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‘All the gear and no idea?’ Liv shouted from the bathroom.
‘That’s the one,’ he said, smiling.
‘Thanks a lot,’ I laughed. ‘Well, at least Ilooklike I know what I’m doing. I’m halfway there.’
The three of us made our way out of the chalet and through the village. Xtreme Verbier had brought a carnival atmosphere to the village, with flags lining the street and party music playing even though it was only 10 a.m. The good vibes were flowing and there were people everywhere.
‘The place is buzzing,’ I said, as we made our way through the crowds to the lift.
‘Yeah, this is one of the season highlights,’ Liv said as we squeezed between two 6 ft boarders chatting away in German. There was a collective intake of breath as the lift doors closed, then everyone relaxed and shuffled about a bit to settle in for the journey. When we reached the top of the mountain, it felt like we’dreally arrived. The lift doors opened, and we entered another world. The piste was cordoned off into sections, with crowds lining the course, cheering and waving oversized scorecards as contestants made their way down and attempted the big jump. A booming voice on a microphone announced each would-be winner before the Klaxon sounded and they set off down the run, while Team Xtreme circulated with clipboards to sign people up.
‘Fancy your chances?’ a beardy teenager asked, nodding at the jump. Clearly the outfit was working.
‘I’ll think about it,’ I said with a knowing smile. Knowing I absolutely wouldn’t.
‘Sign us up,’ Liv said, dragging Xavier behind her.
Beardy gave them both a number and pointed them towards an enormous queue.
‘Oh great,’ I said, ‘I’ll see you sometime tomorrow then.’
‘It’ll go quick,’ Xavier said. ‘I’ll listen for your cheering when I come down. Number 540,’ he held up his number, ‘the winner.’
‘I don’t think so, mate,’ Liv said, sticking her number on her chest, ‘the glory is going to 541.’
‘Good luck guys,’ I said, giving them both a quick hug, ‘be careful coming down; it looks icy out there. Don’t break a leg.’
They headed off and I wandered over to the hot drinks stand. There were happy faces everywhere, the sun was shining, and Ed Sheeran was blasting from the speakers. My hot chocolate came with a healthy dollop of fresh cream, and I made my way over to the deckchair area to enjoy it while soaking up the atmosphere.
‘And next to compete in Xtreme Verbier is Luca Blanchet. All the sevens, lucky number seventy-seven. Luca is wearing traversing skis and is competing at the top of the pops in the highly competent category.’
A sarcastic ‘Oooooooohhhh,’ erupted from the crowd as a tiny dot started flying down the mountain. Skiing at breakneck speed, Luca approached the jump, sailing high into the air, somersaulting twice and landing on his feet to rapturous applause.
‘Wowsers, look at him gooo,’ bellowed the commentator. ‘That had the look of a pretty perfect run from number seventy-seven, but let’s wait and see what our judges thought…’
Luca skied to the holding pen to wait for his score, and I made my way around the edge of the crowd to give him an encouraging wave.
‘The scores are in ladies and gentlemen and the judgesare ready. We have eighteen, seventeen, nineteen, nineteen and seventeen. A total of ninety out of a possible one hundred and an excellent score for Luca Blanchet, putting him easily in first place.’
The crowd cheered and whistled as Luca’s name and number pinged into the top space on the leader board. He gave his million-dollar smile and waved, giving a champion’s clasp on both sides before skiing out of the competitors’ area. He was busy unhooking his skis and locking them together, so I waited until he was on the move before casually wandering past, but he kept going towards the bar without noticing me.
‘Luca?’ I called, spinning on my heels to follow his long strides. He didn’t stop so I trotted after him, repeatedly calling his name. Why was he ignoring me?
‘Luca? LUCA?’ I shouted. Eventually he stopped at the circular bar, and I tapped him on the shoulder enthusiastically. He jumped and turned round, pulling out his AirPods.
‘What the…? Holly? You gave me a fright!’ he said.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, out of breath, ‘I didn’t realise you were listening to music.’ I silently kicked myself as he paused Spotify and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, shaking one loose and offering it to me. I shook my head. He put the packet to his lips to take it for himself and lit it with a Zippo.
‘Are you here competing?’ he asked.
‘Definitely not. No plans to break any bones today,’ I said, horrified at the thought.
‘You can’t jump?’ he smiled, taking a long drag of his cigarette.
‘Not exactly. I like to keep my feet on the ground.’
‘Well, maybe we can change that,’ he said, with a twinkle in his eye.
