Page 47 of It's All Sun and Games

‘This is a little too Titanic for my liking,’ I joke. ‘If I’ve learned anything from Jack and Rose it’s that we both need to fit on here.’

He laughs as he lays down a second piece of cardboard. I smile smugly because he actually got that joke. It only takes a couple of days of hanging around with someone who grew up in another country to realise that almost your entire sense of humour is based on pop culture references. Perhaps I’m not as funny as I think I am, I just spend too much time looking at dumb things on screens.

With a piece of cardboard that is finally big enough, Andrea lies down next to me, and for a moment we pause.

Oh, it’s so nice. We may be on the world’s crappiest sun lounger, at one of the world’s nicest resorts, but it’s so lovely to just be still in the sun.

‘How much do you want to win?’ Andrea eventually asks, breaking the silence.

I roll onto my side, to face him, resting my head on my hand.

‘Oh, I don’t know. Why?’ I ask.

‘Because, right now, we’re just sunbathing,’ he points out, gesturing to our relaxed positions on the cardboard. ‘We could just lie here all day.’

God, that does sound preferable.

‘No slacking off.’ Rick’s voice reaches us from across the pool.

‘Maybe not then,’ Andrea points out with a laugh.

He jumps to his feet with an energy I don’t think I have ever possessed.

‘Need a hand?’ he asks me, offering me both of his.

‘Go on then,’ I reply, allowing him to pull me up.

Andrea gets me upright, but I somehow manage to wobble on the spot. He catches me in his arms and pulls me close, pressing our bodies together in a way that – for me – definitely turns up the temperature.

‘Are you okay?’ he asks me.

‘Yeah, just a bit dizzy, I think,’ I reply. ‘I’m not sure building rafts in the hot sun is a good idea, unless you’re stranded on a desert island, but here we are. If we have to compete then we should try to win, right?’

‘Right,’ he replies. ‘And I think I might have an idea.’

‘And none of that either,’ Rick calls out. ‘Jump in the pool to cool off, if you need to – it might work like a cold shower – but then back to work.’

We laugh as we part our bodies. Glancing across the pool, I notice that Liz and James are staring over at us, neither of them looking all that happy.

‘Okay, okay,’ Andrea says, rubbing his hands together eagerly, dragging my mind back to the task at hand. ‘So, what I’m thinking is, we make it like a boat. We stick it together, like this…’

He demonstrates, holding two pieces of cardboard side by side, forming a makeshift panel.

‘Interesting,’ I say, eyeing his handiwork with intrigue. ‘I do like your style – still, I have no idea how it’s going to work.’

‘Robin, do I ever let you down?’ Andrea replies, his tone brimming with confidence as he holds his hands out, palms up, at his sides. ‘Trust me.’

‘I do trust you,’ I reply – and I really do. ‘Let’s win this stupid thing.’

The two of us piece together our boat, working side by side – and we make one hell of a team, if I do say so myself. With each cardboard panel and strip of tape, our boat begins to take shape.

‘That does actually look like a boat,’ I say, admiring our handiwork.

‘It is supposed to,’ Andrea responds with a laugh. ‘I think we should cover the bottom and the sides with tape, to make it more secure, and last longer on the water.’

‘Great idea,’ I reply. ‘I think we’re almost there.’

We tear off strips of tape and carefully stick them down, sealing any gaps and ensuring our vessel is seaworthy – or pool worthy, at least.

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