The flight attendant was literally walking over to the door of the gate to close it when we came running up, full speed. “We’re here!” I said breathlessly. There was no way I’d have been able to run like that back when I was 225 pounds! If we had been one minute later, we’d have missed the flight.
Married Guy was buckling himself in and I wondered how he’d gotten on the plane since Sam and I were the last ones on. Maybe he’d been upgraded to First Class at the last minute?
Whatever. I tightened my seatbelt and closed my eyes to rest. It had been a long ass day already.
“We’re beginning our descent into the greater Miami area. Flight attendants, please prepare the cabin for landing.” The pilot’s voice sounded muffled over the speaker.
Had I really slept the entire six-hour flight? Blinking my eyes open, I saw Sam and Married Guy sharing a pair of earphones and watching some movie on the television screen on his seatback. If she wanted to watch a movie, I’d have been happy to pay for it. I nudged her.
“Charlie! Hey.”
It was then I noticed several empty cups and one that was half full of chardonnay. I raised my eyebrows.
“Yeah, we were just watching A Star Is Born.”
Married Guy leaned over and extended his hand. “Hi. I’m Tom McCaffrey.”
I stuck my hand out to shake his, but I couldn’t believe Sam was flirting with a married guy. So not my style. “Charlie Miller.”
“I know! I have your book.”
He had my book?
“Yeah. He is a management consultant and reads on planes a lot, and your book is in the airport bookstore.”
My book is in the airport bookstore? We’d raced so much I didn’t have time to look. Maybe I’d check it out and see if it was in Miami.
“I really like what you said in the book about how if you have more than ten pounds to lose it’s because there’s a psychological component. I gave a copy to my sister, and she lost like thirty-five pounds after reading it. She’s really happy.”
I loved hearing stories like that. Almost everywhere I went these days I had people telling me success stories of losing weight with my book.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it, Tom.” I put my seat back into its original upright position. “Has your wife read the book, too?”
Sam kicked me under the seat and turned to glare at me.
“Uh… no. She’s not much of a reader.” Tom turned away and put his headphones back on.
“Charlie!” Sam hissed at me.
“What? The guy is wearing a wedding ring. It’s no secret he’s married.”
Before she could say anything in response, the plane touched down.
4
Dean: Dobbiamo Parlare
I couldn’t wait to get out of this uniform and kick back in bed. It had been a long day. I was supposed to read this book by this guy Charlie Miller who was coming on board this sailing to talk about it. I didn’t read every book by every author, but I tried to do it as often as possible. They were usually invited to the Captain’s Dinner, and it helped me to make conversation with them.
But I was way too tired tonight.
“Good evening, Captain,” someone said as I headed back across the pool area. The guests would be arriving in the morning and this was the one evening that the crew had off for the next two weeks.
“Have a nice evening Sandy.” The woman nodded politely as she met up with a group of fellow staff members. I was glad that they would be able to let their hair down tonight and have some fun.
For me, a nice cold beer, some television, and an early night sounded great. My quarters were one deck below the bridge, on the aft side of the ship. It was far more room than I actually needed, with a "powder room" bath, kitchen, office, a bedroom with full bath, a dining room, with a dining table to hold about 10, and a nice relaxing living room. Some captains entertain more than I do. I only do it when it’s absolutely necessary—like if we have dignitaries on board or something. This cruise we only had run-of-the-mill authors and entertainers. They could meet me at the Captain’s Dinner.
The silence hit me as soon as I walked into my cabin. Sometimes I found it soothing, other times I found it lonely. Tonight, surprisingly, it felt lonely. I’d managed not to think of Gianna all day, but now that I was home, those feelings of guilt crept back. Was I a bad husband? Did I neglect her?
My cat Ciao mewed and ran to greet me. It was a little known fact that some cruise ship captains kept a pet cat on board, and I’d had Ciao with me ever since I’d taken the helm here. I named her Ciao so that I would always have someone to say hello to every day.
Gianna hated her, claiming to be allergic to cats. I opened a can of cat food and left Ciao hungrily eating away.
Popping the cap off a cold bottle of beer, I went into my room to change. Unbuttoning my shirt, I examined my tattoo as if it could tell me the answer. Had marrying her been a mistake?
I slipped on a t-shirt and sweats and padded into the living room. Maybe there was a ball game on or something to distract me. Sure enough, there was a Miami Heat game on, and I flipped open my laptop to check emails. Maybe I’d order a burger from the kitchen.
Then, I saw it. An email from Gianna with the subject line “Dobbiamo Parlare.” We need to talk.
I wasn’t sure I was ready to read it because I kind of already knew what it would say. But I also knew I wouldn’t sleep if I didn’t read it tonight, so I clicked it open.
Dear Dean,
I’m sure you’ve sensed this coming for some time now, but this last canceled trip was the final straw. I can’t do this anymore. I want a real marriage, not one where my husband is gone for months at a time. I want babies and to have someone to share my life with.
You are a wonderful, kind man. I just want things from my life that you cannot give me. When you come home, I will have moved out. I’m going to Sicily to stay with my cousin for a while. I’m having my attorney send the paperwork to an office in the Virgin Islands. I know you’ll be docked there in a few days and you can stop by the office and sign them. Let’s just get this done so we can both move on.
All my love,
Gianna
Wow. While I sensed it coming, I never dreamed that my wife would divorce me by e-mail. Part of me wanted to call her. Talk to her and see if maybe we could work things out. Maybe I could leave my job? Work in an office or something?
The thing is, I didn’t want to. All the things she wanted in life were not the things I wanted. At least not with her. I loved being on the water, being a captain, and all that this life entailed. It wasn’t for everyone, clearly, but it was for me.
The marriage had been one I hadn’t wanted, honestly. I’d only done it to appease my mother. But, that’s not a good foundation for a life, and she deserved better.
I closed the laptop, stood up, downed my beer, and turned off the TV. It was becoming apparent that I was going to have to live my life alone if I wanted to continue doing the work I truly loved.
Would loving my job be enough, though?
5
Charlie: The Lay of the Sea
“It’s huge!” We’d finally made it to the port, after a restless night at the Marriott in Miami. The bed and room were fine, but there was evidently a huge biker convention or something because all night long we heard the roar of motorcycles and loud voices outside our window.
Sam managed to sleep through it all, but I was up looking at the clock every two hours. If I were being honest, it was more than the bikers. I was worried about missing embarkation, worried about my talk, and just worried about the trip in general. I’d never been on a cruise before and only knew about them from the old television show The Love Boat. That, and the terrible news stories of pirates and ship-borne illnesses. By 4:00 am I was convinced this was a terrible idea and was ready to cancel the whole trip. I didn’t need the money, I was already semi-famous, and couldn’t for the life of me remember why I’d agreed to do it.
Then I got an email
from my agent wishing me luck and I remembered. Dan told me that if I wanted to keep getting book deals I’d need to start speaking on the lecture circuit. I had one book contract but definitely wanted more. So, I canceled my plans to cancel and got up to make coffee in the tiny in-room coffee maker and we headed to the dock.
“I honestly didn’t expect it to be this big.” I stood craning my neck up at the mammoth boat.
“That’s what she said.” Sam grinned and stood next to me, looking up. “I wonder where our room is.”
There were rows and rows of windows that dotted the huge blue and white ship. Some were rectangular, and I assumed those were the suites. Others were more like a porthole, and I imagined those were the regular rooms. Cabins, Charlie. They’re called cabins.
We had priority boarding, and so we pulled our luggage behind us and approached the security station. After showing our passports and smiling for the ID photo machine, they printed out our key cards. They worked just like a credit card, and all you had to do was show it and whatever you were charging would go on your account.
Not that we had to worry about any of that. My publisher had made arrangements with the cruise line for two all-expense-paid tickets. Since I didn’t have a husband or boyfriend, Sam was my “plus one.”
The boarding process was incredibly smooth, and before we knew it we were walking through a tunnel onto the ship.
As big as it looked on the outside, it was no comparison to how it looked inside. The entry door led us into a huge atrium that must have been fifteen stories high. There were lights all around each floor so it looked like being inside a kaleidoscope.
“Wow.” Sam looked as amazed as I was. We both just stood there in awe at this architectural marvel.
We were among the first to board, so there weren’t very many other passengers yet. The VIPs boarded first and then the general boarding happened about an hour later. Uniformed crew were making last-minute preparations, stocking the bar, polishing the chrome banisters, and vacuuming the navy blue carpet.
I could see the casino off to the left, one story up, that would be open for business once we left U.S. waters. The main dining room was three stories up, on the other side. As far up as we could see, there were restaurants and nightclubs, and even a library.
“This is like the best mall I’ve ever been to,” Sam said.
“Wait until we check out the sports deck,” I added.
She headed toward the bank of elevators. “Very funny, Charlie. I have no intention of doing anything remotely healthy on this cruise. There will be lots of drinking and eating…” Just then a handsome, young crew member walked by, “And sex. Lots of sex.”
I admired Sam’s brash personality. As an introvert, I couldn’t imagine being as bold as she was.
The elevator doors whooshed open, and I pulled out the plastic card we’d been given at embarkation. “It says our room is on the H level.”
Sam pushed the button, and it didn’t work. She tried it again and had the same result. “Maybe we got on the wrong elevator?”
I tried waving my key in front of the panel and the letter lit up and there was a “ding.” The elevator started moving.
“Wow. We’re fancy—getting a secured floor,” she said. “It pays to be with a famous author.”
I did wonder if every floor did that, but figured I’d take the compliment.
The first thing I noticed as the elevator doors opened was how quiet it was compared to the atrium. It had the look and feel of a high-end hotel, with elegant furnishings and a thick carpet. We had to be on a VIP floor because I couldn’t imagine the expensive carpet could handle the wear and tear of thousands of feet and suitcases every week.
Sam walked ahead of me and turned to look out a window. “Whoa, Charlie, look at this.”
From the large window next to the elevator, we could look down probably ten stories and see the tiny people boarding the ship. We could also see all the way across Biscayne Bay, and the turquoise Miami water. Tropical clouds dotted the horizon, and the sun was directly overhead, leaving the city bright and shiny. Suddenly, I felt like I was on vacation.
I inhaled sharply and exhaled, letting the stress of the past couple of days leave. This was an amazing experience, and I wanted to savor every moment of it.
Sam held out her key card and said, “Okay, this says we are in H7. Looks like it’s to the left.”
The floor only had ten rooms. At least our section of it did. I couldn’t wait to get in the room and look at a map to get the lay of the land. Or the lay of the sea, as it were.
H7 was only three doors down away from the elevator, but they were spaced very far apart. There weren’t any interior rooms, only ones that faced the outer wall of the ship.
Sam got to the door first and then stopped and said, “Do you want to do the honors?”
It didn’t matter to me, so I said, “You go ahead.”
With a wave of her card, the green light went on and we heard the lock click. She turned the door handle and pushed it open.
“Oh my gosh. Sammie!” I stepped in and stopped. “This is… amazing.”
“You can say that again.”
I had no idea why they would put me up in such a grand suite. “Are you sure this is our room?”
We both looked at our key cards again. H7 right next to our names. It was the right room.
Facing the door was a huge picture window that overlooked a balcony. It was actually more of a patio, with lounge chairs and a bar. I half expected there to be a fire pit, but also knew that fire is a cruise ship’s biggest danger.
To the right of the door was a full kitchen with a breakfast bar, and one of the two bedrooms was next to it. The second was across the sunken living room that had, I’m not even kidding, a baby grand piano next to the white and blue couch. What, was Lady Gaga stopping by later?
The suite had three bathrooms, two with complete baths and one powder room for guests. Together we looked at the rooms and they seemed to be identical.
“Which one do you want?” Sam asked.
I didn’t care, so I said, “You choose.”
She chose the one we were standing in. “Our luggage should be here soon, yes?”
I nodded. “Yeah, they said it would be brought to our room soon.” All we had on us were our carry-ons.
Sam gave me a hug and said, “Thank you so much for bringing me along, Charlie. I am so happy to be here.”
She had no idea how happy I was that she was here, too. This whole thing was pretty overwhelming for a girl from Parker, Arizona.
“Let’s go get a drink!” she said, tugging my arm as we headed toward the front door.
6
Dean: And the Oscar Goes To…
I took a good look at myself in the mirror before leaving my quarters. Would anyone notice the circles under my eyes? I made myself shave, although I wanted to skip it. I had barely slept after reading Gianna’s e-mail, but I was the captain of the ship and I had an image to present.
So, I’d gotten up at my usual 0500 and had gone for a run on the track. The guests wouldn’t be arriving until later, and the staff was used to seeing me run when we were between guests.
The air had been cool on my face. Well, not cool by Italian standards, but cool for Miami. What had started out as an easy jog became all-out sprints as I used the run as an excuse to burn off my pent-up emotions. I had so many conflicted feelings about Gianna’s e-mail. My brain told me it was for the best. My heart felt sad. I’m not a quitter and I don’t like to lose. Divorce represents both. Plus, I was a little worried about the settlement. I was no billionaire, but I’d definitely done well for myself. It was safe to say that I was a cruise ship captain because I loved the job, not because I needed the money. But an expensive divorce from a wife who likes to shop in Milan could change all of that.
After I’d run to the point of exhaustion, I’d gone back to my quarters and tried to have some toast. My stomach was tied in knots and I couldn’t finish
it. So, I’d downed my espresso, jumped in the shower and proceeded to transform myself from Dean Luca, soon-to-be-divorced man to Captain Luca, the head of a major cruise ship.
Now, as I headed out to work, I looked at my reflection critically. Only if you looked really closely, you could see that my eyes were bloodshot from fatigue and swollen from crying. Italian men were passionate in every way, and that included crying when the situation called for it. One’s wife leaving you was certainly one of those occasions.
I buttoned the last of my brass buttons and then brushed some invisible lint off my white uniform. I looked the same as always. But my demeanor had to match. I didn’t want anyone to know what was going on with Gianna.
People on this ship married and divorced all the time, and I knew that no one would judge me harshly. But, frankly, I just wanted to see what the papers looked like and what her proposed settlement was before I dealt with telling anyone at work. These people were my employees, not my friends, and it was important to maintain a professional distance.
Baring my white teeth in a smile, I said to the mirror, “Good afternoon. I’m Captain Luca.” It was fine. Only someone who truly knew me would be able to tell that my smile was fake. I was about to put on an acting performance worthy of an Academy Award.
“Let’s do this,” I said to Ciao, as she purred lazily. “I’ll see you later.”
The funny thing about my job is that when people see me away from the bridge they always get a look of panic and ask me, “Who’s driving the boat?”
I smile and say, “First of all, it’s a ship, and I have no fewer than three fully qualified officers on the bridge at all times.” Carlos does a great job “driving” and I trust him completely. This frees me up to mingle and attend to my other duties. The only times I’m really needed to navigate the vessel is when we are leaving port, arriving to port, or if there is some kind of nautical emergency.
The Alpha's Second Chance Page 28