Page 29 of Below the Deck

Eleni watched as they set off, the jet skis zipping quickly away from theLusso– one of them much faster than the other. She squinted: it was Rory’s jet ski, with Nick on the back, that was moving at the greater speed. Whoops and cheers drifted from the sea – clearly they were enjoying themselves, though it looked bumpy as hell from where she was sitting.

Little boys and their toys …She didn’t see the appeal. Those things went thunderously fast – the idea scared her, to be honest. She laughed at herself. Wow, she’d changed as she got older – or maybe it was since becoming a mum. As a child, she’d been fearless: climbing skinny branches to the tops of high trees, begging herbaderato take her on the scariest rollercoasters on their annual trips to Thorpe Park.

Now, though, she perceived danger everywhere: she’d see it in the tab at the top of an open drink can, or hear it in the squawk of a bird overhead. She saw future disaster unfold in the blink of an eye – for her kids, for herself – a horror movieplaying on a reel inside her brain, leaving her grasping for an off-switch. It was exhausting.

Rory was starting to move in circles now, making sharp turns. Eleni cringed.He’s showing off.He dipped the jet ski low to the left, then spun in another fast circle and dipped it back to the right. She gasped; it looked unsafe – Nick had been scarily close to the surface of the water on that last swerve.

Kai must have caught sight of Rory’s reckless driving – he started towards them in the tender, waving his arms and shouting. But –fucking hell!– it was too late. Nick slipped, tried to grab hold of something but missed, then tumbled off the back of the jet ski, flew sideways and upwards and landed with a hard-hittingsmackon the water.

‘Nick!’

‘Slow your engines and return to the yacht immediately!’ yelled Kai into a megaphone, gesturing to the two drivers while he steered the tender with the other hand. Rory’s jet ski slowed and headed back to the swim platform, as Kai raced to the spot where Nick was drifting on the surface of the sea, unmoving, his life jacket keeping him afloat.

Eleni turned and bolted down the stairs, yelling to Johanna who was setting the table for lunch: ‘Nick’s fallen off the jet ski – I think he’s hurt!’

Johanna took off after her, following her down the spiral staircase to the main deck and the swim platform; by the time they got there, Kai had reached the edge of the stern in the tender and, with the help of the deckhands, lifted Nick from the boat and carried him over to a shaded sunbed next to the hot tub. He was horribly quiet and still.

Captain Taylor ran onto the deck, her radio crackling, Brettand Johanna close behind. The crew surrounded Nick, blocking Eleni’s view – she tried to get nearer to see what kind of state he was in, but she couldn’t get sight of him.Oh my God. Is he …?

Nick started coughing violently – Eleni still couldn’t see him, but there was no doubt.He’s alive.

‘Take it steady – deep breaths. You’re all right,’ Noah was saying. The coughs subsided. ‘You gave us all a scare there, bro. You hit the water hard – that’s why we get you wearing those helmets.’ The relief was evident in his voice.

Eleni heard someone breathing heavily at her side; she turned to see Rory, looking dazed, shell-shocked.

‘I don’t know what the hell happened. I thought he was holding on. Let me see him – come on, out the way,’ he barked to the crew. They stepped aside and Rory walked towards Nick; Eleni followed. She could see him clearly now: Nick was shaking, still taking short, wheezing breaths, but looked otherwise unharmed. She took his face in her hands, kissed his forehead. As Rory moved closer to them, Nick cringed backwards onto the sunbed.

‘I … asked you … to slow …down,’ he managed.

Eleni shook her head.Jesus, Rory. What the hell were you playing at?

‘Damn it, I’m sorry,’ said Rory. ‘I didn’t hear you over the engine. I thought you were having the time of your life.’ He wiped a hand down his face then flung drops of sweat and salt water to the floor. ‘He’ll be all right, won’t he, Captain? It was just a bit of water …’

The captain stared at Rory for a long, tense moment, then looked at Nick. ‘I’ve called for a medic to check you over –they’re on their way. With these kinds of incidents, there’s a small risk of concussion, so I want us to take every precaution. How are you feeling now?’

Nick nodded. ‘I think I’ll live.’ He tried a smile. But watching him there, Eleni thought how fragile he looked; how scared. That was always there, wasn’t it? Behind every man – no matter how successful, how strong, how powerful – was a frightened little boy who just wanted their mum.

‘Is he okay?’ Sam had appeared behind Eleni, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned to him.

‘I think so.’

Sam exhaled, shook his head, then leaned down and whispered in her ear. ‘That was wild, the way Rory was driving. It looked like he was trying to knock Nick off.’

Eleni acknowledged him with a tilt of her head, and said nothing.

But the truth was, she’d been thinking exactly the same thing.

The table was quiet as Johanna served lunch. The group – minus Nick, who was seeing the doctor in the sky lounge – ate their chicken skewers with pineapple chilli sauce in silence. Lucy and Mark had reappeared separately just before lunch, and were barely looking at each other. Eleni remembered the scene last night vividly: Mark– all up in Rory’s face – drunk, yes, but clearly furious. It was weird – the aggression had come out of nowhere.

Or had it?Eleni recalled the bruise she’d seen yesterday on Lucy’s arm. A bruise that looked, to her eyes at least, as though it came from something other than a night-time stumble. Shetugged absently at the sleeve of her kaftan, then glanced at her boss. Rory – who as far as Eleni knew, didn’t get embarrassed by anything; didn’t take the blame even for things that were his fault – looked shame-faced. None of it made any sense; Rory had no reason to want to harm Nick – unless …

No.Much more likely, Rory had been showing off and taken it too far. That would be typical: Rory could be an arrogant twat, yes. But he wouldn’t want to hurt anyone, Eleni was sure of it. She just hoped he wouldn’t feel guilty enough about this to start avoiding Eleni and Nick altogether.Maybe I should try to talk to him later, reassure him there are no hard feelings.

After they’d cleared their plates, the doctor returned to the main deck and got back into the tender for Kai to return him to shore. Eleni got to her feet. ‘I’m going to see how Nick’s doing.’

She headed upstairs and found him lying on a sofa in the sky lounge, remote in hand, flicking through channels on the flatscreen TV with the volume low. He looked listless; depressed. As Eleni approached, he switched off the TV and smiled at her.

‘Hey,’ she said, sitting at his feet. ‘What did the doctor say?’