Chapter 30
Daniel
Day 4
Daniel slept deeply that night. The strangeness of the day had exhausted him. He didn’t dream, and when he awoke the creases of the pillow had, once again left an indent in his cheek. He examined himself as he brushed his teeth. His hair was growing a little long, the neat peaks fuzzing into overgrowth, and he needed to shave.
They were about twenty-four hours away from the reef and Daniel was grateful to have something to occupy his thoughts that didn’t involve Ore. In a bizarre way he was slightly relieved that she had stopped talking to him – for what reason he couldn’t work out, but it gave him a chance to rearrange his priorities into a respectable order.
It was really none of his business what she got up to, and now that it seemed unlikely she would be alone with Claude again, he would do well to stay out of it.
Breakfast in the mess was a sullen affair; Vicky seemed to be in a terrible mood after being kept up to the early hours of the morning first by Chuck’s guests and then byMelanie who had had a meltdown about the partridges at dinner.
‘She’s a walking contradiction, that girl, calls herself an “environmentalist” but takes a dozen private jet flights a month, is vegan but has a designer croc skin handbag that costs more than my apartment!’ Sometimes Daniel found himself wondering why Vicky continued to do this job. The ultra-rich seemed to infuriate her and yet she’d dedicated years of her life to catering to their whims.
‘I still remember when she went through her Pingu phase. The girl was about eight; she’d watched a couple of episodes, but who had to organise for the yacht to sail all the way to Cape Town so she could go see the penguins?’
Dudley rolled his eyes as though he’d heard the story a dozen times before, but Amanda and Nicole gave the appropriate disapproving reactions.
Daniel was quiet, newly resolved to get on with his job. Vicky was having none of it.
‘So how was yesterday then? Any drama?’
Daniel shrugged and Vicky turned her attention to Nicole, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Nicole needed no more prompting than that.
She leant in conspiratorially as she spoke. ‘Well … that reporter woman got suuuper sick on the boat out, and then at one point she went off with Claude.’
At the mention of his name, Dudley’s head shot up from the bowl of cereal he was swirling with his spoon.
‘Don’t, Dudley.’ Vicky gave him a stern look.Don’t say a word,it seemed to say.
Nicole seemed confused. ‘Anyway … So yeah she went off with him for a while, but they just looked like they were talking and having a cigarette, and then it was lunchtime and Carlos was in a terrible mood because everyone was a bit drunk and not finishing the food …’ Nicole paused for breath. ‘And then I spilt a drink down the captain …’ She looked over at Daniel, blushing slightly.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said flatly.
‘And then like at one point it looked like …’ She blushed again and Daniel willed her to hold her tongue.
‘Do go on …’ Vicky seemed to have a sixth sense for gossip. A sly smile crept across her face as she looked from Daniel’s stony expression to Nicole’s slightly nervous one.
‘Well it looked like the captain and the reporter had a bit of a moment …’
Daniel glared at Nicole. How had he let his authority slip such that this stewardess felt comfortable enough to gossip about him in front of his face? He’d been too lax on this job; that much was clear.
Vicky was grinning. ‘What kind of moment?’ She turned to Daniel.
‘It was nothing. She was just feeling a bit … uncomfortable about her interaction with Claude …’ Daniel hoped that the mention of Claude might shut the conversation down but instead it just piqued Vicky’s interest further.
‘So you thoughtyou’dcomfort her?’ Vicky’s tone was suggestive of something untoward and suddenly Daniel felt like he was the one who had taken advantage of her. It struck him that maybe that was how Ore had interpreted it. Was that why she had been acting distant?
‘It wasn’t like that.’ Daniel’s denial sounded limp, evenhewasn’t sure he believed it.
‘Well, Captain, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this, but you’d be advised not to mix business with pleasure.’
Daniel was mortified, and he shot Nicole a look, but she just shrugged. It was clear that this stewardess knew where her loyalties lay, and it wasn’t with him.
‘And then Agatha and Ore seemed to have a tense convo as well, not sure what it was about but the vibes were terrible.’ Nicole concluded her rundown of the day and Daniel wondered what that exchange might have been about. Maybe Agatha had said something about that night on deck and Ore really did think he was some sort of predator? The stillness of mind he’d managed to cultivate that morning had already evaporated, and before he’d even finished his eggs.
‘By the way, Daniel, Carlos told me to tell you that he’s agreed to speak to Ore today, so you’ll need to make some time this afternoon.’ Vicky sounded like she was annoyed at having to relay this information, but Daniel didn’t have the energy to try and figure out why.
