Arabella and the Lilypad

Sydney, Australia

24th December 2024

“ Hi Mate, what’s happening?” Shaun said as he hit the incoming call button on his oversized RAM ute. “ It’s Christmas Eve, I have just finished my last job, there is a cold one in the fridge waiting for me and I’m feeling gooood”!

“Ah, about that. You couldn’t squeeze one last job in for me could you? It will only be a quickie, and the owner will pay cash, money no object. Likely to cover the cost of those expensive bikes you got the kids for Christmas, just to one-up your ex”. Mike pleaded down the phone. “We have a bit of a situation here, that needs to be resolved ASAP”.

Shaun was hesitant, he was a rather reluctant plumber at the best of times, but not only was Mike his best mate, he also was a local real estate agent that provided him with over 50% of his work. He knew that he would only have rung him in an emergency.

“Tell me more, am I going to regret this?” He replied.

Mike took a big breath and launched into a spiel that had obviously been rehearsed in his head.

 “ The honourable Arabella Featheringham-Jones has booked the trip of her dreams and is staying on the Lilypad and the toilet has backed up. Unfortunately, when she booked a floating holiday she imagined herself floating, not parts of her innards’.

Shaun laughed out loud. The Lilypad, described on their website as a “Luxurious floating villa in the most tranquil of settings” was a tiny house located on an upmarket barge located on Pittwater in the North of Sydney. An average overnight stay was $3000 per night, he dreaded to think what the honourable Ms Arabella was paying at Christmas.

“Alright Mate, I have my tinnie at Palmie, I will pop out and have a gander, but I will be charging double”.

“Done. Let me know when you are finished and maybe we can squeeze in a Christmas Eve bevvie. When are you picking up the kids?”.

“Not until 6.00pm tomorrow, so I have heaps of time. Catch you later”.

Arabella paced up and down the upmarket houseboat in her Gucci slippers. “What am I doing here” She wondered. When she booked it, six months prior, she thought it was just the tonic her failing marriage needed to get it back on track. Now she was alone in honeymooners paradise with a dodgy toilet and no Christmas plans.

All of her Eastern Suburbs friends thought it was a “Classic idea” when she booked it and had promised to join them for a few days, but since decided that skiing in Canada is an opportunity not to be missed. And of course “if you go for a month, the lift tickets are just so much cheaper.” Her Investment Banker husband, Jeffrey, who worked for a US firm, decided that as he was going to be in New York the week prior to Christmas, he might as well join them on the slopes for a few days.

“Bella” he cooed “ I will make it up to you. It is just not worth me flying home for one week. We can do it in July, when work gets quieter”.

“It is winter in July in Australia, I am not sure it will be the relaxing on the water will be the same in 18 degrees and overcast skies” she had replied quite snippily. “ I don’t care, I am going anyway. I could do with some alone time. The P.R. season has been manic this year, so many events to handle. I could use a break”.

So, here she was, alone on Christmas Eve waiting for some cranky plumber who no doubt will be 100 years old and in a foul mood because he has to work instead of heading home to his family. He will probably blame her. How was she to know that her make up removal wipes were not suppose to put down a marine system. They were Lancôme after all.

She decided the best thing to do was to close the door and have a nap.

“Hello, Knock, Knock”. She was awoken to the sound of rapping on her door.

As she wrapped a silk robe around her toned body, she responded with a rather sharp sounding “About time you arrived, I called the agent over half an hour ago. The stench is very, very offensive”. She opened the door to a good-looking 40 year old man with a mop of brown hair and an impish grin.

“Sorry, Mam. I will go if you like”, and with that he made a show of turning on his heel and headed back to his dinghy he had tied to the side of the floating pontoon.

“No, no.no, you don’t. I am not paying this outrageous amount of money per night and have the plumbing blocked. If you don’t mind can you please look at it”.

Shaun proceeded to look at the problem in the bathroom, but before he did he glanced at the gathering storm clouds out of the window.

“Arabella, Is it?. Would you mind just moving my boat to the other side of the barge. I think we might be in for a Southerly change a bit later, and I would like it to be more protected. I should be well gone before that arrives. I am surprised they didn’t leave you with a boat”.

Sydney has a subtropical weather system. Days of warm sunny weather with moderate afternoon Northeasterly sea breezes are often followed by a strong Southerly change due to a cold passage of air from the southern states becoming trapped against the Great Dividing Range. This change can result in a gale force wind and an extreme drop in temperature, in sometimes as little as ten minutes. The wind on the water can change from a pleasant afternoon ripple with the odd white cap, to an angry bucking beast.

Arabella sighed as she dragged the old work boat around to the other side of the pontoon. She had only just had her nails done, what if she chipped one. Arabella could not abide chipped nails.

She casually half looped the worn rope onto the gleaming chrome cleat, and immediately used sanitizer on her hands. He had a bit of a nerve that “tradie” even if he was quite easy on the eye. Couldn’t he move his own boat. She then settled herself with a book on one of the sun loungers under an exquisite umbrella. She made a mental note of the brand, it would look quite superb on her Point Piper balcony.

Shaun was very proficient at his job but was stumped why there was a blockage in the system. He had worked on the Lilypad’s plumbing and have never known it to give him so much trouble.

He was so engrossed that he did not notice the neighbouring boats were beginning to swing on their moorings and were now starting to face in a southerly direction. This was an early warning that a change was coming.

Arabella did notice, and was annoyed that the plumber was taking so long. She wished to come inside now as the wind was turning chilly and she did not wish to be in the confined space with him.

“ Hello there, are you almost finished? I was hoping to have a shower. I am feeling rather salty”

Just as she said it the first strong gust of wind hit the floating pontoon. The skies were turning grey and the waves were starting to rise.

Shaun felt the change in air pressure as he was evaluating his work. He had diagnosed the problem, removed the offending piece of cloth, and started to clean up the bathroom.

To Arabella’s horror she noticed a small grey boat floating down the waterway. She nipped out to the place she had secured it, or thought she had secured it and gulped in nervousness. It was no longer there. The Lilypad was located about 450 meters from the closest beach. A decent swim for a good swimmer, but Arabella knew that it would not be advisable in this weather. The waterway was now a mass of white, angry looking waves.

“It was not my fault, Arabella reasoned to herself. He should have tied his own boat on”.

She knocked on the bathroom door and declared. “ I think you have a problem. Your boat seems to have escaped.

If Shaun had a fault it was his laid back attitude. He was completely unfazable, he could not be rattled. It use to drive his ex-wife to distraction. She was a drama queen of the highest order, queen of the selfies, and Shaun could not give a toss. It did not make the best combination.

“Escaped? Boats don’t escape, dogs escape, horses escape, even occasionally lions escape. Remember that happened recently at Taronga Zoo? I do not ever recall a boat escaping. I better come and have a little look-see”

Shaun ambled over to where Arabella had tied the boat and looked at the empty space. “Well, bugger me, you seem to be correct. The boat has indeed escaped”.

Arabella looked at him in amazement. She came from a world of bluster and tantrums. If was her husband ( or to be honest, soon to be ex-husband) he would have blown a gasket, he would have shouted, screamed and carried on a treat. She was preparing to be defensive and put the blame squarely on his shoulders.

“Aren’t you going to yell at me?” She asked incredulously.

“What for? Will it bring the boat back? Will it get me to shore for Christmas?”

“No, but everyone yells. Wait, what did you say about getting you to shore for Christmas? You have to get to shore”.

Shaun raised one eyebrow at her and looked at the scene being played out before them. Rigging lines were banging against masts and boats of all sizes were bobbing furiously in the water.

“And how do you suggest I do that? Swim? The tender service ended hours ago and I would not like to put anyone at risk by asking them to collect me. Do you mind if I have first shower, I am a bit dirty. You don’t have a beer do you?” With that he disappeared into the now sparking bathroom and settled under the hot spray.

Arabella woke on Christmas morning the happiest she had been in years.

Shaun had been a perfect gentleman, entertaining her with stories of growing up in country Queensland, describing the delightful and not so delightful characters he met at work and then late in the evening told her how hard it has been after the breakdown of his marriage. This was going to be the first Christmas morning he would wake up without his two young children charging into their bedroom, yelling for them to wake up as Santa Claus had been. He was not looking forward to spending the morning alone and had previously organized to spend it with his elderly parents.

After a few glasses of champagne, Arabella felt her carefully arranged mask beginning to slip. She did not feel the need to pretend with Shaun as he was the least judgmental person she had ever met. Brands and labels did not impress him, only reliability and longevity and she soon realized he was referring to all areas of his life, not just physical items. He took great pride in his work and was very close to his family. The breakdown of his marriage felt like a failure to him.

Arabella had confided in him about her own loneliness and the state of her marriage. How she was sure her husband was having an affair with a colleague in the New York office, and to her own amazement found that in the telling, she didn’t care. She surprised herself with these revelations and the fact she was able to tell a stranger but not her closest friends. The friends that were currently skiing in Canada. With her husband.

Shaun had slept on the sofa.

They breakfasted on scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and watched beachgoers arrive on the sandy shores. There is nothing like an early morning Christmas Day swim to wash out the cobwebs. The wind had abated overnight and Shaun had said that Mike would be able to arrange a water taxi to pick him up.

“I am so sorry about your boat” she said for the umpteenth time. Shaun smiled at her with a cheeky grin.

“No worries, Arabella. I have just looked at the local boaties Facebook group. Someone has found it on the other shore and just posted about it, I knew they would, it is a pretty close community around here. I have arranged to collect it the day after tomorrow. The kids return to their Mum then.”

“Want to come with me?”

He did not wait for her reply, just returned to the Italian coffee machine he had just mastered.

Maybe this Christmas would not be so bad after all.