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“Are you going to miss fitting into the pants you came in?” she shot back, eyeing the roll he was already buttering. He chuckled and took a huge bite.
“OK, fair enough. I won’t tell Ben if you don’t tell my wife about all the empty calories.”
“Like I’d ever be the one to judge!” she exclaimed and gestured playfully at her own curves. Truly, she loved food and had shed the ‘must be thin’ idea back in high school. It had never bothered her either. She loved the way she filled out pencil skirts and blouses at the office. She definitely loved the way Ben grabbed her body. Her mind flickered to his face and she was heaving a sigh before she even realized it.
“I do miss him,” she admitted and Alex nodded sympathetically.
“It’s hard being away from loved ones,” he said and then with a quick little smile, “But, you’ll be together soon enough.” She gave a small nod and sipped from her glass of wine.
“Did you know there’s going to be a masquerade ball?”
“Are you forgetting that I’m the best assistant in the world?” she asked with a cocked eyebrow and amused smirk.
Truthfully, her own boss had been blissfully unaware of it until recently despite her reminders. She had ended up telling his wife, Adriana, to make sure he had a mask packed. It wasn’t unusual for Vivian to tell him something over and over, only to have him suddenly relay the information to her one day as if he was telling her something profoundly new.
She’d stopped reminding him that she’d already told him that because he would get so embarrassed.
Oh, men. I can’t live with them or without them, she thought with a chuckle as he began to devour the second entrée the waiter had brought to the table.
The masquerade was scheduled for tomorrow night. It was supposed to be one of the big events to kick off the maiden voyage and passengers had been required to either purchase special tickets before the event or receive them complements of the Captain, whom she knew had personally gifted a pair to Alex. It wasn’t only due to the company’s investment status; they were old friends from boarding school. She wondered if she could get any funny stories out of the Captain about Ben, who had attended the same school a few grades below them.
Unless that’s when he started with his old womanizing ways. Ew. No thank you. She drained her wine glass and politely asked for a refill.
As the cute young waiter filled her glass with a sneaky glance at the cleavage peaking out of her dress neckline, she let her gaze roam across the crowd. A familiar unnerving grin greeted her and she whipped her head back to the portfolio with renewed interest and a disgusted groan.
Alex had noticed this time though. His eyes darted over towards the man from earlier and she saw him clench his jaw tightly.
“Is he the one that creeped you out earlier?” perhaps her boss was more perceptive than she gave him credit for. She nodded with a groan.
“I hate creeps.”
“He’s from a rival company.”
She jerked her head towards him. “What?” her hoarse whisper summoned a few curious glances from the nearby table.
“He’s a scammer. A lower man on the totem pole sent by his scheming bosses probably. It’s not unusual, to be honest. Rival companies hear about your investment and rush to get in on it,” he said with a shrug at the last bit. “Jokes on them though. Our investment is largely due to the Captain being a family friend.”
“You went to boarding school together, right?” she asked. He nodded.
“Yeah, we’ll see him tomorrow night. He’s a great guy. He’s the one who introduced me to Adriana. We played lacrosse together.”
Oh, lacrosse. Of course, they played lacrosse at boarding school. She held back a sarcastic quip as he leaned in and lowered his voice.
“Just please try to never be alone with that guy. I don’t trust him. He gives off a bad vibe.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” she promised.
What was the likeliness that she would ever be alone with him? She and Alex parted ways on their floor. She checked the hallway before entering her suite and immediately locked the door behind her.
Her suite was small, but elegant. She ran a grateful hand over the soft comforter of the bed. Her fingers slid underneath the pillow where they ran across something hard. She yanked herself upward and pulled the pillow off the bed.
There was a small box wrapped in black paper and red ribbon. A tiny cream tag was tied onto the ribbon. She ran her eyes over the scrawled handwriting: “For my little love.”
Ben! She tried to be patient taking off the bow since it was so beautifully done, but soon she was ripping off the paper. Underneath the wrapping was a white jewelry box. She lifted the lid.
“A key?” she asked aloud. It was a small golden key, the kind that looked like it was used to unlock antique chests. She ran a fingernail over the glittering object. It rested, a comforting weight, in her palm.
Why on earth had Ben sent her a key? The ship groaned slightly and she looked out of the window into the darkness of the night. The waves of the sea were a lullaby that she couldn’t resist. She fell asleep in her dress on top of the bed with the key resting in her tight grip.
