The Girl in the Yellow Vest (11 page)

‘Ah yes, the instant spark.’ Will sounded glum.

‘Am I boring you?’

‘No, er . . . yes, maybe just a little. I think I might go shoot some aliens on the Xbox now. All of sudden, I feel like killing something.’

‘Oh, okay.’ She rubbed her temple and shook her head. ‘So I’ll see you in a couple of days.’

‘All right.’

‘Er, Em.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Just for the record, I think you’re cute.’

‘Oh . . . thanks.’ An uncharacteristic warmth starting in the centre of her chest filled her ribcage and quickly spread up her neck, causing a smile to tickle her mouth.

‘Okay, bye,’ he said quickly.

‘Yeah, see ya.’ But the dial tone was already sounding in her ears.

The next thing she did that afternoon was have her hair cut. She’d always worn it long, so it seemed rather appropriate, if a little cliché, to chop it all off. The new style framed her face with gentle waves. Lengthwise, it sat just under her chin, making her look rather fairy-like. She loved it – a great start to her ‘Year of New’.

The plane ride from Perth to Mackay was a long and arduous one. She didn’t know why but Barnes Inc had not booked her a direct flight. The journey was going to take her all day. First she had to fly from Perth to Sydney, then from Sydney to Brisbane and finally from Brisbane to Mackay. She had to wonder whether this drawn-out, ‘hardest way possible’ was a taste of things to come.

Will had happened to let slip on the phone a few days before her departure that there were only eight women in the Barnes Inc workforce, which, all up, numbered in the hundreds.

And that the project manager was the devil incarnate.

And the hours were brutal. Seven am to six pm with only one Sunday off every couple of weeks. After four weeks she’d have R and R in Perth. By then, no doubt, she’d be exhausted. She was all for getting ahead in her career, but was losing her leisure time on the side completely necessary?

However, when she got off the plane and breathed in the heavy, slightly sweet-smelling Queensland air she knew she had made the right choice. Seeing the lush greenery and the clear blue skies, and feeling that holidaymakers’ ambience about the place, Emily felt her spirits lift as she made her way through Mackay airport.

Next to her baggage carousel was a man in the Barnes Inc uniform and she immediately went up to greet him. He was a swarthy-looking individual with dark hair and a cheeky smile.

He held out his right hand. ‘My name’s Harold but everyone around here calls me Dipper. Welcome to Mackay.’

She shook it. ‘Thanks. I’m Emily.’

‘Very pleased to meet you.’ It was clear he wasn’t lying about this because to her embarrassment he gave her body a rather thorough onceover. ‘Not many ladies on site. I’m sure the boys will give you a warm welcome.’

Not too warm, she hoped, but smiled politely.

She got her bag off the carousel and he carried it to the car for her. This turned out to be a white ute that looked like it hadn’t seen a car wash for the better part of a year. The Barnes Inc site offices were located just a few kilometres north of Salonika Beach, which was the location of resort she would be staying in. The nearest town was Sarina. Not that she would have any need or time to go there with the size of the operation she was about to join. The coal port’s operations stretched over a distance of six kilometres along the coast. On the journey from Mackay to Hay Point, Dipper regaled her with the delights in store.

Diving, sailing, snorkelling, fishing or surfing.

She mentally added them all to her New Adventure wish list.

‘Sounds great!’

‘What about fruit? Do you like fruit?’

This question seemed out of left field. But she answered it anyway, peeling her eyes away from the stunning scenery whizzing by her car window. So far the landscape had consisted of gentle hills carpeted by a variety of tall grass plants and large grey mangrove trees.

‘What kind of fruit?’

‘Tropical fruit. Melons?’ He licked his lips. ‘I love a good melon.’

To her horror, he took his eyes off the road briefly to glance at her chest. As she suppressed the desire to cross both arms over her breasts, he looked away again, saying good-naturedly, ‘What about bananas? Do you like bananas?’

‘I like all kinds of fruit,’ she returned stiffly.

‘Noted.’ He smiled in way she didn’t like. Did he intend to source some for her?

If Dipper thought the path to her bed was laden with melons and bananas he was way off base. He was definitely not her type – too old, and far too forward. She liked her men just a little more subtle. She firmly put the worry over his intentions out of her head. There were other more interesting things to focus on, like her legume diet for instance. Perhaps while she was in Queensland she should substitute beans with mango, lychee, papaya and bananas.

Will would
never
know.

As kilometres disappeared her focus turned to her impending arrival at her new workplace. They arrived on site at about four o’clock that afternoon. Emily felt her nerves tighten the second the coal stockpiles came into view. Eight mini mountains – a testament to how much coal this port moved.

Wow! Now that’s engineering.

Dipper ushered her into the first office donga, which was raised on concrete blocks. A gush of stale, dusty air assailed her senses before she saw the desks laid out haphazardly around the room, overflowing with paperwork and people. The buzz of printers and computers made her feel that the best word to describe the room was over-crowded. She craned her neck in search of Will but he wasn’t there. Instead, Dipper carted her off to an office in the corner, where a man surrounded by piles of yellow vests and hard hats was seated. He rose to meet her, holding out his hand with a grin.

‘Hi, I’m Alan, the HR manager. You’ll be wanting a desk and some PPE no doubt.’

By PPE, he meant Personal Protective Equipment, which he certainly had enough of.

‘Now what size are you?’

‘Um, an eleven.’

Since beginning her legume diet she had dropped half a dress size – a fact she was very proud of.

‘An eleven?’ He scratched his head, looking worried.

‘All right, fine,’ she conceded, self-consciously casting her eyes down. ‘If you don’t do the in-between sizes, I’m a twelve.’

His brow wrinkled. ‘We’re fresh out of ladies’ twelves – actually to tell you the truth, never had any to begin with. But you should fit into an equivalent men’s size. Just looking at you, I think you’ll take the smallest size we have, which – surprise, surprise – is a small.’ He grinned, an expression she didn’t return.

Smart aleck.

‘Unfortunately, as of yesterday, we’re fresh out of both smalls and mediums. So I’m giving you a large.’

A what?

He handed her a vest that she could wear as a dress and a hat that looked like it would swallow her head whole.

‘Er . . .’

He ignored her hesitation, rubbing his hands and standing up. ‘Now, I’ll take you to your desk.’

Clutching her PPE, she followed Alan across the room to a tiny corner by the door. At first she didn’t see it. How could she, jammed as it was between a giant photocopier/printer and a tall bookcase overflowing with stationery supplies? The desk was like a fold-out trestle table. It was about half the size of everybody else’s desk and she couldn’t believe that they’d actually managed to fit a computer onto it.

‘I know it’s a little crammed,’ Alan began apologetically.

A little?!

‘But it was all we had. As you can see, we’re rather pushed for space at the moment and Caes–, the project manager hasn’t seen fit to buy us another donga.’ He licked his lips, lowering his tone confidentially. ‘We’re saving the money to increase Barnes Inc’s profit margin.’

How nice.

Emily looked for a place to put down her things but seeing none decided to keep holding them.

‘On the bright side,’ Alan beamed, ‘most of the time, you won’t be in the office. You’ll be out on the wharf cruising around and making your mark.’

As the girl in the clown suit.

‘So, I don’t suppose you could introduce me around a little? I’d love to meet the project manager.’

‘The project manager never speaks with new recruits,’ Alan said firmly. ‘You have to have been here at least a couple of weeks before he’ll see you.’

Emily stared. ‘Why?’

‘Because then, “apparently”,’ he lifted his hands to insert the quotation marks, ‘you’ll be able to hold a decent conversation with him.’ He dropped his hands. ‘He doesn’t like dealing with people still learning the lay of land. Sorry.’

‘That’s okay . . . I guess.’

‘Would you like a tea or coffee?’

‘Sure.’

‘Do you have mug?’

She looked down at her full hands helplessly. ‘No, I don’t.’

‘Oh.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘Well then you can’t. The project manager requires that we supply all our own mugs, coffee powder and tea bags, etc. But maybe tomorrow.’ He punctuated the suggestion with an enthusiastic smile and nod.

‘Er . . . sure.’

‘So if you’ll be right, I’ll leave you to it.’

‘Wait!’ She quickly stopped him. ‘Leave me to what?’

He blinked. ‘I thought you knew.’

‘No, I don’t.’

‘That
is
a shame.’ He clasped his hands. ‘Well, I’ll see if I can find out and get back to you.’

She didn’t see head or tail of him for the next hour, or anyone else for that matter.

One guy stopped by the stationery cupboard. Eagerly, she waited for him to say something to her.

He did. ‘We’re out of pacer leads.’ He shook the empty box in her face. ‘Put that on order.’

He walked off before she could correct his misunderstanding.

Others stopped to use the photocopier but did not pause for conversation. A kind of panic hung in the air, as if they were all late for some party she hadn’t been invited to.

Was she missing something?

At five o’clock, people were starting to switch off their computers and go home. Just as she was wondering what she should do, the office door swung open and Will walked in.

Thank goodness.

Dressed in a hard hat, blue Hard Yakka pants and a fluoro-yellow safety vest, he looked like he had just come off the wharf. He tapped a roll of drawings on his palm as he scanned the room, clearly in search of her. A huge smile broke out on his face when he spotted her.

‘You’re here!’

She stood up as he reached her. ‘Yes I am.’

They didn’t embrace, conscious of being in a workplace and not wanting to draw attention to themselves, but his eyes were appreciative as he looked her over.

‘You’ve cut your hair.’

She self-consciously fingered the strands. ‘Yeah, do you like it?’

After a moment he nodded. ‘I do.’ He looked away from her then, as if embarrassed by his own comment. He cleared his throat. ‘Is this the desk they’ve given you?’

‘Yeah.’ She shrugged. ‘I’m hoping it’s temporary.’

‘Yeah, I’ll say. So where’s all the rest of your stuff?’

‘My suitcase is under the desk.’ She kicked it with her foot. ‘I packed light, just a few outfits. When’s knock-off time?’

‘Now.’ It was a new voice that interrupted what she had previously thought was a private conversation. It belonged to a tall, lanky man with too confident a swagger for his ageing good looks.

‘Hello, hello, hello.’ He grinned at her. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce me, Boy Scout?’

Will sighed. ‘This is Nova.’

‘Good afternoon and welcome,’ he said with a flourish that lacked only a bow. ‘I have been dying to meet Will’s
special
friend from Perth.’

Will glared at him. ‘And now you have,’ he said with a finality that was strangely unlike him.

In any case, Nova ignored him and continued to address her. ‘Have you been out on the wharf yet?’

‘I only arrived today.’ Emily found it hard not to smile at his over-the-top manner. ‘So no, which is rather disappointing.’

‘Of course it is! After travelling all the way from Perth.’ He crossed his arms and conveyed mock horror to Will. ‘You should take her out.’

‘It’s knock-off time.’ Will frowned. ‘All the utes are leaving.’

‘Not mine.’ Nova jingled some keys. ‘I have to stay late tonight. I could lend it to you.’

‘And get our arses kicked because she hasn’t had her safety induction?’ Will shook his head.

‘The truth is,’ Nova said to Emily, ‘we take visitors out all the time without an induction. It’s just about being careful and staying with your guide. Last week, I showed around this top manager from Perth who just flew in for the day. It’s really no biggie.’

‘Really?’ Emily brightened. ‘It would be nice to see what I’ve flown all the way here for.’

Especially after the horrendous afternoon she’d just endured. She needed some good news, a little boost in confidence.

‘Well, if Will’s too chicken, I’ll take you,’ Nova immediately offered.

‘Give me that.’ Will snatched the keys off him. ‘Come on, Em, let’s go before I come to my senses.’

Nova chuckled as he strolled off, like a man who’d just accomplished his master plan – though what that might be, she’d be damned if she knew.

‘He seems nice,’ she remarked tentatively as she hastily pulled on her vest and rammed on her hat.

‘He’s a busybody is what he is,’ Will said dryly and then sighed. ‘But I like him.’

His eyebrows jumped up at the sight of her in the high-vis vest that made her look like she was wearing a tent.

‘O-kaay, that’s a little sad,’ he said. ‘Didn’t they have anything smaller?’

She put her hands on her hips. ‘You think I didn’t ask that question?’

He grinned ruefully. ‘Okay, let’s just go.’

They exited the main office donga like a couple of rebel teenagers looking for a secluded place to smoke. Crossing the car park, Emily received a couple of whistles from some guys chatting by their utes.

‘Hey, Boy Scout, who’s your friend?’

Will tipped his hat. ‘You’ll find out tomorrow.’

‘Nice vest, honey,’ one of the men addressed her directly. ‘You could probably fit me in there too.’