‘We’d worked for weeks on that presentation, and it was truly terrible luck that you happened to get sick on the day we had to show the bosses.’ He looked at me with big, sorrowful eyes. ‘I did ask if we could push it off a day or two, but you know how it is.’
‘Lucky old Leo. In the right place at the right time.’ I’d meant it to sound sarcastic, but it came out caustic and bitter.
‘Please don’t. You’re acting like I deliberately sabotaged you, but it was no one’s fault – we both worked hard for that job and the stars aligned for me on the day. It could just have easily been the other way around.’ He looked genuinely devastated about the whole situation. And it was true, what could he have done, really? It wasn’t his fault I was off sick, or that PR is a man’s world and men like to hire men. ‘Honestly, it wasn’t easy for me either, you know. I didn’t want to present without you, but I had to. I made it clear it was both our work.’
‘But out of sight, out of mind, eh?’
‘I get it. You were disappointed, just like I would have been if you’d got the job. Which is genuinely what I thought was going to happen – you were much more talented than me. You probably still are.’
I snapped the elastic band again, this time out of habit. ‘Yeah, but you looked the part, with your big quiff and expensive suits – which is half the battle in PR.’
‘It was luck of the draw; I honestly believe that. We were both qualified and more than capable – either one of us could have got that job. It just so happened it was me.’
What else was there to say beyond that? He was so measured and mature – but then, maybe I’d be more confident and reassured, if I’d got the job.
‘There you are!’ Heidi rushed over interrupting us in a frazzle, dismissing Leo with a nod.
‘Morning,’ he said, biting into an apple.
‘Sorry, Kat, I’m not going to make it to aqua aerobics.’ Heidi waved her phone at me, as if no further explanation was needed.
‘Why? What’s happened?’
‘The cat’s been rushed to the vet and Sam is a wreck.’
‘Righttt,’ I said, not clear how that gave her a free pass.
‘I need to be on FaceTime for the appointment,’ she said, as if it were obvious. ‘Penfold needs his mummy, Kat. Have some humanity!’
I caught Leo’s eye as he smirked into his apple then instantly regretted it as I tried not to laugh. She was losing it. Or lying. But fair play. I didn’t much fancy jumping around in a pool with lots of strangers either. ‘Of course he does. Say no more.’ I’d sit out the next activity and let her take one for the team. Two could play that game.
***
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to an aerobics class, or in a swimming pool for that matter, and I was not looking forward to a combination of the two. Aqua aerobics was for old ladies and toddlers, not for thirty-something Londoners. But if I was worried about my street cred, it was nothing compared to how the boys must have been feeling. I spotted them limbering up on the other side of the pool,and without Heidi to hang out with, headed over for moral support.
‘Ready for it?’ I asked, as I put my beach bag down and whipped off my sarong. I’d picked up the wrong sized swimming costume in my pre-cruise panic-shop but apart from a few wrinkles in the middle, you’d never know.
‘I was born ready,’ Leo said, lowering his froggy goggles. ‘Bring it on.’
‘Can’t wait,’ Zach scowled. ‘Heidi’s binned it off, then? Course she has. She’s far too important to be swimming with the plebs.’
‘No shade please, her cat’s not well, so I’m representing us both.’
The music was already pumping, and Dahlia stood in front of the pool clapping in time to the beat.
‘Aqua aerobics is starting in FIVE MINUTES,’ she hollered, holding her hand in the air, then dropping into a lunge.
The pool shimmered turquoise as people catapulted in from all sides. Diving, bombing and slithering in to get involved in the session. It was a huge relief as I’d been worried it might just be the three of us, while everyone watched us, cringing. Zach and Leo did a running jump, while I lowered myself into the icy water with a shudder. I’d been sitting in the sun too long and had overheated. Several lines had already formed in front of the ‘teacher’, so we had to join at the back and tread water in the deep end.
‘Good morning!’ Dahlia shouted, whooping as the music got louder. ‘Shall we do this?’
She didn’t wait for an answer before starting the routine, stamping her feet and waving her arms to ‘Wake me Up’ byAvicii while everyone copied the moves. Except me. My legs were too short to stamp, and I needed my arms underwater to stay afloat.
My swimming costume was now ballooning around my boobs, and I sneaked a glance at Leo and Zach who were enthusiastically following the actions, switching from the wave to draw a loop above their heads as they turned. Fifty pairs of eyes were suddenly on me as the class did a slow one-eighty, while I thrashed about like a cat in a bath and nearly lost a tit.
‘You alright there, Kat?’ Leo called, as I tucked myself back in and bobbed through the bouncing bodies to the shallow end.
It was impossible to answer him without getting a gob-full of water, so I kept moving, relieved when I could finally feel the floor beneath my feet. I stood next to a woman who was taking it very seriously and did a half version of her movements for the rest of the class, grooving to the rhythm in my own little world. There was something surreal about exercising in a pool, on a boat, in the middle of the ocean and I wondered if there was anything pitch-able in it. It was the epitome ofdance as if no one is watching. We were all doing something we could never have imagined, with people we’d never met before and were unlikely to see again. Although – wasn’t that the same as every holiday anyone ever went on? We launched into star jumps and I could see Leo at the back diligently aerobic-ing while Zach sat on the edge of the pool taking photos, his muscles flexing as he tied his hair back and grabbed his vape. The pair of them seemed so cool and focused, while Heidi FaceTimed her cat and I nearly drowned in the pool. We needed a much tightergame plan if we were going to storm this pitch. Amplify were not behaving like the underdog in any sense of the word and we couldn’t afford to let them get in our heads – or more importantly, Brooke’s ear. This account should be ours to lose, but it didn’t feel like that anymore. We had a fight on our hands, and if that meant playing dirty to win, then that was precisely what we’d have to do.
