Chapter 32
CHAPTER 32
Max
I loved watching her work. It had become my new favorite thing to do. The way she flitted around as if she’d been sped up. She also talked to herself as she went. At one stage I’d gotten close enough to make out her one-way conversation.
“ Hang on, maybe if we do . . . Nah! Where is the light coming fr—Aha! This, yup . . . we do this. Lens . . . Um . . . Maybe not. Shit, we need a crane . . . crane . . . ”
I couldn’t help smiling every time I heard her have one of these one-sided debates with herself as she climbed around, shooting things from different angles and taking light readings. She had a pencil behind her ear, her hair was messy and it was so hot that the neckline of her shirt was drenched with sweat.
The manager had shown me around the houseboat, our next location, when we’d arrived. The flight had been a short one from the tented camp to here. A quick transfer had taken us over to a small island on the Chobe River on the Namibian side where we’d boarded the houseboat. The houseboat was incredibly impressive, and I could immediately see what an asset this location would be. Not only would it make a great location for shoots, but also the perfect private holiday for a celebrity I had in mind, who loved fishing.
I did not love fishing, though, and the manager had already asked me at least three times when I would want to go tiger fishing. It was one of the main entertainment options offered on the boat. I declined several times and decided that if my client asked me what the fishing was like, I would simply lie and tell him a story about how it took me half an hour to wrangle the fish onto the boat, and how it was the size of my leg, or something like that.
The houseboat had five rooms, each one more luxurious than the next, each one with a small balcony that was accessed from large sliding doors. And with the doors open, the room felt as if it was simply hovering over the river. There were two decks, one with a lounge and dining area and the upper deck had a small plunge pool and a tasteful bar on it. And right now, I was standing on the upper deck by the pool, looking at some of the most beautiful scenery on earth. A herd of elephants had made their way down to the water’s edge and I watched as two babies played in the shallow water, somersaulting and splashing like toddlers might do. I knew my friend Vincenzo was looking for a location for an upcoming stills shoot. He ran a very successful fashion-design company, and they were launching a new sunglasses range. He’d initially wanted me to find a beach location where they could shoot their models shirtless and in bikinis, while enjoying the sun. Sexy and aspirational. But I could see that whole thing playing out better here. I could see them here in this plunge pool, glasses on, champagne in hand, elephants in the distance, cruising down the river. This would make a much better location, I thought, not that I was their ad agency, but in my opinion, a luxurious houseboat cruising down a river in Africa felt far more interesting and unique than a bunch of models sitting on a beach.
I took my phone out and started taking photos, then sent them to him in a message. I’m sure the agency was going to be pissed I’d done this, but I didn’t care. Sometimes agencies came up with such bland ideas, and I was often on locations that seemed better and more interesting than those the agencies had imagined. You couldn’t blame them, really. Most of the people coming up with the ads sat behind desks. They didn’t travel to some of the most remote and unique locations around the world and see what was on offer, like I did.
Vincenzo: Oh my God. It’s like heaven. So sexy. I love it. I’ll tell the agency. You’re a genius, my friend.
Max: I think this will sell the concept of luxury far more than a beach.
Vincenzo: Sand is not sexy.
Max: Hahah! No.
Vincenzo: How is work going?
Vincenzo: Still in lust for your ex?
Max: Think it may be more than lust.
Vincenzo: Careful, my friend.
Vincenzo: Love is too much work. So inconvenient. Too much stress.
Max: Think it might be too late for that.
Vincenzo: Take her to the jacuzzi then.
Max: The idea had crossed my mind.
Vincenzo: I know you too well. I know that many things have crossed your mind.
Max: Too many.
Vincenzo: I change topic then.
Vincenzo: Maybe I don’t ask the agency this time, because I can already see it in my mind.
Vincenzo: For our jewelry line. I want naked models, only wearing diamonds, but I don’t want another studio shoot. I want them somewhere messy. Somewhere old and broken. Somewhere dark. Like construction site. Abandoned factory. But close to home.
Max: Balestrino. Ghost town in Italy. Some of it was destroyed by an earthquake, rubble everywhere. It will be perfect.
Vincenzo: Googling while we speak.
Vincenzo: YES ! Perfect.
Vincenzo: Naked models, in diamonds, climbing over rubble in a ghostly town.
Max: My thoughts exactly. I’ll figure out who to speak to and get back to you.
Vincenzo: Genius. Always a genius.
Max: Speak later.
I lowered my phone and Ash was standing on the deck tracking the sun with an app on her phone and taking some notes.
“Are you finished?” I asked, and she seemed to angle herself away from me.
“No, have to figure out a drone shot still.”
“You look hot and thirsty. I was going to get myself a water. You want one?”
“No, thanks. I’m perfectly fine.”
I smiled to myself as I walked away and grabbed two waters anyway.
“The weather app says it is thirty-eight degrees today. I hope you’re wearing sun cream.” I returned with the waters and walked straight up to her. She swung round as if she’d gotten a fright.
“Here.” I held the water out and she stared down at it.
“It’s just a bottle of water, Ash. Nothing else.” I was amused by what had clearly been a very deliberate attempt to avoid me at all costs today. There had been a few moments when she’d seen me and then darted in the opposite direction.
“Thanks.” She took the water, and within seconds had removed the lid and was gulping it down. As I’d suspected, she’d forgotten to drink while working. Probably forgotten to eat too. She always did this when she got caught up in something. When we were studying for exams, I used to make sure I brought her bags of snacks so she didn’t fall over. I wondered who brought her snacks and water now. My stomach tightened. I shouldn’t have gone away. I should have stayed to bring her snacks while she studied at film school and then ran around in the sun like this.
“The staff is setting up dinner for us tonight. And I have to warn you: it is going to have candles. It’ll be under the stars, on a deck at one of their lodges.”
“A lodge?”
“Yes, I wanted to see one of their sister lodges as well, so they suggested a dinner there, before we get back onto the boat. Is that okay?”
“That’s actually perfect. I’m sure the lodge will have better WiFi than this boat and I need to send Sebastian a lot of footage today,” she said, turning her head away from me.
“Great, but I do just want to remind you it will be romantic, because I know how allergic you are to anything romantic, especially with me and your detox.” I couldn’t help the small breathy chuckle as I said that.
She turned and looked at me. “Just what exactly are you trying to imply there, Max?”
“Nothing, just thinking that your detox is not going as well as you would have liked it to. Perhaps there are some things that are proving a little too hard to resist.”
“Hardly,” she said, rolling her eyes. What a blatant lie! She knew it and I knew it. She looked away again and started chugging back more water.
“You should have a dip in the plunge pool when you’ve finished working. You look pretty hot.”
She gave me the side-eye as she drank.
“And I mean that in a purely weather-based sense, by the way, not the other hot, which you do too, also, by the way.”
She lowered the bottle. “When did you become such a flirt?”
“A flirt?” I took a step closer to her and she stiffened immediately. “That was not flirting. I’m not flirting.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes again. “So what do you call all that stuff that happened earlier, if it’s not flirting?”
I walked all the way up to her and stopped right in front of her. Her eyes widened and she swallowed so hard I could hear it.
“Trust me, Ash, you will know when I’m flirting with you.” I fixed my eyes on her in that way that I knew made women take their panties off for me. I’d never met a woman that hadn’t done that when I’d looked at them like this. I moved closer still, eyes locked on to hers, trying to convey the depths of my desire for her. Her and I both naked. Me driving into her over and over again.
She cleared her throat nervously and took a wobbly step back. “Right, I have a drone to, uh . . . uh . . .” She dashed off quickly, throwing me one last look over her shoulder as she went.
“Good luck,” I called, and gave her the most innocent-looking smile and wave that I could. Even though my thoughts were very far from innocent.