Chapter 21
Breakfast is nothing short of a perfect storm of guests clicking their fingers to be served and not enough staff running around like lunatics or watching where they are going.
With the rush finally over, I’m just about to grab a plate of olives, cucumber, tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs when Emir comes running over. His face is lit up with excitement.
‘Good morning,’ I say, pleased to see his cute little face. ‘How are you this morning? Did you sleep well?’
‘Chess?’ he squeals. ‘Can we play chess today? With Jackson?’
Garry’s head whips round, his eyes laser-focused on Emir and what he’s about to reveal.
‘Um, Mr… erm…’ Lord, what is Jackson’s surname?
Did he ever say? Goodness, we’ve been so intimate and yet…
I clear my throat, realising that I have disappeared off into an untimely trance and that we have gathered an audience.
‘You mean when Jackson came here to… when he was briefly doing his staff spot checks. Yes. Yes, he did witness us playing chess.’
‘Give it up, Clogsy. You’re a terrible liar. What was Jackson doing here? What were you two talking about?’ Before I can complain about my new and unsolicited nickname, Garry looks at Astrid and Shaun. ‘Did either of you two see him?’
Talk about looking guilty. Shaun is the first to say that he was at Akmars watching the belly dancing show all night.
‘As was I,’ chimes in Astrid. ‘Sitting at the back with the guests, remember?’
Emir looks from Shaun to Astrid and back again. ‘But…’ he says as I pull discreetly on his hand for him to stop talking.
‘Oh yeah, right, right,’ says Garry, making out he was also at Akmars and not having a clandestine meeting with Erika.
I listen as the three of them try to elucidate how busy they were working, how hard it was, how demanding the guests were.
I make a mental note to enter each of them for the Emmy’s.
‘How was it?’ I can’t help stirring the pot.
‘How was what?’
‘The show.’
Garry hitches up his pervert shorts, reacting in an over-the-top defensive way. ‘As good as any other. Jesus, what is this? The Spanish execution? Now, can you please stop yakking and get on with the clean up? Don’t you have some guests to sort out for kayaking? Chop chop, Clogsy. Come on.’
‘Inquisition.’
‘What?’ Garry says, scrunching his face in an exasperated way.
‘It’s the Spanish Inquisition.’ Details matter.
‘Whatever. But if I hear that you’ve been telling tales to head office…
’ He leaves the veiled threat hanging. ‘And by the way, this thing’ – he waves the Mallot Method at me, the large, pointy nail a few inches from my face – ‘is dangerous. Don’t let me catch you with it again. ’ He tosses it in the nearest bin.
We all stare at one another for a beat too long. They are all lying. I don’t want Emir exposed to any more of this toxic environment. ‘Emir. How do you fancy a trip to an uninhabited island crawling with strange beasts?’
His excited gasp, together with him pulling on my hand to drag me away, is all the answer I need. ‘But don’t let her push me off the boat again!’ he yells, pointing to Astrid. ‘She’s a horrible lady. I don’t like her.’
Garry and Shaun give Astrid a confounded look. ‘You pushed a small child off the boat?’ Shaun asks incredulously.
Astrid goes beetroot red. ‘I… erm, he just needed… It wasn’t a big push, just a…’
‘Maddie saved me!’ Emir beams. ‘I was drowning.’
‘Is that so?’ says a deep, strongly accented voice. We turn around to see Emir’s father, his wife and a giant but extremely attractive man half their age standing a yard away. Christ, how long have they been there?
An uneasy heat rises up my throat. I should have disclosed this information. I have not done my due diligence as a LoveIt Holidays caregiver and sole responsible adult in charge of their precious offspring. ‘I can explain,’ I say, trying to hide my worried tone.
‘You saved my brother’s life?’ the half-man half-mountain says, stepping towards me and Emir. He lifts the child into his arms. ‘Sounds like quite the adventure, little buddy.’ He rubs the top of his hair playfully. ‘What happened?’
Emir immediately blabs, dropping Astrid right in it, painting her as the evil villain and making me out to be a superhero. He finishes by describing Astrid’s bikini. ‘And everyone was staring because… because…’ He collapses into peals of laughter. ‘Because we could see her boobies.’
This makes the huge man chuckle. ‘I can imagine. Hi, I’m Mehmet. Emir’s brother.’ He shakes my hand. ‘Thanks for taking care of him.’
When did he arrive on board?
Emir’s mother, Cassandra, sweeps over to impart air kisses on her child while hanging off her husband’s arm.
‘My baby. My poor, poor baby. Come here, darling.’ She takes Emir from his brother, squeezes him tight and then turns to give Astrid a look that would burn the sun.
‘If I were you, I’d pack my bags and get ready to leave. And I don’t just mean the boat.’
Oh, my.
Even Garry is lost for words. He’s certainly forgotten that he’s in charge, that’s for sure. His face pales.
‘You cross one, you cross them all!’ Emirs shouts in a sing-songy voice.
‘That’s right, little guy,’ says Mehmet, laughing. ‘Our family motto.’
Emir’s father emits mafia-level energy as he leans over to say quietly in my ear, ‘Watch out for him. Keep him safe.’
‘I will. I will. I’m so sorry that there was an issue.
It won’t happen again. He’ll be safe with me.
’ I immediately feel guilty because if all goes to plan, I’ll be leaving tomorrow evening when we pull into the next port.
And then I feel even worse when something hard nudges me in the stomach.
I look down, and Emir’s father is trying to slip a wad of notes into the waistband of my skirt.
‘No,’ I whisper hurriedly. ‘I don’t need…’
He taps his nose. ‘You saved my child.’ And with that they waltz off up to the bar area.
Mehmet turns to wink at me over his shoulder. ‘See you later? Drinks? Come find me.’ He walks away, pointing skyward as though it’s a done deal.
I feel Emir slip his hand back into mine. ‘That’s my half-brother. He’s a big deal. He runs Hello Chicken and More with my father.’
Again, something about that name sounds so familiar, but I can’t put my finger on why. A loud ‘ahem’ alerts me to Garry, Astrid and Shaun standing staring at the huge bulge in my skirt. I instinctively cover it with my free hand. ‘What? Obviously, I’m not going to accept it.’
‘Why not?’ says Shaun, talking to me but glaring at Astrid. ‘Sounds like you deserved it.’
‘What were you thinking?’ Garry is furious with Astrid. ‘He’ll never tip us now! For fuck’s sake, Astrid. This family is loaded, and you pushed their kid in the sea.’
‘It was a joke!’ Astrid yells, her voice breaking as she throws her hands up in frustration. ‘Jesus! A harmless joke. That’s all. No big deal.’
‘Without armbands,’ adds Emir, putting on a deliberately cute voice. ‘I nearly drowned.’
Garry wipes his hand back over his forehead to smooth down a few wisps of hair. ‘Astrid, remind me never to leave you in charge of any kids in future.’
‘Did you hear his mother threaten me?’ she says, her voice wobbling.
Garry shakes his head. ‘No. She didn’t.’
‘But… but you all heard what she said. She’s basically telling me to leave my job and get out of Turkey.’
Garry shrugs. ‘I’ll try and sort it, but don’t hold your breath. Your cards are marked.’ He lets out a huge, exasperated sigh. ‘And so now are ours. We’ll be constantly watching our backs from now on. All thanks to you.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.’ Astrid’s eyes fill as she races away.
* * *
Despite Astrid’s earlier tears, when we are gathered for the kayak safari briefing, only a short while later, she is back to her self-absorbed ways.
While I’m pleased she has recovered, I’m not so pleased to see that she has stopped speaking to me and has chosen to communicate via stroppy hand gestures and mime, as though this whole fiasco is somehow my fault.
An example being when we were distributing kayaks and oars to pairs of guests, while I was diligently reading them the disclaimer information, fitting them with lifejackets and checking that they were strong swimmers and that they understood what to do if their kayak flipped over in the water, she was rolling her eyes, impatiently clicking her fingers and beckoning me to get on with it by waving her hand in a circular motion. It was all very embarrassing.
‘Come on, let’s get this over with. First group with me. You two,’ she bellows at Emir and me. ‘Bring the provisions and kit with the second group. We’ll do laps round the boat until we’re all in the water. Don’t forget the first-aid kit and spares. And don’t take all day about it.’
Emir and I exchange a look of annoyance. We literally could take all day. It’s supposed to be a fun leisurely trip.
It’s a relief when she takes the first group out onto the water to get used to paddling around the boat, and I’m left to see to Emir and supervise the boxes of provisions (food and drinks) even though it is only a fifteen-minute kayak trip back to the boat.
We could easily swim it, if it wasn’t for the slim possibility of great whites and hammerhead sharks patrolling these waters.
I notice this wasn’t included in the safety briefing I was given to read out.
All of a sudden there’s an almighty shrieking sound.
I race to the edge and peer over into the water.
Astrid is standing, her kayak wobbling from side to side.
She is jabbing at an enormous spider crab that has somehow ended up in her boat.
We watch as she flails around trying to find her balance but it’s no use.
She windmills her arms but can’t steady herself in time as she lands with an almighty splash in the water.
Emir erupts into peals of laughter.