‘I’m sure it’s no bother, right, Sofia?’ He looked up at Sofia, protective and stern.
‘Not at all. Right this way,’ she said brightly, leading them over to the tender.
Jack was looking resolutely grumpy when as they made their way over, the tender was already in the water. ‘Are we finally ready?’
Sofia wondered, not for the first time, where this obsession with timekeeping came from.
It was her turn to give a stern look. They didn’t want a distressed Milly on their hands for the day.
‘That was my fault,’ Brian piped up, and Sofia spied the look of gratitude Milly shot up at him.
‘Right, well we better get a move on.’ Jack ushered them all onto the boat, handing around the life jackets. ‘So have either of you scuba dived before?’ he asked brashly.
‘I have,’ Brian said, and then putting his arm around Milly he added, ‘And Mills has tried in a pool once.’
Jack raised an eyebrow and Sofia understood why he had never made it as front of house. Not expressing disdain and irritation with your guests was probably lesson number one.
‘Well that’s a great start,’ Sofia interjected before Jack could say something dismissive. ‘I’ve never been before, so it’s nice to have a few people with experience around me.’
Milly and Brian both beamed and Sofia hoped she was making up for Jack’s raincloud. She did, after all, feel partly responsible. The reminder of his dawn trips to visit his dead mother had been ill-timed, at best.
‘Well, Sofia, I might need you to stay on the boat honestly, but let’s see.’ He hadn’t understood her strategy for making Milly feel more at ease. It only then occurred to her that her strategy was also going to lose her that stupid bet.
Jack started the engine and they glided across the waves. Once again Sofia was reminded how much she loved being out on the water. Something about the spray and the motor imitating white noise made her feel totally free without feeling alone.
***
After about half an hour on the water, they began running parallel with the jagged cliff face. The pale grey stone protruded from the sea in bulbous clumps, like coral coming up for air and dotted with parasol shoots and beach towels in every colour.
Jack slowed the boat as they came to an opening in the rock. From where they were, it seemed impossible that he could drive through it. As they approached at an angle the facade gave way to an alcove of shallower, crystal-clear water. It was a popular local spot by the looks of it, children splashing in the rock pools at one end, teenagers jumping off ledges into the deeper waters at the other.
Jack manoeuvred the boat and jumped out onto a craggy ridge, seamlessly pushing the bow of the boat with his foot to stop it crashing, and pulling the rope tight to tie it around a hook hammered into the rock face.
‘Anything I can do?’ Sofia was standing helplessly in the middle of the boat, awaiting instruction.
‘Just sit there and look pretty,’ Jack replied, distracted as he hopped back onto the boat and fiddled with the controls. Sofia flopped back into her seat.
Milly clapped her hands together gracefully. ‘You two are so cute. Today is going to be so much fun.’ Sofia just smiled. She wasn’t really in a position to explain to Milly that there was, in fact, nothing cute going on between her and Jack. It was anything but cute; it was ugly and complicated and threatened both their livelihoods, not to mention wreaking havoc on her nerves.
***
When he was done parking, Jack turned to face them. ‘So who wants to go first?’ He didn’t seem as bad-tempered as earlier but Sofia could see that the mask he sometimes wore, the one that gave his eyes that vacant expression, was on.
Brian raised his hand eagerly.
‘Right, let’s get you into the kit then, and then Milly maybe you can join us for a bit? If there’s time at the end, Sofia, we can do some basic breathing exercises in the shallows.’ Jack rattled off the plan robotically, as if reciting from a memorised script. Sofia supposed this was how colleagues might usually interact, but she felt a little stung by how impersonal it all was. No more knowing looks and in-jokes, just the matter at hand.
Sofia had to avert her eyes as Jack removed his shirt and trousers. Underneath he wore simple navy swimming trunks. She was looking down and caught herself staring at his calves again. They were tanned and toned, just like the rest of him. Both men shrugged into the scuba harnesses and tested their oxygen. Once they had pulled on their flippers and goggles, Sofia trusted herself enough to look directly at them.
Jack looked goofy, sure, his dark hair pushed up and away from his forehead by the mask and the harness clipped across his nipples, but it also felt tantalising to see his body so exposed in the full light of day. That night she had felt her way around, more than she had looked, and it was only now that the two senses were calibrating that she could fully understand just how beautiful he was.
Milly went over to where Brian was sitting on the edge of the boat and removed the breathing equipment from his mouth, replacing it with her lips and tongue. Both Sofia and Jack looked away.
‘Have fun, baby. Come back in one piece,’ Milly whispered into his ear. He pecked her on the cheek and pulled down his goggles. The men fell backwards into the water, leaving Milly and Sofia on the boat.
‘I hope they’re going to be OK.’ Milly was already fretting. Just then Jack came to the surface with a thumbs up.
‘Jack knows what he’s doing.’At least when it comes to scuba diving,thought Sofia.
