‘We had it brought to Lauren’s room,’ Kerry explained. ‘I’m waiting for Gabrielle to finish doing her hair, then we’re all heading your way.’
‘Can’t I come and get my clothes?’
‘You can
wait
,’ Kerry said stiffly and James immediately twigged why.
‘Oooh, am I getting presents?’
‘You’ll find out soon enough.’
James crashed out on his massive bed and smiled as he brushed his cheek on the soft hotel robe. The buggy racing had been superb and now he was all clean and relaxed in this incredible hotel room. It was exactly what he needed after the last few weeks. The only downer was that his nose wasn’t fully healed yet and it always seemed to ache when he came in out of the cold.
Meryl was first to knock, dressed in her hotel robe and trailed by a room service trolley stacked with chocolate biscuits and insulated jugs of coffee and hot cocoa.
James was warming his fingers on a mug when his ten companions arrived en masse. Lauren – who had her race winner’s rosette pinned on her hotel robe – was wheeling a snazzy Samsonite case, which she placed on James’ bed before giving him a kiss.
‘Happy birthday, bruv.’
‘Is this my bag?’ James asked, slightly confused.
‘It is now,’ Meryl nodded, as the kids poured out cups of coffee and cocoa. ‘Compliments of CHERUB. You’ve only got that tatty backpack you use on training exercises and I thought you could do with something decent when you go on short missions.’
‘If I’m ever allowed on another mission,’ James sighed, as he leaned over and unzipped the bag.
‘Of
course
you’ll go on more missions,’ Meryl grinned, ‘The investigation will be over in no time.’
James was slightly stunned as he flipped back the lid. He’d expected to find a present on top of his stuff, but he didn’t recognise a single thing inside the case.
‘Whoah,’ James gasped, as he pulled out a bag of expensive-looking gents’ toiletries, complete with a fancy shaving brush and mirror. ‘Body Shop toiletries and Paul Smith eau de toilette, very chic.’
‘I know you don’t shave yet,’ Kyle grinned. ‘But it won’t be long.’
‘Cheers.’ James began removing a neatly pressed white shirt and a pair of chinos. They were pretty nice, although they weren’t the kind of things he’d usually wear.
‘Us girls got together and decided that you needed a makeover,’ Lauren explained.
‘And we’re going down to the restaurant for a meal later,’ Kerry added. ‘We didn’t want you lowering the tone by sitting there in an Arsenal shirt and a pair of Nikes like you usually do.’
‘Thanks,’ James said with a grin, as he took out some new pairs of socks, a striped silk tie, a couple of Gap T-shirts, a pair of lairy swimming shorts and a pack of Calvin Klein briefs. None of the items were hugely expensive, but it made him feel good because all his friends had clearly got together and planned out the best way of making his birthday celebration special.
‘I know you wear boxers, but I think you’ve got the right kind of body for those,’ Kerry explained, as James inspected the briefs.
‘You can come over to my room in them any time,’ Kyle offered.
‘I’m sure I will, Kyle,’ James said, shaking his head as Bethany and Lauren made eww noises. He wasn’t quite sure if the noises were because Kyle was gay or at the thought of him in a pair of CK briefs.
The last items in the bag were a pair of shoes and a 2007 Manchester United album.
‘They’re your shoes,’ Kerry explained, ‘but we gave them a polish.’
‘The first they’ve ever had, judging by the state of them,’ Gabrielle added.
‘And this
thing
,’ James said, his voice full of mock disgust as he held the Manchester United album between his thumb and forefinger at arm’s length.
‘That’s from me,’ Bethany grinned innocently. ‘I thought you
liked
Man United.’
James huffed. ‘I suppose it might come in handy if I ever have to scrape up some vomit.’
*
The dinner in the Lake Lodge restaurant was a bit fancy for James’ taste. He usually counted cheeseburger and chips or a good breakfast fry-up as his favourite meal, but it was a nice setting with candles on the table in a dining-room overlooking a lake. He liked the fact that everyone was dressed up, especially Kerry in a black off-the-shoulder dress and the gold necklace he’d got for her birthday earlier in the year.
After profiteroles and hot chocolate sauce, Meryl said she was going to the bar and told the kids that she trusted them to behave themselves. They all decided to try out the plunge pool on James’ balcony.
As they headed upstairs, James found himself behind Lauren and Rat. Lauren – who wouldn’t have been seen dead in a dress six months earlier – wore green stockings and a black micro skirt and Rat had his hand around her waist.
Lauren was only twelve, but her bra had a purpose these days, and her hips had started to widen out so that she was beginning to get a proper woman’s bum. James didn’t like it one bit. It was OK when he used to tease her about having a boyfriend, but he felt differently now that she actually had one.
They were stepping off the third-floor landing when James realised why it made him uncomfortable. Until now, he’d been able to go after girls and rely on the fact that his little sister would always be there for him. But in a few years, he’d leave CHERUB, Lauren would probably get a serious boyfriend and they’d slowly grow apart.
Lauren’s mini-skirt was almost like a sign hanging off her butt saying that she was looking for someone to replace James in her affections.
‘What are you looking so miserable for?’ Kerry asked, as she whacked James across the shoulder.
‘Am I?’ James said, pretending to be mystified.
Ten minutes later everyone except Kyle was in the bubbling spa pool on James’ balcony. It felt beautiful because the water was really hot; the November air was crisp and the balcony looked out over a motorway, with headlamps snaking along it and a nearby village with a huge church lit up in the centre.
‘Where’s Kyle got to?’ Gabrielle asked, as she popped up in the middle of the pool and ran her hands through her long braided hair.
James shrugged. ‘He took my spare room-key and said he had to go fetch something from the van.’
Kyle arrived a few minutes later, holding a cardboard box and still dressed in his shirt and jacket from dinner.
‘What’s that?’ James asked as Kyle put the box down and ripped into the cardboard.
‘Champagne,’ Kyle grinned, before leaning over the pool and passing a bottle to James. ‘Mind you, it’s not actually champagne. It’s Australian sparkling wine, six ninety-nine a bottle in Sainsburys.’
‘Don’t let Meryl see that,’ Lauren said nervously. ‘She’ll skin us alive.’
‘I think there’s a tray of glasses by the mini-bar,’ Kerry said.
Kyle tutted. ‘And what did your last servant die of, Miss Chang?’
‘I seem to remember kicking his head in after he refused to fetch a tray of champagne flutes,’ Kerry smirked.
As Kyle fetched the glasses, James popped the cork out of his bottle and downed a few mouthfuls before passing it along to Kerry.
‘There you go, cow face,’ Kyle grinned as he set the glasses down at the edge of the pool beside Kerry. He threw off his jacket and started unbuttoning his shirt.
Kerry poured glasses of fizzy wine and passed them around the pool as James popped another bottle and Kyle pulled down his trousers, revealing a complete absence of underwear.
‘Go put something on,’ Gabrielle yelled as she covered her eyes in mock disgust. ‘I don’t wanna look at that
thing
all night.’
Kyle broke into a smile as he stepped into the pool. ‘Sorry dudes, but the Kyle bathes naked. At least, he does when he forgets to pack swimming shorts.’
‘Perfect,’ Lauren grinned as she furtively sipped her sparkling wine. ‘Now all we need is for James to start farting.’
*
By 1 a.m. James’ skin was wrinkled, the empty bottles were hidden under the bathroom sink and everyone except Kerry had gone back to their rooms.
‘You’re all shrivelled like a prune,’ James giggled, as he lay on his bed kissing Kerry’s back.
‘You’re just Mr Smooth aren’t you?’ she said, as she rolled over.
They were both a little drunk. James reached across to his bedside table and grabbed a small foil package. ‘I looked in the bathroom cupboard,’ he explained. ‘This hotel doesn’t miss a trick.’
Kerry was shocked. ‘Put the condom down, James, you
won’t
be needing it.’
‘Come on,’ James said gently. ‘Why not?’
Kerry groaned. ‘We’ve had this conversation a million times already. If we have sex before we’re sixteen, we’ll both get kicked out of CHERUB.’
‘Who’s gonna know?’
‘They’ll know if I get pregnant.’
‘That’s what
this
is for,’ James said sarcastically, as he jiggled the condom.
‘I’m fourteen years old and they’re not a hundred per cent effective.’
James tutted. ‘I’ll be really gentle Kerry, I swear. Just do this one little thing for me.’
Kerry’s eyebrows shot up and she shoved James away furiously. ‘One little thing? What the hell is all this?’ She spread her arms out wide. ‘I shopped for your presents, I looked up this hotel and the dune buggy place on the internet. I even polished your rotten bloody shoes.’
‘I know Kerry, but …’ James couldn’t think what to say. ‘It’s not as if we’d be the only underage cherubs ever to have sex.’
Kerry pointed at the bottom half of her swimming costume. ‘My body, my decision. Maybe, if we’re still together when I turn sixteen. But right now I don’t even know if we’ll still be together tomorrow morning. I’m
sick
of you always pestering me. You’re like a dirty old man.’
James heard Kerry sob as she picked her hotel robe off the floor. It made him feel really guilty. ‘Come on Kerry, don’t cry. You’ve had a few drinks. You’re tired and a bit over-emotional.’
‘You’re not even worth crying over.’ Sniffing, Kerry knotted her robe and began hunting for her slippers. ‘I’ve been planning this for weeks. Everything was supposed to be
perfect
. You don’t have any respect for me or my feelings.’
‘I can’t help it,’ James said desperately. ‘I’ve really had fun today. I do love you and I want to be a fantastic, wonderful, caring boyfriend who understands your feelings and all that stuff. But I’m also a fifteen-year-old virgin and I really,
really
need a shag.’
Kerry wiped her eye on the sleeve of her gown and James thought he heard her laugh as she stepped towards the door.
‘Goodnight, Casanova,’ she tutted.
James was woken by the buzzer on his door. It went off again as he scrambled around in the nude looking for his robe.
‘Hang on, I’m coming,’ James shouted.
He was surprised to see Lauren standing in the doorway. She was fully dressed, with her jacket on and her wheeled suitcase behind her.
‘Hello,’ he said curiously. ‘What time is it?’
Lauren glanced at her watch. ‘Eight minutes past seven,’ she said as she stepped into the room.
James had been up worrying about what had happened with Kerry. He’d had less than four hours’ sleep and the wine had left him feeling groggy.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked. ‘I didn’t think we had anything planned for this morning.’
‘You don’t,’ Lauren said, as James sat down on the corner of his bed and rubbed his eyes. ‘I think you’ve got a session in the spa booked for later, massage and that. I was well looking forward to it, but I’ve got a mission and John Jones is waiting downstairs.’
‘Oh,’ James said, surprised. ‘When did this happen?’
‘I found out yesterday, but I didn’t mention it last night ’cos it always feels a bit sad when someone’s going away. I didn’t want to spoil the mood.’
‘How long for?’
‘Less than a month and it’s only down in Brighton so we’ll probably see each other.’
‘Who’s with you?’
‘John’s the mission controller, but I’m the only agent.’
‘Oooh, black T-shirt and going on your first solo mission at twelve years of age,’ James said, a touch sarcastically. ‘You’re quite the little superstar, aren’t you?’
Lauren flushed and looked down at the carpet as she realised that she was being insensitive. ‘I hope your inquiry and everything works out, James,’ she said awkwardly. ‘I mean, nobody can fault your record on missions until now. You’re the only agent who was on
both
of the missions that knocked out Help Earth. I’ve heard loads of people say that you should have got the black shirt for that.’
‘I expect it’ll all turn out OK in the end,’ James said unconvincingly. ‘Anyway, good luck with your mission and keep safe.’
‘It’s categorised as low risk, so there’s no need to worry,’ Lauren grinned, as the two siblings hugged. ‘And do me a favour and keep an eye on Rat for a few days. He was a bit choked last night when I told him I was going away. He’s not been at CHERUB for long and I think Andy’s his only close mate.’
James nodded. ‘I’ll invite Rat along if something’s happening. I like him anyway, although it’s awkward when Andy’s around. He’s still sore because I beat him up that time.’
‘Hardly surprising,’ Lauren grinned.
‘I’ve apologised about eighty-six times,’ James shrugged. ‘You can only say it so much.’
‘Anyway, John’s waiting in reception. I’d better skedaddle.’
‘One last thing. You haven’t spoken to Kerry, have you?’ James asked. ‘Only, we had a bit of a row late last night.’
Lauren stared pointedly at the condom on the bedside table. ‘I wonder what that was about,’ she said.
‘I feel really bad,’ James muttered. ‘I mean, you and Kerry set all this up and I end up rowing with her. Plus she’d had a few glasses of wine and you know how she gets.’
‘Haven’t spoken to her,’ Lauren said. ‘But I’d recommend grovelling and lots of it.’
*
James couldn’t get back to sleep. He ended up ordering tea and toast from room service and sitting on his bed reading the Sunday paper he’d found outside his door.
Kyle called just after nine. ‘Everyone seems to be up and about. We’re heading down to breakfast and we’re booked into the spa for ten o’clock.’