Chapter 22
The clouds were gathering as they made the last two kilometres back to El Pilar and the bus waiting for them. Jayden surveyed the ragtag group she was returning with. She was proud of them. With only one exception, they had formed a tight-knit team over the seven days they’d been out on the ice. They’d worked together to maximise each other’s skills and minimise each other’s weaknesses. It might not make for good TV, but it would make for a safer show. That was her priority.
She hung back to speak with Rhian as Luiji, Oskar, Hunter, and Lonnie loaded bags into the belly of the bus as the others arrived. Taylor and Sky passed out water and sandwiches from the crate Carlos had brought with him, and one by one, they climbed on board. Except for Brooke. She stood fifteen metres from the bus, arms crossed over her chest as she leant against a wall. She’d dumped her bag at Hunter’s feet and moved off without a word.
“Any ideas on what to do with our problem child?” Rhian asked.
“Plenty. But I don’t think you’ll let me do any of them,” Jayden said with a grin.
Four days. They’d spent four days pretending to be a couple, sleeping in the same tent, touching each other, giving each other the occasional peck on the cheek. And, of course, that kiss. Jayden licked her lips. She could still taste Rhian on them. Going back to normal was going to be hard.
“Will you join me for dinner tonight?” she asked. “I could make us something back at Fen’s house. We could discuss it away from the group.”
Rhian smiled sadly. “I’d love to, but we’ve got that Skype meeting set up with Rachel and the investors, remember?”
She’d completely forgotten. “I’m supposed to be there too?”
“Yes.”
She wrinkled her nose. “But I hate things like that, and I’ve got so much to do. I need to make sure all the kit is cleaned and packed away properly—”
“And the guys already know what they have to do. They’ll be doing it while we have the meeting. You can check it afterwards. Besides, do you really think Miguel or Santiago will let them get away with mishandling your equipment?”
They wouldn’t.
“I don’t exactly want to be at this meeting either, but the investors want to meet you.”
“Why? I’m just the safety girl.”
Rhian laughed. “You’re so much more than that, and you know it. Now, stop whining, and get on the bus.”
“Okay, then. How about after the meeting?”
Rhian cocked her head to the side.
“Dinner. After the meeting?”
Rhian smiled shyly, and Jayden wondered if someone was watching them. “I’d love to.” She quickly glanced down at the ground and slipped her backpack off her shoulders. “I think they’re all waiting for us.”
Jayden held out her hand. “I’ll put that away for you. You go make sure everyone’s ready to go.”
“Thanks.” Rhian gave her the bag and sauntered towards the bus. Jayden watched the sway of her hips as she went. The way she tugged her fleece over her head and tied it about her waist before she skipped up the steps made Jayden very glad that Rhian had agreed to her impromptu dinner invitation. When Jayden finally climbed onto the bus with Carlos, Luiji, and Oskar, she took the seat at the front of the coach next to Rhian.
“I thought you might want a sandwich.” Rhian handed over a cling-wrapped package and a bottle of water.
“Probably a good idea.” Jayden unwrapped a corner and took a big bite. “Stop me from passing out with low blood sugar during this meeting.”
Rhian chuckled. “My thoughts exactly.”
Jayden nudged her shoulder and swallowed the food. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
“You’re welcome,” Rhian said just as quietly.
“You ready for this?” Rhian asked as Jayden sat down at the table. They’d been back in the resort less than an hour, and the scheduled meeting wasn’t supposed to be for another couple of hours. But Rachel apparently needed to talk to them both. Yesterday.
“Nope, but you might as well do it anyway.”
“That’s the spirit.” Rhian hit the tracker pad on her laptop, and the picture appeared. Rachel was sitting behind her desk, wearing a red blouse and a scowl.
“About time you two showed up,” Rachel began, not even looking away from the tablet in her hand. “We’ve got problems.”
Rhian rolled her eyes. “Good to see you too, Rach. This is Jayden Harris. Jayden, Rachel Webster.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs Webster.” Jayden tapped two fingers to her forehead and offered a mini salute with them. Rachel, of course, missed it, as she was still staring at her tablet, but Rhian thought it was cute.
“Yeah, you too. And Rachel will do, Jayden. Now, Killian O’Leary has filed suit against the firm, the show, and you both personally.”
“Fucker,” Jayden spat out.
Rachel looked up at them for the first time, a smile on her face. “Quite. So this is set to be a long drawn-out battle with the little prick. I’ve got the videos, and our lawyer has them now. He’s confident that they guarantee any case going in our favour, so he doesn’t want to settle. It will make us look like we have something to hide if we do.”
“But if we don’t, this will likely have negative repercussions anyway, won’t it?” Rhian asked.
Rachel nodded. “I have a plan, but first we have to tackle something else that has only added fuel to the fire this afternoon.” She flipped the tablet so they could see the image on the screen.
Rhian stared at it. How the fuck—Brooke.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Jayden said.
“It looks like you’re in a lip lock and groping my daughter.” Rachel moved the tablet and glared at them over the miles. “Am I wrong?”
“She wasn’t groping me!” Rhian shouted.
“I mean, there’s a good reason for—” Jayden started.
Rachel held her hand up. “Rhi, you’re a big girl. If you want to screw someone, I’m not going to lecture you about it. But this picture was taken by a contestant, and said contestant is now splashing this on social media. This, in conjunction with the Killian O’Leary suit, does not look good for you. It strengthens his case. And you already knew about him before this picture was taken. What were you thinking?”
“Rach, I—”
“It was my fault.” Jayden ran her fingers through her hair. “I kissed her before I knew about the situation with Killian O’Leary, and I did it to try and help Rhian.”
Not one hundred percent accurate, in regards to the lip-lock part, but she did start the ball rolling before she had the facts about Killian. Boils down to the same thing in the end, I suppose.
Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “Help her? What are you talking about?”
Rhian took a deep breath. “Brooke Shields has been hitting on me since she got here. Before that, really, at the try-outs. It’s one of the reasons, actually the main reason, I didn’t accept her in the first place.”
“So you decided to get in there first?” Rachel said to Jayden.
Jayden shook her head. “No, it wasn’t like that. Brooke was being really…predatory about it. Really over the top. It was clearly making Rhian very uncomfortable, and she didn’t seem to know how to handle it. I thought if we pretended to be a couple, she’d leave Rhian alone. It wasn’t until after this that I learnt about Killian and that Brooke had made it perfectly clear that she planned to seduce Rhian, not for a genuine reason but because she thought it would guarantee her a ticket in the final.”
“Is that right, Rhian?”
“Yes.”
“So you and this Brooke, there’s no history between you?”
“Other than me trying to keep away from her, no.”
“Why didn’t you shut her down? I’ve never known you to say no when you weren’t interested.”
“In all honesty, I was trying to figure out the best way to avoid any chance of there being repercussions. We’ve got enough going on with Killian causing trouble. I didn’t want to be at the centre of any more.”
Rachel cocked her head to the side, her lips twisting in to a quick smile. Rhian knew that smile. It meant Rachel appreciated the thought because it was something she hadn’t thought of herself. Rhian supressed the grin tugging at her lips. Now was not the time. She could celebrate the little win later.
“So you weren’t screwing her before you got to the ice camp?”
Rhian narrowed her eyes at Rachel. And then she has to go and spoil it. “I’ve already told you I wasn’t.”
“And you aren’t screwing Jayden?”
Rhian huffed. “Do you have to be so crude?”
“Answer the question.”
“No. There’s nothing going on between the two of us. Why does it matter?”
“Because Miss Shields has tagged this picture with the caption when the woman you shagged last night sees her girlfriend again and ditches your ass to save her own. Then she’s tagged everything to do with the show, our sponsors, and pretty much everything else you can think of.”
Rhian was speechless. How was this all going so wrong?
“That’s bullshit,” Jayden said from beside her. “It’s sour grapes talking. Everyone, and I mean everyone here, knows that Rhian has been trying to stay away from her. Oskar, the other alternate, told everyone what Brooke was saying on the trip from the airport to him and Mel. Apparently, she went into explicit detail of how she planned to gain a place in the final, and it had nothing to do with her performance on the rock.”
Rachel’s jaw worked. That twitching muscle meant Rachel was beyond pissed off. She was entering rage stage two, and Rhian could practically hear the cogs in her brain whirring.
“Right, I need a couple of people in that group that you trust a hundred percent, and I’m hoping you’re going to say this Luiji fellow and the new guy Oskar.” Rachel started scribbling notes on the pad in front of her.
“I trust Luiji,” Rhian said.
“And I trust Oskar,” Jayden added. “He made it very clear where he stands on Brooke, and he put himself in between the two of them on a couple of occasions.”
Rachel nodded. “Okay, Jayden, can you get them here for me now? We need to get going on this ASAP.”
Jayden nodded and left the room. Rhian knew she’d run to Adventure Trekkers and run them back. She smiled at the thought of how Jayden hadn’t hesitated to stand up for her again.
“Is Mel around?” Rachel asked.
“In her room, I think.”
“Can you get her down? I’ll need her help with this.”
Rhian nodded and sent Mellissa a text.
Need you on conf with Rachel now. Can you come down ASAP?
She didn’t have to wait long for the response.
On my way.
“She’s coming down.” Rhian put her phone back on the table.
“You okay, kiddo?” Rachel asked, her jaw still tight. Her eyes, though, wore the look only Rhian ever saw: kind, compassionate, caring Rachel looked at her. Her mum.
Rhian shook her head. “It’s so fucked up, Rach. I don’t know what the hell I’ve done to deserve all this, and I don’t know how I’m going to fix it all.”
“Let me worry about the fixing. And you didn’t do anything wrong. You know there are arseholes in the world. You’ve just met a couple of ’em on this trip. That’s all.”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds like you’ve met far more good ones, though.”
Rhian frowned a little.
“First Luiji stands up to this Killian. Then Jayden stands by you to protect you, and this Oskar chap too. Sounds like the good folks are outnumbering the bad ones.”
Rhian smiled. “That’s true.”
“So suck it up, buttercup. Besides, despite evidence to the contrary, I think you’re doing a brilliant job, kiddo, and these little bastards could end up doing us a favour if we play this right.”
“What do you mean? What are you going to do, Rach?”
Rachel grinned wickedly. “Watch, and learn from the master.”
Rhian groaned. “Please don’t do anything that’s going to mortify me for life.”
“Tsk. You know me better than that. I wouldn’t do anything that would put the company in jeopardy.”
“Gee, thanks.”
Mellissa bustled through the door. “What’s the emergency?”
Between the two of them, they quickly filled her in on the details, and Rhian was gobsmacked when Mellissa reacted.
“That fucking skanky little bitch. I told her to stay the fuck away from you, or I was going to kick her arse back to South Africa from here.”
Rachel held up her hands in surrender. “Whoa there, sailor, where’s the mild-mannered Mel gone, and what did you do to her?”
Mel stared at Rachel through the screen. “You didn’t hear what she was saying.”
Rhian sighed heavily. “Neither did I. You wouldn’t tell me. Oskar wouldn’t tell me. What the fuck is so bad that you’ve all reacted like this but can’t even tell me what it was that she said?” Rhian’s voice rose sharply. She was getting sick of people protecting her as if she were a child.
Mel closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. “I’m sorry, Rhian. I can’t bring myself to say the things… I don’t want to. And I don’t see how it will benefit you to know. Not since you’ve still got to work with her.”
“I don’t have to work with her,” Rachel said. “And I fucking well do need to know.”
Mel clenched her fists. “I have a recording of most of the conversation. When she started on the way she was… Well, I don’t know. I just knew there’s something wrong with that girl.”
“I need that recording,” Rachel said.
“I’ll send it to you.”
“Good. Now, in the meantime, this is what I need you to organise for me, Mel…”
Rachel was clear and precise in the instructions she gave Mellissa before she left them. It was also clear what Rachel intended to do. All she needed were two people who could legitimately have the details they were going to leak to social media to burn Killian and Brooke.
“Can this work, Rachel? I mean, we all know social media’s a great marketing tool, but can it really undo the damage these two can cause?”
“Kiddo, it has just given the world Donald Trump as US president. I think we can safely say at this point that Twitter can do fucking anything.”
Rhian rolled her eyes. “Fair point.”
“The bigger question is whether or not your two new friends will be open to what we need them to do.”
“They’ve shown themselves to have a lot of integrity, Rach. Don’t try to appeal to anything else, or they’ll think you’re no better than Killian or Brooke.”
“High road, got it.”
“And don’t try to force them. If they aren’t happy to help me…us…then that’s it. Okay?”
Rachel nodded but didn’t say anything.
“I mean it.”
“Fine. But you and Jayden have to keep up the couple act for the duration.”
“We know. At least until Brooke’s out of the show.”
“No, I mean the duration of the show. You’re still together at the finale. You got me?”
“What? Why?”
“If people believe that Brooke was trying to split you up for her own nefarious ends, they hate her as long as you guys are all in love. As soon as it’s over, her commentary on this comes back to bite you on the arse, and you’re the cheater who breaks Jayden’s heart.”
“For God’s sake. It’s like a soap opera, and none of it’s true.”
“It doesn’t have to be, and you know it. It’s what pulls in readers, generates click-throughs, and generally titillates. That’s it.”
Rachel cocked her head to the side and twisted the tablet towards her again. “It looks pretty convincing to me. And I know you.”
Rhian scowled. “So?”
“So I saw how you looked at Jayden when she defended you. And I’ve never seen that look on your face before.”
Rhian looked away from her mother’s penetrating gaze. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t start seeing things that aren’t there.”
Rachel nodded when Rhian finally looked back at the screen. “And if you’re the one who isn’t seeing what is?”
“Then it’ll be my problem to deal with.”
Rachel sighed. “Rhian, I’m not asking as your boss.”
“It’ll still be my problem to deal with.”
“You’re as stubborn as your bloody father.”
Rhian cracked a smile. “Surely that’s not a surprise to you?”
Rachel laughed. “No, it isn’t. But will you promise me one thing?”
“What?”
“You’ll pick up the phone and talk to me when you’re ready to see what’s in front of you.”
“There’s nothing to see. She was trying to do me a favour, that’s all. Now, can we drop it? They’re coming back.”
Rachel nodded. “Just tell Jayden she needs to keep it up, all right?”
Rhian nodded too and smiled as Jayden waved and the three of them came jogging in.
“Gentlemen,” Rachel said when they were seated and Rhian had introduced them all. “How are you enjoying Patagonia so far?”
“Fantastico!” Luiji said enthusiastically.
“I’m very glad to hear it. I wanted to thank you both for your assistance in the last week.”
They both frowned, but Luiji was seemingly the spokesperson for the pair. “We have done nothing so special.”
“You have to me. You see, Rhian’s my daughter, and I hear you’ve been good guys and helped her out a couple of times.”
“Ah, I see.” Luiji shrugged. “Is nothing we would not do for everyone else.”
“Well, I wanted to say thank you anyway. And to apologise.”
“Apologise? For what?”
“For putting you all through this. It looks like the show may get cancelled because of this pair.”
“Excuse me?” Luiji leant forward in his chair.
“Killian is suing us all for discrimination and harassment.”
“That bastard hit your daughter!”
“I know. I’ve seen the footage. That’s how I know I have you to thank for her pretty face still being as beautiful as ever.”
“So you know that he has no grounds to win a case.”
“We do, but the problem is he’s screaming about it on social media sites, and the publicity, between him and Brooke, is likely to get this canned before we even start recording.”
“But you have the tape?” Luiji said.
“What’s Brooke got to do with it?” Oskar asked.
Rachel held up her hands to stop them. “Sorry, fellas, I can only deal with one at a time. With regards to Killian, our lawyers have the tape, so I can’t release it. No one who works for my company can.”
“Because of the lawyers?” Luiji clarified.
“Yes. As for Brooke, she’s posted a picture of Rhian and Jayden kissing on Facebook, claiming that Rhian cheated with her the night before and that the kiss was her attempt to cover her own backside with her girlfriend.”
“Fucking bitch,” Oskar said. “You didn’t sleep with her.” He turned to face Rhian. “She was down here drinking still when Luiji and I went to bed. Brooke was alone and calling Mel to hell and back for taking you away from her and the first stage of her plan. That bitch. She’s going to get this thing sunk because she can’t compete fair and square and her game isn’t working.” He folded his arms over his chest and looked back at Rachel. “I take it you have a plan, and you need us to do something to make it work?”
Rachel smiled. “You’re smart. I like you.”
He cocked his head. “What do you need us to do?”
Rachel quickly outlined her plan for them. “Will you do it?” she asked into the silence that followed.
Luiji and Oskar looked at each other, slow smiles spreading across their faces. “Oh yeah,” Oskar said.
“With pleasure,” Luiji added. “How are we supposed to have come by this footage, though? It may be questioned, and I need to have an appropriate response.”
“You’re going to film the footage on your phone from the camera bank.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Officially, we can’t give you this footage. You have to ‘steal it’.” She twitched her fingers in the air, to put the words into air quotes for him. “Then, if you are asked how you got it, you can say you stole it because you didn’t want a rat bastard like Killian O’Leary ruining your shot at winning the show. We’ll put out a response to this that the matter is under internal review. And then it will just go away. As to how you know it’s a problem, tell them you’re a clever guy and you saw Killian’s social media posts when you got back from the glacier trip.”
Luiji nodded. “I can do that.”
“Good. Oskar, you won’t need anything but the knowledge that you already have. You heard everything Brooke said in the Jeep with Mellissa, correct?”
Oskar nodded, glancing quickly at Rhian. “I won’t have to go into detail, will I?”
“Just as much as you need for her to be unable to wriggle out of it. But be accurate, and don’t make anything up.”
“Trust me, I couldn’t make up that shit if I was paid to.”
“You are also privy to the events that happened at the hotel and out on the ice.”
“I get it. I saw more than enough, don’t worry. Are you sure this will help?”
“Yes.”
“And it won’t backfire on us?” he asked.
“How do you mean?”
“It won’t have a negative impact on us that will get us voted off the show?”
Rachel shook her head. “I don’t see it. You’re standing up for women’s rights, you’re standing up to a bully and a sexual predator. This is all brownie points for you guys with the general public and with women in particular. And you know that on these shows women vote three times as often as men, right?”
Luiji shook his head. “I did not know this.”
“That’s why it’s so hard for a woman to win one of these things. Women don’t like to vote for another woman. Sad fact, but borne out time and again.”
“So this could help our chances?” Luiji asked.
“With the public, yes. You still have to be good climbers to win, though. This is about skill as much as popularity,” Jayden said. “No one can win this on public vote alone.”
Rachel smiled. “Exactly.”
Luiji and Oskar nodded. “We get it. So when do you want us to start?” Oskar asked.
“Now,” Rachel said. “The sooner, the better. We need to get out in front of this thing and start making some impact of our own, or there will be no competition to win.”
They agreed and quickly said their goodbyes.
“Jayden, Rhian, I’ve got a lot of work to do, and you two look like you need some sleep. I’ll see you later.” Rachel hung up without waiting for a response.
Jayden chuckled and lifted one eyebrow at Rhian. “Quite the piece of work, your mother.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
“I’m sure. Now I can see why at the hospital you felt you had no choice but to come and ask me to do this.”
“I’m still sorry about that.”
Jayden waved away the apology. “No need. I get it now that I’ve met my mother-in-law.” She laughed.
“Ah, yeah. About that.”
Jayden cocked her head to the side. “What about it?”
“Well…let’s go get that dinner we discussed and talk about it.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” She followed Rhian out of the door. “Why don’t I like the sound of that?”
“Because you’re smart.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I?”
Rhian’s shoulder drooped. “Probably not. And I’m sorry.”
“Maybe you should just tell me now.”
“Dinner. Please.” Rhian wasn’t sure how she was going to react to having to continue playing her girlfriend. But since Jayden hated being forced to do anything she didn’t want to do, Rhian suspected she was going to lose the burgeoning friendship they’d developed. And she really wanted to hold on to that for as long as she could. Even if it was only for another ten minutes.