The Perils of Skinny-Dipping (7 page)

‘
Phil, all I am going to say is that you are incredibly immature sometimes. Therefore, I am going to treat that childish attempt at a joke with the contempt it deserves.’

‘
Tetchy.’

Before Abbey could reply, the cars arrived and several men wearing dark suits and sunglasses descended onto the AVP plot.

Richard’s rehearsed speeches were applauded and Abbey kept herself busy by offering glasses of fruit juice to anyone nearby. Phil, she noticed, had disappeared for a brief spell, reappearing by the shed at the top of the first plantation, pretending to look very busy with a spade, just as the cortège prepared to leave. Despite all the worrying Richard had done, the visit went smoothly and to plan, leaving the three of them with a sense of satisfaction as they watched the cars drive away in the direction of the church.

That evening the government ministers were hosting a pre-electoral ball at the Savuti Safari Lodge. It included a five-course dinner and the invitation stated ‘formal dress required’.

‘
I’m not going,’ said Phil, throwing the invitation onto the desk. ‘I don’t do formal dress - never have, and never will.’

‘
Listen cowboy,’ panicked Abbey. ‘You’ve got to go. Otherwise, I will be left in the company of our esteemed team leader and you wouldn’t do that to me, would you? PHIL! Would you? Hey, do you want me to go down on my knees or something here?’

Phil looked up, ginning like a cheeky school boy. ‘OK then. But I’m ditching early if it’s crap.’

It wasn’t until she had got home that Abbey remembered that she hadn’t done formal dress for a while either. She looked in the mirror at her reflection. Her hair was clean but hadn’t been cut or shaped for months. Her blond highlights had started to grow out and she frowned at the darker colour now coming through. She scrutinised her face. It was covered in freckles from the sun and, being fair-skinned, it had made them even more prominent.

After a warm shower, Abbey took out the suitcase from under her bed that still housed the clothes she had brought with her, and which she felt represented another life entirely. An hour later she left the house with her hair elegantly arranged on the top of her head, three-inch heels, and wearing a Pierre Cardin black dress, which flattered her figure and defined her curves.

She arrived at the hotel fifteen minutes late on purpose. The plan had worked and both Richard and Phil were already standing in the reception area, drinking champagne. As Abbey walked towards them, Phil’s mouth dropped slightly.

‘
My God, Abbey. Never seen you spruced up. Looking good, gal!’

Abbey smiled. ‘Thanks Phil, you’re looking rather dashing yourself tonight.’

Phil returned the smile. He
had
made an effort and was wearing dark trousers and a white shirt, which looked as though the iron may have skimmed over it in a few places. They turned, looked at Richard, paused, and said nothing.

The usual mixture of businessmen and women had been invited and jostled for an opportunity to speak to the politicians, who were surrounded by security men. Mr Permelo was on manager’s duty and Abbey caught him staring at her on more than one occasion. His loud voice carried across the room making his presence very predominant. She shuddered and was determined to keep as much distance from him during the evening as she possibly could.

Abbey, Phil and Richard mixed with the crowds, making polite small talk, before moving into the dining room. Each table was covered with a white, silk tablecloth with a small, colourful flower arrangement in the middle. Bottles of red and chilled white wine stood ready on the table, and it was obvious that this was a ‘no expense spared’ evening. A band hired for the occasion played popular music on the stage. Waiters and waitresses stood at each table, white-ironed cloths draped over their arms, ready to take orders

‘
Just going to the ladies, Phil,’ said Abbey, as they made their way towards the table with ‘AVP’ written on a card in the middle. ‘Save me a seat, next to you!’

Abbey made her way to the main reception and was just about to turn left into the ladies’ toilets when she saw Darren walking up the steps to the main door. She stood momentarily, trying to decide whether to run into the toilets or go and greet him. It was too late to run. He saw her, smiled, and greeted her with a peck on the cheek. As he did so he whispered, ‘You look stunning Abbey, you really do.’

Abbey smiled but felt her cheeks go flaming red as she tried to avoid looking directly back at him. Darren was wearing black jeans with a cream-coloured linen shirt that complimented his tanned arms.
Hmm, not quite formal
, thought Abbey,
but delicious all the same
. Not caring about Richard’s reaction, she invited Darren to join them at their dinner table, and he willingly accepted.

Phil was in excellent form as the free champagne and beer started to infiltrate his blood stream, and began to sing his own version of the Tom Jones’ hit ‘It’s not unusual’ as loudly as he could so as not to be drowned out by the band, which were playing the song in tune. Richard, after giving Abbey dirty looks for inviting Darren into the company, was more relaxed than Abbey had ever seen him, happily tapping his feet to the music.

The evening went by pleasantly enough and, by two o’clock in the morning and after the umpteenth yawn, Abbey decided it was time to go home.

‘
I’ll walk you back,’ offered Darren. ‘I’m not driving tonight as I knew I would end up having a drink.’

‘
Were you going to walk home?’ asked Abbey.

‘
Actually, I have a room booked at the President’s Lodge. So it’s not a problem to walk you back, as I’m going in that direction.’

They left the noise of the ongoing party and headed towards the bungalow. Nobody was about and, apart from a solitary dog barking behind one of the small shacks, it was silent. Darren took Abbey’s arm and linked his own through it. The stars shone magnificently in the dark, African sky, lighting up the path in front of them.

‘
Have you enjoyed yourself tonight?’ asked Darren, as they approached the house.

‘
Very much,’ replied Abbey. ‘Apart from my feet, which are in excruciating pain from wearing these damned shoes.’

In an instant, Darren scooped her up into his arms and carried her the last ten metres to the house, setting her down gently on the porch. Giggling, she took his hand and led him to the swing bench on the veranda. They sat in silence in the darkness, her head resting on his shoulder. He held onto her hand, stroking it gently with his thumb. She pulled up her knees and let them fall onto his lap.

‘
Whoops, I’m forgetting my manners,’ she hiccupped. ‘Would you like coffee?’

‘
No thanks.’

‘
Tea?’

‘
No thanks. Abbey...’

‘
Beer?’

Before she could reel off any more refreshments, he took her face in his hands and kissed her lips. He tasted as delicious as he looked and she responded by putting her arms around him, pulling him in tight against her body. His fingers moved tenderly across her shoulders, down her arms and round the bottom of her back. He lifted her once again and carried her into the bungalow. She closed her eyes and prayed that the rest of the night would be anything but predictable.

Chapter Eight

Abbey awoke to the smell of coffee on the bedside table. Darren was already out of bed and getting dressed.

‘
Morning,’ he whispered, walking over to the bed. ‘How are you?’

‘
Oh, I’m… I’m just great,’ she smiled, reaching out and pulling him on top of her.

‘
Hey, I’m sorry but I’ve got to go to work today,’ he said. ‘In fact, I should have been there over an hour ago!’

‘
What? It’s Saturday!’

‘
I know, but being self-employed means you go to work whenever you need to, and I need to go today. If you want to come with me you’re more than welcome, and it would definitely make the day much more bearable.’

‘
OK, I’ll come along, but do we have to go right now?’ she whispered, sliding her hands up the outside of his thighs, feeling the firm flesh underneath the loosely-wrapped towel around his waist. ‘Right this very minute?’

The relationship between Abbey and Darren grew stronger each day. They were regularly seen out together and his bakkie was usually parked outside her house in an evening. Phil teased her intolerably at work about being able to foresee her future even if she couldn’t. She smiled at his jokes and comments, as she felt more content now than she had done in a very long time, and knew that secretly Phil was happy for her too.

The only down point, as far as Abbey could see, was that the longer distance jobs kept Darren away for up to a week at a time and, although they had only been together for a relatively short space of time, she missed him terribly when he was away.

Judith, on hearing the good news, had turned up at the AVP office, demanding to know every last detail about Darren from the day they had met. Abbey described their first meeting at the President’s Lodge and Phil repeatedly interrupted her with his own version of events. It was only when Abbey offered to go to the shop to buy cakes, leaving Phil to entertain Judith, that he fell silent and offered to run the errand himself.

One stifling hot, Wednesday morning, Abbey walked down to the office after saying goodbye to Darren, who was going to be away until the weekend. Both Richard and Phil were already there. Richard had his head deep in a memo from Head Office and Phil was tapping his biro on an empty glass.

‘
Morning guys,’ she said breezily, helping herself to a glass of water before sitting behind her desk.

‘
Morning as in good morning, because I don’t happen to think it is, or morning as in just morning?’ Phil said in a contemptuous voice.

‘
OK, grumpy guts, what’s biting you then?’

‘
Ask him,’ replied Phil, pointing over at Richard with his pen.

Abbey looked over at Richard. ‘Well Richard, anything the matter?’

‘
No, no, not at all,’ Richard replied. ‘I’ve had a memo from Head Office to say they want us to go on a team-building day to improve communication, and I have to organise it. That’s all, nothing major.’

Nothing major! A team-building day with Richard and Phil!
Oh my god
, thought Abbey. The only building her and Phil had ever done, as a team, was to build a tower of empty beer cans, balancing a vodka bottle on the top as high as they could before it fell down. How they had laughed when it crashed onto the floor.

‘
Maybe we should discuss this collegiately, as a team, given it’s about team building?’ suggested Abbey. ‘What do you think, Phil?’

Abbey looked over at Phil who had his head under the desk and seemed to be searching for something on the floor. ‘Phil, what are you looking for?’

‘
Oh, just some enthusiasm,’ he sniggered. ‘I’m sure I can find some down here if I look hard enough!’

Ignoring Phil’s guffaws from under the desk, she turned back to Richard. ‘Have you got anything in mind?’

‘
No, not yet, but leave it with me. I’m sure I can come up with something special.’

Abbey cringed at the thought of Richard’s ‘something special’. Should she be honest here and tell Richard she had organised more team-building days than she had fingers to count on, and maybe she could do it for him! No, she decided against it and thought she would let him wear his brain cells out instead.

Two days later, Richard arrived early at the office wearing a newly-pressed white shirt, knee-length khaki-coloured shorts and thick, knee-length, white socks. His protruding tummy (or muffin top, as Abbey described it), hung over the thick leather belt around his waist. Abbey pointedly refused to look at Phil to avoid any fits of the giggles at Richard’s attire.

At ten o’clock, he marched Phil and Abbey down to the edge of the Chobe River.

‘
OK guys, today’s the day. This is our team-building day,’ announced Richard. ‘I have everything we need,’ he said, pointing to the rucksack on his back. ‘Full packed-lunch for everyone! Nothing spared.’

Abbey looked around and then at Phil, shrugging her shoulders.

‘
Right, here he is,’ continued Richard. A young man was walking towards them. ‘This is Mopele, everyone, and he’s going to be our anchorman today, if you’ll pardon the pun!’

Phil rolled his eyeballs, which Richard ignored and carried on talking. ‘Mopele is going to lend us his transport today.’

‘
Richard, I’m sorry, but I can’t take the tension anymore. Will you please just get to the bloody point?’ said Abbey impatiently, fanning her face with her hat.

Richard took a deep breath. ‘Today, for our team-building activity, we are going to travel down the river by boat, together.’ He grinned at the pair of them, a hint of excitement in his voice.

‘
Excellent,’ said Phil, suddenly finding some enthusiasm. ‘I’ve never been on the Chobe Fish Eagle Safari Steamer before. Wow, far out Richard!’

‘
Er no, not the Fish Eagle Phil,’ said Richard, a little amused at the suggestion. ‘Mopele has kindly agreed to let us take his boat for the day.’