by Natasha West
‘Yeah?’ Eden said. ‘Well, according to Steph, everyone on the boat is hoping to find romance a bit more organically. You know, you’re standing on the observation deck sipping champagne, and then you look over, and there’s your soulmate doing the same, that type of thing.’
‘Makes sense. It’s hard putting yourself out there. Even in a place like this,’ Maggie shrugged, her eyes straying to Isabella. When Eden looked at Isabella to see if she’d noticed, she hadn’t. Because she was looking right at Eden. There was something about the look in her eye that Eden didn’t like. It wasn’t friendly. But then Isabella looked away, asking Beatrice to pass the salt. ‘God knows I need some flavour.’
Eden shook off the odd moment, turning back to Maggie. ‘So, you didn’t meet anyone at speed dating?’
‘Nope. Not that I have to, or anything. I mean, that’s not my brief, to meet someone. I’m just supposed to observe the mating rituals of the queer British woman, officially.’
‘Unofficially?’
‘My editor said that if I were to ‘find love,’ it would make a much better article.’
‘Love, eh? Tall order.’
‘That’s the word he used, but I think he’d be just as happy if I got laid. As long as I was poetic about it,’ Maggie mused.
‘Well, happy hunting,’ Eden said.
‘How about you? How’s the search going?’
Eden forced a chuckle. ‘Oh, no, nothing as yet.’
‘Better get cracking,’ Maggie said.
‘If you’re looking for juice for your article, you may want to look elsewhere,’ Eden told her.
‘Oh, no, I’m fine for that. Plenty going on for everyone else.’
‘Oh, yes?’ Eden asked, intrigued. ‘Such as?’
‘Well… You didn’t hear it from me, but Beatrice and Florence have swapped numbers.’
Eden raised an eyebrow. ‘And?’
‘No, that’s it.’
‘Ehh…’ Eden said, a lot less intrigued.
‘No, it’s juicy, I swear. They’re like the most repressed people on this boat. Swapping numbers is practically foreplay. I’m telling you, they’ll be bang at it by the time we dock back in Southampton.’
Eden glanced over at Beatrice, amused at the idea of the upper-class chess match that had begun with the exchange of digits. She happened to catch Isabella’s eye once more. There it was again, that hard look in her eyes, there and gone.
‘Hey,’ Eden said quietly to Maggie. ‘Weird question, but, when you were talking to Isabella before, well, anyway… She didn’t happen to mention anything about hating my guts, did she?’
Maggie’s eyes widened. ‘What? Why?’
‘I don’t know, I’m just getting a vibe.’
‘I think that’s just her style.’
‘Maybe,’ Eden agreed.
***
The piano bar was indeed pure cheese. There was an older guy playing Copacabana with his own vocal accompaniment. No one looked very happy about his choice. ‘Play some Adele!’ a drunk woman yelled. The piano player ignored her.
Eden’s and Natalie’s groups had once again joined, the unwieldy collection taking up a corner of the bar, spread across several tables. Max was talking to Steph, arguing about something. Eden could only catch Max saying something about Steph changing her hairdresser and Steph telling Max that at least she didn’t spend her days asking people if they wanted alt-milks. Eden was just pleased not to be caught in the middle of it anymore. Beatrice and Florence were chatting companionably, though Eden couldn’t exactly say she was feeling the heat. But it was worth noting that Beatrice was holding Jonty in her lap and caressing his little head, so maybe there was something in Maggie’s claims that love had blossomed. Angelique was flirting quite hard with someone Eden didn’t know, apparently someone she’d met on the climbing wall today. Saz and Caz were trying to talk Mary into a plot to take over the piano, threatening to perform Bohemian Rhapsody. Eden wondered what the deal with them was. Were they together? Friends? Sisters? She just couldn’t tell.
But most of Eden’s attention was taken up with trying not to look at Natalie. There again, she couldn’t just ignore her, they were supposed to be on good terms. She had to find a way to look at her, but not too much. It was a tricky tightrope.
But then Eden noticed Natalie talking to Isabella, and she found it difficult to drag her eyes from them. There was something in the way Isabella leaned in that was telling Eden that flirting was afoot. From Natalie too? Harder to say. But Eden felt the green-eyed monster rear its head as she watched them.
Seventeen
The piano player had now moved from Manilow to Billy Joel’s Piano Man. Natalie thought it a tad on the nose. Natalie’s attention was soon drawn from the unimaginative score, however, when Isabella appeared. ‘So, you and the boss had a little ‘meeting,’ did you?’ she greeted Natalie, dropping into the seat next to her.
‘Shush!’ Natalie said.
Isabella laughed at her. ‘You think anyone cares who you shagged? They’re too busy trying to get laid themselves.’
Natalie rolled her eyes, but she was kind of glad to have someone to talk to about this. Even if it was snarky Isabella. She’d been alone with this all day, the events of the morning running ceaselessly through her mind. ‘What I don’t understand is… I didn’t think for a second that was going to happen, how the hell did you know?’ she muttered to Isabella, trying not to be heard. But Isabella was right. No one cared. They all had their own stuff going on. And Eden was too far away to hear anything under the loud piano. Anyway, her attention was on Maggie right now. Natalie wondered if they were talking or talking. Hard to say yet.
Isabella got comfy in her chair. ‘Jesus, you think you’re the first person to give into repressed desire on holiday? Think again.’
‘But how did you know… I mean, what made you think that Eden and me…’ Natalie stuttered
‘It was the way you looked at each other. Scratch that, it was the way you didn’t look at each other. I mean, you work together, but you could barely meet each other’s eyes. It was screaming out,’ Isabella said easily. She raised an eyebrow. ‘So, the big question. How was she?’ Isabella asked with a small nod at Eden, still chatting away to Maggie. ‘Because I’m thinking she’d be the type to want the lights off.’
‘First of all, it was daytime, so that doesn’t apply. Second, none of your beeswax,’ Natalie told her.
‘Was it that bad?’ Isabella asked.
‘No, not at all,’ Natalie said quickly before she realised she’d just fallen into Isabella’s trap.
‘So she got it done then?’ Isabella smirked. ‘Well, well. Skilled at eyeliner and sex? What a renaissance woman.’
‘Stop it, would you!’ Natalie begged.
‘But it’s kind of weird,’ Isabella continued, ignoring Natalie’s pleas. ‘I’d think you guys might at least sit next to each other tonight if you were rocking the boat this morning. So that leads me to draw the conclusion that something went a little wrong after things went right?’
‘How the hell do you do this?’ Natalie demanded. ‘Are you a witch?’
‘I’m just an astute observer of the human condition, with a speciality in sexual misadventures. It comes from making a ton of mistakes in that department myself,’ Isabella informed her.
‘Really?’ Natalie asked, interested. ‘Like what?’
‘To cut a long story short, it involves the star of a now-cancelled shitty reality show, a house brick, and a car window. But enough about me,’ Isabella said hastily. ‘What happened with you and Lollipop Legs?’
‘She… It’s just, we’re…’ Natalie took a deep breath, trying to collect her thoughts. ‘It was just a thing that happened, and that’s that.’
‘One and done, eh? That what you wanted?’
‘I don’t know, probably,’ Natalie said quickly.
‘Probably? You better get surer than that. Or there’s gonna be some awkward moments around the water cool
er when you get back.’
‘Look, someone like Eden…’ Natalie began, but Isabella held up a hand. ‘No, you’re not gonna give me that shit about how she’s a superhuman again. I mean, yeah, sure, she’s a ten. If you like that sort of thing. But there are other tens around,’ Isabella said with a self-satisfied smile.
‘You’re very confident, aren’t you?’ Natalie said with not a little admiration.
‘I just know what I have. Which, in itself, is a rare quality. Which brings me up to eleven, by my count. One above your precious Eden.’
‘She’s not my precious anything,’ Natalie said with a sigh. And then she realised that Isabella’s hand was on her leg. ‘What are you…’
‘Look, there’s more than one way to get over someone. And I’ve decided I like you. So why don’t we get out of this dreadful bar, go and get a drink alone? You can tell me about Eden, I’ll tell you why she’s not worth your time, and at the end of the night, I’ll kiss you on the deck under a beautiful crescent moon, and you’ll forget all about her,’ Isabella said with a cheeky smile and dancing eyes.
Natalie gave a shocked laugh. ‘Isabella, I… Look, I mean, I do think you’re kind of… There’s definitely something about you,’ Natalie admitted. ‘But it’s a bit too soon. I mean, I was with Eden about,’ she looked at the clock on the wall, ‘ten hours ago. And maybe you could make me forget about it. But not now. It’s just too soon.’
Isabella took her hand back and placed it on her own lap. ‘Alright, alright. I had to take my shot.’
Natalie was forced to ask the question of the day. ‘Why, though? You’ve got a literal boatload of women at your disposal? Why me?’
‘Because you’re hot, that’s why,’ Isabella said as though it were obvious.
‘I don’t think so,’ Natalie said with a shake of her head. ‘I think you’ve maybe just had one tequila too many.’
‘And that’s exactly what makes you sexy. It’s only you that doesn’t see it. All it would take is someone, the right someone, to bring it out.’
‘That’s not been my experience of dating. The women I’ve dated haven’t clamoured to bring anything out,’ Natalie said sadly.
‘Then you dated girls.’ Isabella gestured at her hourglass body with a smirk, adding, ‘And baby, I’m a woman, if you care to notice.’
Natalie had to laugh at Isabella’s moxie She really was a trip. And hot. And fun. And exciting. It was a shame she hadn’t stayed on the deck with her this morning instead of going to Eden’s room. The day might have turned out better.
But when Natalie looked across at Eden, she wondered if that were true. Maybe it wouldn’t matter what choices she’d made. Maybe she’d have ended up in Eden’s bed no matter what. Because it was where she’d wanted to be, whether her conscious mind knew it or not. But now, she was fully aware of her crush, and that meant that she couldn’t take Isabella’s tempting offer up. It didn’t feel right. ‘Look, I really do like you, Isabella. But can we just be friends?’
Isabella sighed, disappointed. ‘Well, I guess that’ll do. For now, at least.’
Eighteen
‘Did you see that?’ Maggie asked, wide-eyed.
‘No, what?’ Eden said.
‘Isabella just totally put her hand on Natalie’s leg,’ Maggie said with horror.
‘What?!’ Eden said, accidentally turning around to look. And there it was. Hand. On leg. Eden spun back around quickly, a sour taste in her mouth, her throat dry. The green-eyed monster had just laid several eggs in her stomach, and they were making her sick. She couldn’t believe it. Natalie was moving on. Quickly. Eden supposed she shouldn’t have been so shocked. She’d said what had happened between them was casual. But Jesus, to be flirting right in front of her, that hurt. Apparently, she was being too obvious about that because Maggie asked, ‘Hey, why are you so upset about it?’
Eden felt entrapped. She didn’t know what to say. ‘I’m not, I mean, no, I don’t… None of my business. Just an unexpected pairing. It took me by-’
Maggie shook her head. ‘Christ almighty. Some journo I am. You’ve got a thing for Natalie, haven’t you?’
Eden made a mental note to brush up on her poker face. It really had gone to hell lately. ‘No, we just work together. It’s nothing like that,’ Eden sputtered.
‘I can’t believe I missed it,’ Maggie went on, disregarding Eden’s poor attempt at lying. She tutted at herself. ‘Here’s me thinking the hot goss was Beatrice and Florence. That’s it, I’m turning in my notepad and pencil, getting a job at a supermarket.’
Eden made a hush noise. ‘Can you please not make a big deal of this. It was just one time and-’
Maggie’s eyes widened. ‘And you’ve slept together? When?’
Eden groaned. ‘It was… it was this morning.’
‘What?’ Maggie screeched. ‘When, how? Can I write about it?’
‘Keep your voice down! Of course you can’t write about it!’ Eden said in quite yet firm tones. ‘And what do you mean how? Has no one given you the birds and the bees talk?’
‘Apparently not,’ Maggie said, flicking a bitter look to an oblivious Isabella. Her hand was now off the leg, but she was still leaning rather close. Maggie shook herself. ‘But back to you and Natalie. It’s a good story. You’re her boss, so, putting aside the sketchy part, it could be quite saucy. Did you sleep together before this morning?’
‘No,’ Eden told her. ‘Never. We weren’t even that friendly.’
‘Even better. All that sexual tension simmering away at the office. And then you both find yourselves on this trip together and wham bam,’ Maggie said, cheering up by the second. ‘God, it’s gold. It’s got to go in the article. I’ll give you fake names if that helps?’
‘Maggie, you do not have my permission to put us in your article, alright?’ Eden said desperately.
Maggie’s grin slipped. ‘Oh. I see. I’m sorry. I didn’t realise it was like that.’
‘Like what?’ Eden asked.
‘You really like her. And now she’s getting touched up by Isabella.’
‘I don’t know how I feel now. It’s all a bit messy still,’ Eden admitted, the best she could say about any of this. She was still figuring it all out, she wasn’t ready to try and explain it all to another human. She didn’t know how to explain that she’d been in denial for some uncertain amount of time and that the whole thing had busted open when she’d made an arse of herself. That the moment she opened her door to a scared and anxious Natalie, some switch had flipped. And that through some miracle, she’d managed to get Natalie into bed, only to get her walking papers right after, making the whole thing ten times worse. That she’d gone through the complete gamut of emotions in the course of a morning. And now she was on the outside again, watching Natalie - who wasn’t wrestling with any of this - getting picked up by bitchy Isabella. That Eden, who’d been unaware of her own crush when she’d woken up this morning was now, during evening drinks, ready to throw Isabella over the side of the ship for touching Natalie’s leg. It was preposterous.
‘If I was a bit more cutthroat, I’d love to try and talk you into an interview. But you look kind of sad, and I’m a sucker for the sad girl, so why don’t we drink too much and try and forget those two?’ Maggie said with a hopeful grin.
‘You’re upset about Isabella?’
‘I wouldn’t put it that way. I barely know her. I’m more embarrassed than anything,’ Maggie admitted. ‘She made it very clear I wasn’t good enough, but Natalie apparently is. It’s one thing to be told you don’t cut it, it’s another to see the one that does.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Eden agreed sadly, making sure not to look at Natalie. ‘But maybe we should take the pity party elsewhere?’
***
Eden was rather more smashed than she’d intended to get, but it was too late to do much about it. She was standing on the top deck, leaning over the rail, looking at a dark sea, as the ship slid through the cold waves. On the horizon was a
lightning storm, many miles away, little bolts reaching out and touching the water. This was the perfect view to have while she had maudlin thoughts, and she took full advantage, wondering what Natalie was doing right now. She probably had Isabella’s legs wrapped around her, even as Eden stood here.
‘I think I’m gonna puke,’ Maggie said beside her.
‘If you’re gonna do it, do it over the side,’ Eden advised.
Maggie nodded and leaned over the railing, eyes closed, ready.
‘Are you gonna do it?’ Eden asked.
Maggie kept her eyes closed. ‘Just waiting to see.’