Chapter 41 Ore
Chapter 41
Ore
Day 6
When Ore woke up in the morning, she wasn’t totally sure what had been a dream and what had been real. Almost automatically she checked her emails; Henry’s name was sitting at the top of her inbox:
Hi Ore,
Great start – maybe we need a bit more about the daughter? ‘Chuck Regas, the father’ is a nice angle and something a bit new. Would be good to get Melanie on the record. Let me know what you can arrange.
H
‘Great start.’ Ore groaned. That was editor speak for ‘I want more’. Ore reread the email. An interview with Mel about what a great father Chuck was – that was going to be tough. She’d also need to ask Chuck’s permission to interview Mel on the record. Her only hope was that her and Daniel’s heroism from the night before might buy her some good favour. She might even be able to wrangle another interview with Chuck himself if she played her cards right.
Ore recited her usual words of affirmation in the mirror, took a shower and felt surprisingly upbeat as she got dressed. As disappointing as it was to find the nib of a story and not be able to follow it through, she was almost relieved that the matter was out of her hands. She had another week on board to gather a couple more interviews, and then she could relax, avoid Claude, and maybe take a leaf out of Mel’s book and make use of the pool and gym until they docked in Sydney and she could fly back to New York.
The phone on Ore’s desk began to ring, interrupting her daydreams of late summer back in Queens. She picked up. ‘Hello?’
‘Chuck wants to talk to you. He’s asking that you meet him for breakfast in half an hour.’ It was Vicky, straight to the point, as usual.
‘OK, right, any idea what he wants to talk about?’ Ore asked.
‘Unlike you, Ore, I’m not paid to ask questions.’ And with that Vicky hung up. Ore found herself wondering what had made Vicky this way. Maybe a working life of pretending the ‘customer is always right’ had convinced her that everyone was in fact, always wrong.
Ore changed into a summer dress. It was a dark terracotta, with long tulip sleeves and a neckline that sat just below her collarbones. She twirled her braids into a bun on top of her head and rubbed some jasmine oil on each wrist.
When she walked onto the top deck, the sun was shining brilliantly. The sea was an exquisite turquoise and it was hard to imagine that it was the very same water that had been inky black and furious as it tossed the boat around two nights ago.
Chuck was dressed in his usual fare: cargo shorts and a short-sleeve shirt, but Ore almost didn’t recognise Daniel sitting next to him.
She realised she had only ever seen him in his captain’s whites. Now he sat in a khaki linen shirt with the top two buttons undone to reveal the glint of a silver chain and a curl of chest hair. In front of him sat a thin cream envelope.
‘You look magnificent, my dear.’ Chuck gestured for her to take a seat and Ore found herself sitting opposite Daniel, who gave her a shy smile. She felt herself blush and tried to avoid direct eye contact. She was still trying to work out how she felt about him in light of the past twenty-four hours. It wasn’t helping that he looked particularly hot right now.
‘I’ve brought you both up here this morning to extend my gratitude for looking after my darling Mel the other night. I doubt you can ever really know what it means to me to have her safe and sound, but I would like to extend a small token of my thanks.’ Chuck nodded towards the envelopes in front of them and leant back with his hands steepled in front of him.
Gingerly, Ore and Daniel both opened them at the same time. Ore gasped. It was a cheque for $50,001. It was hard not to immediately spend that money in her head. She imagined moving out of her aunt’s and renting an apartment in Manhattan. It would be modest, one, maybe two bedroom max. And maybe she’d get a car, for getting out of the city on weekends. What’s that one extra dollar about though?
It was Daniel who cut through her daydreaming. ‘Thank you, Mr Regas, but I absolutely cannot accept this.’ Daniel pushed the envelope into the middle of the table.
‘Nonsense, consider it an advance tip.’ Chuck’s smile grew tighter.
‘I’m more than happy to wait until the end of the job, with the rest of the crew, sir,’ Daniel said sternly.
Ore’s bubble burst, she knew that she had to do the same. How would it look to accept ‘gifts’ from the subject of her pieces?
‘Thanks, Chuck, but I also have to refuse. It’s not a good look for my journalistic integrity.’ Ore laughed nervously as she too pushed the envelope back.
‘So the two of you are just selfless good Samaritans, I see.’ The words were complimentary but the tone was sneering. Chuck snatched the envelopes back and stuffed them into a pocket.
But Ore wasn’t about to waste this opportunity to ask for a favour, while he was at least pretending to be generous.
‘One thing I would appreciate, Chuck …’ Ore began sweetly.
Though Chuck’s expression had hardened, he managed to turn up the corners of his mouth as he responded, ‘Anything, my dear.’
‘Could I trouble you for another interview? I’d also love to speak to Mel on the record. My editor is keen to get an insight into “the family man”?’
Now Chuck’s smile loosened into something broader and more genuine – she’d tickled his ego. ‘Of course. That’s a lovely idea. Actually, why don’t you both come along on our little excursion tomorrow?’
‘Excursion?’ Ore wasn’t sure she could stomach any more island trips.
‘Well I was going to take Mel to the reef. She’s been wanting to go for ages. Some of the other guests might tag along too, but it’ll be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Barrier Reef up close. We’ll have scuba equipment on hand if you want it?’
Ore couldn’t actually think of anything worse than being underwater, weighed down by a tank of oxygen on her back, but if this was her only chance for that interview she supposed she’d have to endure another boat trip. She couldn’t imagine that they’d actually cajole her into the water.
‘I’d be delighted, thank you, Chuck.’ Ore knew that Chuck would not take kindly to having his ‘generosity’ refused twice this morning.
‘Right, well that’s settled then, and I’m sure the captain wouldn’t want to miss another opportunity to see you in your bathing suit.’
Daniel choked on the mouthful of water he’d just sipped and Chuck seemed to find the whole thing hilarious. Ore thought she could spy a subtle reddening of Daniel’s cheeks, but she understood men like Chuck; he got off on power trips, of all different sizes, from $50,001 cheques all the way down to making a grown man blush.
Chuck slapped Daniel on the back gleefully. ‘Now now, Captain, I’m only joking, but you will come, won’t you? Suffice to say you’ve put in a pretty decent shift to get us there – time to enjoy the spoils.’
‘I need to man the ship, sir.’ Daniel’s voice was raspy and even to Ore’s ears it was an unconvincing rebuttal.
‘Nonsense, what the hell do I employ Dudley for if not to be able to treat my favourite captain to a day off …?’ Chuck’s eyes were twinkling. He was back in control and wielding his power freely, exactly as he liked it.