Chapter 12
Rhian stared into space as she went over the details of the afternoon. Again. Carlos would meet her at the car park at 5:00 p.m., and they would travel to the airport to collect the contestants. Hopefully the plane would be on time. The catering staff had packed snacks and water for the journey for everyone, and they would be back at El Chaltén by ten. Then tomorrow the real stuff would kick in, when they all would meet for breakfast and the egos would really start to—
“Am I that boring?” Fen asked from the bed beside her.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Fen laughed. “I said, am I that boring? Clearly I am.”
Rhian shook her head. “Sorry, just got so many things whizzing through my head.” She rubbed her hand over her face. “Right, start again. How are you doing? I haven’t seen you in a week.”
“I’m doing good. They managed to get a clear image of my spine yesterday.”
Rhian watched her. She didn’t seem happy or sad about the results. “You’ve got a poker face of stone. Now, spill.”
Fen laughed again. “The cord looks to be intact.”
“That’s great news.”
“Yes, it is. Even better, they’re going to let me start sitting up again in a day or two.”
“Oh my God,” she said quickly, slapping her hand to her forehead and opening her eyes comically wide. “Like, so, for sure, we should, like, totally have a party or something—like, yeah.”
“Sarky bitch.” Fen laughed along with her. “I swear, I never would have thought I could be so excited at the possibility of sitting on my arse for a few hours.”
Rhian clasped her arm. “Seriously, Fen, I’m so pleased for you. I take it they’re hopeful, then, that you’ll be okay?”
“Yeah. Hopefully.”
“Ah. Still hedging their bets?”
“Yeah. Everyone’s frightened of getting sued these days.” She sniggered.
“Aw, for fuck’s sake. How many times do I have to apologise for that?”
Fen laughed loudly. It was good to see her so happy. She was so vibrant and full of life. Seeing her lie in bed had been like watching a plucked flower slowly wilt and fade away.
“I’m just messing with you. So tell me, it’s the first of October. Are you ready for them all to arrive?”
Rhian scrunched her face up like she smelt something bad. “I guess so.”
“You guess so? Rhi, you’ve been working on this for seven, nearly eight months now. You guess so?”
“Okay, okay. We’re as ready as we’re going to get.”
“You look nervous.”
She laughed. “I am.”
“Why? This is so exciting. It’s the start of everything really getting going.”
“Exactly.” She crossed her arms over her chest like a shield. “All these people are depending on me to get this right. They’re all expecting me to know what I’m doing here, and I don’t. I’ve never done anything like this before. How am I supposed to make this work? What do I know about TV shows? Or how to keep everyone safe up there?”
“That’s Jayden’s job, not yours. All you need to do is follow her lead, and she’ll keep everyone safe. So you can stop worrying about that one.”
No, I can’t, because there’s something bugging her that she won’t tell me.
“Secondly, you’ve watched enough reality TV shows—”
“I’ve only ever watched The Amazing Race.”
Fen scowled at her interruption. “You’ve watched enough reality TV shows to know how these things work, what viewers want to see, what your clients want out of it, and what you know you can get out of your contestants. You’ve got a good crew in place to take care of the technical aspects, hon. Let them do their jobs, and everything will fall into place.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How? How can you know that?”
“I have faith in you.”
“You don’t know me.”
Fen shook her head. “Yes, I do.” She reached for Rhian’s hand. “I know more than you think, and more than you, probably.”
“Definitely.”
“Precisely.”
Rhian sniggered, then let out a hearty peal of laughter. Fen joined her, and slowly her confidence began to return.
“You can do this, hon. I wouldn’t have agreed to do this in the first place if I hadn’t believed in you.”
“We’d only met for like five minutes.”
“I know when I know.” She shrugged. “Simple as that.”
“And you never question it?”
“Of course. But that’s when something always goes wrong. If I trust my gut, nine times out of ten, it works out. If I don’t, nine times out of ten, I’m fucked.”
“Right. Well, on that note, I think I need to be off.”
Fen chuckled again. “Crisis of faith over?”
Rhian shrugged. “Maybe. But I really do have to run.” She pointed to the clock. “I told Carlos I’d meet him at five. It’s quarter to now, and this place is a maze.” She leant over and kissed Fen’s cheek. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
“Hey, that’s what I’m here for.”
“See you in a few days.”
Fen shook her head. “No, it’s going to be manic for you now. You and Jayden. See me when you can, but don’t kill yourselves over it. Mark will be around, and Carlos said he was going to bring Isabella to see me a few times when he comes into town for supplies and whatnot. So don’t fret. I’ll be fine.”
“But you’re my friend. I want to.”
“I know. But it’ll give me more incentive to get my arse into gear and get out of here.”
“Hm. I don’t know about that.”
“Do as you’re told. Now, go. Don’t keep the man waiting.”
Rhian shook her head. “Yes, boss.”
Carlos couldn’t park where he normally did to pick her up. Instead, he was waiting in the bus at the far end of the car park. Rhian jogged over and hopped up the steps. He handed her a clipboard and a cap with the company logo on it and grinned at her.
“Suits you,” he said with a snigger.
“Careful or I’ll tell your wife you’re hitting on me.”
He laughed. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would. And we both know she’d make earrings out of certain parts of your anatomy if I did.” She grinned widely when he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. “Just kidding. You know I like Isabella too much to let her risk jail time.” She snickered at the look of outrage on his face before he crumpled into laughter with her.
“You ready to go pick them up?” he asked.
“Yeah, let’s go make sure we’ve got ’em all.”
“You think some no show up?”
She shrugged. It was a worry that played on her mind. But in all reality, she’d be shocked as shit if that happened. These people had fought tooth and nail to get picked for this show. The prize was awesome, an all-expenses-paid trip to climb Mount Vinson on Antarctica. Probably the most difficult and expensive of the world’s Seven Summits to get to. And without being cynical, for any amateur climber looking to turn pro or make a career out of their passion, this was a platform they’d be stupid to miss.
“I hope not, but it’ll be okay. We have a male and a female alternate if there is a no-show.”
“Ah, Miss Rhian’s contingency plans strike again.” He chuckled and drove them out of the car park. “So much with the organisation.”
“Well, Carlos, Rachel would have my guts for garters if I fluff this project up by not anticipating a simple problem.” It had become something of a running joke, how many contingency plans she’d put into place for what she hoped was every possible eventuality. Barring a major disaster, everything should be just fine. And if she was truly honest, her contingencies could probably deal with a couple of major disasters too.
“It’s good. Makes people feel safe. Makes them trust you.”
She smiled widely. “Thanks.” She took her seat just behind his chair and clapped a hand over his shoulder. “Keep the compliments coming, and I won’t tell your wife how you like to flirt with me after all.” She smiled innocently at him when he met her gaze through the rear-view mirror. “Let’s go pick ’em up.”
Twenty minutes later, she pushed open the door to the airport and saw Mellissa holding a clipboard. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to see over the crowd staring out towards the arrivals gate. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a tight bun, and her red, faded T-shirt and denim shorts were neatly pressed. Who irons shorts and a T-shirt? Rhian quickly dismissed the thought and checked the arrivals board. The plane from Heathrow had landed on time—a minor miracle—and they were therefore expecting the first faces through the doors any second.
“Perfect timing, boss,” Mellissa said as she stepped up beside her. “I’m pretty sure that’s the first one there.” She pointed to a tall, wiry-looking guy with dreadlocs hanging from under his red skull-and-crossbones-covered bandana. A loose-fitting wife-beater vest in canary yellow hung off his frame, and basketball shorts hung well past his knees.
“Ah. Luiji Mantessori,” Rhian said. “Twenty-two years old, Italian, six foot two. I watched him pull himself up a hold with one finger on the indoor wall. Born and raised in Valle di Fassa.”
“Dolomites?” Mellissa asked.
Rhian nodded and waved at the tall man. A smile spread on his face. “Yup, the north-east part of Trentino.”
“You’ve been there?”
“A long time ago, yes. Great climbing.”
“So he’s good?”
Rhian nodded and held out her hand. “Luiji, good to see you again.”
Luiji dropped his bags at his feet and wrapped his long arms around Rhian’s shoulders. He kissed both her cheeks and squeezed so hard she was almost lifted off her feet. “It is wonderful to be here, Rhian. Wonderful to see you again.”
She tapped his sides and wriggled in his embrace. “Okay, okay. You can put me down now.”
He chuckled and let go, then held out his hand to Mellissa. “You must be Mellissa.” He took her hand, bowed theatrically, and kissed the back of it. “I am at your service.”
Mellissa giggled. Rhian rolled her eyes but held her tongue as another of their climbers arrived. Taylor Blackshaw: five foot three inches, Canadian, with a skill for off-width climbing that had made her a legend in the field. She climbed up cracks in a rock face so wide she had to use her whole body as a wedge, and she did it so fast that she held record upon record, something the tall, muscle-bound guys who usually participated in the extreme-climbing niche hated with a passion. Rhian loved it and the quiet way Taylor just seemed to fill a space without having to say anything.
Slowly they all gathered. Mellissa ticked off names on her clipboard, and Rhian chatted with them all about the flight and the shocking food they’d been served. She made little attempt to corral the high spirits that were flowing when a group of adrenaline junkies got together. They were still waiting for the last climber to come through from baggage claim when a piggyback race broke out at the length of the arrivals hall, and Rhian just shook her head as Luiji and his “piggy”, Killian O’Leary, celebrated their first win.
Mellissa waved her over as she stood at the security desk. Rhian quickly pointed them all outside to the bus and instructed them to head over and get their bags loaded.
“What’s up?” Rhian asked when she got to Mellissa.
“There was no one else on the flight.”
“Shit. Who’s missing?”
“Karen.”
Rhian shook her head. Karen had seemed quite timid at the trials, but she’d e-mailed back and forth with her up until two days ago, and she’d seemed keen. “Right, I’ll e-mail her and see what happened, but can you contact the alternate and get her here as quickly as possible? I don’t want anyone to miss training if we can help it.”
“Who is the alternate?”
“Brooke Shields.”
Mellissa raised her eyebrows, and a slow grin spread across her face. “You wish.”
Rhian chuckled. “Oh God, I know, right? Seriously, though, she really is called Brooke Shields, just not the Brooke Shields.”
“Some parents are cruel.”
“Could be worse. At least it’s a nice name and a gorgeous woman to be named after.”
“True. Where’s she coming from? I need to get looking at flights for Miss Shields.”
“South Africa.”
“Right, well, I’ve got the Jeep here, and it’ll be easier for me to sort things here with better Internet than on the road. I’ll catch up with you back at the conclave and let you know what the score is.”
“Good plan.”
Mellissa nodded and headed for the service counter. Rhian headed for the bus. Unexpected circumstances, nil. Contingency plans, one. She scored her finger down the air.
She could hear the raucous laughter and lewd comments coming from the bus when she was still twenty feet away.
Did I remember to ask the caterers to put the sleeping pills in the water?