Chapter 30 Daniel
Chapter 30
Daniel
Day 4
Daniel slept deeply that night. The strangeness of the day had exhausted him. He didn’t dream, and when he awoke the creases of the pillow had, once again left an indent in his cheek. He examined himself as he brushed his teeth. His hair was growing a little long, the neat peaks fuzzing into overgrowth, and he needed to shave.
They were about twenty-four hours away from the reef and Daniel was grateful to have something to occupy his thoughts that didn’t involve Ore. In a bizarre way he was slightly relieved that she had stopped talking to him – for what reason he couldn’t work out, but it gave him a chance to rearrange his priorities into a respectable order.
It was really none of his business what she got up to, and now that it seemed unlikely she would be alone with Claude again, he would do well to stay out of it.
Breakfast in the mess was a sullen affair; Vicky seemed to be in a terrible mood after being kept up to the early hours of the morning first by Chuck’s guests and then by Melanie who had had a meltdown about the partridges at dinner.
‘She’s a walking contradiction, that girl, calls herself an “environmentalist” but takes a dozen private jet flights a month, is vegan but has a designer croc skin handbag that costs more than my apartment!’ Sometimes Daniel found himself wondering why Vicky continued to do this job. The ultra-rich seemed to infuriate her and yet she’d dedicated years of her life to catering to their whims.
‘I still remember when she went through her Pingu phase. The girl was about eight; she’d watched a couple of episodes, but who had to organise for the yacht to sail all the way to Cape Town so she could go see the penguins?’
Dudley rolled his eyes as though he’d heard the story a dozen times before, but Amanda and Nicole gave the appropriate disapproving reactions.
Daniel was quiet, newly resolved to get on with his job. Vicky was having none of it.
‘So how was yesterday then? Any drama?’
Daniel shrugged and Vicky turned her attention to Nicole, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Nicole needed no more prompting than that.
She leant in conspiratorially as she spoke. ‘Well … that reporter woman got suuuper sick on the boat out, and then at one point she went off with Claude.’
At the mention of his name, Dudley’s head shot up from the bowl of cereal he was swirling with his spoon.
‘Don’t, Dudley.’ Vicky gave him a stern look. Don’t say a word, it seemed to say.
Nicole seemed confused. ‘Anyway … So yeah she went off with him for a while, but they just looked like they were talking and having a cigarette, and then it was lunchtime and Carlos was in a terrible mood because everyone was a bit drunk and not finishing the food …’ Nicole paused for breath. ‘And then I spilt a drink down the captain …’ She looked over at Daniel, blushing slightly.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said flatly.
‘And then like at one point it looked like …’ She blushed again and Daniel willed her to hold her tongue.
‘Do go on …’ Vicky seemed to have a sixth sense for gossip. A sly smile crept across her face as she looked from Daniel’s stony expression to Nicole’s slightly nervous one.
‘Well it looked like the captain and the reporter had a bit of a moment …’
Daniel glared at Nicole. How had he let his authority slip such that this stewardess felt comfortable enough to gossip about him in front of his face? He’d been too lax on this job; that much was clear.
Vicky was grinning. ‘What kind of moment?’ She turned to Daniel.
‘It was nothing. She was just feeling a bit … uncomfortable about her interaction with Claude …’ Daniel hoped that the mention of Claude might shut the conversation down but instead it just piqued Vicky’s interest further.
‘So you thought you’d comfort her?’ Vicky’s tone was suggestive of something untoward and suddenly Daniel felt like he was the one who had taken advantage of her. It struck him that maybe that was how Ore had interpreted it. Was that why she had been acting distant?
‘It wasn’t like that.’ Daniel’s denial sounded limp, even he wasn’t sure he believed it.
‘Well, Captain, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but you’d be advised not to mix business with pleasure.’
Daniel was mortified, and he shot Nicole a look, but she just shrugged. It was clear that this stewardess knew where her loyalties lay, and it wasn’t with him.
‘And then Agatha and Ore seemed to have a tense convo as well, not sure what it was about but the vibes were terrible.’ Nicole concluded her rundown of the day and Daniel wondered what that exchange might have been about. Maybe Agatha had said something about that night on deck and Ore really did think he was some sort of predator? The stillness of mind he’d managed to cultivate that morning had already evaporated, and before he’d even finished his eggs.
‘By the way, Daniel, Carlos told me to tell you that he’s agreed to speak to Ore today, so you’ll need to make some time this afternoon.’ Vicky sounded like she was annoyed at having to relay this information, but Daniel didn’t have the energy to try and figure out why.
All he knew was that he wasn’t in the mood to play chaperone again today, but he didn’t really have a choice.
‘I told her to come find you in your quarters. Dudley will take over at noon.’
It really was Vicky running the ship, thought Daniel. Wasn’t he supposed to be in charge? The question was obviously written all over his face because Vicky added, ‘Don’t give me that look, Captain. I’m not trying to undermine you; I’m just trying to make sure we all get the stinking fat tip we deserve. My retirement villa in the south of France is not going to buy itself after all!’
It was strange to imagine Vicky retiring, not just because she could only have been forty years old at the maximum, but also because she was always ten steps ahead of everyone. Daniel couldn’t imagine her ever just stopping. As if to prove his point, she got to her feet and was out of the room, flanked by Nicole and Amanda, before he’d finished chewing his mouthful.
Daniel spent the morning in the wheelhouse flinching at every creak of a floorboard, imagining Ore standing on the other side of the door and feeling both thrilled and horribly anxious at the prospect. He tried to remember himself before he met Ore, which was only four days ago. That version of him – detached, cool, rational and level-headed – seemed totally out of reach to this version of him.
The moment he had stilled himself into something resembling calm, he heard her outside the door. He found himself drawn to the sound of her voice, and despite himself, trying to concentrate on what she was saying. Here again, she was having a strange effect on him: Daniel, the man who hates gossip, eavesdropping on a private conversation.
‘I’ve had some luck. It’s just really hard to get people to open up.’ She must have been on the phone, because Daniel couldn’t hear any replies.
‘No I totally get that, Henry … yeah I know, but I’m almost there, just on the brink, I can feel it.’ She sounded stressed, and Daniel found himself resenting whoever this Henry guy was.
‘No no, yeah yeah, profile I get it. I’m not trying to break anything … It’s just that there’s definitely something … No I hear you. You’re right. OK thanks, Henry, I’ll try and get you something by end of day tomorrow, a first draft at least.’
A long pause and then: ‘OK, bye, speak soon.’
He heard her let out a long sigh, and concluded Henry must be her editor. In a way Daniel found it hard to imagine anyone being Ore’s boss. She seemed a person who never answered to anyone.
She knocked on the door and he made a point of walking over slowly to open it. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but Ore’s pleasant, easy smile disarmed him.
‘Hello, Daniel,’ she chirped breezily, her white, straight teeth, dazzling. She had to be faking this nonchalance, he thought, and she was disturbingly good at it.
‘Oh, um, hello, Ore. Let me just get my jacket and we can go and find Carlos.’ Daniel tried to match her bright tone.
‘Great,’ she said, flicking through her notebook. The only hint of any inner turmoil was her slightly ragged cuticles.
On the walk to the kitchen, they didn’t speak. Ore strode slightly ahead, and Daniel wondered when she’d become so confident navigating the boat.
Carlos was perched on the counter top with a pencil in one hand and a cookbook in the other, a deep frown furrowing his brow.
‘Is this a good time?’ Ore asked when he didn’t acknowledge their presence in the kitchen. He looked irritated for a moment and then flashed a big smile.
‘Ore, yes of course, mademoiselle, let us have the interview!’
Carlos bundled them through the long narrow kitchen and through a swinging door. His ‘office’ was a tiny space, barely big enough for the two chairs and small desk crammed into it. Carlos gestured for Ore to take a seat, and Daniel wedged himself into the only available corner as Carlos took the other seat.
‘I had heard about the chaperone from the others, but this is a little bit imposing, no?’ Carlos pointed at Daniel as he spoke, and Ore laughed. It sounded a little too high-pitched.
‘Yes, and remember he’s a spy too!’ Then it was Carlos’ turn to laugh, but Daniel knew she wasn’t joking. That it was meant for him to hear, to know that she knew.
As Ore opened her notebook, Daniel felt hot, and extremely claustrophobic.