Antarctic Affair by Louise Rose-Innes Read Free Book Online Page A

good spirits.
    “Electrical problems?” asked Taj politely,
eyeing her wet hair.
    She glared at him in no mood for his dry
humour and turned her attention to Amy. “What’s good on the breakfast buffet?”
she asked brightly.
    Amy, who despite her petite frame, had a
healthy appetite. “Everything, go and have a look. The cheese croissants are
particularly tasty.”
    Georgina pointedly ignored Taj while she
ate her breakfast, chatting to Amy who said she’d try and arrange another
hairdryer from somewhere.   Today was a
free day as the Explorer powered its
way south to Antarctic waters. The passengers were grateful for the opportunity
to explore the ship and get to know each other. Most were scientists of
differing disciplines, and consequently had much in common. It was only Taj and
herself who weren’t on the Explorer for academic reasons.
    After her second cup of coffee, and
feeling much more human, she decided she really had to pin Taj Andrews down for
an initial interview. It was already day two of the trip and she still knew
nothing about him, apart from the fact he hated interviews and could be
extremely difficult. Neither of which was particularly useful. Amy left to
prepare her make-shift lab for some samples they would collect on the various
excursions, so Georgina decided it was now or never. She approached the table
where Don, Taj and a few others were laughing and joking. She was surprised to
see him throw back his head with laughter, for she’d never seen him this
relaxed before. At the airport he’d been decidedly uptight and when she’d met
him on the plane he’d come across as arrogant and annoyingly superior. He met
her eyes and still smiling asked if she needed anything. She was still so
thrown by how easy-going he looked, that all the aggression drained out of her
body. Those gleaming eyes held her captivated. She cleared her throat and
pushed her glasses up onto her nose. “Um, can we get together this morning to
talk about a few things?” she asked, suddenly feeling like a high school
student talking to her teacher. She held her breath, half expecting him to
refuse, or make some other excuse.
    “Sure,” he said congenially, “I’ll meet
you in the lounge after breakfast.” At her look of disbelief, he grinned and
bit into a slice of toast.
    She glanced at Don who gave her a
conspiratorial wink. Thank you, Mr. Expedition Leader, she thought to herself
as she smiled at him gratefully. Don was so lovely, it was a pity she wasn’t
interviewing him.
    The lounge was deserted since it was
only eleven o’clock in the morning. Georgina chose a table in the corner so
they could sit at right angles, which she felt was far less formal than sitting
opposite each other. She had her pencil and notepad ready.
    “Am I late?”
    She turned to see a smiling Taj enter
the lounge. His casual sweatshirt and jeans was so different to the bad-boy
biker style of the previous day that she it was hard to believe he was the same
person.
    He sat down and looked at her
expectantly.
    Georgina stared at him in amazement. “I
can’t believe you actually came. I was beginning to think I’d have to suck this
article out of my thumb.”
    He grimaced, “I know, sorry about that.
I haven’t been making your job very easy for you, have I?”
    Would wonders never cease? “You could
say that.”
    “I’ve never been good at this type of
thing,” he muttered, looking contrite.
    “Is that why you never give interviews?”
asked Georgina.
    He nodded curtly. “I didn’t get into
this for the fame. I prefer to remain anonymous and let the photographs speak
for themselves.”
    She studied him speculatively. “When the
art speaks loud enough, ultimately people start asking about the artist. It’s
hard to separate the two.”
    He rolled his eyes, “So I’ve discovered.”
He looked at her in a way that made her wonder if she had croissant crumbs on
her face.
    “That’s very insightful,” remarked Taj.
    She