‘Oh my god, are you doing your show tonight? Is it the same? TELL me it’s JUST THE SAME!’ gushed Talia, releasing him and going back to grab her case. She seemed very emotional - actual tears in her eyes. ‘We’re having a reunion tonight! We’re back after seven years! You do remember us, don’t you? I mean… you can’t forget Kate!’
‘I haven’t forgotten any of you,’ he said.
‘Loo-kin’ goood, Barney-boy!’ she went on, eyeing his jeans, trainers and skinny rib sweatshirt combo with approval and then checking out the hair, which was probably too long and girlish, even though he got it cut at least once a month. ‘God!’ She peered at his face, gnawing on her plump lower lip. ‘I would kill for eyelashes like that! Who knew you’d turn out to be such a hunk! When are you on? We’ll be there.’
‘Not until tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I’m doing the kids’ show at midday in the children’s theatre and then I’m doing the full show at seven in the Embassy Ballroom.’
‘Oh — OK. Well, maybe tonight’s not the best night anyway,’ she said, her bright smile fading a little and the teary eyes filling up. ‘We’re going to be processing things a bit. You heard about Martin, yeah?’
He nodded. ‘Really sad. I never knew he was depressed.’
She shook her head, sniffing. ‘Such a shock. We’re going to have to get royally pissed in his honour tonight… so yeah, much better for us to catch your show tomorrow. I gotta get to my chalet and then meet up with everyone. See you tomorrow, yeah?’ She waved and trotted away at speed.
She hadn’t changed much. Still the same Talia. He shrugged and went to the dining room. The roar, as he opened the door, hit him like a tsunami.
He backed away. Maybe not. Maybe just pick up a hotdog in the small café by the gift shop instead. He reckoned Kate would probably do the same. Maybe he would see her. Maybe he would even say hello. Or maybe he would just watch her for a while.
Ellie checked into the entertainments office and scanned the rota pinned to the wall behind Gary’s desk. She was relieved to see that she wasn’t scheduled for another pool shift until the middle of next week, by which time the new guy should have joined them. She would be happy if she never went into Jungle Water World again. Not that she did very often, anyway. Friday evening and early Saturday morning were the only times it was safe to swim. As soon as she, Uncle Bobby and her fellow children’s aunty, Nettie, had met the kids and started building teams in the Alligator Club (she ran the Snappers; Nettie ran the Crackers) they were owned. Totally owned. The kids literally saw them as their own personal Bluecoats, and if they were ever daft enough to get spotted in the pool there would be an almighty crush of Snappers and Crackers attempting to duck them under the water. Martin had needed to blow his whistle more than once over the years to save a naive children’s aunty from drowning. Uncle Bobby hadn’t been near the pool for at least ten years of repeat summer seasons.
Ellie breathed her sigh of relief and was about to leave the office to get into her evening uniform when the laptop on Gary’s desk pinged and she glanced instinctively at it. Gary was crap at security; there was no screensaver running and his emails were clearly on view. Ellie wasn’t the nosy type, though, and she would have done no more than glance and leave if she hadn’t seen the title, LIFEGUARD ISSUE — WE WANT DAMAGES on the header.
She went hot and cold. Oh god. The parents of Blossom and Rosie-Mae! They must be considering legal action for the horror that their daughters had witnessed. She felt sick. She could never have known what was waiting in the pool that night, but she still felt horribly responsible for leading all those kids right into a scene out of a Stephen King movie. At the time, both sets of parents, while shocked and horrified, had been more sympathetic to her than she could have expected. Neither had talked about taking legal action. They had seemed genuinely appalled for the family of poor Martin.
In fact they had asked her to pretend it was a big hoax — a trick that Martin had played on her before — purely for their daughters. So they could all make believe it wasn’t real and save the girls from long-term trauma counselling. Gary had agreed to the pretence, because it was for the best of reasons, and Ellie and Nettie had both met up with the girls and gone into the performance of their life, pretending that Martin had been really naughty, and the camp manager had sent him home for the rest of the week. Gary had even given them a couple of Martin’s signed photos to give to each of the girls, with SORRY I SCARED YOU! written on it in marker pen — and a free Buntin’s Bear.
But now it looked like it hadn’t worked. Maybe the parents had had second thoughts. Maybe they were sending the lawyers after Buntin’s… maybe after her. She took a long, shaky breath and spooled the text up the screen.
What happened in the pool with my daughter was totally unacceptable, she read.
‘Everything OK in here?’
She jolted violently and saw Mike, the security guy, peering around the door.
‘Oh — oh, yeah… fine,’ she said. ‘I was just checking the rota. All done now. Better get changed and head off to mix and mingle!’
Mike nodded, his doughy face impassive. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’m going to lock up here now.’
‘Sure,’ she said, feeling a scarlet
