* * *
“Tell me all the dramas. I want to know everything.” Sofia asked as soon as she set eyes on her friend who looked incredibly busy tidying up her messy desk in the cabin.
“What dramas?”
“I don’t know. Whatever happened yesterday. Aren’t turnaround days always full of adventure or something?”
“Are you that bored?”
Sofia nodded positively.
Denise took a moment to remember what was going on the day before. “It was actually not too bad. Busy but all right. I only had one couple of passengers shouting because they were fined by customs in the airport. They declared they weren’t bringing any plants or food and they had seeds in their bag. They had to pay a fine to customs. When they got here it became our fault because we didn’t tell them about the specific rules of customs and quarantine in Australia.”
Sofia frowned. “As far as I know the landing card says that. It also says yes or no to all the questions. They said no when the answer was yes. Why would that be our fault?”
“Because someone needs to be blamed and they don’t want to admit they screwed up. We’re next in line. They come here and try their luck. What they are looking for is some sort of onboard credit.” Denise clarified.
“People are so brainless!”
“Welcome to my world.”
“Did anything funny happen? Anything amusing that I can laugh about?”
“Actually, yes. The funniest thing happened today.” Denise giggled.
“Tell me. I could really use some amusement.”
“A passenger came to the reception this morning and lucky her, she got Kevin, the duty clown of my team. She complained because her cabin is too small and doesn’t have natural light. She is claustrophobic and blah, blah, blah. So Kevin, very kindly, took his keycard from his pocket, gave it to her and told her she could have his room instead.”
Sofia laughed out loud. “How nice of him. And you keep saying you don’t have a good team. Shame on you! Look how lovely they are…”
“Lovely, yes. And the woman went ballistic! Big complaint, big drama. Just between us, it was hilarious. One of the funniest scenes I’ve seen this contract.”
“Did Kevin get in trouble?”
“Of course. He’s getting a written warning, not that he cares about it because he’s only here to have fun. That one came to this planet on holidays. I like him, but his laziness gets on my nerves. On the other hand he keeps people amused so we have to bear with him. Even Elaine was laughing about it, although she’s the one giving him the warning.” Denise said while she put some DVDs next to the television.
“I would love to have some fun too but I need to burn the calories from the crap I’ve been eating lately.” Sofia declared feeling unusually negative.
They went to the gym as usual and as Sofia tried to get rid of her dark energy on the treadmill, she realized that apart from the time ashore and a few good nights with colleagues life onboard was pretty tedious. Sea days were always the same thing: get up, go for breakfast, go to work, lunch break, back to work, finish work, go to the gym, have dinner and go to bed. No wonder so many crew members drank like there was no tomorrow. Between the hard work, the demanding passengers and lack of entertainment alternatives, alcohol seemed very alluring.
Many crew members were fond of temporary sex based relationships often called friendships with benefits to get more excitement in their lives. Sex could be very entertaining but meaningless, shallow sleeping around was not to Sofia’s taste. Several candidates had tried their luck, Aaron on top of the list, but she had firmly decided to either be in a proper relationship or be alone. Casual sex was something she despised.
She hadn’t received any emails from Kieran lately. Maybe that was a good sign but she missed reading his words. She wanted to call and listen to the sound of his voice. It was only pride that prevented her from lifting the handset and dialing the numbers.
After one in the morning she was in bed reading a book, waiting for sleep to come. She was getting annoyed and thinking about going to the medical center to get some sleeping pills. Tomorrow she was going to have an early wakeup call and she wanted to be fit to do her job.
As the thought grew stronger in her mind an announcement came through the PA: code Alpha in Stardust Disco, deck 17 aft. Sofia took the emergency equipment and ran there as quickly as she could. Luckily for the man having a heart attack on the dance floor not only the night manager had arrived immediately with the defibrillator, there were also two nurses among the passengers who helped him right away. The medical team was able to restart his heart and after a moment of tension he was breathing again.
That was the most exciting moment Sofia had experienced since boarding the ship and although no one liked passengers to have heart attacks, she enjoyed being reminded of how being a doctor felt like. The passenger was taken to the medical center to be kept under observation during the night and disembarked into a hospital on land the following day.
Much to Sofia’s disappointment the only things on the night report were a noise complaint from a crew party in some corridor on deck 3 and the heart attack that she already knew about.
Since the night report didn’t brighten the day, she drove her attention to the port guide she took from the tour office the night before. Her knowledge of Melbourne and Australia in general was very limited. Her first surprise was to read that almost 3 million people live in the Melbourne area. She used to believe it was a much smaller town. Sofia learned that New South Wales was a district different from the others because it was founded by free settlers, not convicts.
The city was founded through fraud when some adventurer named John Batman, an Australian fluent in several aboriginal languages, made a deal with aborigines to lease the land on behalf of speculators. In return for a long term lease of 240.000 hectares of the finest land in the country, Batman gave the aborigines axes, flour, blankets and jewelry worth about 200£ at the time. Colonial administrators later declared that his leases weren’t valid and that the government, not the aborigines, owned the land. After paying Batman compensation, they took over the territory and founded a settlement. Melbourne was Australia’s first capital, until 1927 and the first Australian city to host the Olympic Games in 1956.
Feeling a little less ignorant, Sofia moved to the page where the curiosities were displayed and read that Melbourne had the largest Greek community in the world outside of Athens. “And who doesn’t love a Greek salad?” she said loud enough to be heard by Mary who was just passing by.
“Hello. Did I hear Greek salad? It’s not even eight o’clock in the morning!” The nurse asked with a warm smile.
“Hello. I was thinking about Greek salad for lunch and a small tour of the city. Do you want to come with me?”
“Sorry my dear, I already have plans. I’m going kayaking in Port Phillip Heads. You have fun and enjoy the salad. Just make sure you have something more substantial as well. Rabbit food won’t give you much energy.” She replied with a grin before disappearing again.
Sofia admired Mary. She was older than most crew but that didn’t seem to stop her from having a great time. She was frequently involved in parties, sports activities and all sorts of events. The crew loved and respected her. She was a good example and Sofia felt happy for having a chance to work with someone so inspiring. However there was something darker about her as well and no one seemed to know what made Mary come to sea and stay for so long. There was definitely some mystery there. Everybody had a story and Sofia wanted to find out what Mary’s story was.
Back to the port guide she looked at the city map on the back. The plan was to take the tram from the port to the city center and wander around, going where her feet took her.
As far as her eyes could reach, although looking nice, Melbourne was not that different from so many other cities in the world: traffic, tall buildings, people… The Yarra River gave it a special grace and the waterfront was lovely with good pla
ces to walk and lots of cute bridges.
Sofia hopped off in Flinders Street, close to the business and shopping district and the first thing she saw was the railway station, a beautiful and elegant building that was part of the icons list to see in the city. She walked from there to Swanston St. and it was the easiest thing to find a Greek restaurant and get that salad she had been thinking about.
After the light lunch she left the restaurant and went up road, or down road, not too sure about directions, but after a good while walking she arrived in the Shrine of Remembrance.
She could see the grey building with a shape similar to an ancient temple a good distance ahead. The day was warm and sunny and it was rather pleasant to walk underneath the trees feeling the soft breeze. As she made it through the Forecourt area dedicated to the World War II, she immediately saw the Eternal Flame, lit by Queen Elizabeth 2.
Already inside, in the visitors center, she learned that the Shrine of Remembrance was built in memory of those who died in the great war of 1914-1918, and armed conflicts and peace keeping duties ever since. Sofia felt a bit ashamed for not knowing that Australian soldiers had fought in the First World War.
She went to the Sanctuary and stopped there for a moment, reading the Stone of Remembrance, a dark marble stone below the pavement where visitors had to bow to read the inscription: GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN. As she kept looking at the words someone behind her was talking about the Ray of Light, a special feature that someone very skilled put together. Every year on November 11th at 11am, the Ray of Light falls over the word LOVE on the Stone of Remembrance. The time and date commemorate the end of the hostilities in the First World War.
She moved from there to the Ambulatory, a narrow walkway around the Sanctuary. She observed the 42 caskets containing the books with the names of every Victorian who enlisted to active service in the 1914-1918 war or died in camp prior to embarkation, and there were so many! Another book contained a message from King George V: LET THEIR NAMES BE FOR EVER HELD IN PROUD REMEMBRANCE. Were they really? Sofia wondered how many times in today’s busy world people stop for a moment to think about the millions who died and continue to die at wars.
She remembered the story her father used to tell her about how her grandfather committed suicide because of the war in Angola. If it wasn’t for that stupid war he could have lived a normal life, her father would have been a different person and maybe he too would still be alive. It was after the war that the desperate greed and ambition took over him. If instead he had been just a normal man, things could have followed a very different course and he probably wouldn’t have been murdered. She didn’t know who had been responsible for killing him, but she was well aware of the kind of person he was and could only imagine what sort of things he had done to motivate someone to take his life.
The process had been recently archived. There were never any real suspects in the long list of candidates the police put together and the evidence left wasn’t enough to be traced to the killer. Whoever had killed her father was free, at least from jail. She wished that the person who put a bomb in her father’s car had to live with a heavy conscience for the remaining of his or her life.
Out in the Remembrance Garden, Sofia found peace and tranquility. That garden was built to remember those who fought in conflicts after 1945 and the names of the conflicts are engraved in the stone wall: Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, Kuwait, Balkans, Cambodia, Somalia and East Timor. She read the list one more time, sad that people didn’t understand that it doesn’t matter how much territory they conquest, how many nations they subdue, how much riches they gather, they will still be mortal and sooner or later their bodies will be buried together with their so called enemies under that same ground they were fighting for.
Before she noticed, three hours had passed since she had left the ship and it was almost time to get back onboard and find out if there was anyone sick to take care off.
The tram took almost half an hour and Sofia felt her legs aching as she had to stand up because all the seats were taken. She had a shower, put on her uniform and with a few minutes to spare she tried to get a coffee before work. Carla bumped into her in the corridor.
“Did you hear what happened?” She asked Sofia.
“No. I just came back from the city. What’s going on?”
“Big fight in the atrium bar on deck 5. Two passengers. One of them threw a bottle to the other one’s head and he now looks like Frankenstein. He’s got this huge cut on his forehead.” Carla explained, exemplifying with gestures.
“What?! What is wrong with these people?”
“According to Frankenstein who’s in the medical center with Ryan and Mary, it had something to do with a girl, lots of testosterone and a good mix of alcoholic beverages.”
The situation was serious but Sofia had to giggle. “Why am I not surprised? Damn stupid people. What happened to the one who threw the bottle?”
“He was taken by the police. Frankenstein is getting disembarked into a hospital. I hope he can afford a really good plastic surgeon.” Carla noted.
Sofia went to the medical center where Ryan gave her the updates on the latest events and told her that the next time he was going ashore and she could handle the dramas. She nodded in agreement and through the open doors she could see the big white bandage around the patient’s head.
“I guess Carla was right. Hope he can afford plastic surgery.” She whispered.
“You bet.” He answered at the same time he received a message through the radio announcing the arrival of the ambulance.
Sofia opened the medical center hoping that no one would come in with an open forehead or big bloody cuts in any part of their body. She was too tired to deal with trauma.
By seven Sofia tried to reach Denise but she was no longer in the office. She answered the pager from a number on deck 15 and told her to go to the wedding chapel. Sofia didn’t understand the mystery or what her friend could possibly be doing in the wedding chapel so she took the elevator and went there to check. She opened the port side door discretely although there was no one around and closed it right behind her. There were chairs on both sides, a narrow aisle and candle holders decorated with flowers and ribbons. In the front there was a small stage and on the left a big white piano which Denise was playing masterfully. Without saying a word Sofia took a seat in one of the chairs in the front row and just listened to the music.
Denise’s fingers were flowing swiftly across the ivory keys of the piano and the room was filled with the most beautiful music. The purser looked askance at her friend and smiled slightly. None of them spoke until she finished and the room became silent again. Sofia clapped happily and Denise smiled broadly and thanked her.
“Oh my God. You are full of surprises. I had no idea you could play like that. How did you get to be that good?” The doctor asked impressed. “I had lessons when I was a kid but my teacher said I was useless and should stay away from the piano.”
Denise chuckled. “I had piano lessons since I was five. For years I practiced hours every day and I wanted to be a professional pianist but when I was sixteen I had an accident skiing, broke my wrist and could never play to the demand of a professional level again. It really hurts when I play for a long time.” She explained.
“I’m sorry to hear that, but you’re still such a great player. Your music is beautiful. Does anyone else here know how well you play?” Sofia asked.
“Only Alice, the wedding coordinator, and the bandmaster. She tells me when this room is available and he gave me permission to practice. I’ve only started doing this recently. No one else knows. This is my little secret, my private temple onboard. Please don’t tell anyone.”
“Sure. You know I won’t. Did Diego ever hear you play?” Sofia enquired out of curiosity.
“No. He doesn’t even know I can read music.”
“Why didn’t you tell him? I’m sure he would love to listen.”
“Maybe. But if he really cared about
who I am and the things that matter to me he would have paged me like you did. I don’t want to share everything I am with a person who doesn’t consider me a priority in his life and prefers to spend the little free time we have playing and drinking with his friends.” Denise justified.
Sofia thought that was not the right attitude but instead of getting in an argument about being flexible and trying new strategies, she asked her friend to play a little more. Denise was happy to share her talent and Sofia recognized a Prelude by Bach and the famous song written by Michael Nyman for the movie The Piano, one of her favorites.
9
Every first formal night of the cruise there was a party hosted by the captain to welcome those passengers who regularly traveled with the cruise line, either on the Ocean Pearl or any other vessel of the fleet. Denise was scheduled to attend and she unwillingly put on her formal uniform and made her way to Club Atmosphere where the party was held.
The previous party both her and Ian had gotten in trouble for not attending. He was too busy in the office and assumed she would go. She was also busy and thought he was going. When none of them showed up Elaine went ballistic. As a reward, Denise and Ian were on schedule for two parties in a row.
“She must think I’m here on holidays.” Denise grumbled on the way to deck 7, holding her long black skirt to avoid tripping.
“You know Elaine loves to play the boss.” Diego replied dismissively, thinking his girlfriend was making an unnecessary drama.
“Is Sofia coming?” Ian asked when the three of them ducked through the service door on the port side.
“She said she was going to give us her moral support.”
“I better not be the only one dressed up as a penguin just to make the two of you less lonely when that lady over there finds you.” Diego retorted pointing at Elaine who was by the main door talking to the food & beverage manager.
Club Atmosphere was almost empty only with the bar staff and some crew members hanging around. There was a massive queue of passengers outside but the doors wouldn’t be opening for another five minutes or so.
Elaine turned around with a smile that Ian thought was nice, Denise believed was evil and Diego couldn’t care less. She was holding a check list on her hand and that made Ian change his mind about her smile being nice.
“Hello. So, you did show up this time. How nice. Even you Diego.” Her musical voice had a twinge of irony.
“My girlfriend wanted company.”
“Let me just remind you that your girlfriend is here to socialize with the passengers. Since you decided to come I would appreciate if you could do the same. Help them find seats when they come in and don’t forget the pep talk.” She said more as an order than a suggestion.
He was going to remind her that his girlfriend didn’t have the best social skills but the first purser disappeared with her check list to talk to the hotel director as soon as he walked in and Diego turned his attention to a tray of cocktails.
“Damn it. I was planning to do a quick exit but she’s going to be sniffing until the freaking’ party is over.” Denise chided.
“I don’t remember seeing this kind of stuff in my job description.”
“Cam ‘on guys. Stop complaining and enjoy the party.” Ian suggested with a grin.
“Ian, your permanent happiness is really annoying sometimes.” Denise pointed out and he giggled.
“Someone has to be happy around here. Imagine the disappointment the passengers would feel it they came in here and found us all grumpy.”
Denise snorted and moved to the center of the venue.
Sofia and Keira arrived just about two minutes before the doors opened and the party started. They joined their friends until Elaine found the group.
“Okay people, you need to start moving and help find seats for the passengers. Make them feel welcome, all right?” She ordered, not happy that they were engaging each other instead of the passengers.
The front desk supervisor shrugged. “It only lasts about forty five minutes.” She mumbled under her breath.
“What’s with you and parties?” Keira enquired.
A passenger was just passing by and she took a moment before answering to make sure the wrong hears wouldn’t get any message they were not supposed to. “Let’s say I would prefer a party where I could wear a dress that made me look good, listen to music I like and not have to pretend that I care about how many times these people have sailed with us before.”
Keira rolled her eyes and Ian choked a guffaw. Diego tried to imagine how Denise would look like in a short tight black dress. Maybe she had one somewhere. She would certainly look very… tasty. The thought made him grin just on time for another killer look from Elaine.
The bar staff started serving drinks and canapés to the passengers and shortly after the captain came on stage and welcomed the passengers with a few jokes and some entertaining stories. He distributed smiles, posed for pictures and answered the usual questions, just like in every cruise.
The captain was a happy man and he found his life satisfying. The fact that he had to do the same things, answer the same questions and hear the same observations every cruise didn’t bother him at all. He liked the passengers and he was glad to be a part of such a happy time in their lives. In the end he would go back to his cabin, have a glass of whiskey with a couple of colleagues and maybe read a book before going to bed. Every couple of months his wife joined him onboard. His life was good. That was why, to his family’s dismay, he had been unwilling to retire. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he had to stay home very long.
Denise, Sofia, Diego, Keira and Ian were out the door and on the way to the officer’s mess the moment the speech was over.
While they were picking up the food from the menu all the medical pagers went off at the same time. The same happened to the bridge officers and engineers who had their meals interrupted and ran to the only phone available.
“Emergency? We didn’t hear a code.” Ian observed, confused.
“The bridge just spotted a boat adrift. It looks like there might be someone inside but they’re not sure yet. The ship is stopping as we speak and the rescue boat is being lowered. We’ll find out if they need us in a few minutes.” Keira explained in a very calm and professional voice.
The deck crew had difficulties trying to keep the curious passengers from getting too close and disturb the rescue operation but they managed. In just a few minutes the speed boat was back, the gun port opened on deck 4 and a large group of officers, including the entire medical team, waited patiently. Two men were taken from the boat into stretchers. The doctors did a brief examination right there. They were both alive, but in very bad shape.
The castaways were taken immediately to the medical center and the doors were closed behind while the doctors conducted a more thorough examination. Dehydration, sunburns and starvation were evident but it was too soon to tell for sure how long they had been at sea and if there was anything else wrong with them.
They ran blood tests, x-rays and put them on IV. Exhaustion kept them asleep. They needed as much rest as they could get and Ryan gave them a good dose of medication.
“Any possible ID?” Carla enquired.
“No. The deckies found them with just their clothes and fishing equipment. No documents at all.”
“They look Malaysian or maybe Indonesian.” Sofia observed after analyzing their features.
“We’re going to get a few crew members who speak those languages to be on standby in case they wake up. Someone must be terribly worried about these poor fellows. We need to be able to contact the families as soon as possible.” Ryan murmured.
“Poor? I would say they are damn lucky. What were the odds of one of the watch keepers seeing the boat, especially at night?” Carla pointed out.
“True. This might have been just like winning the lottery, but still. They are not out of danger yet.”
“If they made it this far alive, then we’ll do eve
rything we know to keep their hearts beating.” Sofia affirmed and they all agreed with a pang of emotion.
Someone knocked on the crew door. Carla opened and the captain and staff captain walked in, still wearing their formal uniforms.
“Hello.” Everyone greeted.
“So, how are they?” The captain asked.
“Apparently not that bad. They need liquids, food and a lot of rest. Everything else looks all right. They don’t have any visible injuries. We will still have to wait until they wake up to be completely sure of their condition thought.” Ryan briefed them.
Andrew, the staff captain, smiled contently. “That’s very good news.”
“Well, I’m going to make an announcement for the passengers. There’s a lot of mouth-to-mouth speculation going on. Let me give them an update.” The captain said before he excused himself.
“Captain.” Ryan interrupted. ”If we do find where they came from I still want to keep them onboard for a few days. They need to get stronger. I don’t like the idea of moving them yet.”
The captain knew head office wouldn’t be very keen on having people in the medical center that hadn’t paid for a cruise and most certainly wouldn’t have health insurance. However, being such a special situation, he trusted they would understand.
“Whatever you find necessary doctor. Please keep me informed.” The captain replied cheerfully.
“I will.”
“Good job everyone.” He said just before he walked out the door where the staff captain was already waiting, eager to get to the bridge.
The patients were monitored all night and the entire next morning. The younger one woke up around eleven and the older, three hours later.
Carla’s guess proved accurate. After trying a couple of translators they discovered that the castaways, father and son, were from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. A deck attendant from the same island was assigned to stay in the medical center to help with communication.
Ryan and Sofia’s joy for their good recover gave turn to absolute amazement when they heard the patients had been adrift for five days.
“It’s almost a miracle that they are still alive.”
“Yes. The sun alone could have killed them. They were so incredibly lucky.”
“They ate raw fish.” The deck attendant explained, translating the words that the younger man managed to say very slowly.
“Yes. Their fishing nets saved them.”
“Survival instinct is such a powerful thing.” Ryan observed balancing on his chair.
The sun light came in through the portholes and illuminated the entire room. The light seemed to make the young man feel better.
“What about the family?” With all the excitement they had totally forgotten that someone at home would be very worried.
The deck attendant turned to the young man and asked for contacts. When he took note of the phone number for a man who owned a phone on the island on a manila pad, Sofia gave him a phone and dialed the code for an outside line.
Although it was impossible for any of them to understand one word of the conversation, his expression and broad smile were easy to read. Someone on the other side was extremely happy.
“The family thought they were dead. A bunch of people from the village have been looking for them since they went missing. They asked me to tell you that they are most grateful to you and will be praying for your souls.” He said after the phone call was over.
Sofia and Ryan looked at each other and smiled widely.
“How did they get lost in the middle of the ocean anyway?”
“They were fishing at sunset, the engine didn’t work when they tried to return home and at night they lost orientation. The strong currents did the rest.”
Ryan frowned. “The currents did a hell of a job dragging them all the way to the Tasmanian Sea.”
Ian came in that moment and interrupted their conversation.
“You medical people are in serious trouble.” He started and Ryan chuckled.
“What did we do this time?”
“I heard you are hiding people without documents onboard. That’s illegal.” He snickered.
“Sorry mate. We’ll keep that in mind next time. For now it’s all about team work. We give them to you alive and in the best shape possible; you find a way to get them off the ship and fly them home without a passport.”
“Right.” Ian nodded in agreement. “That shouldn’t be too hard. How are they anyway?”
“They will be just fine.” Sofia confirmed with a broad smile.
10
It was the ship’s first call in New Zealand and Denise was having one of those strange mornings in the back office. Before her butt could warm up the chair, Paul made a scene because Nick was mocking him. Pinching her arm to make sure she was not still asleep, the front desk supervisor felt tempted to ask for details, just for the sake of curiosity, but Paul volunteered the information before she could ask.
“I’ve been dating this dancer, Daniel, and last night I found him giving another guy a blow job in the bathroom by the crew bar. I was really upset about him cheating on me, he hurt my feelings so much. And Nick is mocking me about it. Please tell him to stop.” Paul begged with a girlie voice, almost crying.
Denise stared at him incredulously, trying not to throw up. That Paul was the gayest person on the fleet was a confirmed fact, but coming to the back office at eight o’clock in the morning talking about his boyfriend and details she didn’t want to know about was simply beyond her worst nightmares.
“So?” He asked impatiently since his supervisor was still looking at him speechless.
“Paul, I’ll give you too choices. You can either start acting like a man or find another job. Now get out of my office and don’t come back unless it’s to tell me about professional issues. And please tell Nick to come see me.” Denise told him with an authority she rarely had to use.
Paul left upset because her reply was not exactly what he was expecting, but at least she was calling Nick. Maybe he would get in trouble after all.
One minute later Nick walked into the office with the usual grin, grabbed Denise’s startled face and gave her a big kiss on each cheek.
“Nick. My favorite clown. I believe you have an explanation for me…”
“Cam’ on Denise.” He started with a wicked smile.
“Don’t Denise me! I’m here doing my best to be a good supervisor, giving you nice breaks in the ports, pretending I don’t know that you count your money once a cruise when you should do it every day and closing my eyes to the fact that you keep breaking the rules and sleeping with passengers. And how do you thank me? You make trouble.”
Nick knelt theatrically on the floor in front of her and held her right hand.
“You know I’m only sleeping with passengers because Diego got to you first.” He answered and kissed her hand with reverence.
She withdrew her hand quickly and acted furious. “Stop that! Save your charm for the freaking’ passengers or for Elaine when she finds out about your side entertainment schedule. If I get any more dramas from Paul, I swear I’ll put you on the night shift for the rest of your contract.” Denise threatened.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Paul is such a drama queen I just can’t help it. He’s worse than a girl.”
“I know. And that drama queen came here when I’m still not entirely functioning to tell me things I don’t want to know about. You stay away from him and his gay dramas, because if I hear any more stories about guys giving blow jobs to each other I swear I’m going to scream.”
“I’ll try. Promise.” He replied humbly and left her alone with her untouched cold coffee and her unread emails.
Not even half hour later, Paul returned with his dramatic look.
“This better have nothing to do with Nick.”
“Nick is in the back office doing god-knows-what. I have a couple of passengers who want to talk to you.” He clarified.
“Wh
at is it about?”
“Something related to disembarking.”
Denise looked at their cabin number in the computer screen to check their names. Edward Lawson, 24 and Caroline Lewis, 22, both from Idaho. There was nothing on record about them.
In the front, right by Paul’s station, a very embarrassed Edward told her that his girlfriend wanted to disembark the next day.
“That can be arranged, if you wish. But may I ask you the reason?”
“I invited Caroline to come on this cruise to commemorate our first year together and she’s been miserable.” The passenger replied with disappointment.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything we can do to change your mind?” Denise asked the girl, wondering if her unhappiness had anything to do with the cruise.
“No, thank you. I want to go home because I really miss my family. I’ve never been separated from them before.” Caroline replied, joyless.
Denise thought it must be freak’s day and someone forgot to tell her. Edward didn’t say anything else but it was easy to read his frustration. It had to be a big disappointment for a young man who brought his 22 year old girlfriend on a cruise that she was unhappy because she missed mommy and daddy. Denise asked if Caroline would be disembarking by herself.
“Yes, she will. I’m staying onboard, since I paid for the cruise.” He explained gazing at his girlfriend.
“All right then. I’ll arrange with the administration officer for you to leave the ship tomorrow morning. We’ll call you to give you the details.”
The couple thanked her and left, apart enough from each other for Denise to know that those two were over. Paul looked at Denise with deep sadness.
“I guess that’s the end of another beautiful love story.” He murmured.
“Paul, do me a favor. Take the rest of the day off.” Denise ordered.
“Are you serious? Why?”
“Because you need to fix your broken heart and I can’t hear anything else from you. So you go to your cabin, do whatever you want for the rest of the day and please don’t tell me any details.”
Paul thanked her, took the float out of the drawer and left before she could change her mind.
“Can I get a day off too?” Allison asked with a kidding tone.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t give Paul a day off. I gave myself a day off from him. Totally different.”
“Please…” She begged.
“Allison, dear, Paul already spent my quota of patience for the day, don’t you start pushing your luck. Not today.”
Allison gave her a wink. “Tomorrow then.”