I’d suspected as much myself but had to keep the faith that when it came to it, Tim would do the right thing. He was my boss after all, the person I worked alongside day in, day out. If somebody was going to give me a glowing reference, it sort of had to be him.
‘I need to keep him on side,’ I said. ‘Just in case.’
Lou zipped up her camera bag, picking it up and putting it over her shoulder.
‘Don’t sell yourself short, Maddie, that’s all I’m saying. You’ll never get anywhere in life if you try to please other people all the time at the expense of what you want.’
I watched her walk back towards the hotel. She’d hit a nerve with that comment. I’d been thinking about that a lot lately, how my main motivation for doing almost everything seemed to be to keep other people – Tim, my parents, my step-parents, my friends – happy. And I was terrible at it, because they often seemed irritated by me, despite my best efforts.
I massaged my temples for a few seconds, put my confident face on and switched into work mode to take my mind off all the other stuff. I strode over to the diving instructor at the exact moment he started handing out equipment to his terrified-looking clients. Even Wetsuit Guy looked as though he was having second thoughts.
‘Um, hello? Hi?’ I said, waving from the sidelines like a soccer mom who wanted to know why her little darling hadn’t been picked for the team.
Eventually, the instructor noticed me and came over, all relaxed and weather-beaten. It seemed like a pretty stress-free life running a water sports business and the idea of working for myself instead of a hierarchy of corporate hounds like Tim and the senior management team above him suddenly appealed on many different levels.
‘Can I help?’ asked the diving instructor in a heavily accented Scottish rumble.
He probably thought I was interested in joining the session. That would be a no.
‘I hope so,’ I said, holding out my hand and introducing myself. ‘I’m Maddie Campbell, assistant producer on Holiday Shop, the discounted travel channel on cable. Not sure if you’ve ever watched it, or—’
The man shook his head. ‘I’m Finlay. What can I do for you? Only, I’m sort of in the middle of something,’ he said.
Bloody Tim. I told him now wasn’t a good time.
‘I can see that, yeah, sorry.’
I could also see Wetsuit Guy looking over with interest. He really was very good-looking close up, with the sort of dreamy pretty-boy face I fell for every single time and then wondered why it all went badly wrong. You’d think I’d learn. Saying that, this guy had something different about him, something more than just a strong jawline and a sweet smile. He looked very earnest, like he had a lot going on inside his head. I bet he was into books or maths or something. A pretty-boy geek with an almost-beard. In any case, it was very attractive, and annoyingly, it was distracting me from what I was actually supposed to be doing. I tried my best to focus on Finlay.
‘So, we – my producer and I – were wondering whether it would be possible to do some filming with you this afternoon? We were thinking kayaks? Having our presenter in one doing a few lines of script? Perhaps some shots of a small group of you out on the water?’
I metaphorically crossed my fingers. Tim would go mad if the guy said no, and I’d probably end up trawling around the perimeter of the lake looking for another water sports school because I’d be too scared to go back to the hotel with bad news.
Finlay laughed. ‘I feel like a bloody celebrity today. One minute I’m doing an interview for a newspaper down in London and the next I’m being asked to go on national television.’
‘Well, I wouldn’t exactly call itnationaltelevision,’ I said, not wanting to make my proposition sound more exciting than it actually was. I wondered what he meant about the newspaper, but didn’t get any further with that thought, because, oh God, what was Wetsuit Guy doing walking in my direction?
‘Hello,’ he said, smiling at me, lighting up his face and probably mine. ‘I’m Aidan, travel reporter at theHampstead and Highgate Express. And you are …?’
I cleared my throat, shaking his hand and wondering why I was suddenly boiling hot. It was probably the massive roll-necked jumper I’d decided it was a brilliant idea to wear this morning, even though I had a tendency to overheat when I was rushing around working. And when I met super-fit men and they were standing so close to me that I could see the dimple on their left cheek when they smiled and that one eyebrow was ever so slightly higher than the other.
‘I’m Maddie, assistant producer on Holiday Shop,’ I said,my voice sounding strange, as though I was listening back to it on a voice note. ‘Nice to meet you.’
I looked to Finlay to bring me back to reality. I was here to organise a shoot. I was not here to go all funny while talking to cute men in wetsuits.
‘Why don’t you and your crew come out with us this afternoon? Aidan here is doing the same,’ said Finlay.
‘Certainly am,’ said Aidan, holding up a notebook. ‘I’m doing a story on British sporting holidays,’ he explained to me.
He wasn’t Scottish, then, judging by his accent. More Home Counties, perhaps.
‘Oh, fun!’ I said. This was not something I’d normally say. ‘Where else have you been?’
He thought about it for a second or two. ‘Let’s see, what have I got so far … I’ve done cycling in the Pennines and mountain climbing in Wales. After this, it’s surfing in Cornwall.’
‘From one end of the country to the other.’
He laughed. ‘Are you into your sports, then?’