Hello and welcome to Sleep Stories with Steph,
A romantic bedtime podcast guaranteed to help you drift off into a calm and restful sleep.
Come with me as we travel into the heart of the Bridlington Hotel,
The most prestigious enterprise on the coast of East Riding.
Meet the characters as they go about their everyday lives,
Albeit amongst scandal and intrigue.
Not a day goes past at the Bridlington without something happening.
But before we begin,
Let's take a moment to focus on where we are now.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
That's it.
Then let it out on a long sigh.
It is time to relax and fully let go.
There is nothing you need to be doing and nowhere you need to go.
This is your time.
Feel your shoulders melt away from your ears.
Feel the pressure seep away from your cheeks.
And let all the muscles in your face relax.
As you sink into the support beneath you,
Let the pressures of the day seep away.
The Bridlington.
A series set in an English hotel.
Written and performed by Stephanie Poppins.
Episode 29 Emily Smythe accepted the glass of iced water offered and sipped slowly,
Her spine erect,
Her shoulders back.
The cold ante-room felt far too small and far too quiet.
All she could hear was the soft ticking of the clock and the shallow pull of her own breath.
This was the day she and her team had been working towards and she felt sick to the stomach.
Back at the Bridlington hotel,
James was holding the fort with Jean,
To the right,
And Jo to the left.
While J-Tin had already touched down and was well on his way in the taxi.
Emily's suit,
Cut uncharacteristically close and precise,
Was now her armour,
Its lapel sharp enough to make a point before she'd even opened her mouth.
This was the trick of her mother's and Emily had decided to steal it.
After all,
Coming face to face with Lady Perklington Smythe in the battle for her inheritance,
Meant Emily needed all the wins she could get.
This was Emily,
The wronged daughter versus the most powerful mother in the coast of East Riding.
Placing the glass back on the broad wooden desk,
Her hands wandering to the string of pearls sitting beneath her open collar,
Emily thought about the strand that she'd looped three times around her neck as a little girl,
Playing dress-up,
The same strand she'd worn in the graveyard only days before.
This was her connection to the past,
Her rightful inheritance.
On her right hand sat the gift from her father,
The diamond and pearl ring.
She'd angled it to the light filtering through the high window.
It made her smile,
Daddy was with her now.
And on the left,
J-Tin's large sapphire,
He would be by her side shortly.
Emily caught her reflection in the glass panel door,
Her blonde curls had been tied back tightly,
And her skin held the soft warmth of yesterday's salon visit.
With make-up light,
The faintest sweep of colour,
And her nails buffed to a clear gloss,
She was sending a message.
She was the youngest,
The more innocent,
The more vulnerable,
The wronged daughter,
The victim's suffering at the hands of her wicked mother.
She had it all planned out weeks ago,
And at this moment she'd never felt more powerful.
Lady Perkington Smythe would come to rue the day she had ever underestimated her daughter.
Emily looked across at her uncle.
The light filtering through the Venetian blinds cast long stripes across his broad figure.
His large hands were clasped tightly in his lap,
The hands of a man who had built something from nothing with his brother,
The hands of a man who was now fighting tooth and nail to keep the Bridlington Hotel in his family.
Emily offered him a controlled smile,
And he smiled back reassuringly through the deep lines in his face.
But his jaw was set,
Determined,
And his eyes dark and steady beneath his heavy brows.
They were barely an arm's reach away,
And Emily liked it that way.
Uncle Tom reminded her of her father,
And in this moment she needed all the reminders she could get.
You ready?
Asked Lawyer Johnson as the minute hand passed the hour.
Yes,
Answered Emily,
Her game face set.
The lawyer's suit hung on his shoulders a little looser than when we'd first met.
He'd lost weight whilst at the Bridlington Hotel.
The stress of being under protection from the Petrovskys had done that.
But Johnson was pleased to be able to help,
He said.
If he did nothing else as an old man,
He would rest easy if the one kid who'd helped him see the light after the loss of his wife could get some closure on this wretched business.
Emily was so grateful to have him on her side.
This man knew how it felt to be under the control of the Petrovsky family,
And that really helped in a case such as hers.
Whatever happened in that courtroom today,
In a couple of hours,
The waiting would finally be over.
But for all they knew,
It may well not even come to that.
If Lady P knew what was good for her,
She would settle everything in this room long before her time was up.
That was why they were sitting here now.
Johnson had spoken to her lawyer,
And they agreed if they were going to settle out of court,
Now would be the time to do it.
We've got a very strong case,
Confirmed Johnson,
Turning a page in his large folder.
Uncle Tom exhaled slowly.
I don't see how anyone can contest it.
Emily deserves those shares.
She's the only one who actually cares about the place.
He removed his glasses and set them on the desk.
And if Emily wins,
What then?
She becomes the majority shareholder of the Brillington Hotel,
Said Johnson.
Whatever vision she's got for the place becomes hers to execute.
Would you all say so?
There's no one on the board that'll stand in her way,
Uncle Tom advised.
I've spoken to them all,
And I'm proud to say he turned to Emily.
You'll stand to inherit my shares too when the time comes.
But first,
The Petrovsky family.
Lawyer Johnson sat quiet for a moment,
Considering what it really meant to take on such a powerful family.
Well,
Being at odds with Lady Perklington Smythe meant being at odds with them.
She was beholden to the Petrovskys because of her unruly gambling habit,
And now she expected her daughter to pay for it.
And if she didn't,
It could get very messy.
Challenging Lady P meant challenging the most notorious family in East Riding.
But he was pleased to say they had Inspector Dankworth and his team waiting in the wings.
Harold Cunningham had sung like a canary in return for a due sentence for him and Mallory Monks,
And now all the police were waiting for was an ironclad confession from Lady P about how the Petrovskys had blackmailed her into trading with them in the first place.
Hence the hidden recording equipment.
They were taking no chances this time.
As long as Lady Perklington Smythe could corroborate the Petrovskys' hold over her,
She would not,
Johnson assured Emily,
Be held accountable for Delaware's fraudulent scheme,
The San Juan Sunscape fiasco,
Or their hold over the Bridlington Hotel.
So it was all in Emily's interest to get everything on tape.
She might be a wrong daughter,
But the last thing she wanted was to see her mother behind bars,
And that's where Dankworth would put her,
Without the recorded evidence.
It was time to hold her mother to account and put pay to any of her plans to sell Emily's shares to the Petrovskys.
She had to know there was too much damning evidence against her,
Including the blackmail of Jefferson Bailey,
Should that even get revealed.
Lady P had better turn up for her own sake,
Thought Emily.
She checked the clock.
Time was moving on fast.
She prayed her mother would do the right thing this time.
Didn't she have everything to lose?
But if she carried it on,
They still had the medical records in their back pocket that proved her father was of sound mind when he made his will.
And of course,
The threat of Delaware telling all.
She could be easily turned.
James had put her under considerable pressure this last week,
With cold breakfasts,
Lack of room service,
No maid,
And he was proud to say he enjoyed every moment.
Everyone at the Bridlington Hotel wanted Delaware out now,
Her and her annoying little dog.
And Uncle Tom had given James the green light to make her life as uncomfortable as possible,
Regardless of any connection to Lady P.
With Petra Petrovsky gone,
The only one left who had any interest in doing Delaware's dirty work,
She'd been left high and dry.
30 minutes to go,
Said Johnson,
Jolting Emily from her musings.
Just 30 minutes,
Then we go in for the kill.
Emily smarted.
As much as she despised her mother,
She just wanted this ended cleanly,
So they could part ways with as little animosity as possible.
Won't be long now,
Said Uncle Tom,
Reading her mind.
You're going to bring the Bridlington into the limelight like it deserves,
Remember?
Stay focused.
Your mother will be able to escape to the Algarve like she always threatened,
And that'll be the end of it.
I hope so,
Said Emily grimly.
Just hold on to your plans,
The ones you made with J.
Tin,
He reminded her.
They made some great plans together,
You know,
Johnson,
He gushed.
Converting the dusty conference rooms into boutique suites.
That's what they want to do.
Oriental and Middle Eastern themes,
They said.
Isn't that right,
Em?
And what about that new jewellery shop J.
Tin was talking about?
Where is he,
Anyway?
Any updates?
Emily checked her phone.
He should be here any minute now.
I haven't heard anything.
But little did either of them know,
J.
Tin had got caught up on his way from the airport.
Only this was no regular traffic jam.
This was down to Petra Petrovsky and her father using the one person Emily loved as a bartering tool to make sure she and her uncle would fund their timely return to Poland before things got really messy.
