto her plate.

“Are you not having any?” She reached for a sip of her orange juice, then spooned lemon and sugar onto her plate.

“Nope.” He gestured to his toned stomach. “Last minute diet. I’ve got a topless scene on the beach tomorrow.”

“You can’t be serious?! I mean, you don’t need to diet! You look fine!”

“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” He gestured to the empty frying pan and Elle nodded that she’d accept a third pancake. The batter sizzled as Zach emptied the last bit into the pan.

She forked in more mouthfuls of the fluffiest pancakes on earth. She’d begged Alessia for her granny’s recipe for years, but Alessia refused point blank to share. Despite it being almost a decade since she’d last taken a bite, she’d still recognise the taste anywhere.

“Wait a minute.” Elle set her fork down. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“Do I need a reason?” He replied, his back to her.

“Yes, Zachary. There is always a reason with you.” He was hiding something, she knew it. She should have realised sooner. She studied his back and noticed his shoulders slump slightly.

“Well, now that you mention it…” He turned around to face her slowly and flipped the final pancake onto her plate. She didn’t move, focused on him and what explanation he was going to give.

Zach paused, unsure how best to phrase his next sentence.

Elle watched the inner struggle, slightly disturbed at his hesitancy. Zach never hesitated. He had the tack of a rhino charging headfirst into any social situation. “What.” Disapproval dripped from the word.

“Well, the thing is.” His eyes flicked to meet hers, then went back to staring at the breakfast counter. “I was hoping you could help me.” Elle continued to stare at him. “The thing is…” Elle gestured impatiently. “Angel and I broke up.”

“Right…” Elle was confused. She was also absolutely not saying she was sorry to hear that. Elle had seen plenty of Angel posted all over social media. She seemed airheaded at best, and plain rude at worst. “And you need my help with..?”

“I was hoping you could pretend to be my girlfriend for a little while to make her jealous.” Elle had already stood up and began backing away shaking her head before he finished.

“Oh no. No, no, no. Absolutely not.”

“Why not?” Zach pushed, following her.

“Why not?” Elle fumed. “Because I have JUST broken up with Connor. Because the last thing I need is to be chased by paparazzi. And because we don’t do friends, Zachary. We never have, it always ends in tears!”

“I think it’s exactly what you need. The perfect distraction.” He crossed his arms, once more the picture of arrogance.

“You’re insane.”

“No, it’s perfect. Angel is always getting annoyed at how often Alessia and I are in touch, and she hates it when I bring up old memories of family holidays in Malta. What better way to make her jealous than to start dating Alessia’s childhood best friend?” Zach turned and stalked into his bedroom like the conversation was over.

Elle, now on the attack, chased behind him. “You know you’re nearly thirty years old, right? You sound like a schoolboy with these jealousy games! And I’m not one to judge, but that relationship sounds extremely unhealthy.” She hastily averted her eyes when she realised he was changing out of the lounge shorts.

“I wasn’t thinking about it. But then you turned up, and you’re suddenly single, and it seemed like too good of an opportunity to miss.” He looked up and grinned when he saw her blushing and trying not to look. He shoved a few more items into a large duffle bag sitting on his unmade bed.

“Wait, so you were planning this yesterday?” Now that he was fully clothed, Elle went back to staring him down.

“Well, you were having a tough day yesterday” Understatement of the century. “So, I didn’t want to explain then. But yes, the idea was already forming in my mind.” He glanced up at her, noting her angry eyes, and quickly looked back to his bag as he zipped it up.

“That’s the only reason you invited me here, wasn’t it?” She was close enough now to reach out and hit him in the arm.

“Ouch.” He tutted at her. “No need to get violent.”

“Oh my god it is. Oh, I’m such an idiot.” She slumped onto his bed, hands covering her face.

“Look, take the day to think about it. I’ll be back around six. The flat is yours, Ola my cleaner will be in later to tidy everything up.” He swung his bag onto his shoulder and crossed back into the living room, grabbing his keys, phone and wallet off of the shelf by the door.

“You cannot leave in the middle of this discussion!” Elle leaped off the bed and charged after him.

Zach’s eyes widened in alarm. He swung open the door and as it was closing shouted through the gap “Sparekeyontheshelf, I’vewrittendownmynumbernexttoit, textmeifyouneedanything, loveyoubyeee!”

The door clicked shut as the cushion Elle hurled at Zach’s retreating figure hit it with a thud and dropped to the floor.

*****

“I’m sorry Zach, but when it comes to choosing between you and her, the director is going to pick Angel.”

Zach ran his fingers through his hair then pressed his fist against his forehead. “There’s nothing I can do to change her mind?”

“No.” his manager bit out. “Angel has already demanded you be dropped. Can you not apologise to her?”

“No, I haven’t done anything wrong.” His manager raised an eyebrow. “I swear, I really didn’t this time. She just dumped me out of the blue.”

“Well then, I really don’t know what to say. Why don’t you invite her back to yours tonight and see if you can’t fix things?”

“I think she’s started dating someone else already.” Zach’s teeth ground together.

“Shit. We need to get you a new girlfriend then. Someone that blows Angel out of the water.” His manager strode down the length of the trailer, eyes closed in thought. “What about Miley Hampton? I heard she’s filming in Sicily. I could arrange flights.”

“I actually already have kind of a plan.” As he said it, Zach immediately regretted it. After Elle’s reaction earlier, he didn’t think he stood a chance at making her his fake girlfriend. He shouldn’t have set Elle onto his manager’s radar.

“Tell me more.”

“Well, there’s this girl staying with me at the moment.” He hesitated. “She’s a childhood friend of my sister. I’ve asked if she’ll be my stand-in girlfriend to try and piss Angel off.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” His manager adjusted the sleeves and cuff links of the expensive suit jacket.

Zach rolled his eyes before he could stop himself. His relationship with David, his new manager, was strained on a good day.

“What does this girl look like?”

Zach reluctantly reached for his smart phone and pulled up Elle’s Instagram. He’d requested to follow her after a rather drunken family Christmas party, when he and Elle had been forced to team up and shockingly won a game of charades. He was surprised at the time when she accepted. Almost like they had a temporary truce. Even more surprised she’d left him on there in the years that had followed.

Pictures of a grinning Elle, bright blue eyes framed by thick dark lashes and tumbling curls of auburn hair, filled the screen. Elle with her head squashed against Connor’s, the two of them laughing sitting in front of a fountain from one of the London parks. Elle and Alessia posing like spies, dressed up ready for a glitzy night out. Elle mid squeal, legs wrapped around Connor’s waist as he piggybacks her in a group photo with some of their university friends. More selfies of Elle and Connor, mixed with quirky scenic photos Elle’s keen photographer’s eye had shot, and of course, loads of pictures of aesthetically pleasing bookshops. He knew if he scrolled, they’d be thousands of pictures of Elle and Connor from their travels. Swallowing, he handed his phone to David.

Zach watched as David critically scanned the photos.

“I’m assuming she is no longer with this guy?”

“No.” Zach didn’t want to expand further.

“It could work. She’s a bit… natural. But she’s going to have to fill her social media with you. It will not look great if it’s still full of this guy.”

*****

Elle shut the pizza box with a satisfied sigh. She’d spent the morning camped on the smart black leather sofa, wrapped in her duvet, taking advantage of the huge TV screen pinned to the wall. Her own therapy session, she’d made her way through multiple Disney princess movies, three boxes of tissues, and at lunch time she’d ordered two pizzas and munched her way through them. Oh, not to forget the bottle of red, now empty and tucked under the sofa, where it had rolled after she’d jumped up for a passionate performance of ‘Be the Man’ from Mulan and knocked it down. Very Bridget Jones. Now all she needed was a tub of Ben and Jerry’s, though she wasn’t sure if they stocked it on the island.

The click of a key in the lock had Elle shooting up out of her cozy den and running for the shower. Absolutely no way was she letting Zach’s no-doubt gorgeous sexy maid Ola see her in hibernation mode.

She turned the shower on full blast and stepped into the steam, blocking out the sounds of Ola’s hoovering.

Elle let the steady stream beat down on her head, taking a moment to breathe deeply and force her tense muscles to relax. She explored some of the buttons on the wall, figuring out which controlled the different jet streams. Of course, nothing but the fanciest shower for Zachary Vella and his penthouse.

She welcomed the heat, washing away the tear streaks and banishing all thoughts of Connor. Although their argument yesterday was brief, she still felt like the relationship was completely over. There was no going back, and though she was upset, she didn’t regret the breakup.

She scrubbed at her skin with the citrus body scrub, then rubbed the luscious shampoo and conditioner into her hair, making sure to nourish its full length after the curls had tangled into a nest-like form from her sofa lounging. Zach and his stupid proposal. She refused to consider it, to even spend a moment more thinking about it. As if she would pretend to be his girlfriend. As if it was even appropriate. As if he had the audacity to ask her such a thing after her breakup… Elle’s fists and teeth had clenched, and she had to make a conscious effort to release them. She rolled her shoulders back slowly and closed her eyes, letting all the negative thoughts float away.

The pampering made her feel tons better, and she began to think more positively about her future again. She could definitely do this. She could build a new life here, without Connor. She’d had her day of moping, and that was all she was going to allow herself. When she stepped out of this shower, there would be no more tears, only positive future plans.