Chapter 27
Daniel
Daniel felt dazed, an intoxicating combination of a day in the sun, a tropical paradise … and Ore. As he walked over to Oscar and Carlos, he tried to remember exactly what her hair had smelled like, the feel of her palms resting on his back, the sound of the small sigh she had let out when he drew her close.
‘I just think that it will spoil if you pack it without the ice.’ Carlos was in a bad mood it seemed. There was a fine line with him between too much and too little praise for the food. Too much and he would accuse the Americans of ‘lacking any culinary discernment’; too little and he would sulk that ‘no one but the French and the Lebanese can appreciate good food if it slaps them in the face’. Today it was the latter that aggravated him.
‘I’m taking it back on the first trip though, Carlos, and if I don’t leave the ice, the guests won’t be able to have cold drinks,’ Oscar pleaded, holding a large bag of ice cubes and looking dismayed.
‘Drinks, drinks, drinks, that is all they ever want to do; never mind the food, as long as you keep the guests drunk, they will be happy.’ Carlos was waving his arms around in a way that seemed to Daniel comically European.
Oscar caught Daniel’s eye, shrugging with exasperation.
‘Let’s keep the ice on the island and get the food back onto the boat and refrigerated as quickly as possible.’
Oscar dropped the ice, looking relieved for the timely intervention.
‘Suit yourself,’ Carlos sniffed, ‘tu me trouvera, fumer une clope.’ He stormed off.
‘Thanks, mate,’ Oscar said. Usually Daniel would have corrected him – ‘Thanks, Captain’ – but right now he was feeling so giddy that he let it slide. Together they loaded the dinghy up – gas canister, barbecue, leftover food – drove it back to the bigger boat and unloaded it again.
As they shuttled back to the shore, Daniel could see the men walking back towards the marquee, and suddenly Daniel felt anxious to get back. He didn’t like the idea of Ore facing Claude and Chuck alone.
‘Can we pick up the pace a bit?’ he asked Oscar.
‘Are you in a hurry to get back for the games then?’
‘What games?’ Daniel had no idea what he was talking about.
‘Oh yes, of course, you’re new to this. Chuck has an obsession with what he calls “team bonding”. I don’t know what it’s all about but he’ll be gearing up for a few rounds of Chicken Fight right around now,’ Oscar explained.
As they approached the shore, Daniel saw that Agatha had changed into a white one-piece swimsuit, which plunged into a deep V at the front. All the men, save Ousman, were now wearing swimming shorts and he found himself scouring the party for Ore. Eventually he spotted her; she was wearing a crew kit – red shorts and a white polo shirt.
‘Captain Wilsons, just in time.’ It was the old man – Richard. ‘The games can begin.’
Daniel and Oscar secured the dinghy and walked over to the guests where Chuck was explaining the rules: ‘It’s challengers style, so the winner stays on. No clawing, no biting, no gouging.’
‘Spoilsport!’ Richard piped up again, and everybody chuckled indulgently.
Chuck continued: ‘Last man or, excuse me, woman, standing wins. OK, team, pair up!’
Richard immediately turned to Agatha, Oscar to Nicole, and Chuck enthusiastically teamed up with Frederik. That left Daniel, Carlos, Ore and Claude. Daniel tried to catch Ore’s eye. He was shamefully excited to touch her again, but she seemed to be avoiding his gaze. She walked over to Carlos. He gave her a little bow.
‘My pleasure, mademoiselle,’ he said and the two stood side by side with the other teams, Ore resolutely looking anywhere but in Daniel’s direction. He didn’t really understand what was happening, but then maybe it was a wise move, to try and maintain at least the pretence of a ‘purely professional’ relationship.
Daniel looked over to Claude. He was wearing dark grey trunks, which emphasised his compact, dense build.
‘It seems it is you and me, Captain,’ Claude said flatly.
‘Top or bottom?’ Daniel asked, although with Claude being no more than five-seven and Daniel towering well over six feet, it was more of a courtesy question.
‘I will be on top,’ Claude acquiesced.
As everyone waded into the water, Daniel jogged to retrievea pair of shorts, discarding his stained trousers. By the time he got back to the water’s edge, Agatha was already clambering onto Richard’s shoulders and facing off with Nicole and Oscar.
‘Ready, set, go!’ Chuck was giddy with strangely childish delight as he whooped and clapped. Agatha was an – unsurprisingly – competitive player, swiping at Nicole determinedly. Nicole and Oscar, though, were an agile team, ducking and swaying out of the way with ease. Eventually it was Richard who let the side down, not moving fast enough when Nicole got a hold of Agatha’s arms and promptly yanked her into the water.
When she resurfaced, her blonde fringe plastered over her eyes, she looked annoyed. Daniel suspected she was not someone who was accustomed to losing.
