Chapter Nineteen
Nineteen
Dahlia blew hard on her whistle and everyone in the pool stopped and turned.
‘Good morning, cruisers!’ she shouted, passing a ball between her hands.
‘Who wants to play some VOLLEYBALL?’ She beamed as if she’d offered everyone a plate of free cocaine.
The sporty-looking types cheered while the normal people – my people – slithered to the edge of the pool and made a sharp exit.
Leo, Zach and I were watching from the sidelines, hoping to get away with observing from afar this time.
It was on the schedule, but we didn’t need to physically play to engage with the idea.
It was much better to view the experience from above, like an omnipresent creative force.
Take it all in while enjoying a frappe or two.
The relentless hum of Esmeralda’s engine pitched up a notch as Dahlia put the owners of abs and bikini bodies into teams. She did a head count then furrowed her delicate brow and checked her clipboard.
‘Uh-oh,’ Leo said, under his breath, as she scanned the sunbeds, then the bar, and then stopping when she got to us. ‘Busted.’
The three of us looked in every direction but hers as she tried to get our attention and I took a slurp of my iced coffee. Then the shrill sound of her whistle made us jump.
‘Kat, Leo, Zach! You’re on my list!’
‘What’s that?’ Zach called, while I took another mouthful.
‘In the pool please, guys. Let’s go!’
Zach reluctantly stood up and Leo pulled off his T-shirt.
The two of them couldn’t have been more different.
Zach was a hairy bear, covered in tattoos, with the stomach of Winnie the Pooh and the dress sense of Rupert.
Whereas Leo was smooth, muscular and in perfect proportion; he clearly looked after himself and didn’t mind everyone knowing it.
‘We’d rather watch if that’s OK,’ I tried, knowing it was too late to negotiate.
‘Not OK, no. I need you to make up the numbers, otherwise there aren’t enough players.’
I inwardly groaned.
‘Where’s Heidi?’ Leo asked, his naked chest distracting me. I looked away, willing myself not to blush.
‘Erm… she sends her apologies.’ She couldn’t be bothered but I wasn’t going to tell them that – even though they already knew.
‘Allergic to water, now, is she?’ Zach said, then bombed into the pool, soaking the front row of sunbathers.
I was wearing my one-piece for maximum coverage but hadn’t reckoned on doing any sports when I bought it. This place was starting to feel like a boot camp, but with thirteen pairs of eyes on me and Dahlia threatening to blow the whistle again, opting out wasn’t an option.
‘Just a second,’ I called, peeling off my very elasticated jumpsuit.
Thank God I’d shaved my legs so closely in the Azores.
There wasn’t enough space to do them in our ‘en suite’ – which seemed ridiculous when we were on a thousand-foot boat.
I’d have to do them in the changing room showers later.
I put my swimming cap on and shimmied into the pool, shuddering as cold water crept into every crevice.
I loathed swimwear and hated team sports, so all in all this was my idea of hell.
‘Leo, take a blue bib, Kat and Zach, you’re with the reds.’
‘I’m not very good I’m afraid,’ I whispered, already worried about letting the team down.
‘I’ll cover you,’ Zach said, much to my surprise.
My survival strategy was to look busy and avoid the ball as much as possible. I lay low, snout out, with only the net between me and Leo, as he pointed at his eyes, then mine, and puffed out his chest.
‘You’re going down, Brennan.’
‘We’ll see about that!’ I replied, knowing full well if I made any attempt to play I’d go so far down I’d drown.
Seven of them and seven of us. Dahlia blew her whistle and a hench-looking man belted the ball over the net.
Zach whacked it back, then Leo slam-dunked it in front of me for the first point and fist-bumped the girl next to him.
‘Hey!’ I said, getting a face full of water, the chlorine stinging my eyes. Idiot.
It was half an hour of terror. Palpitations whenever the ball came my way, Zach constantly leaping over to take my shot, me shrinking back and squealing.
I was the last to serve and we needed the point.
I threw the ball in the air and it boinged prematurely off my fist and smashed Zach in the back of the head.
‘Oops,’ I said, wincing. ‘Second serve.’ I channelled my inner Karate Kid and decided to go underarm to catch them unawares, pushing the ball up as hard as I could.
Miraculously it went over the net, and I was so shocked, I bobbed in the water like a lemon while it bounced from player to player, both teams belting it as hard as they could to try and win the final point and the game.
Leo smacked the ball and I sensed it heading in my direction as the team turned to face me.
Zach swooshed over, but there was no way he’d make it in time.
I threw my hands in the air, but I was too slow, and it clonked me on the head.
I could almost hear the cartoon birds tweeting above me as I dunked underwater and swallowed a mouthful.
My head had inadvertently kept the ball in the game, and I came up for air just in time to see Zach bounce the ball over the net for the win.
‘Yessss!’ The red team whooped and cheered, jumping around and giving each other high fives. Zach held his hand up to me, but I was seeing double and missed. Feeling woozy, I pulled myself out of the pool and lay back on the cool tiles, my head pulsing in time to the music.
‘You OK, Kat?’ Dahlia shouted as I closed my eyes. My head was spinning as if I’d had a skinful, which only made the dizziness worse.
‘The ball hit me quite hard,’ I said, cracking one eye open and rubbing my forehead where a lump was forming.
‘Coming through, coming through. Ship first-aider,’ I heard her call as the crowd shuffled back to give her space.
‘I’ll be OK,’ I said, sitting up and shading my eyes, embarrassed by all the attention.
‘I’m fully trained. Lie back please.’ Dahlia rolled me onto one side and put me in the recovery position.
‘Is she conscious?’ Leo asked.
‘Yes,’ I said.
I felt somebody gently lift my head and wedge in a pillow.
‘Let me clear her airways.’
‘They’re clear!’ I yelled weakly, the pair of them ignoring me while they argued it out. I didn’t need mouth-to-mouth, and certainly not in front of the entire ship.
‘If it’s concussion, she’ll need the nurse.’ Leo brushed my hair back to look at the lump. ‘Oh my God, Kat, I’m so sorry. I really whacked it.’
‘I’m fine, honestly…’ I closed my eyes as the sun was too bright and harsh without my shades on, and Leo’s hand softly stroking my hair felt too good.
Then suddenly a strong pair of arms was picking me up and a smooth chest was holding me in as I was lolled along the corridor.
It was a sensation I hadn’t had for quite some time, but wrapped in a towel and held tight, I felt safe and warm, and protected.
‘Here we are.’ Leo’s voice was unmistakable, and I could see Dahlia running on ahead, flinging open the door of the medical centre.
‘Urghgh,’ I groaned. My head was killing me. It felt like it might split in two.
‘Hi, Claire,’ Dahlia said, pointing Leo towards the bays.
‘Oooh hello, dear. Who have we got here, then?’ The ship nurse smiled up at us from behind her desk, her pinafore and matching hat gleaming white.
There was a waft of antiseptic in the air and classical music played quietly in the corner, giving the place a sense of calm.
It felt like we’d crossed over into another dimension compared to the raucous glare and lurid colours of the rest of the ship.
‘Kat Brennan. Room 1086,’ Leo called behind him as he hurried in. ‘She’s been hit in the face with a ball.’ He laid me down on the nearest bed. ‘Will she be OK? It was my fault. I shouldn’t have hit it so hard.’
‘They were playing volleyball in the pool,’ Dahlia added. Or not, as it turned out.
‘Let’s have a look at you, then.’ Claire put a cool palm on my forehead, then felt for my pulse and checked her watch. ‘You’ll have a right shiner there tomorrow, lovey,’ she whispered, flashing a torch in my eyes, then noting something down.
‘She blacked out for a few seconds, so I brought her straight here,’ Dahlia said. ‘Was that the right thing to do? Or should I have gone in with mouth-to-mouth? I couldn’t remember.’
Claire looked aghast. ‘Good Lord, no. Mouth-to-mouth for concussion? What are they teaching in the first-aid sessions these days? Leave her with me, please, and I’ll get her fixed. What’s your name, lovey? Are you next of kin?’ she asked Leo, who blushed at the suggestion.
‘No. Er… no.’ He cleared his throat. ‘We’re just friends.’
‘Cruising friends then, is it?’ she asked, knowingly.
Was that a thing? Maybe we could use it in the pitch.
My brain whirred into action. Friends who cruise together…
and booze together… fuse together. There wasn’t time to be lazing around in the sick bay – Heidi and I needed every spare minute to work on the presentation and come up with a winning idea.
‘We’re on the cruise together,’ Leo said, slowly, searching for the right words. ‘But we’re not together, together.’
Claire tutted. ‘These apps have got a lot to answer for, if you ask me.’
‘They’re with Brooke,’ Dahlia interjected.
‘Ohhhh. Gotcha.’ She nodded. ‘Head office VIPs. Well, if this is a test, she’ll get nothing but top-class treatment from me, don’t you worry. Now, out you go, both of you. Who shall I call when she’s ready to collect?’
I listened in while pretending to be asleep.
‘Me,’ Leo said, handing over his business card. ‘My mobile is on there. I’m in room 1085. I’ll pop back in half an hour or so though and see how she’s doing.’
Claire took it from him with a smile, then closed the door. ‘Right then, lovey, I’m all yours. Now let’s get some arnica cream on that eye, shall we?’
***
‘For crying out loud, what is going on?’ I could hear Heidi bellowing in the reception. ‘Can I not just come in and see her for five minutes?’
‘I can’t stop you, but I’d prefer Ms Brennan to rest a while longer if possible,’ Claire whispered urgently, racing after Heidi as she barged in.
‘Kat? Are you awake?’ Heidi called, loudly. Her bedside manner needed some work.
I opened one eye and nodded. The bruising was already coming through on the other eye, so it was best to leave it shut.
‘What have you done to yourself?’ she gasped, scanning my face over. ‘You can’t look like this for the pitch.’
‘Go easy on the sympathy, won’t you? I got smacked in the face by a ball.’
‘Did you! What ball? Where?’ She looked around the room as if she was expecting one to fire at her from the ceiling. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Yeah… it was an accident.’
‘Who did it? You should claim on their travel insurance for assault!’
‘Leo. But he didn’t do it on purpose.’
She looked apoplectic. ‘I bet. Trying to sabotage our chances, no doubt.’
‘I moved at the wrong moment and got in the way of the ball. It looks worse than it feels.’
‘Well, it’s how it looks that matters.’ Heidi huffed. She was raging. ‘Appearances are everything in PR, Kat, as you know – especially in a pitch sitch. I don’t want the Excalibur exec team thinking we’re a pair of street wrestlers.’
‘At least I’ve still got my teeth,’ I said, baring them for her.
‘And you haven’t broken your nose… have you?’ She stared at it and I shook my head. ‘Let’s see how you look in a few days and workshop it then. We can always wear matching sunglasses and do a Blues Brothers–themed presentation.’
Claire appeared at Heidi’s shoulder with two glasses of water. ‘The arnica cream is triple strength and works wonders on bruising,’ she soothed. ‘This time next week you’ll barely notice it.’
‘See? Plenty of time to get myself back together ahead of the presentation.’
‘Thank you, Nurse,’ Heidi said. ‘That’s reassuring. Well, in that case, let’s use this as thinking time. If you’re bed-bound for the day, maybe you can sketch out a few ideas?’
I opened both my eyes at that, and Claire and I stared at her.
‘Or… not.’ She shrugged, then quickly changed the subject. ‘Actually, Nurse, while I’m here. Could you have a look at my shoulder? It feels out of whack; I must have slept on it funny. Are you trained in shiatsu by any chance?’
Claire shook her head. ‘I’m afraid not,’ she said, pointedly. ‘Not much call for shiatsu as a medical nurse, but they do a wonderful deep-tissue massage in the spa.’
‘Great, I might pop and see her now, then,’ Heidi said. ‘I’ll leave you to it, Kat. Feel better soon, won’t you? Like, really soon.’
‘I’ll try. Enjoy your massage.’
She flounced out, taking all the oxygen with her and Claire gave a low whistle.
‘Is that your… sister?’ I could see her trying to work out the dynamic.
I laughed and shook my head. ‘My sisters are much worse. No, that’s my boss.’
‘Ahhh, of course, you’re both on a working trip. I’ll remember for next time and stop her barging in to ambush you.’
She turned the lights down as a wave of exhaustion washed over me.
The bed seemed enormous compared to the bunk, and the pillow was soft against my cheek.
I sank into it and closed my eyes, relieved to have permission to rest. A momentary break from all the drama and pressure, not that it would stop me worrying completely.
But I could dream about the pitch instead of actively thinking about it and maybe my subconscious would work it all out.