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2
Rick Bennett
This job had sounded like a great idea when my friends suggested it. You get to cruise for free, by working on the ship. I wasn’t doing it because I needed money, but because I loved being on the ocean. After twenty-five years in the Navy, you’d think I’d have grown tired of it. Not me. The sea was where I felt at home. Now I was listening to people complain about the scent of their soap or that their pillow wasn’t soft enough.
Thank God I only signed up for one tour on this ship, because I can’t do another.
It was only the second day and I’d had my fill of romance-themed shit. Matchmaking didn’t work. The only thing that made a relationship work was two people putting in the effort to look past each other’s flaws and accepting each other for who they are. Yet at every turn all I could hear was passengers excitedly discussing the matchmaker questionnaires that were left in their rooms this morning.
I was the unlucky sucker who got stuck collecting them from the guests. If they’d just hand them to me and move along, it would’ve been easier. About a third of them had questions on how to answer the questions. I told them all to just be honest. One woman laughed and said, “If I’m honest, I’ll never find a husband.”
She was pretty enough, but she wouldn’t shut up long enough for anyone else to get a word in. I think I learned more about her in ten minutes than I knew about my friends. Maybe that’s why we’re still friends.
Finally, she left and my relief showed up. “Why didn’t you come earlier?” I asked Mario.
“I saw who you were chatting with. No way was I going to take your place. Not until she left. The bartender on the third deck had me bring her a Bloody Mary this morning and I barely got away.”
“How did you pull it off?” I asked.
Mario leaned over and whispered. “I lied. I said the captain was calling and I needed to go.”
I laughed. “You got lucky. What if she offered to be your escort so she could meet the captain personally?”
“Damn. Never thought of that. I would have been screwed if she did that,” he replied. “I don’t know how you did it. I was watching and you didn’t even blink as she kept going.”
“I’ve dealt with worse,” I said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, the captain is calling, and I need to go.”
“Oh yeah, better not keep him waiting,” Mario said.
As I walked away, I shook my head. It was a running joke that when you said, ‘the captain is calling’, it was just an excuse to get out of whatever conversation you were stuck in. I had fully expected Mario to make a comment or get offended, but nothing. It took all the fun out of using that phrase with Mario.
I made my way through the crowd that had gathered by the pool and headed down to my quarters to change out of my uniform. Now that my shift was over, all I wanted was some quiet on the upper deck with a drink and a book.
Spending so much time out at sea, I’d come to enjoy the feel of a book in my hand. Hell, I’d read so many I’d lost count. Normally I enjoyed a good mystery, but my sister had asked me to read her latest novel, set to release in a month, and I promised her I would. It would be painful to get through, and maybe a little awkward, but I always tried to keep my promises. Except for one. and that was the one I should have.
With the book in hand, I headed to a spot I had noticed last night. It wasn’t like I had a favorite chair, but there was something about this spot that I wish I could claim as my own. It was deserted at that time. If luck was on my side, I’d find it in the same condition.
But it wasn’t totally vacant, as it had been last night. People were passing by in pairs, laughing, but no one stopped. That was a good thing. It meant I could lie back and read, or even better, close my eyes and not be disturbed.
But it was not meant to be. As I lay there, someone bumped into my lounge chair and a cold, sticky drink got poured all over me.
What the fuck!
I sat up and turned to the person, pissed. It was one of the cocktail waitresses I had seen earlier.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there,” she stammered. “I thought I caught it, but I was too late.”
She looked like she was about to break out in tears.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I can go change.”
“I really didn’t mean to…”
“Hey, I’m not a guest. I’m an employee. I’m not going to complain to anyone. It was an accident, that’s all,” I said.
“You work here?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yes. This is my first time working on a cruise ship.”
