Smooth Sailing

by Susan X Meagher

  “Do you think he will?”

  She thought for a moment, considering all of the variables. “He will if he’s topped out. But he’s too aggressive to quit if there’s another promotion in his future.”

  “How about you? I’m sure there are a few promotions in your future. Will it bother you to walk away?”

  “You sound pretty doubtful, my friend,” Laurie teased. “You’d think I was a workaholic or something.”

  “If work were alcohol you would need a liver transplant. Be honest with me. Are you having second thoughts?”

  “I can’t wait to get out of this madness.” She had a mental image of Kaatje lying on the trampoline between the hulls, completely naked, looking up at her with lust in her eyes. “The only thing I want is you. I’m going to make a reservation for two weeks from today. I might not be able to leave that soon, but having the reservation will give me a goal to work for. And if Aaron knows he can get rid of me in two weeks, he’ll break his neck to hustle me out. Andrea, too, for that matter.” She chuckled evilly. “You’re the one who should have second thoughts. I’ve got a whole staff who can’t wait to get rid of me.”

  *

  On August fifteenth, Laurie fidgeted in her seat, peering out the window of the aircraft, wishing the ground crew would move faster. They finally got the staircase aligned and the door swooshed open. The other first-class passengers started to stand, but Laurie leapt to her feet and dove for the door, making the flight attendant laugh. “You must really be looking forward to your vacation,” she said.

  “Much better than that. I’m moving here to be with the most fantastic woman I’ve ever met.”

  “Well, good for you!”

  She grinned so happily she knew she must look like a madwoman. But she didn’t care one bit. Mere months ago she was a workaholic who only looked forward to spending a random holiday in Cincinnati with her nieces. Now she was announcing her sexual orientation to strangers before deplaning to begin her new life—on a sailboat of all things. Real life was stranger than fiction.

  *

  Kaatje was planted just past the exit at customs. As Laurie walked out the door she jumped into Kaatje’s arms, holding onto her as tightly as her jet-lagged body would allow. Actually being in Kaatje’s embrace drained all of the nervous energy from her, and she could have fallen asleep right there at the airport. But when Kaatje murmured several times in her ear, “I love you,” one more burst of energy—along with her appetite—hit her.

  “I love you too. But before I drag you to bed I’ve gotta get some food. I slept through three meals.”

  Kaatje took her hand and clasped it to her chest. “We’ll have a late breakfast, then go take the boat out. I want to set anchor, lie in the sun and sleep all day.” She grinned and the expression was so beautiful that Laurie wanted to kiss her. Deciding she had no reason to censor herself, she pulled Kaatje to a stop and tenderly pressed their lips together.

  “Just because I can,” she proclaimed giddily.

  *

  Laurie had stopped in LA for one night to relieve herself of her business suits and heels, and load up with her laptop, all of her shorts, T-shirts, swimsuits, and a few more formal items for having dinner with the Hoogebooms. Because of the luggage, Kaatje had borrowed her mother’s car, which they drove to the popular restaurant/bar at Maho Beach, just next to the airport.

  Strangely, it was like they’d just met. Laurie was as nervous as she’d be on a first date with someone she was very, very interested in. The facts didn’t support the feeling. But this was a new chapter in their lives. The biggest, maybe the ultimate chapter. And there was nothing more important than having a happy ending with Kaatje. They ordered and sat there on the terrace under the Caribbean blue sky, seemingly at a loss for conversation. Kaatje broke the tension by moving to sit next to Laurie. Putting her arm around her shoulders, she let their heads rest against one another. “You’re wired pretty tightly today. I think you need a few days to get some rest. Do you want to stay at my parents’ until you get your sea legs?”

  Seeing the concern in her eyes and hearing how empathic she was made Laurie fall in love all over again. She tilted her chin and gave Kaatje a kiss she normally wouldn’t have considered in public. But she was exhausted and nervous and delighted all at once, and she let her guard all the way down.

  Kaatje responded at once, returning the kiss, making Laurie’s pulse race with desire. Blood hammered in her ears and the ground actually seemed to shake. As they broke apart the sensation continued and Laurie slowly opened her eyes to gawp at a full-sized commercial jet flying directly over their heads. The noise was bone-rattling and she blinked, staring at a smirking Kaatje. “Gets a little loud,” she shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

  “Wise guy!” Laurie shouted back. “Let’s grab our food and get out of here before I go deaf!”

  “That was the show for the day.” The noise abated as the jet landed and squealed down the runway. “We only get two 747s a day.” She put her hands over Laurie’s ears. “I’ll protect you.”

  Laurie playfully slapped at her. “I honestly thought my ears were ringing because of kissing you.”

  Kaatje gave her a love-filled smile. “Mine were.” She leaned close and gifted Laurie with another earth-shaking kiss, this one without any help from outside forces.

  Chapter Twenty

  LAURIE WASN’T SURE what time it was, and it took her a few hazy moments to remember she was on the boat with Kaatje. Her internal clock was completely screwed up, but she ignored her fatigue and the four times she’d woken during the night. What mattered was that they were together, and she was starting her new job—permanent first mate to Captain Hoogeboom.

  *

  By the time Kaatje woke, Laurie was finished with breakfast and was sitting in the captain’s chair, tossing bits of bread to the gulls. Kaatje went up behind her and wrapped her in a hug. “This is a scene I’d like to wake up to for the next forty or fifty years.”

  Laurie tilted her head back and gave Kaatje an upside-down kiss. “I’d rather wake up next to you. I bet it takes me a week to sync up to this time zone.”

  “They say it takes a day for every zone you jump.”

  “I hope they’re wrong because I jumped thirteen zones. I used to power through jet lag, but that’s not working now.”

  “Your body tells you what it needs, and you might as well listen to it.” Kaatje hugged her tightly. “Just take it slow and ease into the sweet life.”

  “It’d be sweet no matter where we were. Being with you is the key.”

  *

  Just before Kaatje left to get their guests for the day, she handed Laurie a bag and stood there, hands behind her back, looking expectant.

  “What’s this?”

  “Something for your first day.”

  Laurie peeked inside, then pulled out a sky blue sailing shirt, just like the ones Kaatje wore. But this one was special, bearing the logo of The Flying Dutchwoman on one sleeve and her name embroidered over the breast. “Kaatje, this is fantastic!”

  “I got one for myself too. I thought we should look more official.” She dashed into the galley, emerging with her shirt. She slipped into it and started to button it.

  “Mine doesn’t have my title,” Laurie said, pouting playfully. “Yours says ‘Captain.’”

  Kaatje delivered a quick kiss, then climbed down the ladder to her dinghy. “‘Mrs. Captain’ would have looked dumb. And ‘Lesbian In Training’ would have been too revealing.” She started the motor and cast off, still talking. “Once you learn how to sail, I’ll officially promote you to first mate. But you’ve got to earn it!” she called out as the little boat zipped to the shore.

  *

  Laurie knew there was trouble before Kaatje even got back to the boat. She could see the expression on her face when she was still around twenty-five feet away, and something about it didn’t look quite right.

  The dinghy was filled with five young women, and
by the time they pulled up, Laurie could see they were in their early twenties, perhaps recent college graduates celebrating the end of school. Kaatje was acting cooler than normal, or maybe she was just being more professional, but she didn’t show any of the easy warmth that usually flowed from her.

  Kaatje jumped onto the boat and quickly helped each of the women off the dinghy. She stood there for a second, looking a little odd, then said, “This is Mandy, Lisa M., Brittany, Lisa P., and Kim.”

  “Hi, I’m Laurie.”

  “Laurie’s my new first mate,” Kaatje continued. “She’s only been aboard for a short time, but she has a lot of experience in making people feel at home. Just ask her for anything you want, and she’ll do her best.”

  That’s why she looked uncomfortable. They hadn’t even discussed what her duties were going to be. She would have fired anyone in Osaka who’d been so casual about a new job, but she was pretty sure she had a lock on this one.

  Mandy appeared to be the type who was pampered and doted on her whole life by relatively wealthy parents. And her friends seemed like more of the same. They spent a good five minutes making sure their designer handbags, sandals and sunglasses stayed dry. But then they complained because the sun was too bright. Kaatje wasn’t able to insure no salt spray would hit them, and reluctantly, they put on their expensive glasses—which probably gave them less protection than the five dollar ones from the Venice Boardwalk.

  They paid almost no attention to Kaatje during her brief, but important safety lecture. All of the girls had been on sailboats before, but none of them seemed to have much of an idea of what one did on a boat to stay out of the way of the captain. It seems that one or the other of the girls was always standing right where she shouldn’t have been standing for Kaatje to get them out of the harbor safely. Each of them seemed very fond of her own voice and pretty uninterested in hearing anyone else’s.

  They’d only been off the buoy for fifteen minutes when Laurie’s head started to hurt. They were vapid. They weren’t biologically dumb; they were happily, willingly dumb, and that was hard to take. Kaatje smiled and chatted, but she was not her usual self, something that Laurie was secretly glad for. It would’ve been more than a little upsetting to have Kaatje flirting with these airhead girls.

  It was fairly early in the day, just about ten thirty when Mandy decided it was time to start drinking. Kaatje called out to Laurie and asked her to make Planter’s Punch for their guests. Laurie went below and mixed up a batch, having learned the recipe from Kaatje on her previous visit. However, she used less rum than was called for and decided she would only add more if one of the girls demanded it. Luckily, none of them seemed to be connoisseurs of Planter’s Punch and they happily quaffed the light-alcohol beverages. To Laurie’s dismay, even using a little rum was dangerous when your guests wanted their glasses refilled every fifteen minutes. She began to understand why parents worried about binge drinking, because these girls had obviously learned how to binge with the best of them.

  By the time they got out to the best snorkeling spot around an hour and a half had passed. Kaatje set the anchor herself, having not properly worked out the details with Laurie, and when she signaled to Laurie she said, “I don’t think we can let them go snorkeling. I don’t see how we can keep an eye on all of them since they don’t seem like the sorts to follow directions.”

  “I agree, but how do we stop them? It’s part of the deal.”

  “The deal’s off. I’m the captain, and I’m responsible for their safety. I’m not afraid to make them mad. I’d rather have a mad customer than a dead one. But let’s see what they want to do.”

  Determinedly, she walked up to the trampoline where the girls were sunbathing and said, “Snorkeling doesn’t look great today. The water’s been turbulent and visibility is limited. If you really want to go we’ll need to go in pairs. Laurie and I will each take one of you, and then we’ll take the next two out.”

  The girls exchanged unhappy looks, then Mandy said, “We don’t need to snorkel. Can we jump in and swim?”

  “Sure. Just stay close enough for Laurie and me to keep an eye on you.”

  “Are there sharks around here?” Lisa P. asked.

  Stunningly, Kaatje nodded slowly. “Yeah, we have our share. That’s why you need to stay close. I have a bat I can use if I need to. Just yell really loudly if you see a dorsal fin.”

  “No thanks,” Mandy declared. “We’ll stay on the boat. Can we hook up an iPod or something?”

  “Yeah, sure. I have a stereo system. More drinks?”

  “Can we take off our suits?” Mandy asked.

  “Absolutely. I’ll be right back.”

  When Kaatje walked back to the cabin, Laurie said, “Was that really the best idea? More drinks?”

  “I’d rather have them drunk on the deck than drunk in the water. It’s not always easy to come back with the same number of people you left with.”

  “Especially with the sharks,” Laurie said quietly. “Where did that come from?”

  “I’m just glad they didn’t ask to see the bat.” Kaatje chuckled and climbed up to sit in the pilot’s seat. Even at anchor, she clearly wasn’t off duty, as she gazed across the nearly empty horizon then turned her head to the left and started again.

  Laurie got busy and served another round of drinks, studiously avoiding looking at the girls’ now-bare breasts. She tried to coax them into having lunch, but too much rum and too much hot sun had robbed them all of their appetites. Laurie came back to the cockpit and said, “We don’t have to buy dinner for a couple of days. I don’t think they’re going to eat a bite.”

  “Cool. I bought some really good lobster salad.” She smacked her lips. “I could have a little right now if someone wanted to get me some.” Pointing to the horizon, she added, “I’m working.”

  “I can see that.” Laurie gave her a quick kiss and went to rustle up lunch.

  *

  They had a pretty nice afternoon, all things considered. The girls slept on the trampoline and worked on their tans and they seemed fairly happy with that setup. Their music was loud and mundane, but it was nice to know they weren’t getting into trouble.

  About two hours before they were scheduled to be back in dock, Laurie went up and told them that they were going to pull the anchor up and start to sail again. Everything seemed fine until they were about a half hour away. Laurie hadn’t heard the sound in quite a while, but there was no way to disguise the awful, grating noise of someone vomiting. And as soon as she heard one person do it, another one started. She looked at Kaatje, who just shook her head. “Let them get it out of their system. When they ruin the trampoline, they’ll come back here. Go downstairs and grab a bucket, then fill it up with seawater, because once they start throwing up back here it’ll get really slick.”

  Feeling a little green herself, Laurie complied, bringing up the bucket and filling it by standing on the transom. Unfortunately, as Kaatje predicted, the girls did contaminate the trampoline, then came back to the aft, where they were, and continued to be sick. Kaatje took pity on them. She dropped the sails and turned on the motor. That made the ride a little less bouncy, then she spent a few minutes trying to convince them that there was a way to get over their nausea by staring at the horizon or focusing on something stable. That didn’t seem to help much, but eventually they were back at the buoy. After returning the women to the dock Kaatje pulled up in the dingy. She looked up at Laurie and said, “We’d better take the boat over to the pier to wash her.”

  “Really?” Laurie deadpanned

  Kaatje climbed aboard, her usual snarky smile back in place. “My prediction was correct. I’m glad I got them to pay ahead of time because I didn’t get one cent for a tip.”

  “Not a cent?”

  “Nope. Usually people leave something for the first mate even if they stiff me, but you obviously didn’t impress our first guests.”

  “I’m glad we got through our first day, but if every day is lik
e this, it’s going to have to become a non-alcoholic party boat. I was really close to hanging over the rail when they started to vomit.” She cast a disgusted glance down at her feet. “I’m still close.”

  Kaatje started up the motor. Laurie cast them off and they drove around the tip of the island to a public dock. It took a while to clean the boat properly, and having Kaatje playfully hit her with the water from the hose every once in a while was very welcome.

  As Laurie carefully dried the brightwork, she asked, “How would you rate today’s sail?”

  “In terms of what?”

  “I don’t know. Just in general. Like on a scale of one to ten.”

  She looked thoughtful for a minute. “Probably a seven.”

  That couldn’t be true! They were thrown up on! “A seven? Like if ten was the best?”

  “Yeah,” Kaatje said, seemingly seriously. “They didn’t complain about anything, and it’s nice when I don’t have to go snorkeling.”

  “But you love snorkeling.”

  “Yeah, but only when people appreciate it. I don’t think the girls were nature lovers. I would have had to supervise them like babies.” She grinned. “Do you disagree?”

  “No, they would have been several handfuls. But if they were sevens what kind of creature would rate a one?”

  Without a flicker of humor, Kaatje said, “I hope you never meet a one, or a two for that matter.”

  A cold chill settled around Laurie despite the heat. Those girls could not have been sevens. Kaatje was teasing. She had to be.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  A FEW DAYS later Kaatje arranged to have her parents come for a sunset sail. They’d gone to the store to buy wine and snacks, and Laurie busied herself arranging the food while Kaatje cleaned up from their previous guests.