by A. E. Radley
“Ah, after my job?” she asked instead.
His eyes widened in horror at potentially offending her.
“No problem,” she reassured him. “I hope to be retired by the time you’re qualified.”
“Do you think I could be a captain?” Jamie asked.
“If you study hard in school, and then work hard, absolutely. We need more good captains. I’m sure you’ll make a fine addition.”
“See, James?” the mother said. “You can do it. You just need to focus more in school.”
Jamie looked disappointed at the prospect of having to work for his dream.
“There’s a lot of maths involved in sailing,” Caroline said.
“Really?” Jamie blinked in surprise.
“Really. Calculating weather patterns, tidal paths, wave swells. A lot of maths.”
Caroline could almost see the idea of being a captain vanish from Jamie’s eyes in that moment.
“I’m really bad with numbers,” he confessed.
Caroline pulled up a chair. “Can I tell you a secret, Jamie?”
He nodded.
“I was very bad with numbers; I’d even say I was a little frightened of them. But one day I decided that if other people could be good at maths, then maybe I could be okay at it. I made a decision that I wouldn’t be scared of numbers anymore. So, I tried really hard, and I spoke to my maths teacher about getting more homework to help me be better. After a while, I started to understand it. The numbers that hadn’t made sense before started to be clearer. Once I applied myself and made an effort, it became easier. Like training to play football or playing a video game, you get better when you try harder.”
Jamie sucked up the motivational speech like a sponge. His eyes were bright, and his head bobbed in understanding. “I can do that,” he agreed. “I’m going to ask for more maths homework when I get back to school.”
“Excellent, you’ll be a captain in no time.”
“Did you always want to be a captain?” Jamie asked.
Caroline thought about the question for a moment. “I always wanted to be at sea,” she replied, “and I wanted to do something worthwhile. I used to be in the Royal Navy, I commanded ships that did a lot of good work.”
“And now you’re here, keeping us safe,” Jamie said. “Like you said at the muster drill, safety is the number-one priority.”
He looked up at her as if she were some kind of hero. Caroline gave him her best attempt at a smile. She didn’t feel like she’d met the brief of her number-one priority lately.
She hadn’t kept Annie safe. Leaving at dinner was probably the worst thing she could have done, and she agonised over what might have happened if she’d stayed. Would Annie have discreetly told her she was in trouble? Would Caroline have figured it out for herself?
Things could have been very different if Caroline hadn’t allowed her hurt feelings to drive her actions, and yet, she was still allowing her feelings to determine her movements. She was actively avoiding Annie.
She stood up. “It is. So, no more fighting with our waterslide?” she said good-naturedly.
Jamie grinned. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Caroline made a mental note to speak to Dominic about getting some gifts sent to Jamie’s cabin. He seemed like a nice kid, if a little enthusiastic.
She said goodbye to the family and stepped outside the room. She stood in the hallway for a couple of moments, gathering her courage. When she felt like she couldn’t stand there any longer, she walked towards Annie’s room.
She stood in the doorway, about to knock, but was distracted by Annie looking at herself in the mirror.
“Wow, what a mess,” Annie mused to her own reflection.
“It will heal,” Caroline reassured her.
Annie turned and looked at her, uncertainty clear in her eyes.
Caroline stepped into the room. “I’m sorry to barge in.”
“No, please, barge away,” Annie said. “I’m being discharged, they’re sick of me here.”
Caroline smiled. “I’m sure that’s not the case.”
Annie turned away. She picked up a comb and attempted to brush it through her hair. She really did look like she had been through the wars. Caroline didn’t want to stare openly but knew that averting her eyes wasn’t the answer either.
She hated that everything was so difficult now, nothing like the carefree afternoon on the hills above La Spezia or their evening enjoying all of the facilities on the ship.
“I was wondering if we could talk?” she asked.
“Sure,” Annie said casually.
“I mean, talk properly.”
Annie paused her movement and turned to regard Caroline curiously. “I’d like that.”
“Maybe we could have dinner in your stateroom this evening? Clear the air?” Caroline didn’t know what she was doing, had no idea what she wanted to say, or what result she was hoping for. All she knew was that the animosity she held towards Annie had to be dispersed somehow, and she needed more answers.
Annie nodded. “Yeah, that… that would be nice.”
“Six o’clock?” Caroline suggested. It would give Annie enough time to get to her room and clean up if she desired. It also gave Caroline a little more time to think about what she wanted to say.
“Sure, six sounds good.”
“Wonderful, I should go,” Caroline said. She had nowhere to be, but being there any longer would become increasingly uncomfortable.
“Okay,” Annie said. “I’ll see you soon.”
Caroline nodded and stepped out of the room. In the corridor she saw Mara, looking at her with a knowing grin.
Caroline walked past her. “Not a word,” she warned.
Exhaustion
Mara accompanied Annie back to her stateroom. She’d explained that someone, presumably Diego, had broken in and turned it over, but the staff had put everything back and repaired the lock.
Annie guessed that Diego had attempted to find her in her room prior to dinner. Luckily Annie had gotten ready early and sat up on the pool deck to get some fresh air. She’d been preparing herself to tell Caroline everything. All of that seemed so far away now.
“Here we are,” Mara said.
Annie was so grateful that Mara had decided to help her to her room. It meant that no one stopped them to try to fish for what had happened or why she looked like she’d been in a boxing ring.
Mara opened the door and gestured for Annie to step inside. She did so, looking around the room to see if anything was out of place. It all seemed in order, but she still felt a little dazed, so it was impossible to tell.
Mara placed a paper bag of pain medication on the desk. “I’m going to send Arjun to see you this evening to change your bandages. I’ve left a note in the bag of what we did; you can pass it along to your doctor.”
“Thank you for everything.” Annie smothered a yawn behind her hand. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, I’d be exhausted if I were you. Get some rest, and if you need anything, just press the medical cross button on your phone.” Mara patted her arm softly. “It was nice meeting you, Annie. Despite all of this.”
“Thank you, I’m sorry about everything.”
Mara smiled warmly. “I’ll see myself out. Take care of yourself.”
Mara left, and Annie sat on the sofa. She stared at the carpet. She couldn’t even begin to process what would happen next. Serena had offered Annie her apartment in Madrid to recuperate, even offering to have a car meet her at the port in Barcelona.
She’d said she’d think about it. It appeared she was now friends with a crazy opera singer whom she resembled and who believed every stroke of luck to be a sign from God. And that wasn’t even the weirdest thing that had happened to her that week.
She wanted to sleep but couldn’t seriously entertain the idea with so much spinning around in her mind. She felt more lost and confused than ever. On top of that, Caroline wanted to talk. To clear the air, whatever that meant.
/>
Her hands shook, and she clasped them tightly. Was it going to be round two? Or would Caroline turn up with a waiver form for her to sign to absolve Dream of all responsibility?
Annie didn’t know what to expect or what she would say.
Annie jolted awake. She sat up on the sofa, blinked, and looked around the room. She wondered what had dragged her from her sleep. She heard a knock on the door and jumped to her feet, realising that it hadn’t been the first.
She looked through the peephole and saw Caroline, frowning.
“Shit,” Annie whispered.
She’d fallen asleep on the sofa rather than trying to shower and change like she had intended. Now Caroline was here, and Annie was as unprepared as ever.
She opened the door, not wanting to leave her waiting any longer. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I look a state. I fell asleep instead of cleaning up. I’m so sorry.”
Caroline hesitated in the hallway. “I could come back later?”
“No, please, come in.” Annie stood to one side. She wasn’t going to let any chance of seeing Caroline slip through her fingers.
Caroline stepped inside. She looked nervous, which Annie took as a good sign; it meant she wasn’t there to start a fight. Annie closed the door, and they stood in silence for a moment.
“Oh, I should order food. Sorry, I literally just woke up.” Annie jumped into action, heading for the phone.
Caroline held up her hand. “Are you sure you want to do this now? I can come back.”
“No, it’s fine. I just need to wake up a little.”
Caroline looked her up and down. “Okay, I’ll call for food. You go and freshen up in the bathroom if you like. It will take fifteen minutes to get here anyway.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” It sounded like heaven. Annie could wash her face and brush her teeth and feel slightly more human.
“Absolutely. Any special requests? Mara tells me you haven’t eaten much.”
Annie grinned. “She’s such a traitor.”
“She is,” Caroline agreed readily. “How about some of the Key lime pie you demolished so readily the first night?”
“I didn’t demolish it,” Annie argued. “But yes, that sounds lovely.”
Caroline smiled, and Annie felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She’d worried that the conversation would be awkward and stilted, but Caroline was doing her best to make sure that wasn’t the case.
“Okay, I’ll make the call. Take your time.”
Annie grabbed a change of clothes from the wardrobe and headed into the bathroom. Inside the small room, she initiated battle stations. She had fifteen minutes to make herself look like she hadn’t been dragged through a hedge backwards. One glance at her reflection in the mirror told her that would be a very tall ask.
Explanations Over Dinner
Caroline called the stateroom attendant and placed an order for a selection of finger foods, some sandwiches, some meats, grilled vegetables, breads, and some cakes. It surprised her how easy it was to order for Annie, instinct taking over.
She crossed over to the balcony and looked out at the view. They’d long ago passed by Corsica, and now there was nothing but sea for as far as the eye could see. In the distance she saw a tanker; she watched it slowly crossing the horizon.
She didn’t know what she expected from this talk with Annie. She’d spent the last few hours making lists of what she knew, what she thought she knew, and what she wanted to know. It was like piecing together an enormous murder mystery.
She shuddered. It very nearly had been.
Annie’s bruised face had haunted her the evening before. She felt responsible even though she logically knew she wasn’t.
She must have stood there for a while because suddenly there was a knock on the door and room service had arrived. She opened the door and recognised Annie’s stateroom attendant, Elvin.
“Hello, Captain West,” he greeted, an enormous smile on his face.
“Hello, Elvin. Please come in.”
He pushed the trolley into the room. “Inside or on the balcony?”
“Inside,” Caroline decided, not wanting anyone to eavesdrop on their conversation from the balcony.
He pushed the brake on the trolley and lifted two flaps, turning the trolley into a table. He positioned the desk chair on one side and pulled a foldable chair out of the trolley to put on the other side.
The bathroom door opened, and Annie stepped out. She saw Elvin and looked timidly down at her feet.
“Miss Annie,” Elvin greeted. He crossed over to her and softly hugged her. “I’m so happy to see you are okay.”
Annie pulled him deeper into a hug. “I’m so sorry I lied to you, Elvin.”
“Miss Serena, Miss Annie, it doesn’t matter. You are you,” he said simply. He stepped back. “Call me if you need anything else.”
He said goodbye to the two of them and left the room. Caroline gestured for Annie to take the desk chair, reasoning that it would be far more comfortable.
Annie had changed and now wore a simple white T-shirt and jeans. She wore some light make-up and had done something with her hair—dry shampoo, Caroline assumed. She looked much better than she had when she’d arrived.
Caroline’s gaze was drawn to the obvious signs of injury: bruises on her arms, bandages around both wrists, angry purple marks across her nose, and the cut that started on her forehead and vanished into her hair.
“It looks worse than it is,” Annie said, not looking up but obviously knowing that she was being analysed.
“I think you’re trying to make me feel better about it,” Caroline noted as she sat down.
Annie didn’t reply. Instead she set about pouring herself some water and offering to do the same for Caroline. They each served themselves a small plate of food and took a few sips of water.
The silence was deafening.
“Was any of it real?” Caroline suddenly asked. It hadn’t been the calm interrogation she’d expected.
Annie’s eyes flickered up to meet her. “Yes,” she said softly. “For me, all of it was real.”
A sarcastic quip found its way to Caroline’s lips, but she swallowed it down. She took a sip of water instead. “I want to know about you,” she said. “I feel like I’m sitting opposite a stranger. You know so much about me, and I don’t feel I know that much about you.”
“I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Annie said.
“Start at the beginning,” Caroline suggested.
Of course, she’d researched Annie Peck; she’d ravenously consumed every scrap of evidence she could find about her. But she needed to hear it from the woman she knew as Serena, to try to make sense of it all by hearing it directly.
“Okay, well, firstly, I’m thirty-one,” Annie said. “My name is Annie, which you know. I was born in Yorkshire, but I lost that accent really fast because my parents moved around a lot. I went to school in Cheshire, and then in Southampton, and then in Chelmsford. So I didn’t have many friends because I was never in one place long enough.”
Annie finished her first glass of water and poured a second one. “No siblings. One aunt, my father’s sister. My parents died when I was twenty-five. Then I went off the rails a bit, met Diego in Spain—”
“Wait, wait,” Caroline said gently.
Annie had glossed over the death of her parents in one second flat. She might not have wanted to talk about it, but Caroline wanted to hear more about that part of Annie’s life. As painful as it must have been, it was also a catalyst for what came next.
She was piecing together this stranger, and the death of her parents was obviously an enormous part of who she was. She recalled Annie chastising her about her assumptions over age; she’d said that people were defined by their experiences. She’d said something about people losing everything at a young age and having to rebuild their entire world.
Caroline had suspected there was a story behind that statement then, but she’d had no idea i
t would lead to where it did.
“What happened to your parents?” she asked.
“You know,” Annie said, plucking a bread roll from the basket.
“Not from you,” Caroline argued.
Annie cut the roll in half. “They drowned. Well, maybe. They might have been hit by falling debris.” She placed the knife on the side plate with a thud. “It wasn’t clear.”
It was the first time Caroline had seen Annie emotional; it radiated from her.
“I’m so sorry,” Caroline said.
Annie shrugged. “Not a lot that can be done. They were good people, but they died. What do they say? ‘Only the good die young?’ Or so we tell ourselves to cope with the unexpected loss of good, young people.”
Caroline felt taken aback by the passion in Annie’s voice. The emotion may have been borne from heartache, but it was real and fierce. Caroline had felt the same when her father had passed away in service, and she completely understood and agreed with Annie’s feelings on the matter.
Annie focused intently on buttering the bread. Caroline suspected it was to avoid eye contact through fear it would encourage tears.
“I fell apart, felt kind of rudderless,” she confessed. “A friend was going to Spain for a holiday, and I said I’d go with her. We went to Barcelona, and the second night we were in a bar and Diego walked in. And he was so charming, just everything about him. He was carefree and fun and so intense.”
Caroline shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Hearing Annie talk about Diego was never going to be easy.
“We started seeing each other. He kind of… dealt with everything, you know? Like I didn’t have to think about things anymore, which was a relief at that time in my life. He was safe and secure, treated me like a queen. The holiday came to an end, and he convinced me to stay. I didn’t have anything to go home to, so my friend went back but I didn’t.”
Annie took a sip of water. “We were in a relationship for… a year? Probably less. I realised what he was pretty quickly.” She chuckled. “At first, I thought I’d save him. Typical woman bullshit, thinking I could stop him being a terrible person and we’d be happy forever. Then I realised that wouldn’t happen and that I wasn’t in love with him and that he’d never really loved me. There would always be someone new. So, that was that. We drifted apart.”