by Nikki Bella
With Azure interrupting us, then dashing off to who knows where, the whole crew would know soon enough. So, I told Tanya. I told her about the kiss the first night, about the near kiss tonight, then about the sudden, desperate fuck in the galley just now.
However, I still couldn’t tell Tanya that I’d specifically joined the crew of Aphrodite to be on this charter, that I was only on board to take revenge on Tyler for what his father did to my family. Or that, in getting to know him, I’d discovered that he was nothing like his father, or that I thought I was falling in love with him.
“That little witch, though,” scowled Tanya about Azure. “She doesn’t have to tell the captain. He’ll fire you.”
“I know,” I said, resigned to the fact, “but who can blame her? Or him? My unprofessional behavior might be enough to screw up the tip for everyone. I should be fired.”
“Don’t say that. It sounds like Tyler really likes you. Maybe this is your Cinderella story,” She sounded so full of hope I had to smile.
“That remains to be seen,” I told her. By now, he’d be back with Ada. They’ll have been fucking like bunnies since I left him. Guaranteed. In the morning, he’ll be like ‘Misty who?’
“Well, if we get through this,” said Tanya, “next time a charter makes you feel all gooey, come tell me.”
“And you’ll what, Tanya?” I smiled. “Take care of my urges?”
Tanya smirked back and gave me a big kiss on the lips. “It’s tempting, but it might make bunking together a little awkward. So, I’ll just listen and tell you you’re an idiot, deal?”
“Deal”
It was rolling toward two-thirty and, even postponing our normal dawn running session, we still both needed to be up before seven, so Tanya popped back up to her bunk and put the lights out.
Lying in the darkness, there was no way I could sleep, though. My mind raced from my fear of what the morning would bring, and the elated emotions I couldn’t help feeling as I remembered Tyler’s hands on me, his arms around me, his mouth on me, and the sensation of his marble-hard cock as it touched my lower lips and then penetrated me. The urgency of his kisses, the passionate strength of his embrace, the way his beautiful dick throbbed in my hands, all those recollections made my body sing. Even after the thundering orgasm I just had, I twisted about with the frustration that I couldn’t have him again.
“Stop playing with yourself and go to sleep,” came Tanya’s mock-stern voice from above. “You don’t want to have to make me come down there.”
After what seemed like only five minutes’ sleep, Tanya and I were back up and getting ready for work. In the galley, where the crew was gathering for breakfast. Neither the captain or Azure were present, but everyone went suspiciously quiet when I walked in. Tanya strode in behind me and started taunting, teasing, and flirting her way around the room, as she always did, giving the crew no option but to think and talk about something other than me. She’s probably the most amazing girl I’ve ever met, I smiled to myself, before the dreaded call came over the intercom, summoning me to the wheelhouse.
I expected Captain Harper’s normally kind, bearded face to be furious but, on arrival, I found him as placid as usual. He didn’t school me on the right way to behave, merely reassured me that he knew I hadn’t deliberately caused trouble, just been merely blindsided, but rules were rules and he had to let me go.
“I’ve seen you on duty,” he smiled, “and I’ve been doing this for long enough to know you haven’t told me everything about your past employment. I could ask some questions, but I feel like you must have had good reasons to be… economical with the truth about yourself.”
“I never meant any disrespect, Captain…” I began.
“Of that, I have no doubt,” Harper said soothingly, “and it’s all now in the past. I’m sorry, Misty, but you’ll have to be confined to quarters until the charter is over. After that, I’ll see you get your share of the tip and your ticket home. I trust I don’t need to find someone to escort or guard you?” I shook my head. “Off the record,” he said, “I know a little something about what the heart wants. And I think you’ll be okay, my dear.” He winked at me and I hugged him, a tear in my eye.
Tyler
I eventually mustered the courage to go for breakfast on the lower deck. Already there were Paul, Veronique, and Britney, plus Henry. My short, overweight but well-meaning attorney had gone to bed early last night after being talked into doing tequila shots with D Cash and his other porn star playmate, Ruby, much to the annoyance of his date Bella. No doubt her frustration at Henry’s continual failure to show a good time had led to her becoming involved in Ada’s sexy surprise last night. I needed to speak to Henry about what happened. He was my best friend, after all.
As I sat down, Britney and Veronique excused themselves simultaneously. “Was it something I said?” I smiled.
“Are you okay?” asked Henry. “Paul told me about the shouting match between you and Ada last night. What happened?”
“The real question,” I said, really trying to avoid that subject, “is what’s going to happen when D Cash wakes up? Aren’t you the slightest bit worried about him finding out about your little party with Britney and Veronique?”
“No. I squared everything with him,” explained Paul.
“You… You didn’t buy her, did you?” Henry ventured nervously, making the obvious misunderstanding. I snorted a laugh.
“Of course not!” Paul cried. Henry looked relieved. “But I now owe D Cash my Senna Edition Ducati. Was totally worth it, though.”
I shook my head at the Englishman’s nerve, then turned back to Henry. “I have to tell you what happened with Bella last night. It seems Ada managed to talk her into…”
“It’s okay, Tyler. Bella told me,” he said calmly. “She only told me to hurt me, but it came as no surprise to find out she wasn’t actually attracted to me. I’m not an idiot.”
“I didn’t try anything with her. I may have been a little slow to stop her, but…”
“It doesn’t matter,” Henry gave me a smile and a hand on my shoulder, “So, where are you and Ada now?”
Veronique and Britney returned and, pausing out of politeness for Sarah or Tanya to serve, I told them about my feelings for Misty, Ada’s frustration, and that we’d been discovered together.
“That’s why we haven’t seen Misty this morning?” asked Britney.
“Wow. Is so romantic, so passionate,” mused Veronique, dreamily.
“Yeah, but she’s going to lose her job and no one will let me down to see her,” I complained.
“Poor, poor Tyler,” came Ada’s malevolent tones from behind me. I whirled around to see her looking classically stunning. Big shades, big red sunhat and a red two-piece under a sheer wrap. Leaning on her arm was Bella, dressed in her usual denim short-shorts and white crop-top. “Of course, she’s not your problem anymore, darling. She’s fired from this boat and, by this afternoon, she’ll struggle to get a job crewing the ferry that runs the ten-minute crossing between Malta and Gozo.”
I knew she was going to do this. I felt my fists clench, my teeth grind, and I struggled to control my breathing. “Why do you have to do that?” I managed to seethe quietly.
“Because I can,” Ada was yelling now, “and I want you to feel some of the pain and helplessness that I’ve endured these past few days, throwing myself at you and being rejected over and over.”
The other guests shifted uncomfortably.
“I think I’d better go,” I told her, trying to end this encounter.
“I’m not even half done with you yet,” she screamed. Bella stared at me viciously. I slowly stood and approached them, keeping myself under control, just. Everyone held their breath.
“Whatever you’re planning to do to me, Ada,” I said evenly as I walked toward them, “there is, at least, no way you can force me to stand around and watch you do it.” I walked past them to the stairs, leaving them far behind.
Thankfully,
from my point of view, there was only another hour or so before Aphrodite returned to Aruba and the charter was over. I stayed in my cabin and thought about Misty. It’s the craziest thing, I said to myself, this vacation was a chance for a break, to see if Ada and I had a thing worth pursuing. I know it’s all good on paper; a merger between the Harcourt estate and the Showazuki family fortune. But I don’t want to get married because it makes good business sense. That’s what my father would do. Still, I never expected to meet her. I never imagined someone so beautiful, so mysterious, so right for me. I must find Misty.
As soon as the yacht was in dock I heard Ada and Bella disembark, ordering poor Brett, the third deckhand, around and not wanting to wait for the official farewell from the crew. I gathered my things, let the deckhands take my cases off, and went up. I hung around the entrance to the galley and the crew quarters until the others started complaining, just hoping I might catch her, or catch a glimpse of her.
Eventually, though, I was back on the aft deck. The crew was lined up in their whites once again to see us off. The last to leave, I shook hands with each crew member. Sarah and Tanya, the other two stewards, both gave me a quick kiss goodbye. Azure wasn’t present. She was probably a little uncomfortable, to say the least, so I said nothing.
“Well, what can I say?” said Captain Harper, as he shook my hand heartily. “Thank you for giving us a very… interesting charter.”
“I hope it wasn’t too terrible, Captain,” I smiled, pressing the thick envelope into his hand, “I know I caused some problems. Hopefully, this will help you weather the storm.”
“That’s very generous, thank you. Please come back and see us again.”
“I would love to. Please, though, is there any way I could talk to Misty, or get a message to her?” I implored. This felt like the last chance.
“I’m sorry, sir, Misty left the boat as soon as we docked, even before your lady, I mean, ex-lady friend,” shrugged the captain.
Man, I thought, she wasn’t kidding about having to find her. I nodded gratefully to him and trudged off. I followed the others down the jetty to the waiting stretched Hummer and ducked inside. Before closing the door, I allowed myself one last look at the magnificent Aphrodite, gleaming white against the clear blue sky, gently rocking on the sparkling Caribbean waters. My God, I said to myself, what this boat has managed to do.
Misty
Tanya was banging on my cabin door. “Come on, bitch, shake a leg!” she yelled. “Crew meeting and the captain insists you attend.”
I wiped the tears from my eyes. “Be right there.”
I had to go through with it. I quickly touched up my makeup and fixed my hair. When I finally felt I looked half presentable, I took a deep breath and headed for the crew lounge.
There were a couple of knowing glances and shy smiles as I entered. Azure avoided my eyes, as did Adam, reminding me of our recent flirtation. Tarquin and Brett waved hello. I squeezed in next to Tanya, who dropped her hand below the table so I could hold onto it.
“You all know my rules,” began Harper, “everyone who works on the charter gets an equal share of the tip. Now, this was a somewhat extraordinary charter, what with lifesaving, masts hit by lightning, crew members losing their heads…” he didn’t look over at me. “So, I’m happy to say, we have a somewhat extraordinary tip.” The captain pulled out a wad of cash from an envelope. “One hundred thousand dollars,” he announced, slowly and deliberately, and to the accompaniment of a large collective sigh. Tanya involuntarily squeezed my hand in hers. I couldn’t believe it. “That’s right. That’s about five times what we would normally expect from a two-night charter, but there it is. Around ten thousand each.”
Harper counted out one collection of bills and handed them out, then another. He threw a pile of notes in front of Azure.
“Please, Captain,” she said softly, without touching the money, “can I donate my share to Misty?”
Everybody froze. I stared wide-eyed at the small, tanned girl who finally turned her big eyes toward me.
“You can do what you like, Azure, it’s your money,” said Harper.
“It’s okay, Azure, you don’t have to do that,” I told her.
“I feel so bad. I didn’t know what to do when I found you. I didn’t think. I’m so sorry.” Azure’s eyes shone with tears.
“You did the right thing by not taking the chance that you might get yourself into trouble,” I assured her. There were murmurings of agreement around the table.
“It’s the only thing I can think of to say how sorry I am; I didn’t stop to think that you might actually have feelings for him.” Azure pushed the money across to me. I nodded and added it to my pile.
“But, as I was saying about rules,” began the captain, “Misty broke them and I have to let her go.”
The table erupted with complaints and arguments, with Tarquin, Brett, and Tanya shouting the loudest. Adam said nothing, I noticed. Harper appealed for silence. “I’m sorry, Misty. I need you to pack your things and disembark. I’m afraid there’s no reversing this decision.”
I nodded sadly and stood to leave.
“Hey, bitch?” called Tarquin. “You’d better make sure you say goodbye properly before you go.” I turned to see him make a grotesque mime of sucking a big cock, and I couldn’t help laughing.
Out on the dock, the whole deck crew had gathered, except Harper who, having said his goodbye, was needed elsewhere. I hugged and kissed Keith, the bosun, and Mike, the first deckhand. Brett, who’d been carrying my bags off the yacht, went for a sneaky butt grab as I hugged him, but I decided to go with it, breathing in his huge warmth and masculine smell. Azure came next.
“I’m so sorry, Misty,” she said. “I didn’t think you would actually get fired, and it looks like you actually like this guy. I feel terrible.” I waved away her apologies again and pulled her close. I felt Azure sob as I held her, and took the opportunity to slip her ten thousand back into her outside pocket, hoping she wouldn’t notice until later. I turned to Adam and put my hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry it wasn’t meant to be,” I offered. For a moment, he continued to stare off angrily into the distance until, suddenly, his face softened and he gathered me in his arms.
“Just promise me you’ll be happy,” he murmured. I pulled back to look in his eyes, then gave him a long kiss on the lips.
“I’ll try,” I whispered back.
I turned to Tanya and Tarquin. Within seconds, tears were streaming down all our faces. We all hugged altogether.
“You cows!” wailed Tarquin. “My makeup’s ruined!”
“This is crazy. Why are we crying? We’ll Skype, Facebook, we’ll talk all the time!” I sobbed.
“We’d better,” sniffed Tanya. “I expect first class all the way when you hook back up with your billionaire boyfriend.”
I went to respond but my taxi honked its horn from behind me. I kissed them both, grabbed my bags and strode off the dock toward solid ground. I got to the car and looked back, as the driver loaded my luggage in the trunk. They waved, I smiled and waved.
“Misty!” called Tarquin. “Don’t let any bad meat past those lips!” Tanya burst out laughing.
“Yeah?” I yelled back, “That goes double for the two of you!”
Tyler
“Find her, Henry,” spat I. “I don’t care what it costs, I don’t care if we have to go knocking door to door across this whole fucking island. Find her for me.”
Henry knew better than to argue with me when I was in this mood. “We’ll find her, buddy, don’t worry,” he said.
We drove on in silence. D Cash began to investigate the limo’s minibar. He pulled out a miniature bottle of Smirnoff, which looked even smaller in his big, black hand. He held it between his gold teeth and brought out another small bottle. This time it was a Glenfiddich 15-year-old, which he tossed to me.
“Cash,” I said, catching it, “it’s like one-fifteen in the afternoon.”
&nbs
p; “Yeah?” replied the big rapper, opening the small bottle of vodka. “That means it's nine-fifteen in LA, right?” He downed the liquid in one practiced movement.
“Erm… nine-fifteen in the morning,” smiled Henry.
D Cash shrugged before exploring the refrigerator for another. I went to hand the scotch back, but Paul waved to me, indicating he wanted it.
“Are we going back to the hotel?” asked Ruby, sounding tired.
Henry turned to me, “Ada will be there.”
I hadn’t thought that far. We had four deluxe suites reserved at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach, one of which was currently occupied by Ada and, possibly, Bella. Although there was nothing to stop Bella stealing Henry’s suite, so that was probably full too.
“Let’s go get some lunch and figure it out,” I decided.
I had the limo take us to the Hilton Resort and Casino, about a mile down the coast from the Ritz. Traipsing into the restaurant with all our bags made us look like a collection of hobos which, I considered, at the moment was exactly what we were. We took a table that looked out over the pool while Henry hung back to enquire about accommodation.
He came back wearing a very concerned look on his face. He sat down next to me.
“No room at the inn?” I joked.
“No, we’re all set,” he replied, staring off into the distance. “There were only three suites left so I figured you and I could share.”
“Of course,” I told him. “But why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
“A phone call from the board,” Henry motioned at my martini. I nodded, so he drained the glass and set it back down, breathing heavily. “They said, and I quote: The situation had changed. You were unreachable.” I remembered that I’d turned my cell phone off. “They had to abandon our plans to invest in Hobbs’s firm. They’re proceeding with the hostile takeover.”
I sat still for a moment, dumbstruck. Henry and I had spent months orchestrating the deal so that we could save the workforce of three thousand people from being laid off. The board had wanted to simply break up and sell the firm, making a billion-dollar profit. I’d forced them, as majority shareholder, CEO, and son of the founder, to invest instead. It was a much smaller return, over a longer period of time, but the workforce kept their jobs.