Chapter 19
19
Oh, this is the life. I’m leaning against the poolside bar, next to Andrea, soaking up the warmth of the sun as we wait to find out what today has in store for us.
‘Shall we order something, while we wait?’ Andrea suggests. ‘I haven’t had any breakfast, I’m starving.’
‘Go on then,’ I reply. ‘I could definitely do with a cappuccino.’
‘Anything else?’ Andrea asks.
‘Surprise me,’ I say with a smile.
None of his surprises have let me down so far – I mean, come on, even the man himself has been a pleasant surprise.
‘ Chi è il prossimo? Mi dica ,’ the barman says.
‘ Un espresso per me e un cappuccino per la signora, grazie ,’ Andrea replies.
Andrea casts an eye over the sweet treats laid out on the counter. He picks out two things.
‘Have you tried a cornetto before?’ Andrea asks me.
I am 99 per cent certain that question doesn’t mean what I think it means because, if it did, boy have I!
‘No,’ I reply. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s pastry, filled with custard,’ he replies.
‘Oh my God, I’m sold,’ I blurt. ‘Get me a thousand.’
Andrea laughs at me.
‘So, what do you usually eat for breakfast in England?’ he asks curiously.
‘Honestly, I’m usually running too late for breakfast,’ I admit. ‘So it’s just coffee for me most days.’
‘Just coffee?’ he replies.
‘Yep, but that’s just me,’ I tell him. ‘The English know how to do breakfast – after all, we’re the home of the full English breakfast. Sausages, bacon, eggs, beans, toast, tomato, mushrooms, hashbrowns, black pudding – the works.’
‘All of that cooked food?’ he replies in disbelief. ‘On a morning?’
‘Yep,’ I reply. ‘All fried, if it’s an authentic one.’
‘Wow, that sounds like a lot,’ he says. ‘I don’t think I could eat something so big first thing in the morning.’
‘It’s definitely a skill that the English have perfected,’ I reply. ‘But you guys are better at big dinners. Your ability to smash multiple courses is seriously impressive.’
‘Smash,’ he repeats back to me. ‘That’s a new one for me.’
‘It’s not an official one,’ I say with a laugh.
The barman serves us our coffees and pastries and, wow, the cornetto looks so much bigger now that it’s on the plate in front of me, not that I think it will be any sort of problem.
I pick it up, marvelling at how huge it looks compared to the size of my hands. God, it smells so good, though. I can’t wait to take a bite.
‘Oh, it’s like a croissant,’ I say as I examine it.
‘Robin, no! ’ Andrea replies.
‘What?’ I squeak back.
‘It’s not a croissant, it’s different,’ he tells me. ‘It’s Italian. Croissant is French.’
‘Well, I’ll eat it just as quickly, either way,’ I point out. ‘So it’s all good.’
‘You want to eat it like a true Italian?’ he asks.
‘I do if it’s quick,’ I joke.
‘You take the cornetto and you dip it in your coffee,’ he says. ‘Like this.’
Andrea demonstrates.
‘Mmm,’ he says. ‘ Buono .’
I’ve never thought to dip pastry in my coffee before – I’m more of a custard creams in a cup of tea kind of chick, but I’ll give it a go.
I dip the pastry into the coffee, holding it there for a second or two, before popping it in my mouth and taking a bite.
I feel my eyes widen.
‘Okay, that’s good,’ I tell him. ‘That’s really good.’
Andrea laughs at me.
‘Come here,’ he says.
He reaches out and, with his thumb, he wipes the side of my mouth for me. I’ve managed to make a mess already – stunning.
‘You two seem like you’re having fun,’ Liz points out as she approaches us.
‘You know the fun isn’t supposed to start until Rick arrives,’ Cait jokes.
I glance around and see the girls, with James and Henry behind them.
‘Oh, God, are you feeding each other?’ Henry jokes with a scoff.
‘I never thought you were the type,’ James adds.
‘Huh,’ I say simply. ‘Perhaps there’s a lot that you don’t know about me, James.’
‘Well, that’s?—’
‘Okay, everyone, gather round,’ Rick calls out, cutting James off. ‘Meet me by the diving board in a couple of minutes.’
The others rush over – the butt-kissers that they are – whereas Andrea and I take the couple of minutes Rick said we had to finish our breakfast.
‘I can’t believe we’re doing this,’ I say, shaking my head. ‘As though we don’t have enough going on, while we’re on this trip. Rick is really forcing fun and games – I guess he just wants his money’s worth out of this trip. At least I’m getting paid, though – you’re in this weirdness by choice. I feel like I should apologise.’
Andrea laughs.
‘Hey, it is no less weird than pretending to be my fiancée, surely?’ he replies. ‘Hanging out with my family, pretending you love me – that must be more weird, no?’
Right on cue, Julie hands him a roll of duct tape.
‘You’re going to need that,’ she tells him.
Andrea waits until she has gone to lean in closer to me.
‘Okay, I take that back,’ he says with a smile.
As we join Rick for… whatever this is, I notice resort staff unloading piles of cardboard. Lord have mercy, what fresh hell is this?
‘Fantastic,’ Rick calls out – I’ve never seen someone so excited at cardboard – his voice echoing across the pool area, startling a few people who are just here trying to have a nice, normal, cardboard-free holiday.
‘What’s all this about, Rick?’ James asks, his curiosity getting the better of him.
‘This is all for today’s activity,’ Rick replies. ‘What I want for you to do is to get into teams of two, and using only duct tape and cardboard, I want you to build a raft.’
‘A raft?’ Liz replies, repeating his words back to him, like she might not have heard them correctly.
Oh, but there isn’t a doubt in my mind, this is Rick. If Rick says he wants us to build a raft made of cardboard and tape then that is exactly what we’re doing.
‘A raft,’ Rick says again.
Wow, there really is an echo here.
‘What do you mean?’ Cait asks.
I’m telling you, seriously, he means a fucking raft .
‘A raft,’ Rick says – I really wish people would stop saying raft. ‘And not only does it have to float but it has to work. The winning team will be the first team to make and demonstrate a working raft, so, you have your cardboard, you have your tape – get into your teams and get to work.’
‘This is going to be great,’ James announces, kissing major butt. ‘I love survival shows so this will be my chance to see if I’ve learned anything.’
‘I’ll work with you then,’ Liz says quickly, sensing her chance to win.
‘I used to be a Beaver,’ Henry offers up.
Oh, the look on Andrea’s face is priceless.
‘A Beaver is like a really young Boy Scout,’ I explain to him.
‘Okay, that makes more sense,’ Andrea says with a smile.
‘I’ll work with the Beaver then,’ Cait adds. ‘That way Robin and Andrea can work together.’
‘Perfect – get to work,’ Rick declares. ‘And do spread out – I don’t want you copying each other.’
Andrea and I look at each other for a second.
‘I guess we’d better get to work,’ I say with a sigh.
‘I’ll grab the cardboard,’ he replies.
We do as Rick says, taking ourselves off to one side, with our big pile of cardboard. Just standard summer holiday stuff, really.
Andrea runs a hand through his hair as he surveys the materials in front of him.
‘Any ideas, Captain?’ I ask him.
‘Perhaps,’ he replies. ‘Let’s see if we both fit,’ he suggests, laying down a piece of cardboard on the floor.
I laugh to myself, at the sheer absurdity of it all, as I do as I’m told and stretch out on the cardboard.
‘You’re not going to fit on here too,’ I tell him as I roll onto my stomach.
‘Okay, more,’ he says as he crouches down next to me.
‘This is a little too Titanic for my liking,’ I joke. ‘If I’ve learned anything from Jack and Rose it’s that we both need to fit on here.’
He laughs as he lays down a second piece of cardboard. I smile smugly because he actually got that joke. It only takes a couple of days of hanging around with someone who grew up in another country to realise that almost your entire sense of humour is based on pop culture references. Perhaps I’m not as funny as I think I am, I just spend too much time looking at dumb things on screens.
With a piece of cardboard that is finally big enough, Andrea lies down next to me, and for a moment we pause.
Oh, it’s so nice. We may be on the world’s crappiest sun lounger, at one of the world’s nicest resorts, but it’s so lovely to just be still in the sun.
‘How much do you want to win?’ Andrea eventually asks, breaking the silence.
I roll onto my side, to face him, resting my head on my hand.
‘Oh, I don’t know. Why?’ I ask.
‘Because, right now, we’re just sunbathing,’ he points out, gesturing to our relaxed positions on the cardboard. ‘We could just lie here all day.’
God, that does sound preferable.
‘No slacking off.’ Rick’s voice reaches us from across the pool.
‘Maybe not then,’ Andrea points out with a laugh.
He jumps to his feet with an energy I don’t think I have ever possessed.
‘Need a hand?’ he asks me, offering me both of his.
‘Go on then,’ I reply, allowing him to pull me up.
Andrea gets me upright, but I somehow manage to wobble on the spot. He catches me in his arms and pulls me close, pressing our bodies together in a way that – for me – definitely turns up the temperature.
‘Are you okay?’ he asks me.
‘Yeah, just a bit dizzy, I think,’ I reply. ‘I’m not sure building rafts in the hot sun is a good idea, unless you’re stranded on a desert island, but here we are. If we have to compete then we should try to win, right?’
‘Right,’ he replies. ‘And I think I might have an idea.’
‘And none of that either,’ Rick calls out. ‘Jump in the pool to cool off, if you need to – it might work like a cold shower – but then back to work.’
We laugh as we part our bodies. Glancing across the pool, I notice that Liz and James are staring over at us, neither of them looking all that happy.
‘Okay, okay,’ Andrea says, rubbing his hands together eagerly, dragging my mind back to the task at hand. ‘So, what I’m thinking is, we make it like a boat. We stick it together, like this…’
He demonstrates, holding two pieces of cardboard side by side, forming a makeshift panel.
‘Interesting,’ I say, eyeing his handiwork with intrigue. ‘I do like your style – still, I have no idea how it’s going to work.’
‘Robin, do I ever let you down?’ Andrea replies, his tone brimming with confidence as he holds his hands out, palms up, at his sides. ‘Trust me.’
‘I do trust you,’ I reply – and I really do. ‘Let’s win this stupid thing.’
The two of us piece together our boat, working side by side – and we make one hell of a team, if I do say so myself. With each cardboard panel and strip of tape, our boat begins to take shape.
‘That does actually look like a boat,’ I say, admiring our handiwork.
‘It is supposed to,’ Andrea responds with a laugh. ‘I think we should cover the bottom and the sides with tape, to make it more secure, and last longer on the water.’
‘Great idea,’ I reply. ‘I think we’re almost there.’
We tear off strips of tape and carefully stick them down, sealing any gaps and ensuring our vessel is seaworthy – or pool worthy, at least.
And, dare I say it, it’s done.
‘Okay, now we can sunbathe,’ Andrea declares with a grin, gesturing for us to climb into our makeshift raft.
We settle into the sort-of boat, lying side by side. I close my eyes, basking in the warmth of the sun as it kisses my skin.
‘If I do this, and you keep your eyes closed, it will feel like we’re out at sea,’ Andrea says with a laugh as he rocks the boat lightly by wiggling his body.
‘Surprisingly effective,’ I reply. ‘Do you think you’re ready to try it in the water?’
‘We’ve finished!’ Liz screams with glee.
‘If you think you’ve done it, try it out,’ Rick calls back. ‘The winners are the first ones to successfully float.’
Andrea and I sit up quickly and stare at each other.
‘We just need to float first,’ I say.
‘Let’s do it,’ he replies.
By the time we get our boat to the shallow end of the pool, James is already lowering his and Liz’s effort into the water. They’ve gone for (what I imagine is) a typical life raft style – a super flat, rectangular thing.
Liz and James jump into the water and both try to clamber on, but the raft is having none of it. The more they try to climb onto it, the more it wants to tip. Then, eventually, it soaks up too much water, and it begins to sink. Oh, there is no salvaging that one.
‘Unlucky,’ Rick tells him. ‘You tried.’
‘Ours is ready to try,’ I call out as I approach the pool, Andrea walking alongside me, carrying our boat in his big, strong arms.
‘That’s… wow,’ Rick blurts, suddenly speechless. ‘You just made that?’
‘We did,’ I say proudly.
I’m giving confidence but I have no idea if the thing is going to actually float or not.
‘Go on then, try it out,’ Rick says. ‘But remember, you both have to float.’
‘I’ll get in first,’ Andrea tells me. ‘I’ll make sure it’s steady.’
‘You’re a gentleman,’ I joke. ‘Good luck.’
Andrea places our boat in the water and it does float, which isn’t a huge surprise given how light it is, but it stays upright too, which was the first thing I was worrying about.
‘Okay, va bene ,’ he says to himself as he attempts to climb in.
I’m almost scared to look but, oh my God, he’s done it. He’s in and he’s floating.
Andrea cheers victoriously.
‘That is seriously impressive,’ Rick calls out. ‘But, to win, Robin needs to be in there too.’
‘Come on, Robin, get in,’ Andrea says to me.
‘Erm… you’re sort of in the middle,’ I reply.
‘ Sì , it’s the best way to keep it floating,’ he replies.
‘Ah, well, better luck next time,’ Liz says.
Oh, I am not taking sass from a woman who is dripping wet.
‘It’s okay,’ Andrea insists. ‘Get in.’
I hover at the edge of the pool, chewing my fingernail anxiously. There is no way I can get in that contraption with him and for the whole thing to stay afloat, right?
I suppose there’s only one way to find out.
I don’t overthink it, I just do it, and I’m not sure how it happens but I am in the boat with Andrea. I mean, maybe I should have thought about it for a second, because I’m straddling him, lying on top of him, my body pressing down on his, my hair in his face.
Cheers erupt from around the pool – I suppose we must have attracted a little bit of a crowd.
‘Robin, we did it,’ Andrea tells me, hugging me tightly. I’m not sure if it’s to celebrate or to hold me steady but, either way, I’ll take it.
‘We did,’ I reply. ‘I can’t believe it, it’s just so… wait… hang on a second, how do we get out?’
Andrea just laughs.
‘I don’t know,’ he replies. ‘But, for now, let’s just enjoy our victory.’
‘Okay,’ I say, mumbling my words into his chest.
We may be stuck, for now, but – weirdly – I can’t think of anyone else I would rather be stuck here with.