‘Jesus, is that a… a shark!?’ Zach stammered, and we all ran to the window. A sharp fin was slicing through the inky water, heading straight towards the boat. My stomach roiled with fear before a bottlenose poked out. ‘No, it’s a dolphin, two dolphins… three!’ Snouts were popping up all over the place as a pod of dolphins propelled themselves through the water. We had a clear view as they chased eachother alongside the boat, taking it in turns to bob up and down and occasionally leaping in the air.
The five of us stood mesmerised.
‘Are they talking about us?’ Leo whispered. It did look like they were gossiping, giving us the side-eye with their big, cheeky smiles.
‘It’s all part of the show, I reckon. Putting on the ol’ razzle-dazzle for the tourists,’ I said. ‘Being paid in fish by Greg.’
‘First come the dolphins and then come the whales,’ Brooke squealed in delight. ‘Shall we go up top to watch? I’m sure Arlo will let us into the captain’s cockpit, or whatever it’s called.’
There were maybe twenty people on the boat in total, taking photos – or trying to – of the dolphins. Brooke went upstairs with Heidi and Zach, but I wasn’t keen to be stuck in another enclosed space, so I knelt up on one of the seats to get as close as I could to the action.
‘Mind if I hang down here with you?’ Leo asked, appearing next to me.
‘Do I have a choice?’ I said, irritated.
He turned and frowned. ‘Have I done something to upset you?’
‘No.’ My cheeks reddened as he called me out on it.
‘I saved your life last night, remember?’
‘True. Thanks again for that,’ I said, embarrassed. ‘Sorry, I’m feeling seasick and salty – and we’re back in competition mode, remember.’
‘It’s a friendly competition though, right? PR is a small world, there’s nothing to gain from being enemies – we probably know a lot of the same people. Can’t we just be friends?’
It was ridiculous and small to say no. ‘Sure, why not.’
I wondered how many more people we’d both know if I’d have got that job at Engelman instead of him. Posh old Leo would have walked into a job with Daddy’s contacts anyway, but no, he’d snatched the opportunity from under my nose and it had taken me a while to reboot. And now he was a CEO, and I was a dispensable employee. He’d taken one job from me and there was no way he was going to do it again.
The chattering caws of seagulls reached a crescendo as the boat started to slow. Gulls sat on top of the water, watching as their friends skidded in, taking it in turns to dive underwater and grab a fishy lunch.
‘The whales must be close,’ Leo said, pulling out a pair of binoculars. ‘The seagulls know what they’re doing.’
‘Ooooooh,’ a lady next to me let out a piercing cry. ‘I can see one!’ There was a shimmer in the water as a whale broke the surface, and then another and another.
‘Humpbacks,’ someone shouted, among the whoops of excitement. The enormous blue lumps were way ahead of the seagulls, gliding through the water, then taking it in turns to disappear, before bobbing back up.
‘Oh wow,’ I said, too stunned to take a photo. They were so much bigger than I was expecting. I thought I could see the whole thing, then realised it was just his head; his tail was miles away. The dolphins were tiny in comparison.
‘The size of them!’ Leo said, offering me his binoculars. ‘They must be permanently hungry.’
I could see the whale’s eyes and long nose snorting out of the water, the ridges across his back undulating blue and grey. I’d never seen such a huge creature in real life.
‘Is it a family, do you think?’ I asked, spotting the second whale who was slightly smaller and then the third who was half the size.
‘Looks like one. I can’t imagine you can leave your giant whale baby at home while you go out to find a shoal of fish for dinner.’
One of the whales waved his flipper, then nosed up and twirled in the air, splashing down into the water below and sending waves in our direction.
‘Breaching in the wild,’ Leo said, with a low whistle. ‘Incredible. You don’t see this every day.’
‘Are you into… whales then?’ I asked.
‘Not whales per se; I’m into all animals. I wanted to be a vet when I was little.’
‘You wouldn’t have seen many whales as a vet, I wouldn’t think?’
‘Then I changed my mind to marine biologist, and then good old PR.’
