One by One(22)

“Eva won’t be pleased,” Carl says. “She’s got this morning packed with presentations.”

“Eva will have to lump it,” Topher says sourly. He pops two white pills into his mouth and washes them down with a gulp from his stainless-steel water bottle, then massages the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t come all this way to sit in a board room all week listening to her bore on about investor expectations. She can push her little bits of paper around this afternoon.”

“I’m sure she won’t mind rescheduling,” Miranda says mildly. “It’ll be good for everyone to blow off some steam. I certainly can’t wait to get my skis on.”

She has the look of a skier. Lean but strong. Topher looks like a boarder, and I’m unsurprised when he says, “What’s the off-piste like round here, Irene? Any good powder?”

It takes me a beat, then I realize he’s referring to me, at the same time as Miranda hisses, “She’s called Erin,” in Topher’s direction.

I smile, trying to convey that I don’t mind. Irene, Eileen, Emma—it’s all the same. When you’re staff, you’re not really a person. Topher would probably treat a robot with high-quality AI with the same level of polite disinterest.

“The snow must be amazing right now,” Rik says. “Can you show us some good off-piste routes, Erin?”

I feel the blood drain from my face, and I’m trying to think what to say when I’m saved from answering by Danny, who comes out at that moment carrying a huge platter of bacon rolls.

“Erin’s too much of a wuss to go out of bounds,” he says with a grin. “But I can show you some cool little routes if you want. Not today though.”

“Why not today?” Topher says, frowning.

“The avalanche risk is too high,” I say, trying to regain my composure. “But it should be better later in the week when they’ve had the chance to set off some controlled explosions.”

In truth I have absolutely no idea whether it’ll be better, but no one likes a pessimist, and they’ve got to get up there and clear the buildup some time.

“Well that’s a plan then,” Topher says briskly. He picks up a bacon roll and takes a bite.

“What’s a plan?”

The voice comes from the direction of the living room and we all turn to see Eva standing there. She’s holding a massive sheaf of files and a laptop and looks ready to go.

“Erin says that the only skiing today is likely to be in the morning,” Rik says quickly, “so we thought we’d get the finance presentation out of the way now, and then move the rest of the stuff to the afternoon.” He speaks rather fast, and I have the impression he’s attempting to head off Topher from saying the same thing but with less diplomacy.

Eva pauses in the doorway. She looks like she’s trying to decide how to feel about this, whether to make a fuss. Then she looks at her watch, and shrugs.

“Fine. It’s nearly eight thirty. Shall we get going on the presentation? It shouldn’t take more than half an hour, so we won’t be far off the first lift if we leave straight after that.”

“Sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned,” Topher says. “We can take breakfast into the den with us. Where the fuck are the others?”

“I’m here.” It’s a voice from the doorway, and we look across to see Tiger entering the room. “Sorry, have I kept you?” She looks pale and rumpled, her short ombré hair sticking out in all directions as if she hasn’t brushed it yet this morning.

“Yes,” Topher says, at the same time as Miranda says, “No, you’re not the only one missing.”

“Ready to milk some pow, Tiger?” Topher asks. I hear a noise from the direction of the kitchen where Danny has stifled a derisive snort, and I busy myself over the espresso machine to hide my own expression.

“Sorry?” Tiger says. She rubs her eyes as if the morning light is hurting her. “I didn’t catch that.”

“Are you ready to get on your board?”

“Oh, yes sure.”

“You look worse than Topher,” Eva says bluntly, and Tiger laughs, with an uncertain look at Topher.

“I didn’t sleep well. I had awful insomnia all night.”

“It’s the altitude,” Eva says. “It affects some people that way. I always take sleeping pills for the first few nights.”

I don’t hear Tiger’s reply, because Topher pulls me to one side.

“Are all the hire skis here?”

“All waiting for you in the locker room,” I say. The ski shop is down in the village, so we pick up the gear for the skiers. Most people here have brought their own though. It’s only Liz, Ani, and Carl who have hired equipment. “Before you go, let me show you the best route back to the chalet. It’s a really great run, but it’s a bit counterintuitive, looking at the map. You actually have to cut across a little bit between two runs.”

“Is that safe?” Carl says, sounding alarmed. “You just said it was too dangerous to go out of bounds.”

“Oh, no,” I hasten to reassure him. “It’s totally safe, it’s a very well-trodden path. It’s not off-piste in that sense. But it’s just not shown as a route on the lift map, so unless you know to peel off through the trees, you get taken right down Blanche-Neige into St. Antoine le Lac and have to come back up the funicular.”