Chapter 5
MARTHA
I woke feeling as if I’d just had a twenty-minute power nap, but when I looked at my watch I could see I’d been asleep for two hours.
This would usually leave me feeling groggy, but now I was refreshed and keen to get on with our trip.
First I had to get through the welcome dinner and the thought of that wiped the smile from my face.
‘I was going to wake you in ten minutes,’ Erin said from her bed. She’d bunched up her pillows and was propped up with her book and guzzling water from a bottle.
‘Have you been reading all this time?’ I asked her.
‘Pretty much,’ she said, tucking her bookmark in the pages and stretching.
‘Do you want to get in the shower first or shall I? I didn’t want to wake you with the noise of the extractor fan otherwise I’d have showered already.
Cally will be coming for us in just over an hour, so we’ve got plenty of time. ’
‘You go,’ I said, getting up from the bed and walking over to the window. I watched a huge container ship being unloaded down in the harbour, its colourful boxes lifted gracefully off the water and down onto the awaiting trucks. ‘I can’t believe we’re in Canada.’
I turned to grin at Erin but she was just disappearing into the bathroom.
‘Whoop!’ she said from behind the door, but it did sound a little half-hearted and I wondered if she should have had a sleep too.
* * *
The dining room looked quite spectacular.
There were chandeliers, lavish drapes and flower arrangements, and candlelight flickered from all of the tables.
Everyone was looking smart for the occasion.
The occasion being the last good meal we’d eat in comfort for a long while; the last time we could truly be ourselves without a camera in our faces.
I quickly scanned the room for Harrison but couldn’t see any lying-cheating-bastards.
I smiled inwardly at my thought. Goodness, I could hold a grudge for fifty years.
How would it really be when I saw him again?
The thing was, I’d built this up so much in my head but the chances were, I’d feel nothing but indifference.
I probably wouldn’t even be able to identify him; he was seventy-three now.
That was when I noticed Priya across the room.
I thought I recognised her and then I felt immensely stupid because that wasn’t her at all, it was probably her daughter – a woman in her forties.
Priya was the older woman standing next to her.
Seeing Priya with her hair now grey and swept up in a bun stunned me for a moment.
Not because I thought she looked particularly old but because it reminded me that we were both old women now.
They were talking to who I had to assume was their producer so I didn’t go and interrupt.
There would be plenty of time to catch up before the race began tomorrow.
It was a bit like a wedding with a seating plan, and the tables were quite intimate which wasn’t a huge surprise. Intimate would be the key word over the next few days and weeks.
‘Look, we’re table five,’ I said. ‘Which is apt.’
‘Why is that apt?’ Erin asked.
‘Because I came last the first time I did this race.’
‘Who’s on table one then?’ Erin asked, leaning towards the plan pinned to the wall.
‘Harrison Golding,’ I said.
‘Not he who shall not be named?’ said Erin and then giggled. ‘Actually, that’s a bit mean. Have they seated all the contestants in the order they came in the last race? Seriously, though, Nana, we will beat his sorry arse and you can have your sweet revenge.’
‘My intention completely,’ I agreed. ‘I think they’ll play little mind games, actually. It will make for excellent television. And it’s Martha, don’t forget.’
‘Ooh, is that Femi?’ Erin asked me. ‘I recognise him from the first race.’
I’d forgotten Erin had watched them all. It was funny really because she had a much broader view of the TV show and the contestants than I did. I found this strange, bearing in mind I’d actually competed in it.
‘Yes, you’re right,’ I said.
‘Glad to see he’s ditched the short shorts in favour of trousers,’ Erin said and grinned.
We’d been seated with our producers and camera operators and other members of the production team.
I looked at the names of the original contestants and then their partners.
Femi’s partner was called Liz. The woman he was with now looked a similar age to him and I had to guess was his wife as they were holding hands.
Robert, or Bob as he’d obviously gone on to call himself, was the chap who’d died, but there were Pete and Don running in his place.
They, I already knew, were his brothers.
And there was of course lovely Priya who had come second in that first race.
She hadn’t been the quickest but she was methodical and had worked smart.
She might well be one to watch now we were all so much older.
We couldn’t rely on our speed. Her partner was Tara – her daughter, I had no doubt, because they looked so similar.
I looked back around the room and it was Harrison and Bob’s brothers who hadn’t arrived yet. I could feel the tension mounting in the way I was holding myself. I made every effort to drop my shoulders down from where they had tensed up around my ears.
Cally appeared next to us. Earlier on she’d been casually dressed in jeans and a T-shirt but now she was wearing a bright blue dress that was slashed mid-thigh and she looked fabulous with her dark hair piled up on top of her head.
I felt distinctly underdressed in black trousers and a cream silk blouse.
It was the most dressy outfit I’d packed.
Everything else I’d put in my case were thin trousers that were comfortable and easy to wash and dry, as well as fleeces, thermals, a cagoule and a winter coat.
I’d also packed sunglasses and some sunblock. I was ready for anything.
‘We’re not filming anything during the meal, but after, we’d like to do a piece-to-camera. A sort of how you feel going into the race, what your worries are, what you’re looking forward to, that sort of thing. Maybe don’t get too drunk,’ she said.
‘Will we get a formal introduction – re-introduction to the others?’ Erin asked.
‘Yes, we’ll do that in a minute when everyone has arrived and we’ll do a bit of a briefing, but the official one will happen tomorrow when we hand out your bear spray and other bits.’
‘Bear spray!’ Erin spluttered. ‘Why on earth would we need bear spray?’
‘To repel or attract them?’ I asked her with a wry smile.
‘I shouldn’t have said that. Sorry. Can you recreate that response in front of the camera tomorrow?’ Cally asked.
‘Bloody hell, what have I got myself into?’ Erin said, but I didn’t respond because the door to the dining room opened and Harrison Golding walked in.
He looked good, was my first thought. Grey trousers and a crisp white shirt with his jacket thrown over his arm.
His hair was a steel grey, cut short with a little tuft at the front to soften the look.
Partly, I was surprised I recognised him so easily, but really, how could I not after the time we had spent together.
It might have been many years ago but it had also been an intense few weeks.
He was chatting easily with the man next to him and he looked animated.
I wondered what he smelled like. Good, I imagined.
‘Oh shit,’ breathed Erin beside me as she stared at Harrison and particularly at his partner.
He was an attractive young man, not a Samantha at all.
I didn’t have time to ask her what the problem was as Cally ushered us into a gathering on what I assumed usually doubled as a dance floor.
I was standing opposite Harrison and looked him straight in the eye.
Gone was the pretence of not recognising him.
The time spent perfecting that look had been wasted.
I felt angry that he looked so good. Why couldn’t he have been a decrepit and shuffling old man.
He smiled a long, lazy smile in my direction, like he knew something I didn’t.
‘Hello, Martha,’ he said, his voice coming out in a long, low drawl.
I made every effort not to touch my hair, not to suck in my belly, not to smile back and not to speak.
The sight of him should have left me unmoved.
It had been a long time and really, what did he mean to me now?
Nothing, surely. When the worst thing possible had already happened to me, what business did I have troubling myself with such a trivial grudge.
And yet, as I looked into his eyes, I did remember how he made me feel all those years ago and I also remembered how much it had hurt.
I offered up the coldest smile I could manage. This was going to be war.
Piece-to-camera
Cally: How did you feel when we got in touch with you, Martha? Was it an easy decision to run another race?
Martha: Definitely. I was delighted to be able to challenge myself again.
Cally: So, how was it seeing your fellow contestants? It’s been fifty years, after all.
Martha: Yeah, it was incredible meeting everyone again after all this time.
Cally: Did I detect a little tension between you and Harrison? I believe he beat you in that first race. Are you harbouring any resentment?
Martha: No, no, not at all.
Cally: And, of course, for you, Erin, it was the first time you met them all. Do they seem like a good bunch to race against?
Erin: Yes. Most seem lovely.
Martha: Only most?
Erin: Ha! No, they’re all amazing. Harrison’s great-nephew seems… like an interesting person.
Cally: What, Sam?
Erin: I thought his name was Samuel?
Cally: Well, it might be, but he calls himself Sam. Do I detect a little flirtation?
Erin: Absolutely not. In fact, I’d go as far as to say, over my dead body.
‘Cut. Right, ladies, that’s perfect for now.
I’ll let you get back to your room for some much-needed sleep before we kick off tomorrow.
Oh, Erin, we might edit out that last bit.
We don’t want to make you sound bitter,’ Cally said.
‘It’s so important to get the right vibe going.
Viewers will latch on to anything and we want them to love you. ’
I got up and pulled my bag from the back of the chair, more than ready to get back to our room. Something was coming off Erin in waves and I was keen to ask her what was wrong. We got as far as the door before she turned back.
‘You know, please feel free to leave it in,’ Erin said. ‘In fact, I’d really rather you did.’