by Rye Hart
“You remembered,” I said.
“I remember everything about you, Chanel,” he said.
I blushed at his comment as we stood off to the side. I wasn't sure how to take it, but for now, I allowed it to make me happy. I was trying not to overanalyze things or think too deeply into what was going on around me. There was still a threat looming over my head, and that was why Rhett was standing by my side. I had to keep a level head on my shoulders and not get swept up in the high school romance we used to have. That was ten years ago, and we were completely different people.
But I had to admit that there was still a strong pull between us.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” Rhett said as he grabbed our pizza. “What’s up?”
“How did you come to join the Navy?”
We sat the pizza down, claiming a table for ourselves before we went to get drinks.
“It was something I sort of fell into,” Rhett said.
“What do you mean?”
“At the expense of dredging up old memories, in high school I didn’t know what I wanted. I had you and I had sports, but that was about it. I didn’t feel like I had a purpose or a direction, and the Navy convinced me they could give me that,” he said.
“So, you just left and enlisted?” I asked.
“Essentially. I went through basic and got stronger. My athleticism was singled out while I was there. I was encouraged by one of the guys at my side to try out for the SEALs, so I did. I didn’t expect to get through their training or anything, but I did. Every task they threw at me, I was able to accomplish, and they recruited me.”
“That’s incredible, Rhett. Really.”
“It’s not very exciting. It was a career that was born from an ignorant boy who didn’t know what he had or what he wanted.”
His eyes hooked on mine, waiting for my reaction as I nodded.
“What are you going to do now?” I asked.
“Hm?”
“You said you recently retired, right?”
“Oh. Yeah, I did. I felt like my time there was up. I’d seen enough horrible shit in my time to know when I’d hit my limit. And I did.”
“I can’t even imagine the things you must have seen and lived through,” I said.
“Don’t worry yourself about that. It comes with the territory. I’m alive, which is more than I can say for some of the guys I served alongside.”
I saw a sadness creep up into his eyes. It was new for me because I had always remembered Rhett as a smiling teenage boy who loved running around with his group. He was always the one settling my mind in high school whenever I got too wound up about my writing or about what college I was going to. When I was overly stressed with exams or finals or worrying about having enough extracurricular activities on my resume, he was the one taking my hand and trying to get me to settle down.
Now, I could see a wave of memories threatening to encompass him. I reached for his hand and took it, curling my fingers around his. It seemed to snap him back because his eyes lowered to mine and stopped scanning the crowd behind my back.
“What about you?” Rhett asked.
“What about me?” I asked.
“Your writing career. Walk me through it,” he said.
“I thought you kept tabs on me.”
“I still want to hear about it,” he said.
“Well, after I graduated from Cornell, I found a paid internship at The New York Times. It didn’t pay much, but it gave me a chance to write for one of the most popular publications in the country. I wrote a piece about a year in on the plight of the millennials and how the ideals of the baby boomer generation are sinking us, and I won an award for it.”
“That’s awesome,” he said with a smile. “Did you win any other ones?”
“Any other awards?”
“Yeah. Your writing is incredible. I’m sure there are others.”
“Not too many. I used the momentum of that award to catapult my blog, and that’s why it did so well so quickly. My blog gets a lot of recognition and link backs on other blogs, but that’s about it. I did write one blurb on my blog when I was angry one night about how gentrification is creating a wider gap between lower middle class and upper middle class, and that got a lot of attention.”
“I assume it probably pissed some people off too,” he said.
“Eh, it happens in the writing world. There was one piece I sold to the Chicago Tribune that won a local award.”
“What was the article about?”
“How radical ideologies spread and what we can do to stop them,” I said.
“That’s the kind of information we need today. God knows I saw enough of that bullshit in the service” he said.
“I figured as much. It’s getting worse and worse, and I was having a hard time keeping my mouth shut on it.”
“Well, your writing is fantastic. You deserve all those awards.”
“Did you get any medals or anything during your time in the Navy?” I asked.
“I was elected for some, but I turned them all down.”
“You can do that?”
“You can.”
“Why did you do that?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t want medals for killing people. It didn’t seem right to me.”
I was a loss for what to say. As a writer, I prided myself on the ability to put myself in other people's shoes, to tell their stories from their points of view without them ever having to emerge from the shadows. But I had never thought of medals like that, military medals that were given out during lavish ceremonies. It never occurred to me that a soldier could see that medal as a token of our appreciation for taking someone else's life.
I guess I still had a lot to learn.
“I’m sorry. That was crass,” Rhett said.
“Please, don’t be sorry. It’s a point of view I've never considered before. As a writer, I have to understand these kinds of dynamics to understand how the world actually works.”
“And that’s why you’re going to be the best,” he said.
“I don’t want to be the best. I want to be truthful. I don’t want to spread lies or perpetuate a mindset that has no foundation to stand on. Being educated helps me do that. Talking to people helps me do that. Interacting with other people I don’t understand helps me do that,” I said.
“You’re remarkable, Chanel, and I’m glad I came on this cruise.”
“Were you not going to?” I asked.
“Nope. Tommy was the one who finally convinced me to come. And I’m glad I did.”
“I’m glad you did too. Did you have a purpose?”
“A purpose for what?” he asked.
“Coming on the cruise. Ana had to ‘purpose’ the cruise for me.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means she had to find a reason for me to come. She convinced me this cruise would be a way for me to move on from some of the things that have been holding me back,” I said.
“Ah, yes. Tommy thought this would be a good way for me to clean my slate before I figured out what to do with the rest of my life,” he said. “And he was right. I needed the time to find myself. I had to figure out what it was I wanted out of my life.”
“Have you figured it out?” I asked.
His eyes looked up into mine, and there was something there that was eerily familiar. His beautiful brown eyes were dancing around my face, and I could tell he was wanting to tell me something. I squeezed his hand and pulled it toward me, wrapping my other hand around it. I wanted him to feel comfortable around me like I was with him. I wanted him to know that he could talk to me if he needed to.
If he wanted to.
“I know one thing,” Rhett said. “I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with you.”
I felt my heart flutter in my chest as a smile crossed my face.
“Good. Because I’ve enjoyed our time together as well.”
CHAPTER 22
RHETT
We met up with Tommy and Ana, who were grinning at one another. I knew that look in Tommy’s eyes. He had taken Ana back to our room again. The two of them were relentless, but I was glad to see my friend expressing interest in one woman. It was very unlike him, but the happiness in his eyes matched the way he opened his body to her. His arm was around Ana’s chair as we sat down, his lips near her ear as he whispered to her.
“No secrets,” Chanel said.
“Trust me. You don’t want to know what he’s saying,” Ana said with a smirk.
“Is he telling you about the menu? Because it looks fantastic,” I said.
“Not talking about that kind of meat,” Ana said.
“All right, that’s enough of that. Where did you guys get off to after the performance this afternoon?” Chanel asked.
“You don’t want to know the answer to that either,” Ana said.
“You’re probably right. Don’t worry. You have mommy’s permission to sleep over again tonight,” Chanel said with a grin.
“You know what I was thinking about today?” Tommy asked.
“Ana’s tits?” Chanel asked.
“Besides that,” Tommy said. “I was thinking about that senior class trip we all took.”
“The one to the beach because we thought we were all hotshots?” I asked.
“That one. Were you on that trip, Ana?” Tommy asked.
“Nope. I was sick with mono,” Ana said.
“Why does that not shock me?” I asked.
“Because you’re a dick,” Ana said.
“What made you think about that trip?” Chanel asked.
“This feels very reminiscent of it,” Tommy said. “The beaches. The ocean. The cabins. This ship feels like that house we all rented out.”
“You mean the house Connie Thomas’ parents rented out for us,” I said.
“If only her parents knew all the shit that happened on that trip,” Tommy said. “I licked my first pussy on that trip.”
“You mean you hadn’t before senior year?” Ana asked. “That was the first fucking thing I tried during my sexual peak.”
“You mean you aren’t at it now?” Chanel asked. “Because you’ve been acting like you are.”
“Oh, and you should talk, you whore,” Ana said, grinning at Chanel. Ana’s eyes flickered over to me as Chanel’s hand slid across my thigh. She palmed the shit out of my crotch, and it took all I had not to jump. I tried to keep my mouth shut because I wasn’t sure if Chanel was going to put what we were doing out into the open, but if she didn’t stop with her hand’s movement, we were going to have a problem.
“I know that flush,” Tommy said. “Oh shit. They are sleeping together!”
“You owe me ten bucks,” Ana said.
Chanel crept her hand back and settled it onto my knee, her eyes glancing over at me as I took deep breaths.
“The fuck was that?” I asked with a murmur.
“A preview,” she said, grinning.
The four of us talked about other high school memories until familiar faces started to gather in the middle of the floor. I knew what was about to happen. They were all carrying instruments and unpacking them like they used to in high school. It was our high school band that played at literally every sporting event they could get approval for. They tuned their instruments as everyone turned their heads to take in the sight, and then the fight song for our school filled the dining room.
Everyone was singing the words to the song, but I couldn't take my eyes off Chanel.
The way she’d lit up during the performance this afternoon was something that had enraptured me. There were some things that never changed, and her enthusiasm for new experiences was something that apparently never would. Even with everything she had gone through and all the growing up she had done over the past decade, her childlike joy for the smallest things tugged a smile across my lips. She was joyfully singing the fight song of our alma mater, but with the happiness that rolled across her face, you would have thought someone had gifted her with a million dollars. The broader her smile grew, the warmer my chest became, and I wrapped my hand around hers and settled it higher up my leg.
She turned her smile toward me, her eyes glistening with delight.
But there was a movement out of the corner of my eye that caught my attention. I whipped my head around to see what was going on and saw two security guards approaching us. They came over to Chanel and dipped into her ear, and one of the men offered his hand to escort her away. I stood along with her and watched as she went with the two security guards. They pulled her off into a corner, and I could see a type of horror dripping over her features. I clenched my fists and tried to wait as patiently as I could for her to come back, my eyes scanning the room for anything else that would pull her from my side.
She turned her head toward me, tears filling her eyes as I approached her. Whatever was being said could be said in front of me. Chanel wasn’t doing any more of whatever the hell this was alone.
The security guards walked away as I approached Chanel. She fell against my body, and I wrapped my arms around her. I could feel her shaking as her breathing came in unsteady pants. I was feeling anxious, wondering what in the world it was they had told her. I should never have let her go off with them alone. I should have told them I was her personal security detail and left it at that. I cursed myself for backing down when I should’ve stepped up to the plate
“What happened?” I asked. “Talk to me.”
“The guards are looking for Luke,” Chanel said.
“Why?” I asked.
“He’s not on the ship, Rhett. He never got back on the ship.”
Relief flooded my veins as I sighed. I kissed the top of Chanel’s head, my fingertips running through her hair. I could feel Tommy and Ana’s eyes on us, but I didn’t care. Chanel was still shaking, which told me that wasn’t all the guards had told her.
“What else is there?” I asked.
“They, um. Well, they went into his room. You know, to see if he was okay. They thought maybe he had collapsed on his floor or something,” Chanel said.
“And?”
“He had a shrine of me in there, Rhett, this creepy, weirdo shrine. They had pictures of it, and it was awful. My name was written on the wall, and there were pictures of me in my bikini and stuff from around the ship. Rhett, he had a picture of us on that private balcony.”
I felt my blood run cold as anger bloomed through my veins. That motherfucker had a picture of Chanel in one of her most vulnerable moments? I was going to tear this man’s throat out. I was going to make sure he never fucking laid eyes on her again.
“It’s okay. Come here. Look, the good thing about this is he’s not on the ship. We can stop constantly looking over our shoulders and enjoy the trip,” I said.
“I told them everything,” Chanel said.
I looked down at her and furrowed my brow.
“What?” I asked.
“Yeah. They said they wanted to inform me of the shrine, and I told them it didn’t shock me. They asked why, and I told them about the notes, about the encounter in the bathroom on Curaçao, and about … about how you saved me.”
I couldn’t have been prouder of her than I was in that moment. It took strength, telling those security guards what she had been through. She was taking control back from that wretched little fucker. I watched as Tommy and Ana approached us, Tommy’s arms threaded around Ana’s waist. Ana reached out to he
r friend, and I released her as the two girls embraced.
“What’s going on?” Ana asked.
“The short version or the long one?” I asked.
“What’s the punchline?” Tommy asked.
“I think the nightmare’s over,” I said.
“Holy shit, did something happen with that Luke guy?” Tommy asked.
“You told him?” Chanel asked.
“I was pissed. Close to tears. He kept prodding me, and I told him some asshole was making your trip miserable. He sort of coaxed it out of me,” Ana said. “Are you mad?”
“No, I’m not. I appreciate how much you’ve been looking out for me. I couldn’t have gotten through all of this without you.”
The girls embraced again and Tommy stepped over to me. “Are you sure you didn’t kill the guy? I’ve seen those mitts you’ve got and if you hit him even a little bit hard—” he trailed off.
“The security guards said they would be taking everything and contacting the authorities to have Luke arrested when they find him. Don’t be pissed, Ana, but they asked if they could go through our room,” Chanel said.
“Why?” Ana asked.
“They wanted to make sure nothing else had happened in our room. I guess they thought maybe Luke had planted cameras or something? I don’t really know. I told them the notes were in the bedside table in the corner of the room, so they’re going to get those as well,” Chanel said.
“Holy shit. So, they’re actually going to arrest the guy?” Ana asked.
“If they can find him, yeah. They said between the notes and the creepy shrine he had of me, it’s enough evidence to put him away for now.”
Just then, the head of security came back and waved us over toward him. I put my arm around Chanel’s shoulders as we walked. Ana and Tommy followed close behind.
“Miss Mathews, we’ve just received a call from the authorities in Curaçao. Your attacker has been found. He told them to call the ship and when I informed them of what was going on, they detained him straight away. They will be holding him until we can go pick him up and hand him over to the American authorities.”