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‘Congratulations!’ I shouted, hugging Xavier first and giving him a big kiss on the cheek. ‘You were amazing.’
‘Thanks,’ he said, going pink.
‘Awesome,’ Liv said, hugging him after me as I made my way over to Luca and kissed him on both cheeks.
‘We won some kit as well, so it wasn’t just a trophy,’ Xavier said. ‘500 Swiss francs of North Face vouchers.’
‘Please,’ Luca held his vouchers out to Xavier, ‘take mine too. I only wear Salomon.’
Liv raised her eyebrows and gave me a funny look. The power-play was still power-playing. Xavier gave a charming smile and dismissed the offer with a wave of his hand.
‘Non.They are your prize for second place,’ he said as the testosterone batted back and forth.
Luca gave an accepting nod and tossed them on the table. 300 Swiss francs for second prize.
‘If you don’t want them, we can take Holly shopping and get her some new gear,’ Liv said, ‘then she can stop borrowing mine.’
‘But I love your clothes so much! I especially love your boarding pants,’ I said, kicking my leg out to demonstrate them to everyone. There were so soft and comfortable.
‘SO DO I,’ Liv replied.
‘Yes of course,’ Luca said, ‘take them.’
‘I can drive you to Le Châble this weekend if you like?’ Xavier offered.
‘Non, non, don’t you remember you are seeing your wife this weekend, Xavier?’ Luca said, putting his arm around me with a smirk. ‘I’ll take you shopping in Le Châble, Holly, no problem.’ Luca was staring at Xavier strangely and I was stuck in the middle of their weirdness so I signalled to the barman for a final round of beers. It was nearly 3 p.m. and we’d been sitting around drinking and cheering all day. The sun was starting to slump in the sky and we had time for one last drink before the mountain lost its glow and turned grey and cold.
‘Did you get a video?’ Xavier asked, hopefully.
‘Sure did, mate,’ Liv said, pulling out her phone so Xavier could zoom in on himself and re-enact the run. ‘I got you too, Luca; I’ll show you after.’
Luca sidled over while Xavier and Liv huddled over her phone.
‘Congratulations,’ I said, ‘your jump was amazing.’
‘As the Nike ad says – you don’t win silver, you lose gold. I’ll do better next time. You should give jumping a go on your skis,’ Luca said, giving me a friendly nudge, ‘it’s fun.’
I laughed, ‘Oh well, I’m not actually a…’
‘I prefer women on skis. So much more elegant than the snowboarders.’
Oh God. I didn’t like to correct him.
‘Hmm, yes, well, I’m really a very basic beginner at the moment, so I won’t be trying the jumps any time soon,’ I said. Or indeed, ever.
‘I was going to ask if you could help me with something tomorrow? I need a second opinion on a Champagne bar I’m considering investing in, another nose alongside mine to taste the Champagne and review the overall experience.’
‘Really? Wow! Of course I will. I’d love to.’
‘The business is doing incredibly well by all accounts, but I want to sample it for myself and get another point of view. We will be mystery shoppers: observe how busy it is, the type of clientele the bar attracts and whether the experience is worth the effort.’
‘Undercover noses. Sounds good to me.’
‘Excellent. We have to ski there, so let’s go tomorrow after breakfast. It is down an easy blue, so you’ll be fine as a beginner.’
‘Oh. Erm… really? Ski there on our skis, you mean?’ I said, like an IDIOT.
‘Yes Holly, on our skis,’ Luca said, looking at me oddly.
