Triangles

by Kimberly Ann Miller

  Maybe she was drunk for the first time in her life. Maybe she’d decided to take a vacation from her usual Type A personality. At least she was having fun.

  I ran a brush through my hair, washed my face, and slipped out the door without waking her.

  The extensive buffet served breakfast, lunch, and dinner around the clock. As they finished with one meal, they replaced the food for the next. Any egg, meat, cheese, vegetable, fruit, and dessert I could think of was there. They had a soft-serve ice cream machine, omelet and carving stations, fresh baked bread and rolls, and even sushi. Cruises definitely made sure a girl never went hungry. I didn’t even know what time it was when I arrived, but the line for breakfast pushed out the front door. I grabbed a tray and got in line for the omelets.

  I filled my plate with fruit, a bagel, and a ham and cheese omelet. A little table in a corner sat near the giant windows that displayed nothing but blue water and sky, so I claimed it as mine. I put my tray down and stared at the waves the ship dragged behind us as my omelet cooled.

  “Hey there, sunshine,” a voice whispered in my ear as muscular arms wrapped around my waist.

  I jumped away and spun around to see Marcus smiling at me. Damn, he was sexy. Wearing a tight black T-shirt and dark jeans, he looked like a short bouncer.

  I smiled back. His strong arms around my waist felt good. I was surprised at how he was acting since we’d only known each other a few days.

  But I’d been told that the best part of vacation is the fling-with-a-hot-guy, and with Marcus it was looking like I’d soon be able to cross that off my to-do list.

  He leaned in to kiss my cheek. Warm lips lingered over my flushed skin.

  “Um, want to join me for breakfast?” I asked.

  “Of course.” He took a bagel off my tray and bit off the end.

  My eyebrows pulled down in confusion. “Didn’t you get some food for you?”

  “Why? You’ve got enough for both of us. I missed you at dinner last night.” He chomped on the bagel, irritating me with the sound his full mouth was making. “Why didn’t you come? Everyone asked about you. And you didn’t answer your door when I used our secret knock last night. Were you sick?”

  My mouth dropped open, and my eyes popped out when he grabbed my banana. I snatched it back before he could unpeel it. “What are you talking about? What secret knock?” And how did he know my room number? I didn’t think I’d given it to him yet.

  I pulled my tray and the rest of my food out of his reach and scooted away from him. The hurt look on his face confused me. I fixated on his short stature, and I almost swore he’d shrunk an inch in front of my eyes.

  He reached across the table to touch my face, but I swatted his hand away. The thought crossed my mind that, at the rate he seemed to want to take things, we’d be engaged by our third date and I’d be knocked up before the wedding. “Marcus, I think you’re moving things a little fast, don’t you?”

  He dropped his hand and sighed. “Come on, baby, you aren’t still mad about the other night, are you? Let’s just drop it so we can enjoy our vacation, huh?” He grinned and moved around the table toward me.

  Oh, shit. It hit me like a migraine. He was another Joey. Did it run in their family? What had I done to myself? I crossed my arms over my chest. I moved again to put the table between us. An old couple at the next table watched as our drama unfolded. “What do you mean, ‘our vacation?’”

  He reached for an apple on my tray, but I yanked it away from him.

  My heart sped up as his antics continued. “Stop touching my food!”

  “Come on, Raynie, it’s not like they charge you for the apple. If you’re still hungry, you can get more.”

  I regretted telling him to call me Rayne. He stole the apple from my plate anyway, took a bite, then offered it back to me.

  I shook my head. “Keep it. You obviously wanted it more than I did.”

  He dropped his hands and looked at me. His gray eyes clouded over. “Autumn Rayne, we’ve been through this. I didn’t sleep with Olivia. She works at the bank part-time and that’s it. I wouldn’t ruin what we have for some girl who sleeps with everyone to get promoted. Why can’t you believe me?”

  I took a step back and scanned the room. Did I miss something? Did I not only wake up on the wrong side of the bed, but in the wrong life, too? “Uh, did I just enter the Twilight Zone or something? What do you mean, ‘what we have?’ We hung out at the pool yesterday, that’s it. I barely know you! You’re acting like we’re a couple or something.”

  He came around the table again and grabbed my wrist before I could move. “Don’t be like that, baby. I planned this cruise to celebrate our one-year anniversary! Let’s enjoy every minute of it. I don’t want to fight when we should be enjoying ourselves in paradise.” He moved his face toward me like he planned on kissing me, his lips jutting out toward my mouth.

  I ripped my wrist from his grip and stepped away from him, shoving on his firm chest at the same time. “You’re crazy. I never should’ve gone to the pool with you,” I huffed. “Anniversary. You’ve got me confused with someone else, Marcus!”

  The old people at the next table continued to stare. Marcus whipped his head toward them. “Do you mind?” His voice filled with venom. “Why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer!”

  They quickly looked away. I turned to Marcus, my jaw hanging open. How could he be so rude to those people? He was the one acting like a nut, not them.

  He advanced on me again, smiling and staring me down. I backed away, cornering myself against the window. “Leave me alone, you freak.” I held up two fingers in the shape of a cross.

  “Ha, ha. Very funny.” He leaned in to whisper in my ear. “You liked this freak last Saturday at the reservoir, if I remember right.” He smiled at me and winked. “I still have the blanket in my trunk. Why are you playing hard to get? Or do you just want it to be hard?”

  My head started spinning. Maybe I was still dreaming and hadn’t woken up yet. That would explain his weird comments and the way he was acting like I was his girlfriend, right? Had I lost my mind overnight?

  I pinched my arm. “Ow! Shit!” I was not dreaming.

  I glanced toward the exit of the dining room. Marcus had my heart pumping like a caged animal. “Let me rephrase, here, Marcus. We just met! You’re nuts. I’m out of here.” He started after me, but I slammed on the brakes and held one hand up in his face. “Do not follow me! I mean it!” I left my tray and power-walked to the door. I checked behind me as I made my way through the now-crowded halls to make sure he wasn’t following me. I got to the elevators and pushed the buttons for both up and down just to get on as soon as I could. The elevator door opened and I ran in without looking, spun around, and punched the button for the top floor. When the doors squeezed shut, I let out the breath I’d been holding and leaned back against the wall.

  Holy shit. What was with Marcus?

  Movement out of the corner of my eye startled me. “Gah!”

  I snapped my head to the left and found myself face to face with Joey. He had a crossword puzzle in his left hand and a pen in his right, which he had chewed on till it shined with spit.

  I held my hand up. “Please spare me whatever comments you’re about to make. I can see it on your face. And didn’t Nisha already tell you to stop with the pen? Gross.”

  He blinked a few times, scrunched up his eyebrows, and pulled the pen from his mouth. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

  My jaw fell open. Was this some kind of joke?

  “Uh, hello? Joey? We’ve been working together since January.”

  Blank stare.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “You’ve been chasing after me, remember? Hunting me down at lunch? Waiting for me at the time clock? Any of this ring a bell?”

  He shoved his hands in his bathing suit pockets and shrugged his shoulders. “Um, I’m sorry, I think you have me confused with someone else. I have a girlfriend.” The doors slid open. The ele
vator was flooded with the sounds of music and laughter coming from the pool.

  He pushed past me, a worried expression shrouding his face. “Excuse me, please. Enjoy your cruise.”

  He scurried out of the elevator and walked right into the arms of the girl I hated most at my high school. Olivia Davis, the only other person who knew I’d stolen and messed up Mom’s car.

  The bitch had blackmailed me for her silence and forced me to do her Biology homework. She was as dumb as she was mean. How the hell could Joey stand her?

  My brain couldn’t process what my eyes were seeing. Olivia and Joey? Together on my cruise? Together as a couple? WTF?

  When the doors bumped shut, I grabbed my hair with both hands and yanked. I couldn’t even push a button to make the elevator move, I was so stunned. I felt my legs lose their strength, so I leaned against the wall of the elevator to support myself.

  Sure that I was taking a mental dive, I went back to my room. I opened the door to see Jessica sleeping in the same position I’d left her in. I padded past her and climbed into bed with my clothes and sandals still on. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears with cupped hands and prayed that I would wake up from this nightmare.

  Jessica shook my shoulder a half hour later. I cracked open an eye to see what her problem was. “Autumn, come on. We slept in. Time for lunch on the sunny pool deck!” Her voice was chipper as she took her clothes into the bathroom. Through the door I could hear her humming what sounded like a lullaby.

  Fear glued my eyelids together. “This morning was just a weird dream,” I whispered to myself. “When you open your eyes, it’ll all be over.” I cracked one eye open and glanced around the room. Nothing looked strange. The out of place clothes and shoes were now gone from the floor.

  Thank God. It was just a dream. I stretched and yawned, thanking whoever fixed everything and pulled me back to reality.

  “Geez, I had the strangest dream, Jessica.” I shook my head to clear it from my mind. I did a few more stretches in bed before pushing myself to a sitting position.

  She peeked out from the bathroom with her toothbrush in her mouth. Foam from the toothpaste made her look rabid. “Are you meeting Marcus at the pool?” she asked in a mumble. “He’s probably wondering where you are.”

  I stopped stretching. Why would she ask me that? Maybe because she saw us hanging out and knew I thought he was cute?

  I was being paranoid. “I’m sorry, what?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Your boyfriend,” she said around the foam surrounding her lips. “Are you meeting at the pool or not?”

  I stared at her and shook my head, my hands itching to cover my ears once again.

  “God, Autumn, what is wrong with you? Marcus? The love of your life? Sound familiar? You missed breakfast, so I assumed you’d be meeting him at the pool. His parents are really nice. I’m glad I got to meet them this trip. And how great is it that they have money! You’ll be set with him.”

  I scrubbed my eyes with the back of my hand before looking at her again. My blood was beginning to boil. “Jessica, is this some kind of joke? Because it isn’t funny.”

  She disappeared into the bathroom again. I still hadn’t moved from my spot when she peeked back out. “Really, Autumn, you are so weird. What’s wrong with you this morning?”

  I sat on the bed, stunned. She couldn’t be in on some weird joke with Marcus. She didn’t even bother with him after he lied to her about his age. And it was so not like her to care about money like that. She always pushed love back home. Yet here she was, standing in front of me, salivating over a potentially rich husband.

  I needed a drink. I was far from an alcoholic, but the few times I drank when my friends had parties, I’d felt so relaxed and calm. So not how I felt now, but definitely how I wanted to feel.

  “Um, Jessica, something is in your teeth. Go check it out in the mirror.”

  While she was busy in the bathroom, I quickly searched the room for her license. She was old enough to drink on the ship. I wasn’t yet. But we looked so alike that I could get away with it if I charmed the right bartender into believing I’d dyed my hair brown.

  She emerged from the bathroom, catching me opening one of her drawers. “I didn’t see anything in my teeth. What are you up to?” She put her hands on her hips. I zeroed in on the space between them. Her abdomen was huge.

  Not fat huge. Pregnant huge.

  My jaw went slack. Jessica caught me staring. “What?” She rubbed her very pregnant belly with both hands, then smiled. “I know. It looks really big in my summer clothes, doesn’t it?”

  I shoved off from the bed and got right in her face. “What are you guys doing to me? Is this some sort of plan to make me think I’m crazy?” My heart pounded in my chest. The room no longer felt steady underneath my feet. I crossed my arms over my chest and screamed in her face. “I have enough stress, Jessica! I don’t need this right now!”

  She pushed her hand against my shoulder and shoved me away. “I don’t have time for one of your mood swings. I have enough of my own. Stop acting like a jackass. I’m going to lunch with or without you. I’ll see you there if you show up.” She grabbed her beach bag and waddled out of the room. I caught the title of one of the books she had in the bag before the door closed. What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I knew it was a popular pregnancy book because I’d seen it in every bookstore I’d ever been in.

  I stood where she left me, fuzziness and fire raging in my brain. It sure didn’t sound like she was joking. And that belly did not look fake. Marcus hadn’t sounded like he was joking earlier, either. And for Joey to pretend he didn’t know me after months of hounding me was just…unheard of. It didn’t seem like he was faking it. After staring at him and talking to him, nothing. Not a single spark of recognition.

  Did I miss something? Did I forget the past year of my life? Or did I just wake up from a yearlong sleep?

  Oh, my God. Maybe I was the one in a coma, not Mom.

  I sank to the floor as I considered the possibility. What if my life was not what I thought it was?

  Just breathe, I told myself. In, out. In, out.

  I closed my eyes and grabbed my head. I rocked back and forth for a few minutes while I tried to figure out what to do.

  Feeling like I couldn’t deal for a minute longer, I scrambled to the library. Books always provided me with an escape from everyday life. I walked in and calmed my breathing. A young couple giggled in a corner. A man held a little boy on his lap while he flipped through a medical book. A girl who looked to be about ten sat next to him, her eyes trained on the book in front of her. “Dad, what does ‘par-a-normal’ mean?” She spoke to the man in a thick British accent.

  “It means something that can’t be explained by science. What are you reading, love?” His accent was as thick as hers.

  She didn’t look up. “A book about the Bermuda Triangle. I think we’re in it now. What are you reading?”

  He sighed. Even the sigh sounded British. “I’m trying to figure out what this rash is on William before I take him down to the ship’s hospital.”

  I glanced at the boy and knew instantly. “He has chicken pox.”

  The father looked at me. “How do you know?”

  “My sister is a nurse.” And I get a thrill out of looking at pictures of rashes, but I didn’t tell him that part.

  “My book is seriously cool, Dad,” the girl said. “You should see the pictures of the people that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle.”

  Could we be in the Bermuda Triangle? Could that explain what was going on?

  Ridiculous. I laughed out loud. They both looked at me but I didn’t care. The idea was ludicrous, but I had to find out what the heck was happening. Books discussing all things Bermuda lined the wall right behind them, so I pushed past them and read through some titles. A few of them had to do with the Triangle, so I grabbed three and ran back to my cabin. I stuffed the books inside my backpack, along with sunscreen and my room key, a
nd went looking for the information desk.

  After getting off on the wrong floor three times, I finally found the busy place. I got in line and felt stupid for what I was about to ask, but what else could I do? I needed answers.

  I approached the counter and felt my cheeks get hot. “Hi. I have sort of a dumb question.”

  The smiling customer service lady stared at me. Her long red hair and green eyes reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t place who.

  “Are we in the Bermuda Triangle yet?”

  She chuckled. “It depends on whether or not you believe it exists, but yes, we did enter the area commonly referred to as the Bermuda Triangle around five in the morning.” She pointed to the people rushing every which way. “We didn’t disappear or get abducted by aliens, so you should feel free to go on and enjoy your day here on our wonderful ship. Have you reviewed all the great activities we have planned for the day?”

  I grimaced at her. “Yeah. Thanks a lot. See ya.”

  I slunk away feeling like an idiot. I went to the pool deck to look for Jessica and scanned the endless rows of white lounge chairs loaded with bodies. She sat across from where I stood. She was talking to a guy and had her sunglasses in her hair. A book rested on her pregnant belly. He had his back to me, but when he turned his head, I recognized Marcus’s handsome face. Oh boy.

  I snaked my way through the lounge chairs till I got to Jessica. Marcus was gone by then.

  “Hey, what’s up?” I asked. Since things were so loopy, I figured I’d take it slow and easy. And if this was just a dream, maybe I’d wake up and it would all be over.

  She frowned at me. “You know, Marcus treats you well and you’re acting like you don’t even know him. What’s up with that? You need girlfriend lessons or something.”

  I looked to either side of her. Both chairs were taken, so I sat down on the edge of hers. She pulled her legs up to give me room. “Jessica, let me ask you something.” I smiled a big, fake smile. “What the hell are you talking about?” I blurted. So much for playing along.