year."
"When's the deadline?"
"In two weeks. My application's mostly written, but I want it to be the best it can be so that this time next year, I'm cleaning a cup anemometer, not some VIP's carpet. So every day off between now and then, I'll be picking through the words, trying to put them together better, practicing responses to interview questions...the best applicants get the best locations, or that's what I've heard. And I've never been outside Western Australia before."
Serge clinked his beer against hers. "Then good luck. To you achieving your dreams, because they sound like they're a damn sight closer than mine. Mine are up there with those stars somewhere." He waved at the Milky Way.
"Thanks." Audra drained her beer.
"Want another one? The last two are mango and ginger, I think. Guess I saved the best for last. Here's the mango one."
Just like she'd had that night with Jay. Audra reached for it and her wristband beeped. The LED illuminated the name of Jay's villa. Had he read her thoughts? "Shit."
Serge dropped the bottle back into the ice. "I'll keep them for you until you come back."
Book club with the rock star. Good thing she wasn't sober. "No, don't wait up. Who knows what the VIP wants this time. You enjoy them, or save them for another night." She rose and dusted off her shorts. "Can you drop the towels in the laundry on your way back?"
Serge nodded. "I'll save the last beers for the night you find out you've got the job, managing your own weather station in paradise."
"You mean when I get sent to the arse-end of nowhere." Audra laughed. "Wherever. You're on."
FOURTEEN
The swish of waves on the shore still permeated the jungle as Audra headed for the only illuminated villa on this side of the lagoon. Once again, work won over any chance of enjoying herself. Was Serge right – would her life one day hold something different? Or would she just work herself to death, without getting to enjoy any of life's pleasures the way normal people did?
Jay hadn't drawn the blinds, so skirting his villa was oddly voyeuristic as she watched him check his watch and glance at the door every few seconds, clenching a book in his hands. He looked like the poster boy for money's inability to buy happiness. She and Jay could be miserable together, then.
Audra swiped her wristband and waited for the door to slide open as the intercom announced her arrival. The sound of tumbling glass greeted her as she entered the lounge room – what hadn't been visible from the window were the empty bottles lined up on the tiles at Jay's feet. She leaped into action, grabbing as many as she could before she had to clean up broken glass instead of just beer-basted bottles.
Two armloads later, she'd filled the recycling bin in the kitchen. Audra eyed the tiles critically. "Do you want me to mop that now or wait 'til morning? It's only a few drops and I'd hate you to slip..." Her beer-befuddled brain caught up with her mouth. "But a fresh-mopped floor would be slippery, too. Morning's probably best."
Jay nodded, his unfocussed eyes making her wonder if he'd even understood her question, let alone her dilemma.
"You paged me. Was there something else you wanted me to help you with?" Audra wet her lips. "Or did you just want me to clean up the bottles?"
"Your rock star romance books don't help," he slurred, throwing them down on the sofa.
Audra eyed the pink book and one with a couple on the front. "How so?" she asked lightly.
Jay waved at them. "These are about girls still hung up on their high school crush, who never noticed them, until they're rock stars and suddenly they do. If I was a chick who wanted to seduce a rock star, fine, but I'm the fucking rock star."
Audra rubbed her fuzzy eyes, wishing she could do the same to the inside of her head. He wasn't making any sense. "I thought you said the girl you've been pining over since high school is a rock star, too. Your guitarist...isn't that what you said? You're
"When's the deadline?"
"In two weeks. My application's mostly written, but I want it to be the best it can be so that this time next year, I'm cleaning a cup anemometer, not some VIP's carpet. So every day off between now and then, I'll be picking through the words, trying to put them together better, practicing responses to interview questions...the best applicants get the best locations, or that's what I've heard. And I've never been outside Western Australia before."
Serge clinked his beer against hers. "Then good luck. To you achieving your dreams, because they sound like they're a damn sight closer than mine. Mine are up there with those stars somewhere." He waved at the Milky Way.
"Thanks." Audra drained her beer.
"Want another one? The last two are mango and ginger, I think. Guess I saved the best for last. Here's the mango one."
Just like she'd had that night with Jay. Audra reached for it and her wristband beeped. The LED illuminated the name of Jay's villa. Had he read her thoughts? "Shit."
Serge dropped the bottle back into the ice. "I'll keep them for you until you come back."
Book club with the rock star. Good thing she wasn't sober. "No, don't wait up. Who knows what the VIP wants this time. You enjoy them, or save them for another night." She rose and dusted off her shorts. "Can you drop the towels in the laundry on your way back?"
Serge nodded. "I'll save the last beers for the night you find out you've got the job, managing your own weather station in paradise."
"You mean when I get sent to the arse-end of nowhere." Audra laughed. "Wherever. You're on."
FOURTEEN
The swish of waves on the shore still permeated the jungle as Audra headed for the only illuminated villa on this side of the lagoon. Once again, work won over any chance of enjoying herself. Was Serge right – would her life one day hold something different? Or would she just work herself to death, without getting to enjoy any of life's pleasures the way normal people did?
Jay hadn't drawn the blinds, so skirting his villa was oddly voyeuristic as she watched him check his watch and glance at the door every few seconds, clenching a book in his hands. He looked like the poster boy for money's inability to buy happiness. She and Jay could be miserable together, then.
Audra swiped her wristband and waited for the door to slide open as the intercom announced her arrival. The sound of tumbling glass greeted her as she entered the lounge room – what hadn't been visible from the window were the empty bottles lined up on the tiles at Jay's feet. She leaped into action, grabbing as many as she could before she had to clean up broken glass instead of just beer-basted bottles.
Two armloads later, she'd filled the recycling bin in the kitchen. Audra eyed the tiles critically. "Do you want me to mop that now or wait 'til morning? It's only a few drops and I'd hate you to slip..." Her beer-befuddled brain caught up with her mouth. "But a fresh-mopped floor would be slippery, too. Morning's probably best."
Jay nodded, his unfocussed eyes making her wonder if he'd even understood her question, let alone her dilemma.
"You paged me. Was there something else you wanted me to help you with?" Audra wet her lips. "Or did you just want me to clean up the bottles?"
"Your rock star romance books don't help," he slurred, throwing them down on the sofa.
Audra eyed the pink book and one with a couple on the front. "How so?" she asked lightly.
Jay waved at them. "These are about girls still hung up on their high school crush, who never noticed them, until they're rock stars and suddenly they do. If I was a chick who wanted to seduce a rock star, fine, but I'm the fucking rock star."
Audra rubbed her fuzzy eyes, wishing she could do the same to the inside of her head. He wasn't making any sense. "I thought you said the girl you've been pining over since high school is a rock star, too. Your guitarist...isn't that what you said? You're
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