A powerful rapping of knuckles on the door caused her heart to lurch.
‘Anybody in there?’ boomed Vincent’s voice.
’Course they bloody were. Why else would the door be locked?
‘Out in a minute,’ she piped. God, her voice sounded like a pet gerbil.
Meanwhile, the pale-pink tank top that had looked longer, she was certain, on the website, was in fact,horror of horrors, undoubtedly some sort of sports bra. They must have sent the wrong thing. She’ddefinitelyordered a top, but what had arrived was something that left a three-inch gap of midriff, which she totally hadn’t prepared for. If she’d onlyknownthat that piece of her body would be on display, well, at least she could’ve done something drastic about it. How could she have been so dim as not to try everything on beforehand? How many crunches could she have done? Plenty, that’s how feckin’ many. And that’d have been a whole lot better than zero.
In fact, was there space in the bathroom to do a few quick sit-ups right now? Not a chance. She had to come up with a solution. It was all aboutcreating an illusion. If she stood ramrod straight and sucked everything in, she could pass herself off, but then .?.?. if she forgot and breathed out .?.?. Oh, whatever.
The other issue was that the sports-bra thing she’d bought was turning out to be uncomfortably close to her own skin tone and would look, to the casual observer, as though she were climbing topless.
Oh well, too late now. Got to go.
She opened the door, only to find herself face to face with Vincent’s six-foot-four frame. He’d obviously been hovering out there, earwigging her panicked mumblings, and he looked her up and down with narrowed eyes as she tottered past him, feeling painfully exposed. Just as she started down the stairs, sheheard him muttering under his breath, ‘Ho, ho, I do love me a bit of camel toe. Yummy.’
She was too shocked to turn around – or had she just imagined it? Oh, feck it, so what? She’d more to worry about right now than creepy Vincent and his slimy comments. She had possible imminent death to consider, which was bad enough without full exposure of her cellulite.
* * *
William tooted the horn and waved from his new sky-blue EV. Even his car looked cheery. Clearly, IT jobs paid a great deal more than anything she was qualified for.
She hopped in beside him, glad to get out of the wet at least. There was something intimate about sitting inside someone’s car. Like you had an insight into their own private little world.
‘Nice car, William.’
He smiled and pulled out into the traffic while glancing down at the winking display screen.
‘Thanks. Hmm, she’s at sixty-eight per cent. You know, it’s amazing – when you have the lights, heat and windscreen wipers on, it eats the battery, but d’you know, when you put your foot on the brake, it actually starts to recharge,’ he announced affectionately, as though his car had just scored a load of points in the Leaving Cert.
She had a quick look around; there was that new-car smell and a tiny Galway Gaelic football jumper dangling from the mirror. He was in his happy place.
‘I worked from home today – a bit claustrophobic with the other lads, so at least we can relax and unwind on the wall. It’s one of the highest in Europe, by the way.’
Oh my God. They couldn’t have been on more different pages.Look, she scolded herself, it’ll probably be absolutely fine. She was likely worrying unnecessarily. It also turned out that his friends, Ronan and Fergus, had heard nothing more from the law, so the whole brawl debacle seemed to have been forgotten about. In short, William was in top form. And why not? Mortal danger was his happy place, apparently.
* * *
Ally gazed up at the towering walls, a good three-storey high, with coloured knobs stuck in at intervals all the way up, which she recognised were handholds. There was pounding techno music playing, presumably to get the adrenalin pumping, but that only had the effect of making her feel even more petrified.
‘Great,’ enthused William, ‘let’s put our stuff in a locker and get going. Have you got your own harness, by the way?’
‘Er, no.’
‘Not a bother in the world, we’ll hire one for you. I’m paying,’ he said cheerfully.
Whatever else she might be feeling, she was clearly getting to see William at his best. If only the same could be said for herself. She took off her coat and stuffed it in the locker. He was wearing well-worn, but obviously good, climbing clothes that looked like they’d seen a lot of hours on the wall. Like a dancer’s practice gear, she thought, they looked cool in a way that was earned through hard work. William looked at her skimpy outfit admiringly.
‘Nice one, Ally, I can see that you’re prepared for some really physical climbing. I like it.’
This charade has got to stop, she decided.
‘Look, William, I’ve got to be honest, I’m really nervous about this.’
He looked bewildered. ‘Nervous? Why?’
‘Because I haven’t .?.?. actually ever climbed .?.?. anything quite this high before. I normally climb .?.?. lower rocks.’
