Chapter 21
21
‘Been dying to do that for hours,’ Berry says, the following day, crowding me up against the sink in the main guest suite, where I’ve been furiously cleaning the bathroom.
She slides her hands into my hair and kisses me, sighing into my mouth.
Back in our cabin last night, we kissed all the way through an episode of Woodwork Bake Off , stopping only to see the final reveals, but then we slept in our own beds, agreeing that we should take it at least a little bit slow.
‘This is extremely unprofessional.’ I smile now.
‘Oh, you think this is unprofessional?’ She catches the hem of my shorts between her fingers and pulls it up.
‘I’ll show you unprofessional.
’
I kiss her back, not touching her because I’ve still got a spray bottle of vinegar in one hand and a microfibre cloth in the other.
‘Do you have a cleaning kink I don’t know about?
’ I ask her.
‘I’ve got so many kinks you don’t know about,’ she says, running her lips along my jaw.
‘I’m going to lick all your freckles.
’
She flicks her tongue just under my ear and I make a sound that’s almost a growl.
‘This is really unfair getting me all riled up when I’m trying to work.
’
‘I’ve been ironing,’ she says, pushing one thigh between mine.
‘I was all hot and bothered anyway.’
‘God, Berry.’ I tilt my pelvis and the friction is agony.
‘We can’t . . .’
‘We could . . .’ she says, kissing me again.
‘We’ll get fired.’
‘Eh. It’s just a job.
We can run away and become beach bums.’
I yelp as she runs her hand down my ribs.
‘Are you ticklish?’ She looks delighted.
‘No,’ I lie. ‘You just startled me.’
‘I’m not ticklish,’ she says, her lips up against my ear.
‘You can touch me anywhere.’
I’m about to drop the cleaning stuff and risk my job when the captain radios.
‘Berry, Hope, can you come to the bridge please?’
My stomach lurches.
‘She doesn’t know anything,’ Berry says, stepping away from me and straightening her uniform.
‘She can’t do.’
I look up as if there’s going to be a camera in a guest bathroom, but of course there isn’t.
I put the cleaning stuff away in the cupboard under the sink and when I stand, Berry quickly presses her mouth to mine.
‘You worry too much.’
I smile.
‘So I’ve been told.’
When we get to the bridge, Captain Liz looks tense.
She’s leaning back against the command deck, her phone in her hand.
‘I’m afraid Louise has just had some bad news.
Her father passed suddenly last night.
She’s flying home immediately.
’
‘Oh no,’ Berry says.
‘Poor Louise.’
‘It’s terrible for her,’ the captain says, ‘but also it obviously means we’re going to be short-handed.
I’m of course going to try to find someone, but in the meantime, I’ll need the two of you to step up.
So Berry, I’m making you interim chief stew since you have the experience.
Any problems, come and see me.
I’m relying on you both.
’
The two of us nod.
‘Oh, and I might need to do some shuffling of the sleeping arrangements, depending on who’s available,’ she says.
‘Are you two happy to keep sharing a cabin?’
‘Yes, absolutely,’ I tell her.
Berry nods. ‘Yep. We get along great.’
‘Excellent,’ the captain says.
‘Thank you.’
‘God, poor Louise,’ I whisper as we head back to the salon.
‘I know,’ Berry says.
‘It’s so sad.’
But then she snorts.
‘What?’
‘“Are you two happy to keep sharing?”’ she mimics Captain Liz.
‘Oh god, don’t,’ I say.
‘I tried so hard to keep my face neutral.’
‘More than happy, captain,’ Berry says, deadpan.
‘You wouldn’t believe how happy.
’
‘Some might say too happy,’ I joke.
‘No such thing.’
We’re having lunch together in the mess when Louise comes through with her bags.
She looks pale, her eyes rimmed red.
We all tell her how sorry we are and she shakes her head.
‘I’m sorry to have to leave you all in the lurch.
’
‘Don’t be silly,’ Ben tells her.
‘Of course you have to go.’
‘What happened?’ Liam asks.
‘Was he ill?’
Louise shakes her head.
‘He was cycling. He rides every day. He’s always been really fit; he still goes to the gym.
’ Her big eyes well with tears.
‘Mum said he came home, said he didn’t feel well and he was going for a lie-down.
When she went in later to check on him .
. .’ Her face crumples and she brushes the tears away with her thumbs.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I tell her.
She nods. ‘It doesn’t feel real.
It will when I get home, I suppose.
’
Nico appears behind Louise with his backpack hanging off one shoulder.
‘Sorry, lads, but I’m going too.
I’ve spoken to the captain.
Sorry for leaving you in the shit, but I can’t .
. .’
He reaches out and rests a hand on the back of Louise’s neck and she makes a tiny move to lean into it.
It makes my heart clench.
I didn’t know they were serious.
I didn’t know Nico was capable of being serious.
But I’m glad Louise isn’t going to have to go through this alone.
‘Look after each other,’ Ben tells them.
‘We will.’ Nico shakes Ben’s hand, and claps Adam and Liam on their shoulders.
Berry and I shuffle along the seats and stand up to hug Louise.
Carlo pulls both Louise and Nico into a hug, his face wet with tears.
‘I know I don’t know you long, but I’m so sorry,’ he says.
‘I’m so sorry for your loss.
’
Once Carlo lets them go, I hug Nico too and then they leave.
‘Bloody hell,’ Adam says, breaking the unhappy silence.
‘That’s rough. I need to go and ring my dad now.
’ But he doesn’t move; he just drops his head.
I’d just been thinking the same thing.
I want to talk to Mum.
To Mick. To the kids.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Carlo rest his head on Ben’s shoulder, Ben’s hand comes up and squeezes the back of his neck.
I guess ‘Don’t screw the crew’ really is more of a guideline.
Adam was the only one who took it seriously.
Once we’ve changed into our whites, we line up on the dock to welcome the new charter guests.
We’d been briefed on them earlier by Liz – it’s a couple, Bec Bailey, founder of a skincare company, and her girlfriend Morgan, who owns a chain of gyms. They’re not celebrating anything; they’re just burned out and need a break.
Bec is short with long dark hair and a heart-shaped face.
Morgan Carter has cropped blonde hair and a wide smile.
They’re both wearing shorts and vests and look relaxed and happy.
They greet us all with enthusiastic hugs and tell us how thrilled they are to join us.
Berry takes them to their cabin, while I reread the preference sheet.
Bespoke cocktails, karaoke and a trip to the local casino, but other than that they just want to relax.
I’m hoping it’s going to be an easy charter, since we’re so short-handed.
Once they come up from their room, I serve them lunch and drinks on the daybed at the bow.
‘We’re relying on you for all the gossip,’ Bec tells me, popping a gherkin-stuffed olive into her mouth.
‘Who hates who. Who’s sleeping with who.
’ She waves her hand.
‘You know, the good stuff.’
‘I apologise,’ Morgan says, smiling at her girlfriend.
‘She watches too much TV.’
‘It’s definitely not like it is on TV,’ I tell them, smiling, as I pour them glasses of cucumber water.
‘Not so much drama.’
‘But a little bit of drama, right?’ Bec says.
I smile. ‘Maybe a little.’
‘I can’t believe we’re actually here,’ Morgan says, relaxing back against the seat, her arms spread, her face tipped up towards the sun.
‘We’re really here, babe.
’ Bec shuffles over to lean against her and Morgan wraps an arm around her.
They look so comfortable and relaxed that it’s a while before I realise I’m staring.
‘I’m just going to pop downstairs for some more food,’ I tell them.
Morgan sighs. ‘The food. I’m so excited about the food.
’
‘You’re excited about everything,’ Bec says.
‘It’s one of the many things I love about you.
’
They’ve finished lunch and they’re lying on the bunny pad – Bec on her back with a T-shirt over her face and Morgan on her front, reading something on her phone – when the captain announces over the radio that there are dolphins on the starboard side of the boat.
‘Did she say “dolphins”?’ Morgan’s already swinging her legs off the pad to stand up.
As we cross to the other side of the boat, I’m low-key worried that the dolphins will have gone, but as soon as we reach the railing we spot them gliding smoothly just under the water.
And then, as if they’d been waiting for us to arrive before putting on a show, they rise up, arching above the surface, before splashing back down again, the water shimmering in their wake.
Bec and Morgan both yell with excitement.
Bec runs back to grab her phone, but Morgan just holds on to the rail, staring down into the water.
‘Did you see the rainbow?’ Bec says, excitedly, when she gets back.
Morgan looks up at the sky, understandably, but Bec says, ‘No! In the water! When they jump!’
The next time they jump, I see them too: tiny rainbows where the sun shines through the spray.
‘Oh my god,’ Morgan says.
‘Gay dolphins. This is already the best trip ever.’