The boss didn’t open the door his assistant did Because yes he was rich enough to have a live-in assistant Lewis Crake she smiled pronouncing every syl lable of my name Can I take your coat It’s the middle of July I pointed out I’m not wearing a coat Tea then Water would be fine Ice Sure Lemon Rachelle my boss laughed from somewhere else in the house Let the poor boy go Just come through to the main sitting area Lewis The inside was all white marble and glass and stunk of some artificial air freshener It was the type of place I imagined was freezing in the winter David Swierenga lounged on a clear plastic chair his bald forehead glinting in the sunlight He could’ve been anywhere between thirty-five and sixty-five 8
depending on the angle and I’d never found any evi dence pointing to which end of the spectrum he likely belonged in I knew from our previous meetings that he’d come from money then doubled it as a real estate specialist and now ran a multitude of small businesses just for fun One such business was Golden Tours That was why I was here Enjoying the weather Swierenga asked gesturing to the panoramic view The skyscrapers of downtown Vancouver could just be seen through the trees of his neighbor’s garden as well as the waters of Burrard Inlet riddled with cargo ships yachts and sightseeing vessels It’s a different kind of heat than Australia I said But yeah I’m enjoying it Just you wait until winter Ever experience subzero I shook my head I’ve never even seen snow Swierenga’s grin widened Well you just might have that pleasure sooner rather than later Which 9
leads us back to why you’re here You said you were willing to take our next tour group northward I nodded even now questioning how ready I actu ally was I knew everything there was to know from a tourism perspective at least about half the munic ipalities in British Columbia I’d taken numerous workshops and courses I’d successfully completed a series of tests and interviews for Swierenga and on occasion Rachelle But when it came to practical experience I had nothing Cariboo Gold Rush Trail Swierenga said laying out a map with a flourish Popular nothing too com plicated about the route You aced this section on my test if I remember correctly I nodded again I Now I like you Lewis I don’t usually hire for eigners but you’ve got it Charisma charm whatever kids are saying these days And ultimately that’s all a tour guide has to have So long as you make the paying guests happy the rest is inconsequential Swierenga leaned forward and something in his stomach made 10
a sloshing sound Good tour guide good tour Bad tour guide bad tour It’s that simple This company is my pet that’s why I’m talking to you directly not through a manager and the reputation of it rests on your shoulders Nowadays one dissatisfied customer can be enough to sink an entire ship You get where I’m going I’d had to bite my tongue to stop myself from pointing out that Golden Tours ran an ad in an Australian magazine specifically targeting students who might want to work a summer abroad I shook that thought away and grinned Of course I’m hon ored you’ve put so much trust in me already Swierenga slid back in his chair basking in the flat tery Mostly old fogies on this route anyway They ask a lot of questions but they don’t get too caught up in the facts They’re suckers for bright young things like you kid Just make sure you keep an eye on health concerns and all that Nobody’s died on my watch yet I managed to force a chuckle Nor on mine yet 11
