Synthetic Maze

The air con in the hotel lobby was heaven against sticky, sweat drenched skin. It helped that the lobby was huge, all high ceilings and understated furniture. Floral sofas were dotted around, mostly occupied by holiday makers, chattering away in loud French. The floor was marble, slippery and cool, and was masked by a few tall potted plants.

Abbey was sitting on her suitcase. Her throat was scratchy and her stomach grumbled. She’d not eaten since the night before they left. A yawn escaped her mouth and she rolled her eyes at Andy. The pair had been sitting on their suitcases in the lobby for what seemed like forever, whilst Verity spoke in loud, slow English that she wanted two premium rooms to the short tanned Spaniard behind the counter.

“What’s the difference between premium rooms and standard?” Andy asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

“Premium rooms have a mini fridge and bigger beds or something. I don’t know. It’ll be something really tiny and insignificant,” Abbey fished a bottle of water out of her handbag and took a small sip, wrinkling her nose. The hot liquid wasn’t going to soothe her throat any time soon. She twisted the cap back on and dropped it back into her bag, keeping her eyes on her mother.

A flash of turquoise polo shirt and blond hair whizzed past her and tackled Andy to the ground. He shrieked and swore loudly, his head smacking against the marble. “Luke! I swear to god, if I’ve got brain damage!”

Abbey smiled at her two brothers, wrestling childishly on the floor. A few years ago, she’d learned not to join in. Her darling siblings were both over six feet tall and were both rugby players at university. Abbey had no interest in sport, and she was only five foot two. After having broken her wrist in one of those play fights, she’d been put off from diving in and tackling the pair.

“As if! Even if you have, I’m sure you could spare a couple,” Luke chuckled and jumped to his feet, brushing the dust from his uniform and turning to grin at his sister. “So I hear I’m being shipped home to beat Kieron into next week?”

“Next year might be a better option.” Andy had now jumped up and stood beside Luke. The pair looked so alike. Same dirty blond hair, same blue eyes. The only difference was Luke’s tanned skin against Andy’s pale and pasty.

Abbey shrugged and opened her arms to let Luke give her one his famous over protective older brother hugs.

“We’re not supposed to talk about him, so Abbey can forget about him, darling.” Verity appeared, a pile of leaflets clutched in one hand, two chunky room keys in the other. She handed one to Andy and grabbed Luke’s collar, pulling his face down so she could kiss his cheek, leaving a lipstick tattoo there. “And how are you my love? Come on, we’ve got loads to catch up on!” She linked her arm through his and lead him off towards the bar area.

Joe grabbed the large suitcase stuffed to the brim and started following them, calling a ‘see you kids later’ over his shoulder.

Andy turned to her and smiled. “So I’m thinking we ditch the cases in our room then go and get food because my stomach thinks my throat has been cut.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

The pair dragged their cases up a ramp and out to the pool area. The stench of chlorine mixed with barbecue burning was overwhelming. Abbey’s stomach turned and growled at the same time. Tiny girls clad in brightly coloured stringy bikinis dominated most of the sun beds, slapping on sun cream and laying back with gossip magazines. Little kids with rubber rings splashed and sploshed in the shallow end of the pool, parents called out warnings of caution on the side of the pool. A few people sat around the bar area, waiting for cocktails to be mixed up and served to them with ice in fancy glasses.

Abbey and Andy exchanged grins. Maybe this had been a good idea after all. The pair wheeled their suitcases across a walkway and into the high building of bedrooms. They took the lift right to the top floor and walked along to room 4010. Andy unlocked the door and they dumped their suitcases on each of the beds, heading for the door.

“Abbey! Andy!” The sound of Joe’s calls stopped the pair in locking the room door.

Abbey looked up and greeted her step father with a smile. “What’s up? Has mum locked herself in the bathroom and broken the handle? Pushed Luke over the balcony for something?”

Joe chuckled. “Not so dramatic, no, she forgot to give you the wristbands. You know, for the drinks and food. Luke says it runs out at midnight for the bar, and the pool bar shuts at ten, so use it while you can.” He handed over two blue wristbands with the name of the hotel name printed on.

“Um, is that wise to give us these? It’s only like nine o clock, me and this one will be pissed by lunch,” Andy grinned, accepting the wristband and wrapping it around his wrist.

“I might end up joining you,” Joe smiled, before wandering off back down the corridor to his room.

“I’m not gonna complain,” Abbey grinned, leading the way back through the hotel and down to the dinning room.

It was complete chaos. Smartly dressed waiters and waitresses almost collided with one another, taking drink orders and clearing up empty tables, stacked high with stained plates. Abbey couldn’t help but smile. The room reminded her of all those holidays they’d had since they were six, the clattering of plates, low murmur of chatter and scraping of chairs sent the memories flooding through her brain. She followed Andy towards an empty table and dropped down in a cushioned chair, smiling dreamily.

“You wait, I’ll go scope out some food,” Andy took charge, disappearing into the crowds of people all gathered around the islands that held the buffet.

The hotel appeared to be a mixture of various people. Families with young children, teenagers, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, all on that first holiday sans parents, pensioners spoke in loud voices, sipping tea and complaining about one thing or another. Abbey finally felt content. Now there was a strip of ocean separating her and Kieron, now she was miles and miles away from all the crap she’d left behind. She could forget for a few days, sit by the pool and drink copious amounts of Sangria, and attempt to turn her pale skin a nice sun kissed colour.

Andy appeared, one plate stacked high with eggs, bacon, sausages and toast. He ate quickly, attacking the toast first, not even stopping to smear butter across the surface. Abbey scowled at him. “Thanks ever so much darling brother for fetching me some food too.” She pushed herself to her feet and headed out into the maze of breakfast food.

She wandered around first, doing a full circuit of each of the three islands, making sure she hadn’t missed any delicious delight, before picking up a warmed plate and piling on a few rashers of bacon and sausages. She spun back around to find the toaster, when she collided with something. A shriek escaped her lips, as her plate flew from her hands, sending bacon and sausages flying in all directions. The plate smashed on the floor, shooting shards of porcelain across the floor. She gasped and looked up at the stranger she’d crashed into.

“I am so sorry.” She spoke with utter sincerity, the blood rushing to her cheeks.

The stranger was probably about her age, give or take a couple of years. His purple vest was now stained with orange juice, and half a shattered glass was still clasped in his tattooed hand, the rest of which, was swimming across the floor. His narrowed eyes grew wider and his expression softened when he saw how sorry she actually was. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.” He waved her off and disappeared.

Abbey swallowed hard and looked across the room to see Andy hiding a laugh behind his hand. She shrugged at him, before grabbing another plate, being careful to watch where she was going this time.

“And this is before any alcohol,” Andy smirked as she returned to her seat. “Maybe I ought to take that wristband off you,” he shoved more toast into his mouth and shook his head. “You are one body’s work, you are, Abigail.” He chuckled and gave his food his full attention.

Abbey sighed and speared a sausage with her fork, glancing around the room to make sure no one was pointing and laughing at her. She’d only been here two minutes and had already managed to make an idiot of herself. The boy in the vest caught her eye. He was looking right at her, his expression blank. She mouthed an apology and he grinned, shaking his head, going back to the conversation with his friends.

This was exactly what she needed.