“She’sworkingon the boat, Ben,” I told him, glancing back at her to see that she was being herded away to wait for the minibus with the rest of the catering and bar staff. “And she’s a teenager.”
I didn’t mention that she was also most likely a drug addict. I’d been sitting just the other side of the curtain when the airhostess had had to eject her from the toilet and search her bag. She’d told Urvi to go back to her seat then taken the bag to the other flight crew - I’d heard her mumble about drugs and needles before they’d all gone out of earshot.
Later I’d overheard the same airhostess saying to one of her colleagues that she thought she should “report it as a critical incident”. The other hostess had rolled her eyes and told her to “forget about it” and said that “everyone makes mistakes”. They probably didn’t want to report Urvi because of the amount of paperwork it would generate, the lazy sods. Well, the last thing I needed was a drug-using teenager on my boat, but without any evidence I was just going to have to put up with it. To think I’d actually wanted to invite her as my date? I must have been out of my mind. The upside was that the more inappropriate she became the easier I found it to take her rejection. Good news as thenot her typecomment still cut like a knife.
Why then did the thought of Ben cracking onto her make me want to punch a brick wall with my bare fist?
“What? She didn’tseemlike a teenager,” Ben said, frowning at me in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” I snapped. “Keep your dick in your pants.”
I glanced over at where Urvi was waiting with the other staff. Her head was bowed and she looked tired but still heart-stoppingly beautiful. Now that I had my suspicions about drug use I could see that she was a littletoothin and there were dark circles under her eyes. She certainly didn’t look the picture of health. An arrow of concern shot through me and I forced myself to look away.Not my problem, I told myself as the limo pulled up and I opened the door to the luxury air-conditioned interior.
The staff were still waiting on the tarmac as we pulled away. It was bloody hot out there, nearly forty degrees. What was taking that minibus so long? I pulled out my phone.
“Graham,” I said, after he answered on the second ring. Ben gave me a curious look from the other side of the car. “Listen, what’s the delay with the staff transport? They’ll boil to death out there.”
“Uh, boss, they’ve been waiting maybe five minutes,” my PA replied in a confused tone. “It’s not really our responsibility anyway. The boat crew and the head steward sort – ”
“I don’t care whose responsibility it is,” I told him through gritted teeth. “Get them picked upnow. Put them in taxis if you have to. I don’t want them all collapsing before they’ve even served one sodding drink.”
“Er . . . right, okay. It’s just you’ve never really cared much about – “
“Just sort it, Graham. Thatiswhat I pay you for, right?”
“Fine, fine, keep your knickers on,” he told me and then hung up. Graham was a pain in my arse but he got things done. I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding, and met Ben’s curious gaze.
“What?” I snapped.
“Hey,” he said, holding both his hands up and grinning at me. “Calm down, boss man. I’m not the one boiling your employees alive. Since when have you been such an arsehole anyway? Wonder what might have sparked that off?”
“Shut up.”
*****
Urvi
I pulled at the hem of my short shorts but it was no use: they were indecent. The polo shirt wasn’t much better. I’d been allocated a “small”, which was in fact child-sized even on my slight frame. It pulled tight across my chest and revealed my stomach if I lifted my arms even an inch. My mother would kill me if she saw me in this get up. Thinking how nice it’d be for Mum to speak to me at all, even if it was just to criticise my clothes, made my chest ache. Instead I tried to concentrate on what the short, puffed-up man in front of me was saying.
“You are all being paid anexorbitantamount to be here,” Mr Blight, the head steward told us and I looked up the line at the other servers. Most were girls, all in equally tight outfits and all stunning to look at. There were a few token men in there but they didn’t have to suffer the indignity of the short shorts. “You may think this is an easy gig and that you can relax and hang out by the pool,” he went on, “but nothing could be further from the truth. When you’re on deck you workhardand you work solidly. Don’t come whining to me about breaks, or your feet hurting, or your arms giving way and dropping a whole load of glasses. Anything you drop, you pay for. No carrying around water bottles like you need constant hydration – you are not trekking through the Sahara; no eating on deck or in front of the guests. When you’re cleaning the cabins you get in and out unseen. Aim to be invisible. You’re here to work, not to swan around sipping cocktails. Am I understood?”
Kira coughed the word “wankpuffin” into her hand and Mr Blight’s gaze sharpened on her.
“Just clearing my throat,” she said, smiling at him.
“Don’t think you can fuck with me, young lady,” he told her.
“Believe me I wouldn’tdreamoffuckingwith you,” she said in a sincere voice, eyes wide with innocence.
His left eye twitched and his face went a scary shade of red before he controlled his anger and looked away towards the massive dining table. Yes, we were in a dining room of an actual boat. This thing was enormous. The guests were all getting sorted in their cabins. There were ten guest cabins at one end of the boat and two bunkrooms for the staff at the other. It was more like a ferry than a boat in my opinion.
“So, no drugs, no fights, no breaking the law in any way,” Mr Blight continued in a low angry tone. “You will paste a smile on your face and it will remain there whenever you are serving. These clients are all extremely rich and powerful people – they expect the best. They arealwaysright, no matter what. I will happily throw you off the boat to make your own way home if I do not feel you are up to standard. Understood?”
There was silence. Even Kira kept quiet.
“Right, well,” Mr Blight continued after clearing his throat. “Let’s get on with it shall we. No point you lot standing around like lemmings – the guests will be out in a few minutes and expecting their welcome glass of champagne.” He glanced at the door for a moment and then took a step towards us before lowering his voice. “And if you want to bepaidyou’ll report to me and not over my head. Understand?”
Chapter 5
