‘What do I do?’ I screech, as the wire cables and pulleys jerk into action, winching the mainsail towards him. I can barely make him out. Jackson is edging further and further towards the end of the boom, away from it.
‘Lower the jib!’
‘How?’
‘Pull on the lever, by the halyard. Then secure the mast. Hurry!’
I flap about, staring wildly at the lines of ropes, the wires, the many wooden rods, and yank down on the first thing to catch my eye. There’s a moment of silence and I wait helplessly as the complex mechanisms whir and creak before grinding to a halt. The rigging stops inches from Jackson.
All I can hear is his heavy breathing as he inches slowly back along the beam towards me. He leaps down, visibly shaken, pink bra in hand like a heroic fireman rescuing a baby kitten from a house fire.
He holds it gallantly towards me. Now is not the time to tell him that it cost seventy-five pence from Woolworths in the sale and was probably not worth risking his life over.
‘Thanks, but that’s not mine. Mine’s the other one. The blue one with the lace, up there,’ I say, pointing upwards. ‘You’ve probably just got time to climb back up before everyone gets…’
Jackson follows my finger before realising I’m joking. His eyes crinkle as he lets out a long, slow, breathy chortle. He runs his hand sexily through his hair. ‘Fuck me.’
I let out a giggle. ‘Good job you knew what to do.’
‘Good job someone has read the Emergency Procedures manual. Struth, I nearly had a heart attack back there.’
Best not mention it was largely down to guesswork and I’ve still no idea what a halyard is.‘No worries. I would have given you mouth to mouth in an emergency situation.’
Jackson grins at me, shaking his head. I can tell he’s impressed at how cool I am under pressure.
‘Well, that’s one hell of a way to end a date,’ I say as the guests’ footsteps grow ever closer. ‘What’ll I need to rescue you from next? How about you cover yourself in offal and throw yourself to the sharks?’
‘I like to leave a girl with a lasting impression.’ He leans in to give me a quick peck on the lips. ‘I’ll try to return the favour,’ he says, his dark eyes meeting mine. ‘I’ll meet you in two days at Selimiye Bay like we planned. Okay? And not a word to the others.’
I nod excitedly. ‘I’ll stay under the radar.’
* * *
I wake the next morning fresh as a daisy because I had the best sleep of the trip so far. I didn’t even hear the girls come in. One glance over to their beds and I realise why: they are unslept in. Taking advantage of the peace and quiet, I slip into the shower, lather on creamy foam, and revel in the sweet memories of last night and Jackson and his hot mouth on mine and the fact that things would definitely have gone further if we hadn’t been interrupted by…
‘Watch out!’ bellows Astrid, charging past me to hurl chunks into the toilet basin.
This again?
She twists her hunched half-naked body to peer at me in the shower. ‘Sorry. I couldn’t… wait’ – she resumes her horror-movie level of purging – ‘for…’ She clutches the sides of the bowl, her head almost disappearing inside. ‘You…blaaaargh… to finish.’ I wilt, watching her liberally unroll reams and reams of toilet paper to mop at her face before slinging it casually down the loo.
‘That’s okay.’ I step out of the shower and quickly wrap a towel around me. ‘Are you ill? You’ve been sick a lot lately.’I hope it’s nothing catching.
‘Seasick again?’ says Tiffany, swinging the door open. She puts her hands on her hips and looks ready to give Astrid a lecture. ‘Did you remember to take the seasick tablets I got you?’
Astrid unfolds herself with great effort, huffing and puffing, and stands up, gripping onto the sink. She looks deathly pale and gaunt. Her eyes are hollow with dark shadows underneath. A far cry from the enthusiastic cock-muncher she appeared to be last night. I notice Tiffany sweep her gaze the length of Astrid’s body, doing a double take as she lasers in on Astrid’s swollen stomach area.
Astrid grabs a towel to cover up. ‘I need a shower. Move, please.’
I quickly shuffle to the side. The bathroom is not designed for three people, but Tiffany is standing rigid, and her jaw has dropped open. I squeeze past her. I’ll just let the two of them get on with it. I can’t face any more drama and I’m only on this boat until tomorrow evening. Plus, I’m pretty sure Jackson will be sacking the whole team soon anyway.
TRIIIIIIIIING. TRIIIIIIIIING. TRIIIIIIIIING. An ear-splitting alarm bell alerts us to the fact that we are setting sail. And that we as the holiday reps should be on deck performing our duties as per the agreed roster.
I throw on some clothes and hurl myself up the stairs just in time to see the captain pick up my block of wood with the nail sticking out. It seems like he’s asking one of the chefs what it is in Turkish. ‘It’s the Mallet Method,’ I explain, walking towards him. ‘It’s a new system I’ve introduced to make sure that the guests are charged the correct amount for food, drinks and equipment hire.’ I take the wooden block from him and flick my fingers up and down the receipts. ‘This way, all of the receipts are in chronological order and therefore much easier to process. It’s a simple but effective form of rudimentary bookkeeping.’
He nods, looking impressed.
‘We don’t need it,’ barks Garry, stomping towards us. He yanks it out of my hands. ‘I’ll take that, thank you very much. You have cleaning dutyand…’ He swivels his eyes about the deck, conjuring up another job for me to do that presumably keeps me out of his hair. His lank, greasy, rat-tailed hair. ‘…and then after that you’ll do a kayak safari over to the island.’
