As Bella's eyes adjusted to the darkness she tried to remember which city she was in. Location dislocation was a common side-effect of her job. Before she actually worked out her geography, she identified a sick, heavy feeling inside. She felt terrible. Why? Then everything came flooding back. She had taken herself on a mini break to Palazzo Versace in Surfers Paradise in the hope of distracting herself from today's big event: Curtis's wedding. Memories of her own wedding day rushed in and were as vivid as if her walk down the aisle had been last week. But by the time the tears of self-pity had travelled down the side of her face and pooled in her ears, Bella had pulled herself together. She sat upright and grabbed a Kleenex. Right, she had an intensive schedule of self-indulgence to throw herself into and no quickie wedding ceremony in the Maldives was going to distract her. She pushed the bedside button on the electric curtains and they slid open to shine warm Queensland sun on the room's opulent creams and golds.
