Beyond the Lens

by Hannah Ellis

  I rolled my eyes at her cheeky tone. “I really like him.”

  “That’s good, isn’t it?”

  “No, it’s confusing,” I told her. “I don’t know if he likes me and this is a really weird situation. How can I have a crush on someone who barely speaks? I still can’t believe I fell asleep on him!”

  “To be honest, I don’t think it’s a big deal that you got drunk and fell asleep on him. But I do think it’s a big deal that you’re obsessing about it.”

  “I’m not obsessing about it.”

  “Okay, you’re obsessing about him!”

  “No, I’m not!” I protested, turning on my side to face Chrissie. “Okay, maybe I am! I really don’t want to like him.”

  She sat up, removing her hairband and shaking out her hair. “I think he’s nice.”

  “You’re not helping me! Let’s talk about Matt instead …”

  “Do you think he likes me?” she asked sheepishly.

  “Definitely.”

  “I think so too,” she told me, lying down. “I hope so. You’re right, though, it’s a weird situation.”

  “We’re already halfway through the week, you know? It’ll be over before we know it.” I turned onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. I was surprised by how much I was enjoying myself, and the thought of it all being over in a few days was strange. I’d been convinced I’d have an awful time and would be able to tell my mum that her approach to life just led to trouble. So far, however, things couldn’t have gone better. “As soon as this is over, you, me and Matt should go for a night out at Dylan’s bar.”

  “Definitely,” Chrissie said as she reached to turn out the bedside lamp.

  Chapter 18

  We were tucking into our continental breakfast the next day when Maria placed another full English breakfast in front of Matt.

  “I think I’m a little bit in love with this lady,” he told us as he stood to give her a big kiss. She squeezed his cheeks before leaving us.

  “That’s not fair,” Ryan complained, stealing a sausage from Matt’s plate. I’d been amused to find Ryan chatting to Matilda when I’d arrived downstairs. He was at a safe distance, with the fence between him and the chicken, and he swore he wasn’t talking to her – but I knew what I’d seen.

  “I can’t help it if Maria’s got a soft spot for me.” Matt grinned and moved his plate away from Ryan.

  I swam for a while and then lay sunbathing while we waited for Chelsea to make her morning appearance. The crazy golf had disappeared overnight and the sun loungers had been returned to their rightful place, spread out evenly around the lawn. There were seven loungers under seven umbrellas as usual – but each umbrella had a small wooden box under it too. If it hadn’t been for the fact that they had only just appeared, I would have thought they were little tables and thought no more about them.

  “Do you think she’s forgotten about us?” Kelly asked. She was lying on the sun lounger nearest me, turning frequently to ensure an even tan.

  “I hope so,” I told her. “I’d quite like to relax here all day.”

  “Me too. I think I’d like Chelsea’s job …”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I think if I could have any job I wanted, I’d be a TV presenter.”

  “What do you do now?” I realised I didn’t really know much about Kelly.

  “I work in an Italian restaurant at the moment, waitressing. Well, I did anyway. I’ll probably get fired for this.” She gestured at our surroundings.

  “You deciding it was worth risking your job for?”

  “Yeah. I like my job but life’s short, isn’t it? I can get another job easily enough. People like pretty waitresses.”

  I smiled at her lack of modesty.

  “This seemed like it would be a fun adventure. Plus we’ll be on TV and who knows what opportunities will come from that?”

  “You sound a bit like my mum,” I told her. “She thinks life’s too short to do anything remotely boring. She hated me working in an office.”

  “She’s right. Why do a job that you don’t enjoy?”

  “Money! I have bills to pay. And a student loan to pay off.”

  “What did you study?”

  “Psychology.” I always felt I needed to explain my choice. “My dad always wanted me to get a degree but since I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, I just picked anything. My dad thinks a degree creates opportunities.”

  “No offence, but your dad sounds annoying.”

  “He’s not so bad,” I said. “But after three years at university, I ended up with a degree in psychology and a student loan to pay back. Of course, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. I thought about teaching, but that meant another year of studying and I decided I had enough debt, so I got an office job to pay the bills and pay back the loan. It was supposed to be temporary, but I just sort of got stuck in it.”

  “Couldn’t your dad have helped you out with the loan, since it was his idea for you to go to uni?”

  “No, I think it was supposed to be a life lesson for me. Money management and all that.”

  “Why did you listen to him? If I was you I’d be taking advice from my mum, not my dad.”

  “I think it was because my mum’s life always seemed such a mess. They were never really together and I grew up with my mum.” I registered Dylan hovering around us.

  “Coming for a swim?” he asked as I looked up at him. I shook my head and continued chatting to Kelly.

  “My dad can be a bit boring, but he always provided for his family and never had any financial worries. He’s an architect and his life always seemed so ordered; I guess that made sense to me. I was always the one trying to create order for my mum and me, and I wished she was more like my dad so I didn’t have to worry so much. But––” I spluttered in shock as water suddenly sprayed all over me. I pushed my wet hair off my face and glared at Dylan, who was treading water in the pool in front of me.

  “What was that for?” Chrissie demanded on my behalf. She was swimming laps beside Dylan.

  His gaze bore into me and he had a look on his face that I couldn’t read. “Come for a dip.”

  “I’m talking,” I told him impatiently. “I’ll come in a bit. What was I saying?” I asked Kelly.

  “Come on,” Dylan coaxed. “Don’t make me drag you in.” He splashed me again and I grew increasingly irritated. I’d been enjoying chatting with Kelly. Dylan stared at me with wide eyes and then tipped his head in the direction of the nearest camera.

  “I’ll be back in a minute,” I told Kelly and lowered myself into the pool.

  I swam to the middle and Dylan followed me. “You should watch what you say,” he told me under his breath. I turned to look at him and we treaded water. “Don’t talk about your family. Imagine how you’ll feel if they watch that on TV.”

  “You really think this will end up on TV?” I asked him.

  “It could.”

  “I don’t even think there was a camera near me,” I told him, glancing round at Adam, who was standing a good distance from where I’d been chatting to Kelly.

  “Just be careful. Don’t forget you’re being watched. And you’ve no idea what the reach is for the microphones on those things.” He glanced at Carl who was walking along the poolside. “Modern technology is pretty impressive.”

  “You realise you sound paranoid?” Chrissie said, floating on her back beside me.

  “Maybe,” he replied without taking his eyes off me.

  “We overheard Jessica saying everything was going wrong and this probably wouldn’t end up on TV at all,” I told him.

  “Okay,” he said. “Maybe it won’t be on TV. But maybe it will. We have no idea what will happen.”

  Chrissie sighed. “Lighten up, will you?”

  “I just don’t want you to do or say anything you’ll regret,” he told me.

  My head jerked around as Chelsea’s voice rang out. “Good morning, boys and girls!” She beckoned u
s over to the couches and we moved slowly to gather around her. “You will be excited to hear that there is a whopping £1000 up for grabs in today’s test of endurance!”

  I was fairly sure I knew what the challenge was going to be, and was disappointed at the producers’ lack of imagination. This had all been done before.

  “You’ve probably noticed the boxes under the sun umbrellas,” Chelsea continued. “The challenge is simple: whoever stays on their box the longest is the winner! And I’m sorry to rush you but the challenge will start in ten seconds, so please position yourself on a box immediately.”

  Ryan took off at a run and hopped up onto the nearest box. The rest of us were less enthusiastic.

  “I think I might be at a disadvantage,” Matt shouted. He had to bend so his head didn’t hit the grass umbrella.

  “You’re welcome to sit,” Chelsea said as she walked among us. “Just make sure you don’t touch the ground or you’ll be out.”

  “I can’t sit on it,” Matt told her. “I don’t fit!”

  Kelly was also too tall to stand comfortably under the umbrella, but she managed to sit cross-legged on the box.

  “This is really stupid,” I said, looking at Adam who was standing near me and then turning my attention to the others. “We could all give up now and share the money …”

  “I’m up for that,” Matt said.

  “There can only be one winner, I’m afraid,” Chelsea informed us.

  “Okay,” Margaret said. “But the winner would be free to share the money.”

  Chelsea was starting to look flustered. “I suppose so, but …”

  “I’m not sharing,” Ryan said. “And you’ve all just proved that you’ve got no stamina. It’s not been five minutes yet. I could stay here all day.”

  “Oh, Ryan,” Matt said on a sigh. “Didn’t your parents teach you about sharing?”

  “This is a competition,” Ryan told him. “And I intend to win.”

  Matt looked at Dylan and with a nod they stepped off their boxes and walked over to stand in front of Ryan.

  “Do you want to get off yet?” Dylan asked. “Or shall we help you?”

  Ryan’s words came out fast and laced with panic. “You can’t touch me. Surely that’s not allowed!” He turned to Chelsea, who looked confused.

  When Matt and Dylan took another step towards Ryan, he held up his hands and stepped down. “I was only joking,” he said with a nervous smile. “Of course I’ll share the money. Who wants to stand on a box all day?”

  Margaret and I got down from the boxes and Kelly blew Chrissie a kiss as she uncrossed her legs and put her feet on the ground.

  “Am I the winner?” Chrissie asked Chelsea excitedly.

  “I’m not sure this is allowed,” she said.

  “I’m the last one on a box,” Chrissie told her. “Surely the money is mine.”

  Chelsea looked around at us all. At that moment, I’m fairly sure she hated us. “Congratulations, Chrissie!” she said, adopting a cheerful tone.

  Chrissie stepped down from her box. “Yes! We’re all winners; I’ll share the money and no one has to waste the day standing around on a box!”

  We watched Chelsea walk across the lawn. “Have a great day!” she called over her shoulder and disappeared inside.

  Chapter 19

  “I’m twenty-six years old and I’m playing hide and seek,” I mumbled to myself while I skipped down the stairs. Admittedly, I play hide and seek fairly regularly – but usually with a couple of five-year-olds, not a group of adults. It was Ryan’s idea, of course.

  “Hey, Matilda,” I greeted the golden chicken, which was wandering around down in the huge entrance hall. The door leading to the back of the finca was open and I watched Matilda stalk outside and wander across the courtyard to Maria, who was sitting on a bench outside the door to her apartment. It was a drab and dusty area, littered with tools and rusting parts of machinery. A scruffy dog lay in the shade of a washing rack near Maria, its wiry black hair matted in places.

  I smiled at Maria, who didn’t notice me. Matilda clucked happily over to her and Maria gently picked up the fluffy bird and tenderly stroked its head – before abruptly snapping its neck.

  She turned at my gasp, waving cheerfully while she laid the lifeless chicken on the small wooden table next to her. My eyes were like saucers, but I managed to keep a smile on my face when Maria called out to me. By her hand gestures, I concluded that Matilda was on the menu for dinner.

  I waved and took a step back, bumping into Adam. “She just killed Matilda,” I whispered, stepping away from him and closing the door to the courtyard of death.

  “Coming!” I heard Ryan’s voice ring out around the finca, and remembered I was supposed to be hiding. I opened a door at the foot of the stairs and slipped into the cramped, musty-smelling cupboard. There were floor-to-ceiling shelves on the three walls and each shelf held piles of blankets and bedding.

  “You’ll have to come in too,” I told Adam, pulling him inside before closing the door and shutting out the light. “Ouch!” I bumped into the camera and we shuffled awkwardly in the tight space.

  “Sorry,” he said and put a hand on my face before running it down to my shoulder, making me catch my breath. “Sorry,” he repeated. “Just trying to figure out where you are so I don’t knock you out with the camera.”

  “The light’s gone out,” I told him when the red light from the camera disappeared.

  “I switched it off,” he told me and I could just make out him setting the camera on top of a pile of blankets. “I don’t think it’s much use in here.”

  “What about the microphone?” I asked.

  “Do you want me to switch the camera on again?” he asked, amusement in his voice.

  “No,” I told him quickly. “I just thought you might get into trouble …”

  “Possibly. But it’s a freelance job, and it’s almost over. I don’t think I’ll get fired at this stage. Plus, no one batted an eyelid when I drowned a walkie-talkie yesterday.”

  “That was Matt’s fault.” My eyes started to adjust, and the sliver of light from under the door was enough for me to make out Adam’s face. “The week’s gone fast, hasn’t it?”

  “Yeah.” His walkie-talkie suddenly crackled into life, making me jump, and I reached out a hand to steady myself. “I’m hiding in a cupboard with Lucy,” he told Jessica casually. “Be quiet or you’ll give us away!” He turned his walkie-talkie off and sighed. “They probably won’t be in a hurry to employ me again …”

  We stopped talking at the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and I held my breath as I waited to be discovered, trying to ignore my proximity to Adam and the fact that my heart rate was rising steadily. Then there was a sudden shriek from somewhere nearby and the footsteps returned when whoever it was headed quickly back upstairs.

  “I think Ryan just uncovered Maria and her murderous ways,” Adam said quietly.

  “I can’t believe that sweet little old lady just killed poor Matilda with her bare hands.”

  “She’s funny,” Adam said. “She reminds me of my gran.”

  “Yeah?”

  “My gran kept chickens too. Mostly for the eggs, but I remember seeing her plucking one of them when I was a kid and I was traumatised for a while.”

  “I think I might be traumatised for a while too,” I told him.

  In the silence I was acutely aware of my heartbeat. I was sure that Adam must be able to hear it. It felt like wild horses were stampeding through my chest. I was only wearing a bikini and there was so little space that, if either of us moved, we bumped into each other.

  “Sorry,” I said when I shifted my weight and stood on his foot. “I should probably have found somewhere more spacious to hide.” My voice sounded strange and I almost felt like opening the door and walking away. “And why on earth are we playing hide and seek anyway?”

  “I think it’s a nice cupboard.” He was so close that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my
face, his voice so soft it was barely audible. “And it might be the best idea Ryan’s had all week.”

  I shivered when he ran his hand down my arm and lingered over my hand. My brain shut off and I entwined my fingers with his, pulling him to me until his lips brushed mine. My breath caught in my throat. His hand rested on my lower back, and when he hesitated, I moved my hands into his hair and pushed my lips to his. His arms tightened around me and I felt my feet leave the ground as I kissed him.

  “There you are …” Light filled the tiny space around us and I squinted at Kelly, who was standing in the doorway. “Or not!” she said, pushing the door shut again. I untangled myself from Adam and reached for the door while he grabbed at his camera.

  “You found us!” I called after Kelly, who was halfway up the stairs.

  “Oh, great.” She grinned at me. “It was really dark in there; I almost missed you!”

  Chrissie appeared at the top of the staircase, a big smile on her face. “You found them?”

  “Yep, we’re here,” I told her, feeling like I’d run a marathon and hoping no one noticed my breathlessness. Adam was pointing his camera up at us, his face blank. I struggled to get my breathing under control as I smiled at Kelly and Chrissie.

  “You have to come and see this,” Chrissie told me. “Ryan is freaking out about Maria plucking a chicken. I think he’s going to be scarred for life!”

  “Okay.” I ran up the stairs and we went back outside.

  “I’m not eating dinner tonight if it’s chicken,” Ryan was telling Matt, who suppressed a smile and patted him reassuringly on the knee. “What if it was Matilda?” he asked. “Can someone go and look for Matilda?” His breathing was even more erratic than mine, and his face was pale when he looked up at us and took a swig of beer.

  “It was Matilda,” I told him. “Sorry, I saw Maria snap her neck.”

  “Oh no,” Ryan sighed dramatically and dropped his head to the table. “Why did you let me get so attached?” he asked sadly.

  “I don’t mean to sound insensitive,” Dylan chimed in. “But when you buy chicken in the shop, what exactly do you think you’re getting?”