Page 16 of The Christmas Holiday
‘Well, go back to doing that then.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m trying to help you.’
‘Thanks. But I don’t need your help.’
‘Oh yeah. That’s right. I forgot. Mia always has to do everything by herself. Just to prove she can. She doesn’t need anyone. For anything.’
‘There’s nothing wrong in wanting to do things for yourself. It’s not a crime, you know.’
‘I never said it was. But right now, you being stubborn and a pain in the arse is hurting you way more than it’s hurting me, if that’s your intention.’
‘Ofcourse it’s not! Guess what, Hunter? Everything isn’t always about you.’
‘Oh boy. Believe me, that I know.’ He turned and looked out of the window for a moment, and I could see his sharp features reflected in the glass. His jaw was tense and the muscles in his neck were cabled. He took a deep breath and tilted his head from side to side, a crack emanating from his neck as he did so.
‘Ouch.’I pulled a face.
‘It’s fine,’ he said, dismissing my concern. ‘Look. What I’m trying to say, without being condescending or any of the other things you’ve labelled me as, is that you need to write as you. You read too many of these guidebooks and you can end up sounding like one yourself. Jeremy, and those two,’ he indicated Olivia and Sandeep across the cabin, ‘want colour, feeling, atmosphere.They want your writing. Your voice.’
I looked up from where I’d been staring at the cover of the book.
‘I’ve been doing this a while and I’ve seen newbies…’ He held up his hands, palms facing me, as I frowned. ‘I’ve seen people new to this area mess it up. They’re trying so hard that they forget why they were picked to do it in the first place. Whatever happened between us is nothing todo with this. I can see what this means to you and, even though you weren’t my first choice to work with, I want it to be right for all of us. You spend your time trying to be something – or someone – else, you’ll forget who you really are.’
He sat back in the seat again as I thumbed the pages of the book, running my fingers over the paper edges as his words filtered into my brain. He wasright, of course. And, as much as I hated it, I knew I could learn from him and his experiences. If he’d let me. I was pretty sure the only reason he was sharing this piece of knowledge now was down to the several champagne top-ups he’d had during the flight. It had always made him pretty mellow. I guess not everything about him had changed.
