Page 28 of Someone in the Water

Frankie

I walk along the uneven path and stare at the rucksack on Dom’s back as he leads us towards the waterfalls.

How can I have let things get to this? The last two weeks have been excruciating.

We speak without eye contact, put on a show of camaraderie for the guests, but work in terse silence when they’re not around.

After Bastille Day, I tried to apologise, to explain, but Dom shut me down every time.

Izzy told me to stop trying, that Dom just needed to grow up a bit.

But it’s hard. Even if I didn’t want anything more, I miss our friendship.

After all the acrimony of the last few weeks, I don’t really understand why we still spend our day off together as a group. But here we are. Maybe people cling to what’s familiar when they’re away from home, or it could just be habit.

‘How much further?’ Harriet whines from behind me.

The sun is beating down hard, and the temperature must be at least thirty degrees despite the tree cover around us.

We’ve been walking for nearly an hour, and the only thing that’s keeping me going is the thought of diving into the promised pool of fresh water.

It sounds like Harriet feels the same way.

‘I’m pretty sure we’re close now,’ Dom calls out without turning around. ‘Izzy, I assume you can’t remember the route.’

‘Correct,’ Izzy calls back merrily.

It was Dom’s idea to spend the day at the waterfalls.

Dom and Izzy were the first of the waterfront team to arrive at the resort, back in May when the hotel was still quiet.

On their first day off, Raphael brought them out here, along with two of his cousins who were visiting from the mainland.

Izzy has never given the outing more than a passing mention, but Dom loved it, and he’s been trying to get us all to visit ever since.

I was the first to say yes when he suggested it this morning – another attempt to thaw his anger with me – but he didn’t even register that I had spoken.

The path veers left, and Dom disappears for a minute.

When Izzy and I catch up, he’s standing still, staring at the view.

And I can see why. The path has brought us to a stunning oasis of dark cliffs and plummeting water.

A semicircle of tapered waterfalls splutter and dance towards the promised rock pool, and madly, a mix of pink and lilac wildflowers curl up through the cracks in the rockface.

There’s a border of conifer trees across the top with the sun shimmering through the branches.

‘Pretty special, isn’t it?’ Dom says.

‘It’s beautiful.’ I watch Dom start to smile at my words, then change his mind.

‘Wow, what a view!’ Archie says as he and Jack catch up with us. ‘God, that water is calling my name.’

‘Mine too,’ Harriet says, dropping her bag on a flat section of rock and shimmying out of her shorts.

‘Not so fast, kids,’ Dom says, lifting his hand, a grin now returning to his face. ‘You don’t just get in the water.’

‘What?’ Harriet screws up her face. ‘Why not?’

‘You have to jump in; sorry, but it’s the law. There are three levels. Easy, pulse-raiser and death zone. You’re welcome to take your pick, but just so you know, I did all three levels last time.’ Dom flexes his biceps and winks.

‘What about you, Izzy?’ Jack asks. ‘Did you enter the death zone?’

‘If I remember rightly, Izzy didn’t make it past easy, did you?’ Dom’s tone carries his signature humour, but there’s a hardness in his eyes. She’s not forgiven either.

‘I don’t need silly stunts to prove my worth.’

‘Little defensive there, Izzy,’ Jack says with a smirk. ‘Well, I’m up for the death zone, mate, if you are?’

‘Bring. It. On.’ Dom gives Jack a high five and they both pull off their T-shirts.

I’ve seen Dom’s torso countless times over the last couple of months, so I should be immune to his tanned flat stomach, the faint shadow of a six-pack, but the sight makes me pause today.

Is this about him taking on the hardest cliff jump? Am I that easily impressed?

‘I’ll do the death zone too,’ I blurt out. This goes against everything my mum has taught me – every risk should be calculated, every challenge thoroughly assessed – but I’ve said it now. And I’m not taking it back.

‘Arch?’ Jack asks. ‘You coming?’

Archie looks mortified, which makes me feel even worse. I don’t want to make it harder for him to say no.

‘Maybe later,’ he chooses. ‘Might warm myself up with the easy jump.’

Jack looks both disappointed and annoyed as he turns back towards Dom. ‘So how do we get up there?’

‘Follow me.’ Dom turns to me and shrugs. ‘You too, I guess.’

My heart is pounding when we reach the top of the cliff, and I don’t know how much of that is down to the steep climb, Dom’s hand reaching for mine as I faltered on the final stretch of rock, or the realisation of what I’m about to do.

Apparently, the water is sixteen metres below, but it looks about six thousand metres from this angle.

And to make things even more challenging, the cliff has a few protruding crags that I’ll need to clear.

I can see why Dom called it the death zone.

‘Are you okay?’ Dom murmurs under his breath. There’s the smallest edge of concern in his voice and the joy of hearing it, of the thought that he might be on the path to forgiving me, makes me feel instantly better.

‘Yeah, maybe a bit scared,’ I admit in a whisper.

‘You’ll be fine,’ he whispers back. ‘You’re the best athlete here.’

Tears shine in my eyes, but with gratitude, not fear.

‘Fucking hell, what a ride.’ Jack peers over the edge.

‘Welcome to the death zone,’ Dom says, his voice back to full volume.

‘If I die, will you tell my mum I’m sorry?’

‘What for?’

‘Mate, you don’t want to know.’ Jack lets out a crack of laughter, then leaps off the rock. His jump isn’t elegant, and his splash would have him banned from the Olympics for life, but he comes up whooping.

‘You go next,’ Dom says. ‘Look out at the horizon, take a big step, and let gravity do the rest.’

I nod, because I can’t talk, and edge into position. As I force myself to look at the cliff opposite, I wonder if Salvo ever brought my dad here when they were teenagers. If Dad balanced on this rock and felt the same mix of excitement and terror.

I jump.

And almost before registering that I’m dropping, I hit the water, and then I’m surging back up, a huge grin on my face.

Archie claps, and I can see fraternal pride in his expression until Jack walks into my line of vision and sits down opposite him.

I swim to the edge, push up out of the water, and turn to watch Dom jump.

He clears the crags easily, then drops into the water, and I wait for him to pop up.

Except he doesn’t.

I check to see if the others have noticed.

But Jack and Archie are deep in conversation now, and Izzy and Harriet are soaking up the sun with their eyes closed.

I realise with a clattering heart that this is my problem to fix.

But just as I jump back into the water, Dom emerges, his hand holding his head.

‘Fuck,’ I exhale, my eyes widening. Bright red liquid is streaming down his face from an angry gash on his forehead.

‘I’m fine, I think,’ he says, wiping blood out of his eyes.

He looks awful. Like Bruce Willis in Die Hard . I tell myself that head wounds bleed a lot, and cold water makes it worse, but the rationalising doesn’t help. ‘Jesus, Dom. It looks bad. What happened? Does it hurt?’

More blood has dripped onto his cheeks, and without thinking, I reach out to wipe it off, but he jerks his head away. I retract my hand like a scared tortoise.

‘Stop it,’ he says quietly. ‘Stop pretending you care.’

‘But I thought …’ My voice fades. Because what did I think? That Dom being kind to me up there – when all he was probably doing was making sure I jumped – means that he’s forgiven me for humiliating him in front of our friends?

‘It’s just a cut,’ he mutters. ‘Cold beer will sort me out.’ He swims to the edge of the pool, then climbs out. I wait a minute, then follow him and silently lay my towel next to Izzy’s.

‘Who’s up for a drink then?’ Dom says, wiping his face with a towel. ‘And before you ask, no, I’m not dying.’

‘Any rosé in that cooler box?’ Harriet asks, lifting onto her elbows, and narrowing her eyes as she takes in Dom’s injury without commenting on it.

‘Sure is,’ Dom says, pulling out a bottle and handing it to her. ‘Jack? Archie?’

‘Yeah, I’ll go a cold one,’ Jack says, pushing up to standing and wandering over, seemingly oblivious to Dom’s bleeding head.

‘Not for me,’ Archie says, without even looking at Dom. ‘In fact, I’m not feeling that great. I might head back to the hotel.’

Dom looks a little offended as he wipes his forehead again. ‘You sure, mate?’

‘Yeah, I just need some sleep.’

Archie does look pale. I try to catch his eye as he pulls his T-shirt on, but he keeps his head lowered, even as he lifts his hand into a wave. So I turn to Jack instead, who’s wearing a stony expression as he downs a can of lager.

And it isn’t until after Archie’s left that I realise they didn’t say goodbye to each other.