I slid into the booth beside Caitlin, and moments later Nick appeared with three Long Island Iced Teas.
“You’re back,” I said to him.
“So are you,” Caitlin said, smiling.
“My cabin was too quiet,” Nick said, pushing the drinks across the table towards us. I downed half of mine before Nick got settled, and looked up to find both of them staring at me.
“Okay, something’s up,” Nick said.
“What’s wrong, beautiful?” Caitlin asked. “You kind of vanished without warning. Are you okay?”
I hesitated. I desperately wanted to talk, but both of them had their own problems and I didn’t really want to burden them with mine. Again. But they were watching me expectantly, so finally I said, “Well…yes. No.” I winced. “Not really.” I took a deep breath. “Jock’s been trans-shipped. But before he left, he put a note under the door of our cabin. Telling me how much he fancies me.”
“Oh, my God!” Caitlin squealed, plonking her drink down on the table. “I can’t believe it! I hoped you two would get together! I can’t believe the motherfucker left it so late—and then went and got himself trans-shipped before you could find out!”
“Wait, what?” I said. “What do you mean, you hoped we’d get together? Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“You were all loved up with Cooper,” she said, “and I didn’t want to pressure you or try to sway you, because I hate it when people do that to me…” She paused, waiting for my reaction, but I was so stunned that I was speechless. “I just thought you two would make such a cute couple, and god, it was obvious he wanted you.”
“Yeah, totally,” Nick added.
Well, that was just great. Apparently I was more oblivious than I’d thought.
“Who fancied you?” enquired a voice from behind us.
“Cooper! Hi!” I yelped, coming to my feet and throwing my arms around my boyfriend, adding, “Nobody—they’re just being silly.” I shot my friends a death glare over my shoulder. It wasn’t my fault Jock had feelings for me; god knew I hadn’t encouraged him. No point in stirring things up by telling Cooper.
“Okay, whatever,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, unperturbed. “I saw Maria and Jacoline on the other side of the bar when I came in.” He looked down at me. “Want to join them?”
“NO!” Caitlin and Nick said together. I stayed silent.
Cooper rolled his eyes at them and said, “You two are welcome to stay here. Ellie?” I hesitated, and he sighed. “Come on, Ellie, I’ve only got twenty minutes before I’ve got to leave again. I promised them I’d have a drink tonight. Please?”
I didn’t want to talk to Maria right now, or ever, actually, but I didn’t want my boyfriend drinking with her, either. And I’d been wanting to spend time with him all evening, so it would have been stupid for me to pass up on the chance. Admitting defeat, I mumbled, “Okay,” and trailed after Cooper. “See you guys soon,” I said, looking back at Nick and Caitlin. I gave them a sad little wave goodbye as I walked away. I didn’t like the feeling that I’d chosen a man over my friends, but really, I hadn’t had a choice. My time with Cooper was precious, and I got to see Nick and Caitlin much more often. They’d forgive me.
Jacoline and Maria were huddled together at a table; when they saw us coming they moved around to let us in. When she saw me, Maria looked away and sipped her drink.
Don’t worry, bitch, I’m just as unhappy to see you. “Hiya,” I said aloud.
“Don’t let us interrupt,” Cooper said, slouching down and putting his hands behind his head.
“Maria was just telling me about a passenger she met,” Jacoline said, sounding excited.
Maria looked far less excited. “I met him on the first night of the cruise and he told me he loved hunting. He said that his family never worries about money. So I thought he was rich, you know, like Luiz’s family. They never worry about money, either.”
Oh, hooray. Insight into Maria’s love life. Normally I wouldn’t care, but I was curious if this mysterious passenger might have been the person she’d intended to meet in the Spring Fling. In any event, I’d brought my drink with me and felt no compulsion whatsoever to enter into the conversation. So instead, I listened and absorbed so I could take the conversation back to my friends later.
“I was supposed to meet him in the Spring Fling earlier,” she said, “but he never showed.”
“Oh no,” Jacoline said, looking concerned.
I bit my lip and looked down. It was incredibly tempting to make a snide comment, but I resisted. Be better than Maria, I told myself.
Maria flicked her hair over her shoulder and said, “I know. I cannot imagine why he would stand me up.” That look—the one I’d seen when she’d been standing in the doorway to the Spring Fling, after realising she’d been stood up—flickered across her face again and then was gone. Jeez, this was starting to get annoying. If it carried on, I might actually start thinking Maria had a soul. That was a terrifying thought.
“Anyway,” she continued, ignoring me, “I was naturally upset, so I went for a walk, and then I ran into him on his way to meet me. He had got his times wrong.” She looked smug, but only for a moment. “So we went back to the Spring Fling for a drink. And it was all going so nicely, until I asked him about his family. I asked how and where they made their money…and he just laughed at me.”
“What? Why?” Jacoline exclaimed.
“He is not rich!” Maria replied hotly. Jacoline gasped in horror. “They never worry about money, because they accept they will never have any! They hunt pigs—to eat them!” She paused, fuming. “I wasted so much time with him, thinking he was someone he was not. He works at Walmart and lives in a caravan! He saved for four years to come on this cruise!” By the end, she was nearly hysterical; her voice had gone up with every sentence, until she was registering pitches that were nearly inaudible. And she also looked like she might burst into tears.
“Maria…” Cooper said, leaning forward and putting his hand on hers, “I’m sorry, but you’re barking up the wrong tree. None of the passengers on this ship are wealthy. I mean, maybe one or two, but generally, it’s a pretty middle class cruise line.” He looked at her pityingly. “Come on. Everyone knows the swanky ones travel with Crystal or Regent Cruises.”
Maria looked even more distressed, if that was possible. “Why did no one tell me?” she wailed. “My mother has been telling me to come here for a long time for this exact reason. Now I will have to marry my fat, loser boyfriend.” She stared down into her drink, looking miserable. “Maybe I can get a job with one of the other cruise lines.”
Cooper checked his watch and sighed. “Sorry, ladies, but I’ve got to get back to the lab to do some printing.” He stood up, his fingers trailing briefly across my shoulder. “I’ll see you all later.”
The last thing I wanted to do was stay for drinks with Maria, so I quickly excused myself and slipped away. Caitlin and Nick had disappeared, so I made my way slowly back to the cabin. This whole evening had been a shambles; I was looking forward to bed. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.
Caitlin was already snoring on her bunk when I opened the door, her arms protectively wrapped around the teddy bear she dragged out on days she was feeling low. I pulled up the covers and tucked her in, like my mum had done when I was little. And when I’d come home after ending things with Dan. Apparently I’d inherited my mother’s need to take care of other people.
I changed into my pyjamas and crawled into bed. As I lay there, staring up into the darkness, I wondered if it was possible to like two blokes at once. It had never happened to me before; I’d always been a one-man kind of girl. And now I was just confused. Cooper was charming, and his traumatic past just made him that much more alluring, because what girl doesn’t want to be the one to heal a broken man? Okay, so I’d questioned his behaviour a few times, but really it was only that I’d got super anxious and had overreacted to a few things because I was insecure. He just wa
nted to take things slow, and who could blame him?
And then there was Jock. He was so lovely, and while he’d had shit in his past, he hadn’t let it affect him. He was sweet and strong and such a good listener…and, oh, who was I kidding, he was really sexy with that floppy hair and gorgeous blue eyes.
Arg. I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow. I was going around in circles.
After a fitful night’s sleep, the cabin phone woke me up. I lay in the dark for a moment, still groggy, and then slipped out of bed. I’d been here long enough that I could navigate in the dark; I tripped over a pile of Caitlin’s clothes, but otherwise made it to the phone relatively unscathed.
“Hello?” I said chirpily. Good morning, this is Ellie, no, of course you haven’t woken me up!
“Ellie, it’s Nick!” He sounded excited, and some of my bad mood washed away. Yay for calls from friends. “Can you and that gorgeous bitch meet me for breakfast on the pool deck? I’ve got good news!”
“Let me get her out of bed,” I said, flicking on the light and the kettle, “and we’ll be there.”
By the time I had tea ready, Caitlin had woken up and was stretching. She’d managed another morning off from shooting passenger photos on the St Thomas gangway. Lucky her.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
I handed her a mug. “Nick has good news.”
She downed the tea and bounded out of bed. As soon as we’d dressed, we headed up to the pool deck, where we spotted Nick sitting with his parents at a long table near the pool bar. Things looked a lot less tense than they had the night before.
“Come join us,” Nick called when he saw us. As we sat down, he said, “I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”
My father often started conversations in this way. “The bad news,” I replied. Caitlin nodded in agreement.
“I hoped you’d say that,” Nick said, grabbing his mother’s hand. “The bad news… I’m leaving the ship.” He grinned. “But the good news is that I’m going to New York!”
“Yaaaayyyy!” Caitlin and I leapt on Nick, smothering him with hugs. His parents were startled at first; I’d got the impression the night before that they weren’t real big on physical contact. But they seemed pleased, which was nice, both for Nick and for their family. I was so glad his parents had come around.
“Girls, I wanted to apologise for last night,” Nick’s father said once we quieted down. He hesitated, and then said, “I believe it would be safe to say that Nicholas’s mother and I were…surprised. I imagine he has told you that we are, in many respects, quite a traditional family?” Caitlin and I both nodded. “That has not changed, and while Nicholas might be…” He stopped, his mouth twisting. “Well. We are working on that.” Maricel took his hand and squeezed it, her eyes on her son. “Maricel and I talked it over last night,” Teo continued, “and asked God for His guidance. In the end, Nicholas is our son. We cannot expect him to be perfect—to follow our ideal. It is not fair of us to try to change him.” He looked at Nick and his face softened. “We love our boy. We want to help him.”
“They came and found me last night,” Nick said. “We were up really late talking. And I think it’s all going to be okay.”
“I’m sorry we lied to you, Mr and Mrs Canlas,” Caitlin said awkwardly. “We just wanted to help Nick.”
The conversation settled into the topic of New York. Nick, clearly pleased he no longer had to hide who he was, talked excitedly of where he’d live in New York, the shows he wanted to audition for, the places he wanted to visit…
“Don’t forget,” Caitlin interrupted, “if I get into Parsons, I’m coming too!”
Nick cheered. And then, as though they’d planned it, they both turned to look at me.
“Now we just need to find a way to get you to New York, too, Princess,” he said. “We’re incomplete without you!”
“You definitely need to come,” Caitlin said.
I laughed. “What would I do in New York?”
“Be a totally f—” Caitlin caught herself and glanced guiltily at Nick’s parents. “Be a totally fantastic photographer. Open your own gallery!”
I wasn’t convinced. “Maybe in a few years,” I said, more to appease them than anything else.
“Babe, everybody fakes it in New York,” Nick said reassuringly. “We’ll find the space, the finance, and all you need is to take a few fabulous photos.”
“Well, I’ll think about it,” I said. It was a nice dream, but I had a feeling that making it into reality would take more than I had to give at the moment.
Maricel stood and kissed Nick on the head. “We see you three have much to discuss. We will see you later, Nicholas.”
With the parents gone, we headed for the internet room; Nick and Caitlin were keen to start looking at places to live in New York. I just wanted to check Facebook.
I was tired, so I almost missed it as I scrolled past the inevitable baby pictures and happy couples, and then realised what I’d just seen and frantically scrolled back up. There it was: Luiz Martinez is Engaged. Well, bollocks.
I checked to see if he was online and then sent him a message.
I see that congratulations are in order.
Oh yes. :D We’re so happy.
When did it happen?
I wanted to ask when I was on your ship, but when I was called away so soon I wasn’t certain it was the right thing. But last night Maria Skyped me to say she missed me so much, and wished I was there, and she hoped we could be together forever. I was inspired to ask her to marry me in that moment, and she said yes! So I know it was the right thing to do.
Wow.
There wasn’t much more to say. I didn’t think it was the right time to tell Luiz his new fiancée was a lying, cheating, inconsiderate whorebag…so I opted on the side of caution and removed myself from the conversation once again, silently regretting my decision to accept his friend request. Way too awkward.
The news pulled Caitlin and Nick away from flat-hunting.
“What are we going to do about it, guys?” asked Caitlin. “We can’t let Maria marry that poor guy.” Nick and I both nodded in agreement, and then as we headed back to our cabin, Nick and Caitlin began to plot Maria’s downfall. It made me a little uncomfortable; I didn’t like her, but I also didn’t want to destroy her life, either. My parents had always said it was better to keep the moral high ground—that way, if things went wrong you were secure in the knowledge that at least you’ve behaved appropriately. I tried to say this to Nick and Caitlin, but they were having none of it; both were absolutely determined to get their revenge on the Brazilian Bitch.
I’d given up trying to persuade them otherwise by the time we reached the cabin. As I started to open the door, I realised that another note addressed to me was stuck in the doorjamb. It was a phone message from the communications officer.
Ellie, please call Rachel from Celestial Cruise Line head office. +1 305-222-3456
“That’s strange,” I said. “Why would she be calling me?” The others shrugged as they read the note over my shoulder.
Caitlin and Nick crowded into the cabin behind me and insisted I call her back right away. When I finally willed up the courage to call, I wasn’t expecting it to be Rachel’s direct line, and when she answered, I nearly hung up in shock.
“Ellie, great to hear from you,” she exclaimed after I introduced myself. “I am part of the team who recruited you, and I need to tell you that the girl whose job you are currently doing has recovered from her appendix operation, and will be coming back to the ship.”
Oh, shit.
“Oh,” I squeaked.
“Of course, we don’t want to lose you,” she continued, “So we’re going to trans-ship you and put you in a proper photography position.”
“Oh!” I said in a much happier squeak. Despite my problematic personal life, I’d managed to impress them with my professional skills! Hooray! I suddenly realised she must be wondering if I could s
ay anything other than my name and ‘oh’, so I added, “Right, yes, that would be wonderful. Erm, thanks so much.”
Nick and Caitlin were staring at me eagerly, waiting for me to drop some crumb of information that would let them know what the conversation was about. I turned my back on them; they were way too distracting!
“We’re not quite sure yet,” Rachel was saying, “but I think we’re sending you to Hawaii. Might be Alaska, though. I’m just waiting on a few things.”
She relayed a few more things to me, promised to ring as soon as details had been sorted, and then ended the call.
I stared at the wall, dazed, and then excitedly filled Nick and Caitlin in on the call.
Pros: I’d actually be closer to my real dream job, and somewhere as spectacular as Hawaii or Alaska.
Cons: I’d have to leave Cooper, so soon in our relationship.
I bit my lip.
“Dump him, babe,” was Caitlin’s response when I asked for their opinions. “Seriously, people come and go all the time, and you’ve just got to go with the flow. Do what is best for you.”
“Yes, and that could be coming to New York,” Nick chimed in eagerly.
I smiled at them both, but inside I was a bundle of nerves
Why was everything so hard?
Chapter Nineteen
I invited Cooper to our cabin for drinks after work, to tell him about the position. I knew I had to take it for my career, but had spent the afternoon dreaming about a long-distance relationship—or, if possible, maybe he could even trans-ship with me!
At about 11.30pm, he turned up, his mate Mikhail tagging along after him; Mikhail knew Caitlin was single and had been after her throughout his whole contract. Sadly, for him, Caitlin had completely sworn off men. Gabriel was the closest thing she’d come to meeting The One, and his betrayal had left her cold.
Sex, Lies, and Cruising Page 25