Page 28 of Another Lucky Number (Lucky Number #2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

B y seven p.m., Cat, Amber and I are sizzling in our evening outfits and we’re on our way to meet the guys for dinner at Barcoa, the resort’s barbeque and grill restaurant, which promises southern-style American soul food with a Bahamian twist. We wind our way along the path, between the tropical vegetation and open grassy stretches, the balmy heat of the day still lingering.

The relaxed surroundings, as well as the delicious memories of my earlier stint in the pool with James, almost cause me to forget that I have a serious bone to pick with Amber. Almost .

‘That stunt you pulled earlier was well out of order, Amber,’ I say with the most authoritative tone I can muster.

‘You’ll thank me later.’ Her reply is so casual that it has the instant effect of winding me up.

‘I think you owe me an apology. You ruined my afternoon.’

‘Yeah, it looked awful, you snogging James’s face off in the pool. I’ll pray for you.’

‘I’m not referring to that part.’

‘So, I didn’t ruin your afternoon then. Only part of it. ’

‘Well, yes.’ I frown. ‘But that’s not the point. It stressed me out, all those things going wrong like that.’

Amber stops and turns to me. ‘Emma, that there – what you just said, is the real point. Why don’t you wait for your feedback over dinner before you make a judgement about my actions?’

I look to Cat for support and she steps up.

‘Amber, I think what Emma’s trying to say is that you took things a bit far. And I agree with her.’

‘Thank you, Cat.’ I fix Amber with a pointed look.

‘All you told me was that you had some pre-planned scenarios,’ Cat continues. ‘If I’d known they were going to antagonise Emma that much, I would have told you to tone things down.’

‘Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you what they were.’ Amber shrugs as if this is obvious. ‘The scenarios had to put her under pressure, otherwise the whole exercise would have been pointless.’

‘Well, you certainly achieved that.’ I fold my arms while I walk, still waiting for an apology that evidently isn’t going to come.

‘Look, if you want to do this on your own terms, Emma, feel free.’ She holds up her hands in a clear threat of absolving herself from the responsibility. ‘You wanted my help and I’m giving it to you – the best way I know how.’

‘I know, and I’m grateful for that – for the most part. It’s just that… at times it feels like I’m part of some messed up boot camp.’

‘I told you the School of Amber would be tough. But it’s effective. What’s your alternative?’

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ I kick a small stone on the path in frustration. ‘I still want your help, but I also want to retain a sense of calm and dignity along the way. Is that too much to ask?’

‘ Yes .’ Amber looks me square in the eye. ‘This needs to be hard to prepare you for that interview and the job beyond it. And it’s going to be even tougher to keep your eye on the prize now lover boy has turned up, so suck it up.’

Cat and I share a hopeless look and follow Amber along the path to the restaurant.

A few minutes later, we arrive at a large barn-like structure with what appears to be a retractable roof that’s currently open to the elements. We’re greeted by the ma?tre’d, who leads us to our table (which is more like a luxury picnic bench), where James, Rob and Tyler are already seated.

‘Evening all.’ Amber is the first to greet them. ‘Not got the shots in yet? Poor show.’

‘Didn’t know that was a requirement. We’ll need to up our game.’ Tyler grins at her and she seems delighted by this response.

‘He’s quick to adapt,’ she says to me. ‘You could learn something from that.’

‘Whatever. Sorry about her.’ I offer the guys an apologetic look as I sit down at the table. ‘What Amber means is it’s lovely to see you, and she’s looking forward to spending the evening with you.’

‘What is this? Made in Chelsea? ’ she hoots.

‘It’s called manners, Amber. You should try acquiring some.’

‘Good one, coming from the woman who threatened to beat up a couple of eight-year-olds.’

There’s a collective stifled snigger from around the table causing my cheeks to flame hotter than the restaurant grill.

‘I wasn’t going to beat them… oh, you’re insufferable .’

I realise that I need to pipe down. I should have known better than to poke the bear – which tells me that, as much as this feedback session is going to be super painful and humiliating, perhaps she’s right that I badly need it.

‘How are you?’ James murmurs in my ear, subtly slipping his arm around my waist .

‘I’ve been better.’ I give a resigned smile, to which he responds with a reassuring hug.

‘Don’t worry, no one’s thinking badly of you. Your little spats with Amber are quite endearing.’

‘I’m glad they work for someone.’

We’re interrupted by a waiter who comes to take our order, and several minutes later our table is laden with beer, wine and starter platters piled high with mouth-watering barbecued shrimp, squid, ribs and wings along with piles of zesty Carribean-style salads.

It’s such fun having James and his friends with us, and everyone seems to be getting on brilliantly. So much so, that my mind glosses over one important aspect of the evening.

‘Are you ready for your personal development feedback, Emma?’ Amber’s eyes are twinkling a bit too mischievously for my liking.

‘ Ah shit . I forgot about that.’ I set down my knife and fork despairingly. ‘Any chance we can do it in the morning? We’re having such a great evening.’

Five expectant sets of eyes (including mine) land on Amber, waiting for her to call judgement. Unfortunately, it’s clear that I’m the only one who really wants her to grant my request.

‘Nope, sorry.’ She shakes her head. ‘There’s still too much we need to do. We’re already behind because of your hissy fit earlier.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Well, I’d planned to do your feedback this afternoon, but it was obvious it would have gone down like a lead balloon – especially with Romeo here having made an appearance. No offence, James.’

‘None taken.’ He flashes her an easy smile.

‘And according to the plan, we’re meant to be doing your first round of presentation practice right now, but I’ve had to put that back, so … this has to happen now.’ She raises her eyebrows at me, as if challenging me to go against her word.

Reluctant to cause another scene, I give in and accept my fate.

James may have used the term ‘endearing’ to describe Amber’s and my bickering, but I’ll be damned if it’s to become the main entertainment on this resort for him and his friends.

Though saying that, I have a horrible feeling that they’ll be treated to one hell of a performance imminently.

Amber pulls out what appears to a scoring sheet with notes scrawled all over it.

‘Have you heard of Emotional Intelligence, Emma?’ she asks.

‘Sure.’ I shrug. ‘Who hasn’t?’

‘Good. How would you define it?’

‘You’re not honestly going to make me answer that, are you? We’re not in a classroom, and you’re not a blinking teacher. Will you get to the point so this can be over quickly?’

‘OK, as Emma’s dodged the question, does anyone else want to answer?’ says Amber.

I scoff and sit back in my seat. There’s no way the others are going to let Amber treat them like school kids.

Rob half raises his hand. ‘Is it not roughly summed up as the ability to understand and manage your thoughts and behaviours, as well as understand other people’s perspectives and build good relationships with them?

Daniel Goleman coined the phrase and came up with the development model based on that definition, didn’t he? ’

My mouth gapes in disbelief that, not only has Rob played right into Amber’s hands, the others look fully engaged with the conversation.

‘Gold star for you, Rob.’ Amber beams at him. ‘That’s spot on.’

Rob looks elated that he’s now top of the non-existent class, while the others seem impressed with his knowledge. I let out an exasperated sigh, but no one even seems to notice.

‘There you go, Emma.’ Amber gives me an infuriating wink. ‘Keep that definition in your mind while I explain the approach I took with this experiment.’

‘I’m glad you refer to it as an “experiment”,’ I mutter. ‘Because I certainly feel like your bloody guinea pig.’

James takes my hand under the table and squeezes it in what I interpret as a message of ‘hang in there, there will be something good that comes from this’. I want to believe him and I want to improve. I just don’t want to have to endure the inevitable humiliation that’ll go with it.

‘Anyway…’ Amber ignores me and continues to address us as a group. ‘I set up the task as per that exact definition, which gave me four areas of Emma’s personal development to focus on. I then scored her on how she performed in each. Let’s see how she did.’

To my horror, Amber pulls Cat’s iPad out of her handbag and brings up a video still of me, nostrils flaring, looking like a raging bull.

‘ You filmed me ?’

‘It’s the most effective way. Allows you to see where you’re going wrong. And believe me, once you see some of this stuff, you’ll want to work on your problem areas.’

‘ What the shitting hell, Amber? You’ve seriously overstepped. That stuff had better not appear online.’

Her face spreads into an impish grin. ‘You sure? If we started a YouTube channel, we might get another holiday out of it. It’s comedy gold.’

‘I’m… I can’t even… I have no words ,’ I splutter, covering my face with my hands and wishing I could disappear from what’s about to become my worst nightmare: watching myself behave like a complete plank, alongside an audience that includes the man I’m dating and his best pals.