Claudia's Big Break by Lisa Heidke Page A

minute,’ Tara deadpanned, then returned to her journal writing.
    â€˜Best not to look then,’ said Sophie, closing her eyes.
    When the boat arrived at the small island of Nea Kameni, Levi spoke first. ‘Stinky, stinky poo,’ he said, as if trying to get rid of a bad taste in his mouth.
    As an overwhelming pong of sulphur filled the air, everyone sat on the boat looking at each other, silently agreeing with him. But after some gentle nudging and sweeping hand gestures by the tour operators, we realised we were supposed to leave the boat and walk around the island, perhaps even hike to the top of the volcano.
    â€˜Hey, I didn’t think this was a walking thing. I thought it was a looking thing,’ Tara said as we stood on black stones and stared up at the largish volcanic cone.
    â€˜Come on, you two. Levi’s already taken off,’ Sophie said, and began sprinting up the hill over the sharp and rocky terrain.
    â€˜Do we have to?’ I stared down at my pretty open-toed red sandals. Not the smartest choice.
    â€˜Look at them,’ Tara said as we watched more than a dozen tourists stream past. ‘Some of those guys must be eighty years old.’
    â€˜Yeah. What if there’s something amazing up there and we miss it because we’re too lazy to use our legs?’
    While Tara doubted there’d be anything worthwhile at the top, she didn’t want to risk missing out. So, the two of us, shamed into walking by a toddler and a group of geriatrics, trudged upwards.
    â€˜The air might be better up there,’ I said as we heaved ourselves to the top of the volcano. But as we neared the peak, sulphur still hung in the air.
    â€˜Do dragons live inside?’ Levi asked as we watched hot vapours spew from the crater.
    â€˜Maybe,’ said Tara. She took Levi’s hand and together they went dragon hunting. Meanwhile, Sophie and I sat on a rock and tried not to inhale too deeply.
    â€˜Feeling okay?’ I asked her.
    â€˜Yeah, no. I love being with Levi most of the time, but I think I need something more.’
    â€˜What, like going back to law? But you hated being a lawyer — the hours, the stress —’
    â€˜â€” the clients — yeah, I know. No, I don’t want to go back to that. I’ve just been thinking about a few ideas. It would be nice to have my own money so I wasn’t financially dependent on Alex.’
    â€˜I can understand that.’
    â€˜What about you? I was shocked the other day when you said you might change jobs when we get back home. I thought you liked working for Marcus.’
    â€˜Let’s face it, my friend, it’s not ideal, is it, me working with numbers all day?’
    Sophie smiled. ‘I guess not.’
    â€˜It was only out of desperation that I took the job in the first place.’
    â€˜Great timing hey, just as George stuck you with that massive debt.’ Sophie shook her head. ‘What a prick!’
    â€˜Yeah, and to think I was planning on a future with him.’
    Sophie put her arm around me and nodded. ‘Do you still want . . . children?’
    â€˜I don’t know any more. I might have missed the boat as far as that goes.’
    â€˜You’ll meet someone else.’
    I shook my head. ‘I don’t think I want to.’
    And anyway, with my track record, it seemed highly unlikely. The best I could manage was being someone’s part-time, secret shag and that was definitely not what I aspired to.
    â€˜Amazing to think, isn’t it,’ Tara said, returning from her dragon walk with Levi, ‘that this baby could blow at any moment.’
    â€˜Like a real volcano?’ said Levi.
    â€˜Ooh! What was that?’ Tara shouted, jumping up and grabbing Levi around his waist. ‘It’s the volcano dragon.’ Tara and Levi ran around shrieking and laughing, much to the astonishment of the senior citizens.
    â€˜Nice way to go three days before my