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She may not have had Ben near her physically, but it was enough to know that he was thinking of her.
It was around midnight that she suddenly awoke to the frigid air conditioning gone unchecked. She rolled off the bed to turn it off, but stopped suddenly.
Shadows of footsteps had appeared beneath her doorway. Someone was outside her door. She clenched the key into her hand until her fingers went white and numb. The person outside the door took a step towards it, but then retreated. She heard the muffled footsteps walk down the corridor. They sounded like a man’s.
She shivered, remembering the creepy grin of the man from dinner that evening, and prayed that it was just a crewmember that had good reason to be there. Before she went to bed, she double-checked to make sure both of the locks were secured on the door. She put a chair against the door. Just in case.
It was harder to go to bed now. She had changed into silky pajamas and begged the sea to sing her back sleep. The key glittered on her nightstand reassuringly.
The Captain joined them for brunch the next day. She’d slept in a little late and agreed to meet Alex in one of the dining rooms. By the time she’d walked in, she could already see his blonde head bobbing up and down in laughter beside a handsome dark skinned man in an impressive white uniform. She threw her hair over her shoulder and fixed her blouse before striding over to their table.
“Good morning,” she told them. The Captain turned to her with a warm smile. She could see the beginning lines of a life spent at sea on his face, which made him seem even more endearing. She smiled back as Alex clapped a hand on his back.
“Vivian! I was just telling him about you,” he informed her. “This is Captain Witherow, a great friend of mine.”
She held out her hand politely. “Nice to meet you, Captain.”
“You can call me Robert,” he said with an enthusiastic shake of her hand. “I couldn’t believe that I was actually going to meet the woman who’s tamed young Benjamin.”
She accepted the chair he quickly pulled out for her and laughed. “I will definitely need a drink before we talk about any of that.”
“Three mimosas, please,” he told the waitress as she passed by. Vivian laughed. The Captain was quite charming. She could practically see Alex and him back at school. They actually look liked schoolboys now, huddled close to each other with relaxed shoulders and lazy grins. She noted that Robert straightened his back whenever a crewmember passed by, but immediately relaxed at their departure.
“I’m entirely sure all of my stories would bore you,” she told Robert. “I’d love to hear about your life. The ship is beautiful! I’ve never been on anything quite like it.”
He hit a hand over his chest, as if wounded. “Vivian, you truly make my heart swell with pride!”
Alex accepted the three glasses as the waitress arrived and distributed them around the table. “He’s really quite a bore.”
Robert shot him a look. “You’re just jealous. You always told me how you secretly wanted to be a pirate, Alex.” Vivian raised an eyebrow at her boss.
“A pirate, really?”
Alex blushed. “I thought the rum and high seas sounded nice for the better part of my teenage years.”
“He would’ve been terrible at it,” Robert said barely in a whisper, “He tried to join the sailing team. It was a disaster.”
“We should discuss Ben!” her boss piped up suddenly after a swig of his drink. He winked at Vivian playfully. She shot a sympathetic glance at him. He was never one to be under pressure.
I’ll kindly take the spotlight, she thought and leaned toward Robert. “It was actually pretty scandalous.”
“Do tell!” he leaned closer to her.
“He was my substitute boss. Well, he’s still my boss sometimes.”
“Dramatic,” he breathed.
“Yes. I thought Alex would kill me! I mean, he trusted me.”
His eyes widened. “Go on.”
“Well, I’d tell you the rest, “she said smoothly and drank from her glass, “But then I’d have to kill you, Captain.”
He let out a near girlish squeal. “Damn! He always was a lucky bastard. Do you know he stole my first girlfriend from me?”
“Like that was hard,” came a reply and snort form
Alex. Robert shot him a withering glare.
