by A. E. Radley
She lifted her gaze to where the sky should meet the ocean and could see absolutely nothing. It was unsettling to be in a complete absence of light, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
The sound of a cart rumbling along the deck caused her to turn. A crew member was pushing a large trolley.
“Good evening,” he greeted her.
“Hello,” Annie replied.
He paused and reached into the trolley and lifted up a pale blue blanket, holding it out to her.
Annie gratefully took the blanket. “Thank you.”
He nodded and carried on about his business, leaving Annie to wonder what kind of shift patterns the crew members worked. She unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
She took a step back from the handrail and walked along the deck. She’d come up to the top deck to explore, not get lost staring at the seemingly black waters below. With so many passengers on board, she assumed that there would be plenty to keep them occupied during days on end at sea.
She quickly came across two pools, one on either side of the deck in front of her. Each was surrounded by whirlpools. In the middle was a large, open space surrounded by handrails, similar to the ones on the edge of the deck.
She crossed towards them and looked down.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she breathed.
Around six decks below her was a garden; fairy lights, trees, plants, restaurants, and much more filled an enormous space carved out in the middle of the ship. On each side were countless balconies looking down into the garden area.
“A garden,” she whispered. “On a ship.”
She took a step back and continued to explore the deck. There were ice cream machines, bars, two more pools, more whirlpools to the point where she ended up losing count of them. At the front of the ship was a large bar with a layered glass roof for protection against the wind.
Near the front was another lobby with a set of elevators. Annie cut through to warm up a little. She passed by an arcade, bathrooms, a shop, and a restaurant.
“And this is just one floor,” she mumbled to herself.
She exited the lobby through the other automatic doors and walked the length of the ship, wanting to see what on earth she might find at the rear of the ship on the deck.
She passed by the lobby where she had entered and stumbled upon yet another pool, this one attached to an enormous water slide. On the other side of the deck was a mini-golf course.
Towards the back was a flight of stairs, leading up. Annie was eager to know what else they could possibly dream up for the ship.
She pulled the blanket a little tighter around her and climbed the stairs. At the top there was a spacious seating area and, of course, another bar.
And standing right in the middle, leaning on the railing and looking out to sea, was Captain West.
She’d changed from her white dinner jacket into a thick wool sweater. It was navy blue and ribbed; epaulettes on each shoulder top displayed her rank.
Annie knew she should leave, but she also suspected that the captain wasn’t entirely unaware of her presence. She noticed how Captain West had clenched her hands a little and how she was steadfastly staring into nothingness.
She decided to approach, taking her own place at the handrail but still giving the woman some space.
Caroline looked up and smiled. “Hello, Miss Rubio.”
“Captain,” Annie greeted.
“Can’t sleep?” Caroline enquired.
“I might ask you the same thing.”
“Maybe I’m on duty?” Caroline suggested.
Annie turned and looked at her thoughtfully. “No, I don’t think you are.”
Caroline grinned. “What makes you say that?”
“You’re the most important person aboard the ship. I doubt you have a shift where you’d be expected to work at three in the morning. You have too many lunches and dinners to attend to. And the back of the ship, open to the elements, seems a strange place to be on duty.”
“All true,” Caroline confessed.
Silence fell between them, and Annie felt guilty at being so unfriendly over dinner. She didn’t want to be rude to Caroline; she’d done nothing to deserve that. Maybe this was the opportunity to make amends; it didn’t have to mean anything. Just a peace offering, a signal that Serena Rubio wasn’t a complete bitch.
“I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately,” Annie admitted. “At least here there is a lot to see when I’m unable to sleep.”
“That’s also true,” Caroline agreed. “What do you think of Fortuna?”
“Honestly?”
Caroline nodded.
“It’s a bit bonkers.”
Caroline burst out laughing. “How so?”
“There has to be five hundred sun loungers on this deck, four pools… no, five! I lost count of how many whirlpools there are. There’s a golf course. A golf course. At sea. It’s all insanity.”
Caroline leaned on her elbow and turned around to look at the ship. “Yes, it is a bit much. But we have five thousand six hundred and thirty-seven passengers on board to entertain.”
“Did you just make that up?” Annie asked.
“Make what up?”
“That exact number.”
“No.” Caroline frowned in confusion. “That is how many passengers we have this sailing.”
“And you just happen to remember the exact figure.”
“Absolutely. I’m responsible for their safety. I need to know how many people are on board, and I need to ensure that every time we leave a port, everyone is accounted for. I also know that we have two thousand one hundred and eighteen crew members.”
Annie blinked. “Wait a minute, so there’s… seven thousand…”
“Seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-five souls on board,” Caroline said.
Annie shook her head and leaned on the railing. “No wonder you’re not asleep.”
Caroline took a step closer. “It’s not the busiest sailing we’ve had.”
Annie got the message. Caroline didn’t want to talk about her lack of sleep, and that suited Annie perfectly. She didn’t want to talk about her own nightmares and fear of closing her eyes at night.
“I’m sorry about Graham Shelby,” Caroline said. “He can be rather—”
“A boastful, arrogant show-off?” Annie suggested.
“Your words, not mine.” Caroline grinned, indicating she agreed wholeheartedly.
“He saw me board and latched onto me,” Annie explained. “I’ll be happy if I don’t see him again.”
“That would be a shame,” Caroline said.
Annie furrowed her brow in confusion. “Why?”
“Graham loves to bring a guest to the captain’s table. If you don’t see him again… then I might not see you again.”
Annie felt a tingling in her stomach. She was pretty sure that Caroline West was flirting with her, which was wonderful and terrible all at once. Wonderful because Caroline was exactly the kind of woman that Annie was interested in. She adored older women, especially confident ones.
Terrible because Caroline was flirting with Serena Rubio, and Annie was most definitely not a world-class opera singer. There was also the tiny matter that Caroline was the captain of the ship and could report her to the authorities and have her arrested.
There was, of course, the chance that Caroline was just being polite. Part of her job was to socialise and schmooze with the guests. It was late, Annie was tired. There was a good possibility that she was reading too much into the comment.
“I’m sure we will see each other around,” Annie said. “Does Mr West ever attend dinner with you?”
“There’s no Mrs West,” Caroline explained, efficiently giving Annie an answer to the gay-or-not dilemma. “Not sailing with Mr Rubio?”
“I’m single,” Annie replied. Ordinarily, she’d indicate that she was interested in all genders, but she didn’t want to encourage Caroline. Not when she was in t
he position she was currently in and unable to take things any further.
“I imagine it must be hard to find a partner when you tour as often as you do. How many nights are you away from home?”
Annie’s mind went blank. She didn’t know where Serena lived or how often she toured. This was dangerous territory, and she was too tired to be able to skilfully navigate the conversation with no facts to hand.
She faked a yawn, smothering it behind a hand. “Many nights—oh, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve suddenly come over very tired.”
Caroline stepped forward. “Allow me to walk you back to your cabin.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine,” Annie said. “I wouldn’t want to take you out of your way.”
“What deck are you on?”
“Fourteen.”
“That’s the deck the bridge is on. I’ll accompany you down.”
Annie had no choice. She pushed away from the railing and walked along the deck with Caroline.
“I would have thought the bridge would be on the top deck, so you can see everything?” Annie asked.
“It needs to be in the middle, so we are not disrupting the guests and they are not disrupting us. We’re right at the front, but you can’t see the bridge from any of the guest areas, only when you are off the ship.”
They stepped into the lobby, and Caroline pressed the call button for the elevator.
“There’s a lot I don’t know about cruising,” Annie said.
“Maybe you’ll enjoy it and sail with us again in the future?” Caroline suggested.
Annie knew that was extremely unlikely. Her future consisted of running away and certainly not travelling under Serena Rubio’s identity.
“Maybe,” she said.
The elevator arrived, and they got into the car. Caroline pressed the button for the fourteenth floor. Annie noticed that someone had changed the panel in the floor. It was now Monday.
“Mallorca tomorrow,” Caroline said, clearly trying to make conversation.
“Yes, I’m looking forward to it,” Annie said.
“Have you been before?”
Annie had no idea. “I think so,” she said. “The places… blend… into one.” She wanted to wince.
Why did you say that? ‘Places blend into one?’ You’re so stupid, Annie, she chastised herself.
“You can refresh your memory when we arrive,” Caroline said, thankfully ignoring Annie’s ridiculous statement.
“I will.” Annie rushed out of the elevator and into the long corridor of staterooms, Caroline right behind her.
She paused by her door, only then realising that she still had the blanket around her shoulders. She removed it and wondered what to do with it.
“Would you like me to take that for you?” Caroline offered.
“You can’t do that. You’re the captain,” Annie said.
“I assure you, I’ve done a lot worse than return a blanket for a guest.” Caroline held out her hand.
Annie reluctantly handed the blanket over. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I do hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise with us, Miss Rubio.” Caroline inclined her head, then spun on her heel and walked away.
Annie bit her lip, watching the woman leave. She hated the feeling that it was farewell, that she might not see Caroline again.
Even if it really was important for her to not see Caroline again.
Annie knew she couldn’t keep up her façade with the woman. She liked her, probably more than she should, and she got the impression that Caroline liked her back. Even in the short amount of time they’d been together, something sparked between them.
Which was dangerous.
Annie sighed, pulled her pass card out of her pocket, and entered her stateroom.
Harmless Flirting
Caroline walked onto the bridge, bleary-eyed and frustrated. She entered the Security Command Centre at the back of the bridge and looked at the screens over the shoulders of the team working in there.
She felt on edge, annoyed with herself, a feeling she hadn’t been able to shake off since the early hours of that morning.
After escorting Serena Rubio to her stateroom, Caroline had gone to her own rooms and proceeded to mentally kick herself for her poor choice of words during their conversation.
Caroline had never been one to sit and stew over discussions. She was far too busy to dwell on things that couldn’t be changed. But this particular conversation had stayed with her.
On the deck in the middle of the night, she had said some things that may well be misconstrued. Suggesting that she was disheartened at the prospect of not seeing Serena at the captain’s table again could have been interpreted as flirting. And quizzing Serena over the possible difficulties of finding a partner was clumsy.
She wanted to wince but maintained a steely expression. The bridge of Fortuna was not the place to have a personal crisis.
She was intrigued by Serena, and in other circumstances she would possibly consider attempting to identify the attractive woman’s sexual preferences. She might even reach out to her.
But this wasn’t other circumstances.
Serena Rubio was a guest aboard, and the last thing she needed or deserved was the captain sniffing around her like some puppy in heat. Not to mention that Caroline must have been deluded to think that someone like Serena would toss her a second glance even if she were interested in women.
The late hour, the darkness, the surprise arrival of the fascinating woman had all combined to make Caroline see something that clearly wasn’t there. As a result, she’d said a couple of things that may have been taken as flirting despite her best attempts to remain professional.
“Why have those papers not been filed yet?” She pointed to the engine room reports which were now five minutes late.
The crewman jumped up and grabbed the papers from the file. “Sorry, Captain, I’ll do it now.”
She stalked away from him, focusing her attention on the navigation station instead. She was annoyed with herself and taking it out on the team, which wasn’t fair but was an unjust perk of being the captain.
Thomas stood beside her. “Everything okay?”
He could always read her, knew when she was in a foul mood. He also never let things go. She’d learnt a long time ago that it was better to be honest with him from the start.
“Just something I said to a guest,” she said.
“Will there be a complaint?” Thomas queried.
Caroline snapped her eyes up to him. “I certainly hope not.”
The idea that Serena would make a complaint hit her in the gut. Not just because she’d have to explain herself to management, that she could deal with, but the thought that Serena would be so uncomfortable with Caroline’s awkward phrasing that she’d feel compelled to object in an official capacity.
She would never want to be the source of such discomfort, never had been in the past, and couldn’t have ever imagined it happening, but there was something about Serena that just knocked her off kilter.
“What did you say?”
“I…” She looked around the SCC, cautious of the fact they could be overheard. She took his arm and walked him onto the bridge, to one of the wings where they could speak privately.
“I was talking with a guest,” Caroline said slowly, stalling.
“Yes?” Thomas folded his arms and looked at her, a grin on his face. He knew it was embarrassing, and he was revelling in it.
“And I might have said something that might have possibly sounded… like I… was flirting.”
She turned away, looking towards the port of Palma that was fast approaching.
“Were you?”
She turned to glare at him. “No!”
He chuckled and held his hands up. “Just asking. You are allowed, you know. There’s no rule against a bit of harmless flirting.”
“There are rules about harassment,” Caroline reminded him.
“I very much dou
bt you harassed anyone. I’m sure it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine, she may have taken it the wrong way,” Caroline explained.
“Would it be the end of the world if she thought you had flirted with her?” Thomas asked. “Is she really ugly?”
“No!” This time she slapped his arm to stop the teasing.
He grinned knowingly. “Oh, she’s really not. Is she hot?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you.” She looked towards the port again. It was time to prepare to dock. “We better get ready.”
He softly put his hand on her arm. “Seriously, I wouldn’t worry about it. Whatever you said, it can’t have been that bad. And if there was a misunderstanding, then you only have to avoid her for the next six days.”
She inclined her head in agreement. He walked back towards the centre bridge controls and started to issue orders, preparing the team for the docking procedure.
He was right. What she had said wasn’t that bad. If she were honest, what bothered her most was the fact that she felt a little unhinged in the presence of Serena. Something about her fascinated Caroline. In many ways she wanted to learn more about her; in others she wanted to avoid her and focus on the other guests aboard.
There was something different about Serena, something almost dangerous. Caroline could sense it, and she was somehow drawn to it, which unnerved her greatly. She wasn’t used to feeling this way. She’d been alone for years, happily so. It was unexpected, to say the least, for her to suddenly take an interest in someone. Especially someone so obviously out of her league like Serena. She had to be half her age, and a famous singer at that.
Caroline snorted a little laugh to herself. It was ridiculous. She just needed to push all thoughts of Serena Rubio to one side and get on with her job.
Good Morning
Caroline stood by the navigation console, watching the harbour pilot struggle with the overwhelmingly technical systems aboard Fortuna.
It wasn’t unusual for ports to want to send their own team aboard to assist with docking the ship. Ports were expensive places, and docks could be easily damaged by a large ship hitting the mooring too hard.