Page 10 of Sun, Sea and Spotted Squid

Astrid went first. “I’m from Uppsala in gorgeous Sweden.”

As Sam was next to her, all eyes lay on him.

“Newcastle in England.”

“Almost as cold as Sweden,” Ruben said with a wink. “Maria?”

“I’m from Naples, Italy. Not cold, thank you.”

“We’re from Marseille,” Genevieve cut in.

They all stared at Wolfgang, who appeared surprised he would be part of the conversation.

“I’m from Münster in Germany.”

“What a cosmopolitan group we are,” Paul commented.

“I’m sure we will all bring something special to the summer,” Ruben added, still looking at Sam, who prayed no one else had noticed.

“When do we start the real work, Ruben?” Wolfgang asked.

Ruben held up his hands. “You’re keen. I like that. Now we have the moment of truth. You will be paired to focus on one particular species during your time here. Don’t worry, you will have a supervisor who will show you how it’s done. We will still need you to help around the aquarium. However, this will form the main part of your time with us.”

“Get me in that boat,” Astrid said.

“Ah,” Ruben replied. “All in good time. Before you do that, you will be expected to do significant research on land.”

Astrid’s face dropped. “What?”

Ruben shrugged. “There is little point sending you out with no knowledge. This is not for fun, we need to progress the various projects. That’s why we send you in pairs.”

Everyone glanced at one another. Genevieve put a protective hand on Paul’s arm, making the statement she would kill anyone who dared match with him. Sam secretly hoped they would get separated. It might do them both some good.

If he had to choose between Astrid or Maria, he would go with the latter. Astrid had the potential to get annoying very quickly.

However, the clipboard Ruben was now brandishing told him the decision had already been made. Sam had a deep-down suspicion about what that would be.

“Paul and Genevieve, you will be working for Sara with our turtles.”

Genevieve clapped her hands together and gave Paul a kiss.

“You can find Sara down by the exhibits. She will tell you more.”

Paul and Genevieve practically skipped off for an afternoon handling cute turtles. Sam jealously watched them go. Hopefully Ruben had more exciting things up his sleeve.

The remaining four grinned at one another in anticipation.

“Astrid and Maria, you are working with our dolphins. Dolores is waiting for you.”

Astrid and Maria got up and gave Sam sympathetic squeezes on the shoulder before heading off on their exciting mission. Sam stole a glance at Wolfgang, who never took his eyes off Ruben. His face might have been unreadable, but Sam sensed the disappointment flooding through him. He probably worried he had been lumped with the resident pervert.

“That leaves Sam and Wolfgang,” Ruben said, with a beam that Sam tried to return. “You guys are going to be our squid experts.”

Did he say squid? Is he for real?

One group got turtles, the other got dolphins and they got squid? Sam’s glamorous summer of boat hopping and discovering exciting breeds of marine life began disappearing quicker than water down a plughole.

“Miguel is in the squid house. Have a wonderful afternoon.”