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“Vivian, you’re a gem.”
“I know,” in her mind, a voice whispered: his gem. That was perfectly all right with her.
The night seemed to wrap around them in sweet solitude. The deck was devoid of any other person. Soft rises and falls of the waltzing music inside drifted through the walls behind them.
“So,” his tongue ran over his top lip and she shivered. “Did you miss me?”
This son of a bitch! He was a whirlwind of surprises. She hadn’t expected him in the least. He had been dodging her messages. She replayed the moments of the day like a movie in her mind to try and make sense of it all.
It had been a quarter to eight. She had just finished placing her mask on a face of perfectly applied makeup for the ball. Her emerald evening gown hugged her soft curves. The lotion she had bought before the trip wafted into her nostrils like a teasing whisper. She spritzed her favorite fragrance on the heated space of her neck and adjusted the neckline of her dress. It perfectly propped up her ample bosom and created one of the best presentations of cleavage she’d ever gotten with a dress.
She’d checked the clock again. It would be just a few minutes before she needed to meet Alex in the lobby. He would be dressed in one of his tuxedos that Adriana had picked out and a handsome understated white mask she was sure. She slipped on a piece of exquisite and nearly real looking costume necklace around her neck. The stone rested just above the dip of her cleavage.
The simple hanging diamonds in her ears were real; a gift from Ben. She’d fingered them lovingly and glanced at her phone. It had been depressingly silent for the whole day except for a message from her mother urging her to enjoy her trip. Not even a massage from the spa earlier in the day could soothe the knot in her stomach.
“You’re a sexy, powerful woman,” she told herself in the mirror and then felt woefully foolish for doing so. She picked up her lipstick and reapplied the mauve berry color once more before finally deciding the process was finished. “I look great.”
This time she said it a bit more confidently. If she couldn’t feel it authentically, she would fake it until she made it.
She quickly glanced in the mirror, adjusting the plunging collar once more to allow for the sexiest fit, and then whisked herself out of the room.
Alex was waiting, just as she’d pictured him. He smiled charmingly at her. “You look lovely! Ben would be furious to see you on my arm tonight.”
She half-smiled. “Perhaps,” and then deciding she definitely didn’t want her boss probing her about her depressed answer, grabbed his arm. “To the ball!”
He nodded and they followed an elegantly dressed group down the massive main hallway. The ballroom was the crown jewel of the ship, but she hadn’t imagined it to be quite as magnificent as it was. It was a scene out of the Titanic, but on a grander scale. The sparkling floors, the luxurious ice sculptures, and a tremendous hanging chandelier hovering over the center of the main area. She let out a little gasp of awe.
“Beautiful!”
Alex nodded in agreement. “Absolutely beautiful.”
“I hope you’re talking about your date,” Robert’s voice sounded from behind them. “Vivian, you look ravishing.” He took her hand gently with a flourish and placed a kiss on it. She blushed.
“Captain, I doubt anyone could steal a girl from you.”
He gave her a lighthearted wink and then exchanged a firm hug with Alex before being called off by a crewmember.
“Our table is right over here, next to Robert’s,” Alex said as he guided them toward a collection of three tables. They sat and sipped on iced water. She adjusted her mask and prayed impression lines wouldn’t set into her soft skin. Her boss nearly tugged his off.
“Too itchy,” he muttered. But, he kept it on after looking around to see nearly everyone was masked but the service.
“After everyone’s drunk, I’m sure yo
u can take it off,” she reminded him. He nodded in agreement with a grateful smile.
“Yes, or I can fake sea sickness!”
Somehow she doubted it would be feigned at the rate he’d been eating on the trip. She was surprised he hadn’t thrown up from eating nearly twice his weight on the first day. She looked out among the crowd. Jealousy bit into her just a bit as she watched the cuddling couples that ran gloved hands over each other at the tables.
“It’s OK to miss him you know,” came the sudden remark from Alex. She turned to him with flushed cheeks to see him looking at her with an amused, but sympathetic smile.
“It’s hard to be away from the ones we love.”
She nodded. “Yes, it is. He hasn’t contacted me at all,” she had finally admitted her worry. Her boss raised his eyebrows, but didn’t seem too surprised.
“Vivian, I’ve never seen Ben more in love than he is with you. I saw it on the first day that you met.”
She felt her heart skip a beat and couldn’t help but pushing for more information. “Really?” it was so unlike her. She felt unprepared, always, now it seemed.
