One by One - Ruth Ware Page 0,26
to talk to her family. Is Topher right, or just stirring up trouble?
“Hashtag cougar,” Carl says with a grin. He walks across to the breakfast buffet I have laid out, picks up a warm croissant, and dunks it straight into the glass mason jar containing Danny’s golden homemade apricot preserve. Then takes a huge bite, grinning through the crumbs.
“Hashtag?” Rik says disdainfully. He’s wearing a black merino polo neck and looks like a page ripped from a high-end men’s knitwear catalog. “Cougar? Have I woken up in a frat house in 2005?” Then he turns to me with a deliberately charming smile that crinkles the skin at the corners of his mouth. “I’d love an espresso, please, Erin. If that’s okay.”
Carl glares at him with a force I can feel over the other side of the room.
It should have come across as a dick move—a younger, fitter, better-looking man taking the piss out of his less-hip colleague. But I get the impression that Rik’s issue isn’t really with Carl’s choice of words but more with his choice of conversation topic. It’s funny, I’m starting to like Rik more and more. There is something about the way he relates to Eva—and Miranda actually—that is very different to Carl’s and Topher’s sniggering boys’ club attitude. Much more likable.
“So, skiing today?” The voice comes from the top of the stairwell, and I look up to see Miranda making her way down the spiral. Her dark hair is tied back in a bun, and she looks ready for business. She clocks me dispensing Rik’s espresso and says, “Good morning, Erin, mine’s an almond-milk cortado, please. What’s the forecast?”
“More snow in the afternoon,” I say. “In fact, some people are saying they expect the avalanche rating to rise, which means more closures. If you want to ski, do it this morning is my advice.”
“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