Page 5 of Alluring Adventure

Fantastic. Of course, this could be a lifeline for my business but it also makes me nervous. What if she gives the trip a bad review? I might not be an expert but even I know thatnothing kills business quicker than bad reviews from popular influencers.

“Hey,” Hannah greets me as I step into the office. The ground floor is split into three parts: the front where we meet with clients and get them booked in, the large garage next door where we store all of our equipment, and the back office where my desk is alongside a small table we use for our lunch with a whole lot of files and planners on the wall.

Hannah is perched in my chair with a spreadsheet up on the screen.

“Tell me you got the booking?” she asks.

“I think so. They want to see our proposal but it sounded like it’s just going to be a matter of finalising what tours they’ll do. I’ll work on it over the weekend and email it to Tommy on Monday after you’ve had a look.” I like Hannah to double check important proposals because she always has good ideas on how to improve them.

“That’s great.”

“I have some other news.”

“Oh, do tell,” she grins. My sister is an happy-go-lucky person which is why she struggles so much with Mum’s depression.

“There’s a blogger staying at Greenview Manor at the moment. Marisa booked her on the canyoning trip tomorrow mor—”

“That’s amazing!” Hannah cheers. “Fuck, Ols, that’s what we need. Is it a big blog?”

“I’m not sure,” I shrug. What do I know about blogs. “Her name is Keeley Hallett.”

Hannah types what I assume is Keeley’s name into the computer.

“Shut up, no way! This is one of the top travel blogs in the country. I’ve emailed them about a million times but it just goes to a generic email address.” She swivels the monitor around and I see a website with colourful photos of exotic locations. In two of them Keeley is visible. In the first one she is holding some monstrosity of a spider in her palm and in the second one she’s lying in a hammock on a tropical beach. Her hair is blowing in the wind and she looks relaxed and happy.

“So, she could really make a difference, I guess. I’ll give Kurt a heads up.” Kurt is one of our permanent climbing guides, and he’s also qualified to lead canyoning trips. Originally from Austria, Kurt has been climbing mountains since he was a child. When his parents insisted he study in England, he chose the small campus we have in Fellside, largely because it allowed him to continue climbing. He completed his degree two years ago and occasionally talks about moving back to Austria. But then he’ll fall for another girl in the village and his plans to return home get pushed aside again.

“Ahem, don’t you think you should go?” Hannah stares at me like I just said the craziest thing ever.

“Why? I can’t guide canyoning.”

“Ols,” she sighs, “I’m not talking about you guiding it. But don’t you want to tag along to make sure she has a good day?”

“I…,” it hadn’t really crossed my mind. Kurt is great with customers and I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to spend more time with the woman who makes me hot under the collar.

“I think I have a flight booked for tomorrow. Why don’t you—"

“No flight booked, you’re free. I, on the other hand, have a school group from Manchester booked in,” she grins, “why are you being weird?”

“I’m not. You are right, I can go with Kurt. You better let him know though, otherwise he’ll think I’m checking up on him.”

“Hmmm,” she eyes me suspiciously. Time to take the spotlight off me.

“Mum called.” Hannah’s face falls. “She wants us over for lunch at the weekend.”

“Ols, I—”

“No, Hannah. She sounded better and she really wants to see you. Please?” I drop a tea bag in a mug and flip the switch on the kettle to reheat the remaining water.

“Fine. But I’ll bring Jake.”

“Is there something going on between you and Jake?” I’ve had a suspicion for a while.

“No, Ols. Guess what, a man and a woman can just be friends without humping each other.”

“I don’t want to know who you hump.” I stop her.

“Well, then why bring it up? And for your information, I have a date on Friday.” She sticks her tongue out at me, just like she used to when we were little. It’s a reminder that growing older doesn’t always mean growing up. If anyone thinks that hitting forty automatically makes people behave like grown-ups all the time, they couldn’t be more mistaken. No matter how old we get we can be as silly as children sometimes.

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