One by One
“The snow must be amazing right now,” Rik says. “Can you show us some good off-piste routes, Erin?”
I feel the blood drain from my face, and I’m trying to think what to say when I’m saved from answering by Danny, who comes out at that moment carrying a huge platter of bacon rolls.
“Erin’s too much of a wuss to go out of bounds,” he says with a grin. “But I can show you some cool little routes if you want. Not today though.”
“Why not today?” Topher says, frowning.
“The avalanche risk is too high,” I say, trying to regain my composure. “But it should be better later in the week when they’ve had the chance to set off some controlled explosions.”
In truth I have absolutely no idea whether it’ll be better, but no one likes a pessimist, and they’ve got to get up there and clear the buildup some time.
“Well that’s a plan then,” Topher says briskly. He picks up a bacon roll and takes a bite.
“What’s a plan?”
The voice comes from the direction of the living room and we all turn to see Eva standing there. She’s holding a massive sheaf of files and a laptop and looks ready to go.
“Erin says that the only skiing today is likely to be in the morning,” Rik says quickly, “so we thought we’d get the finance presentation out of the way now, and then move the rest of the stuff to the afternoon.” He speaks rather fast, and I have the impression he’s attempting to head off Topher from saying the same thing but with less diplomacy.
Eva pauses in the doorway. She looks like she’s trying to decide how to feel about this, whether to make a fuss. Then she looks at her watch, and shrugs.
“Fine. It’s nearly eight thirty. Shall we get going on the presentation? It shouldn’t take more than half an hour, so we won’t be far off the first lift if we leave straight after that.”
“Sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned,” Topher says. “We can take breakfast into the den with us. Where the fuck are the others?”
“I’m here.” It’s a voice from the doorway, and we look across to see Tiger entering the room. “Sorry, have I kept you?” She looks pale and rumpled, her short ombré hair sticking out in all directions as if she hasn’t brushed it yet this morning.
“Yes,” Topher says, at the same time as Miranda says, “No, you’re not the only one missing.”
“Ready to milk some pow, Tiger?” Topher asks. I hear a noise from the direction of the kitchen where Danny has stifled a derisive snort, and I busy myself over the espresso machine to hide my own expression.
“Sorry?” Tiger says. She rubs her eyes as if the morning light is hurting her. “I didn’t catch that.”
“Are you ready to get on your board?”
“Oh, yes sure.”
“You look worse than Topher,” Eva says bluntly, and Tiger laughs, with an uncertain look at Topher.
“I didn’t sleep well. I had awful insomnia all night.”
“It’s the altitude,” Eva says. “It affects some people that way. I always take sleeping pills for the first few nights.”
I don’t hear Tiger’s reply, because Topher pulls me to one side.
“Are all the hire skis here?”
“All waiting for you in the locker room,” I say. The ski shop is down in the village, so we pick up the gear for the skiers. Most people here have brought their own though. It’s only Liz, Ani, and Carl who have hired equipment. “Before you go, let me show you the best route back to the chalet. It’s a really great run, but it’s a bit counterintuitive, looking at the map. You actually have to cut across a little bit between two runs.”
“Is that safe?” Carl says, sounding alarmed. “You just said it was too dangerous to go out of bounds.”
“Oh, no,” I hasten to reassure him. “It’s totally safe, it’s a very well-trodden path. It’s not off-piste in that sense. But it’s just not shown as a route on the lift map, so unless you know to peel off through the trees, you get taken right down Blanche-Neige into St. Antoine le Lac and have to come back up the funicular.”
“Is it safe for beginners?” Carl says, still looking anxious.
“The cut-through? Absolutely. It’s the equivalent of a green run. Have you skied at all?”
“Yeah, but not for years.” He looks over his shoulder. Topher and the others have gone through into the den to begin the meeting, and we are alone. “Strictly entre nous,” he says, rather bitterly, lowering his voice, “I’d rather have poked my fucking eyes with cocktail sticks than gone on a skiing holiday. But this is what you get for working for a company like Snoop. Topher’s a snowboarding nut, Eva’s practically a pro skier, and what they say goes. The rest of us have to lump it.”
I nod, as if he’s making small talk, but in truth this insight into Snoop’s inner workings is weirdly fascinating. There may be five shareholders, but in day-to-day life it seems that Topher and Eva call the shots pretty autocratically.
It makes it all the more interesting that for once, the balance of power is out of their hands. One of them is not going to get their way over this buyout. The question is, which one?
LIZ
Snoop ID: ANON101
Listening to: Offline
Snoopers: 0
Snoopscribers: 0
“Okay,” Rik says. He clicks off the PowerPoint slide and turns on the lights. “That’s it. I think everyone can go and get into their ski gear now.”
I rub my eyes, feeling the sudden brightness searing the back of my skull. My headache is back again. I stand up, pulling my tights straight. Around me there is the rustle of beanbags and the noise of sofa springs as everyone else gets to their feet.
“Just a second,” Topher puts in. His voice is smooth. “Can the shareholders stay back for a sec?”
I feel something in my stomach drop away. There is a murmur of assent. Ani, Inigo, Carl, Miranda, and Tiger rise and begin to file out.
Within a few seconds it’s just Topher, Eva, Rik, Elliot… and me.
Oh God. I feel my breath coming fast. Oh God, oh God, oh God… they’re going to ask and I’m going to have to—to have to—
“Look,” Eva is saying, “I think the cold, hard reality of Rik’s figures wasn’t lost on any of us. It’s a pretty stark picture. Our overheads—”
“I don’t want to go over all that again,” Topher says dismissively, as if the profit and loss sheets Rik just took us through were totally irrelevant. “We can all read a spreadsheet, and Rik made his points very ably. Before we head out, I think it would be really helpful to take an indicative vote, so we know where we stand.”
My breath quickens. The headache behind my eyes intensifies until the edges of my vision begin to fray.
“But, Topher,” Eva is saying, “you know perfectly well that we don’t have full information yet; that’s the point of this week, to weigh up all—”
“And it’s why I said indicative,” Topher interrupts, a touch of aggression creeping into his voice. “This is nonbinding, Eva. It’s just a show of hands to see where we are. It’s possible we’re already close to an agreement.”