[Invitation to Eden 04.0] Hydrotherapy (2 page)

It didn’t take long for Jenna to find a modern office door with the brass plaque labeled ‘Oasis Spa.’ Underneath the plaque, a blossoming flower had been painted on the door. Calypso music filtered through the cracks and spilled out into the hall.
Calypso music at a spa?
It wasn’t the most relaxing of music, but it reminded her of her favorite Calypso band in St. Lucia, and how every week she used to go down to the local bar in Castries and listen to them play. As she opened the door to the spa, Jenna wondered if that band was still together, or if, like her, they had moved on with their lives.

As she stepped inside the spa, a blast of hot air hit her in the face, bringing her back to the present.

“Wow, it’s hot in here.” She pushed a stray hair from her temple, thankful that she had chosen to put her raven locks up in a ponytail at the top of her head. It was as warm as a sauna in the waiting area. As Jenna clutched her jacket to her chest and looked around for help. A couple of people in bathing suits shifted in their Adirondack chairs across the room, but their gazes were firmly fixed on their e-readers, not her.

“Excuse me.”

Jenna jumped back as a well-muscled waiter in brightly-printed Bermuda shorts balanced his ebony tray of fruity cocktails in one hand and swung his matching cane in the other. As he passed by, Jenna thought that he looked rather familiar, but his large sunglasses and Kangol hat kept most of his face hidden.
How odd.

Jenna blinked at the man as he hobbled over to serve a woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat and reading glasses. She adjusted her yellow sundress and smiled coyly at him as he approached. Effervescent liquid erupted from the structure behind her, and the fruity scent Jenna had smelled out in the foyer became stronger.
Strawberries.

The waiter turned his back to Jenna and handed the woman an empty glass.

“Thank you, dear.” Jenna’s jaw dropped as the woman leaned over the fountain and filled her glass with the liquid.

“Just don’t drink too much this time, Mrs. Grisk. We don’t want you falling in again.” The voice triggered a memory, but it was gone before Jenna could make sense of it. This whole experience was rather strange, almost as if she was walking through somebody’s dream.

The woman giggled and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “I can’t help myself. You know champagne is my favorite drink.”

Champagne? That fountain was full of champagne?

Jenna blinked in disbelief. The place felt more like a pool room than a reception area, except there was no place to swim. The aroma of suntan lotion and sea was stronger here, and Jenna moistened her lips over the distinct strawberry aroma. It was as if all of her favorite things were crammed into one place.
How odd.

None of this was in the invitation she had received back in Chicago. Judging by the formal writing and what little information she could find online, Jenna had assumed that she was coming to work at a five-star hotel. This... this looked more like an all-inclusive family beach resort than an elite getaway for the rich.

“Nice view, isn’t it?”

Jenna jerked around to find a tall, slender woman with long, white hair staring at her.

“Excuse me?”

Laughter passed through the woman’s bright brown eyes as she nodded in the general direction of the waiter’s ass. “The view is quite nice here. Much better than the last place I worked at.” She shifted her sleek, black serving tray from one hand to the other and leaned in closer to Jenna. “I greatly prefer the Oasis to those stuffy spas back in the States.” She smirked as she glanced back at the waiter. “In fact, everything about this island is better than the States.”

The woman’s low, stuffy voice sounded odd, given her appearance. Then again, her face was a little too smooth, her brows a little too high. There was a plastic feel to her perfectly aligned nose and forehead that made her look more mannequin than human. Jenna guessed that the woman had so much cosmetic surgery that her nasal passages were a mess.

Jenna studied the woman’s high cheek bones and long, thin face. “Do I know you?”

The woman straightened and smiled, showing off her perfect white teeth. “I'm Simone.” She indicated the gold-plated name badge fastened to her red and white polka dotted bikini. “Do you have an appointment?”

Jenna looked over Simone's shoulder and spotted the coral reception desk at the far end of the room. The Eden logo was painted on the front with the words “Oasis Spa.”

“This place looks so different from the rest of the castle,” Jenna said.

Simone smiled, although on her it looked more like a twitching of lips. “Yes, well. We have found that our clients prefer the more relaxed atmosphere when getting their massages. It helps get them more…how should we say…” Simone waved her red manicured fingers in the air. “In the right mood.” She straightened and cleared her throat. “Now, what type of package will you be having today?” The woman chuckled, as if she had just made some sort of joke.

Jenna frowned at the tall woman's words. “Oh, I'm not a client. I'm supposed to start working here. I have an appointment with Mr. Vardalos.” She pulled out the invitation from her jacket and handed it to Simone. “I was offered a job in management. It's very similar to the job I had in Chicago at the Ecstasy Spa.”

Simone lowered her mascara-caked eyelashes and scanned the note. “Ah yes, Jenna.” Simone handed back the paper. “There has been a change of plans. Mr. Vardalos is away from the island for the next week. Mr. Malstrom will be tending to your needs.”

Tending to your needs.
There was something about those words that sounded suspicious. Jenna wanted to question the androgynous woman, but Simone had already started toward the reception desk.

Jenna followed her in her wake, still trying to make sense of it all. “I used to be a masseuse,” she explained, hoping that her earlier comment about management didn't offend. Jenna knew first-hand how competitive spa staff could be. “Then I was moved to office management about six months ago.” The move had more to do with spa politics than any administrative talent, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Oh?” Simone’s voice sounded bored, but Jenna felt a strange need to prove herself to the woman.

“Yes. I schedule appointments, work with vendors and coordinate work schedules.” Jenna glanced down at the invitation she had gotten only three, short weeks ago. “I kind of assumed that I’d be doing something similar here.” For three times the pay—and the possibility of advancement in six months if she did a good job. The offer was like a dream come true. Jenna had conversed with Mr. Vardalos over email and had become so excited about the position, that she had quit her job at the Ecstasy Spa and jumped on this chance. It was a bold move, much more like the young Jenna from St. Lucia than the woman she had become.

While she didn't particularly like working in a spa, she needed the cash. After two contract workers had swindled both her and her mother out of their savings, Jenna had yet to regain her equilibrium. She was still living paycheck to paycheck, never seeming to get ahead. This was going to be her big opportunity. She was finally going to get her life back on track.

As Jenna watched Simone speak with the receptionist in hushed tones, Jenna thought about the dark turn her life had taken. After her dad had an affair with a maid, her mom filed for divorce and used her part of the settlement to take Jenna to St. Lucia to start over. Her mom had put her entire savings into that company. It was her life and Jenna's inheritance. Soon after the money was stolen, her mother’s breast cancer came out of remission, and they were forced to move back to Chicago where she could undergo a more aggressive treatment—treatment Jenna had trouble paying for. When she died, the doctors had said that it was due to the breast cancer, but Jenna was convinced that her mom had died of a broken heart.

She had taken the job at the Ecstasy Spa more or less to make ends meet, vowing one day to earn enough money to move back to St. Lucia and carry on her mother's dream. Then somewhere along the way, her dream had died along with her mother, until both had become nothing more than a distant memory.

Then this invitation to Eden came, and Jenna saw the opportunity to finally put the past behind her and move on. With the money from this job, she could save up enough to get her hospitality management degree, and possibly open her own spa one day. While the work wasn’t exciting, it was stable. She’d be her own boss once more and would no longer need to make a choice between buying food and paying her electric bill.

And no one would be able to hurt her again.

“The Master will see you now.” Simone called over her shoulder and started walking toward a long, brightly-lit hallway off to her left.

“Master?” Jenna scrunched her nose as she followed Simone. Hell, she'd call Mr. Malstrom ‘King of the World’ if it helped. She wanted this job more than she wanted air. Managing a spa was easy, and she was sure no one could be a tougher task master than her old boss, Celeste. All she had to do was to keep her head down and not create any waves. It wouldn’t do for her to say something smart and get herself fired. That had almost happened to her at the Ecstasy Spa, and she was determined not to let such trivial things get in the way of her goals again.

Simone walked to the end of the hall and stopped at the large, office door. With a flick of the wrist, she opened it and poked in her head. “She has finally arrived, sir.”

Jenna glanced around at the cream-colored walls and potted plants that littered the hallway. Everything looked so clean, so professional. It was an odd contrast to the resort like atmosphere of the reception area, and an even odder fit with the creepy exterior.

Mr. Malstrom murmured something Jenna couldn't hear, and after a moment Simone straightened and stepped back from the door.

“When you’re done, I'll come back and show you to your rooms.”

“Thank you.” Jenna tried to smile, but it felt forced. There was something odd about that woman, and Jenna made a mental note to stay away from her as much as possible.

Simone nodded and opened the door wider. Jenna strode into the office, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. Everything was riding on this moment. This job meant everything to her, and it was imperative that she made a positive, lasting impression.

As the door clicked shut, Jenna quickly took in the tropical plants, modern lamps and art-deco paintings, then focused on the tall, rugged looking man behind the mahogany desk.

Jenna's smile faltered as he twirled his pen in his hand and sized her up with a knowing smile.

“You.” Jenna’s mind seized with anger.

With a flick of his wrist, the man removed his dark-rimmed glasses, revealing large, hazel eyes that matched his golden locks. “Hello, Jenna. It has been a long time, hasn't it?” He smiled wider, revealing two long rows of perfectly white teeth, and tossed both his glasses and pen carelessly onto the stack of papers on his desk.

“Caine,” Jenna said on an exhale. “
You’re
Mr. Malstrom?”

“A temporary name, I assure you.” He straightened his pale blue tie and rounded the desk toward her with open arms. “It's so good to see you again.”

It was him, it was really
him
. Despite every fiber of her being screaming to go to him, Jenna sidestepped his warm embrace and put some distance between them. “I wish I could say the same.” She moved behind an office chair and grasped the back so tight her knuckles turned white. “What is this, some sort of joke?”

Chapter Two

“I thought you'd be happy to see me,” Caine said as he lowered his arms. This was a far cry from the reunion he was expecting.

“See you? You
left
me, Caine.”

“My contract was up.”
Among other things.
“I had no choice.”

“God, I should have known it was you when I saw your sidekick in the waiting area. The dreadlocks and sunglasses threw me for a loop.”

“Yeah, when we first got to the island, Rex met a woman who was into hair. The relationship didn’t last, but the dreadlocks did.”

“The dreadlocks—” Jenna shook her head, as if dispelling her thoughts. “I don’t care.”

Caine closed the distance between them. “Jenna—”

“Oh no, you don’t,” she said, sidestepping his advance once more. “You left without saying goodbye.”

“I wrote you a note.” A hand written note, because email seemed too harsh and hearing her voice on the phone would make him lose his nerve. In the note he told her he wanted to be with her, but if they were to have a future together he needed to find more stable work. He was leaving her, but the separation was only temporary. Once he acquired enough money and stability to give her the life she deserved, he’d send for her.

Jenna furrowed her brow. “I never received a note.”

“That’s crazy. I left it on your desk in the office.” Caine waved his hand in dismissal. The tour company she and her mother ran consisted of one small office and a boat. He had great memories of making Jenna scream with pleasure in both. Caine had placed the note on the small turtle planter she had kept on her desk. Jenna used to have a thing for both fresh flowers and turtles. He wondered if she still did.

“I never saw it. You just got up and left without a word—and with all of our savings.”

Icy fingers stretched through Caine, causing his muscles to freeze on the spot. “What are you talking about?”

She crossed her arms and jutted her hip to the side in that way he had always found so endearing. “Oh come on now, Caine. We’re past lying, aren’t we? You and your cousin just got up and left. The next day Dad tried to use his credit card and it was denied.”

“I don’t see—”

“Our bank account was stripped,” she huffed, clearly losing her patience. “Everything we had made that summer was gone.” She averted her gaze, but not before Caine saw the tears in her eyes. “Mom was feeling too sick and run down to go into town, so she sent you to the bank to deposit the weekend’s earnings. You were the last one to touch the account.”

“I didn’t do it, I swear.” He had gone to the bank and deposited the check, just like he was told. Sure, he was tempted to take the money and run, who wouldn’t be? But his respect for the old woman and his affection for Jenna kept him on the straight and narrow. It was the only time in his life that he had done the right thing.