Chris Simms - Killing the Beasts

Over a backdrop of purple islands rising from the horizon, a distant flock of seabirds was crossing the sky. The slow flap of their wings caused shimmering sunlight to glance off their white underfeathers, making them glint and flash like a shoal of fish in a hazy sea.

'It's so beautiful,' she murmured dreamily, as he curled an arm around her waist.

Half an hour later, dripping wet from their swim, they staggered across the sand, hanging on to each other, bouts of breathless laughter making them unsteady on their feet. Back in the bungalow, neither said a word. Instead they made straight for the bedroom, leaving damp, sandy footprints on the tiled floor behind them.

Shrugging the shoulder straps of her swimming costume off, Charlotte unrolled it down to her waist and lay back on the white sheets. Tom gazed down for an instant before climbing on to the bed. Staying on his knees, he leaned over her, swept wet tendrils of hair to the side and began kissing her damp neck. The draft from the ceiling fan above made him aware of the droplets of seawater still clinging to his back as he brushed his lips across her breasts, tasting the salt water on her skin, licking where it had pooled in the hollow of her navel, working his way further downwards before slipping her swimming costume off completely.

The next morning they were just finishing off two tropical fruit salads in the huge timber-framed resort restaurant when Daniel wandered over and asked if they would like to book a 'Discover Scuba-diving' course.

'The Seychelles have some of the finest reefs in the world,' he proudly announced. 'I can recommend it as the thing to do during your stay. Our diving instructor, Sean, is from Cairns in Australia. He says what we have here is equal to anything you'll see on the Great Barrier Reef.'

Tom looked at Charlotte uncertainly — he'd never so much as snorkelled before. 'Can we?' she asked.

Tom sat back. 'Why not?'

'Excellent. I will let Sean know,' replied Daniel. 'When would you like to start?'

'Let's not rush anything. Tomorrow, after lunch?' said Tom.

After breakfast the next day Tom said with a sigh, 'Well, I suppose I'd better check back with the office and make sure everything hasn't collapsed.' They walked back to the bungalow and he plugged in the laptop and modem. Once the machine had booted up he tried to go online, but a window soon informed him that it could not make a connection. 'Shit!' swore Tom as the screen popped up for the second time.

'What's wrong?' Charlotte called through from the kitchen.

'No bloody internet connection.' Angrily Tom unplugged the laptop and put it back in the carry case. 'It'd better not be something wrong with the computer.'

In the resort's office he was able to link up to the internet without problems. 'So it's the socket in the bungalow,' said Tom. 'Can you get it fixed immediately?'

Daniel made a call, spoke briefly in the French dialect before looking mildly sheepish. 'An engineer can come out from Mahé in two days' time,' he told Tom.

'Can we move bungalows, then? I stipulated that office facilities were essential when I made my booking. 'Tom was irritated at how, even in such idyllic surroundings, his businesslike tone had reappeared so easily.

Daniel's embarrassment deepened. 'Your bungalow was a last-minute cancellation. All the others have been booked for months. But we can clear a desk for you here — you can make use of all our facilities until the problem is resolved.'

Tom looked around the cramped room, catching the eye of the receptionist, who looked like her entire future happiness depended on him saying yes. 'OK, it will have to do.'

Eagerly they cleared the desk in the corner and he sat down. As soon as he connected to his mailbox a message marked 'Urgent' appeared at the top. 'Lorzo's gone into receivership. Please call asap. Ges.'

Tom stared at the screen, totally stunned. The printers were their sole supplier of building wrap posters and were midway through at least half a dozen jobs. He couldn't believe they'd gone bust.

'Everything OK?' asked Daniel, nodding his head as if that could influence the answer.

Tom looked up at him. 'I'll need to make a phone call. Could I have some privacy, please?'

Daniel waved the girl from the room and closed the door behind him.

'Ges, tell me that's a joke,' said Tom into his mobile, knowing it wasn't.

At the other end of the line Ges said, 'Sorry, Tom. We heard yesterday. Anthony's buggered off back to Italy. His son's left here to pick up the pieces.'

'How could they go belly up? They were raking it in from our business alone, surely?'

'Everything was leased. They were so heavily into the bank you wouldn't believe it. You know how costs have come down now everything's gone digital; they were doing our stuff for next to no profit. Anyway, they missed too many payments and the bean counters decided enough was enough.'

'I don't believe it. Erection dates are due for at least three of those fucking building wraps. Email me the contracts. I'll have to see how much liability rests with us if we miss the deadlines.'

Tom opened the top drawer of the desk, vainly hoping a packet of paracetamol might be inside.

When Charlotte knocked on the door at 2.30 Tom had to blink several times to adjust from the view on his laptop screen to his real-life surroundings.

'Tom, you've been in here for hours! It's our diving lesson now. Do you need some lunch first?'

Tom nearly burst out in hysterical laughter; his appetite had completely vanished. Instead he looked at his watch, deciding that nothing major was likely to occur in the next couple of hours. 'No,' he said, attempting a smile. 'Let's go for it. 'Plugging his mobile into the charger, he locked down his laptop and stood up.

'Problems in the office?' asked Charlotte breezily as they walked across the foyer.

'Yeah, a few hiccups.'

As they approached the small hut by the swimming pool they could see a figure lounging in a hammock off to the side, one brown leg dangling above the grass. As they got nearer the well-toned torso of a young man, face hidden beneath a straw hat, was revealed to them.

'Are you Sean?' asked Charlotte.

The hat was removed and a handsome face appeared, all sparkling blue eyes and white teeth. Sean eased himself from the hammock and held out a hand. 'Charlotte and Tom, yeah?' he asked in an easygoing Australian accent.

'That's us,' answered Charlotte, smiling.

'Cool,' he said, looking up at the sky. 'I thought we could cover the theory bit today — about two hours' worth — and do the pool bit tomorrow. Sound good?'

Thinking that he had to get back to events in Manchester, Tom quickly agreed, 'Yes, that's fine.' Hearing his own uptight tone, he looked at Charlotte and added more gently, 'No point in rushing anything, is there?'

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders in passive agreement.

'No worries,' answered Sean. 'Let's sit in the shade out here. I'll get the flipcharts. You guys want a Coke or anything?'

The theory consisted of going over the basics of how the equipment worked, including the instruments on the tank and the rubber mouthpiece, known as the regulator. Finally he explained how an actual dive was conducted, pointing out that he would be divemaster and they would be each other's dive buddy. Tom found his attention kept wandering back to the office as he ran over in his mind how they would reschedule their printing jobs now Lorzo's had ceased trading.

The end of the afternoon and early evening was spent exchanging emails and the odd phone call with Ges and the London office. It was 10 p. m. in the Seychelles and 6 p. m. in England when Tom finally conceded they would have to call it a day and resume tomorrow.

In their bungalow he threw off his shirt and lay back on the bed, mind still racing. A light caress took him by surprise and he looked down to see Charlotte's fingers drawing a lazy circle across his stomach. Instead of instant stirrings of desire, all he felt was irritation at her touch. He turned away and, as her hand fell on to the mattress, he mumbled that the flight had finally caught up with him.