Page 39 of Below the Deck

Lucy leaned closer to him. ‘Please be quiet,’ she hissed.

‘What? I’m just pointing out, we’re not exactly changing the world together, are we?’ Mark glared at Rory again. ‘How could we, when you spend more time with your boss than you do with me?’

Talia gasped; across the table, Eleni’s martini glass wobbled in her hand and nearly spilled. Rory looked at Talia in panic; she reached a hand out to soothe him. He sighed. ‘Ah, now, come on, Mark – let’s save the lovers’ tiff for the privacy of our own cabins, shall we?’

From the other side of Talia, Sam grunted his displeasure.‘What, like you did this afternoon?’ he said. ‘When you spoke to Talia like that, in front of everyone?’

Please don’t bring me into this.‘Sam, really,’ Talia interjected. ‘That’s quite enough.’

‘No,’ Sam said, ‘I don’t think it is.’ Then more quietly, so only Talia could hear: ‘You shouldn’t have to put up with it.’

Across the table, Eleni started to cough violently. Talia glanced over; she’d gone bright red and was waving her hands in front of her face.

‘Sorry,’ she choked out. ‘Drink went down the wrong hole.’

‘Are you all right?’ Nick turned to his wife and started patting her on the back. ‘Take a deep breath, you’re making it worse by trying to talk.’

Slowly Eleni began to breathe normally again, her cheeks returning to their usual colour. Behind Talia, Johanna wandered between them awkwardly, placing their main courses on the table.

‘Christ, this has all turned a bit depressing,’ said Rory, sawing vigorously at his steak. ‘Let’s lighten up, shall we? Johanna – let’s open the red, please. Come on, folks, let’s enjoy ourselves – remember why we’re all here …’

‘Oh, I remember,’ murmured Lucy, half to herself. Talia shook her head.What on earth is the matter with everyone?

‘Well, I think the honesty is great, actually,’ said Sam. ‘It’s healthy. Everyone getting things out in the open. So – anyone else? Anything you’d like to share, while we’re getting things off our chest? Lucy – Eleni?’ He glanced around the table, then to his boss at its head. ‘Rory?’

‘That’s quite enough, Sam,’ said Rory, leaning back in his chair. The colour had drained from his face; his hands were shaking.

‘Rory’s right,’ piped up Eleni. ‘That’s enough. There’s no need for all the hostility. Look where we are – on the trip of a lifetime. We’re all so lucky to be here.’ Her voice sounded cheerful, and she took an enthusiastic bite of her steak once she’d finished speaking, but there was an unmistakeable note of fear in her eyes.

‘Well,’ said Nick, his eyes narrowing a touch. ‘I’m lucky to be aliveat allafter Rory’s stunt on the jet ski this morning.’

Rory’s fork clattered onto his plate; his jaw dropped; his mouth opened and closed like a ventriloquist’s doll. ‘I … I told you, Nick. It was an accident. I thought you were holding on tightly—’

‘Yeah, of course – an accident,’ Nick said, waving a hand. ‘It was my fault, wasn’t it, I suppose?’

Eleni’s eyes widened. ‘Nick, please …’

But the quiet tension Rory had been keeping under wraps exploded then into quick, urgent rage. ‘For God’s sake, all of you!’ he snarled. ‘Of course it wasn’t anyone’s fault – it was just one of those things. And I’d appreciate less of these ridiculous accusations when I’ve brought you all on the trip of a bloody lifetime!’

Talia stood up, mute with shock, watching as Rory turned and stormed across the deck and inside the salon, main course half-eaten, swearing loudly. She too was flooded with rage.

The audacity of Rory’s co-workers – these … thesechildren, who stared at spreadsheets and went on jollies visiting old buildings and patches of land; who had no idea what it meant to build a business up from its roots; who couldn’t possibly imagine what it had taken out of Rory – out of their entire family – to build the company and the life that he had;to have done well enough that he could reward his colleagues every year with something as spectacular as this.

‘You’ve all crossed the line,’ Talia seethed. ‘And I won’t watch you three’ – she gestured to Rory’s colleagues – ‘sit in silence while people accuse my husband – the man who’s brought you here on a very expensive holiday, for God’s sake – of … of … I don’t even know what!’

‘I’m sorry,’ Lucy said. ‘I’m sure no one meant to upset you, or make you cross. I’m very grateful to Rory for giving me a spot here.’

‘Me too,’ said Eleni. ‘Truly, I’m so sorry. We all are.’

The heat of Talia’s anger cooled; the women looked genuinely shame-faced. But the same couldn’t be said for the men around the table.

‘I don’t need you apologizing on my behalf,’ Nick told Eleni. ‘I’m done here.’ He stood abruptly, knocking the edge of the table.

Talia’s newly filled glass of red wine wobbled and, before she could catch it, toppled over, spreading crimson liquid across the tablecloth, dripping over the edge and onto the floor.

She watched in horror as the white fabric turned blood-red, dread forming in the pit of her stomach. Staring at it, she had the unshakable feeling that a door leading somewhere awful had just opened tonight.

And that perhaps it was already too late to close it.