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With a roll of my eyes, I walk around him and crouch before him until I’m at his eye level. That is when I see the large white sail on the floor between us. On his side is a large red tool kit and in his hand is a needle with thread inserted in it.
He doesn’t acknowledge my presence this time as he focuses on sewing up the ripped seam on the sail caused by the storm last night.
“Is that going to work?” I ask, nodding at his handwork.
“Yes.”
“Cool. When do you think we’ll be able to continue our journey?”
“Soon.”
“Did you suddenly lose all your vocabulary or are you intentionally replying to me with one-worded answers?”
He pauses with the sewing and finally raises his head to look at me. “I answered your questions, didn’t I?”
I nod. “Hm. I guess your go-to response when you’re trying to avoid something or run from something is to go back to being the cold and detached man you are well-known for.” I retort and Chris’ stare turns into a scowl. “Look, if this is about last night…”
“Last night was a mistake,” he interjects, his tone hard enough to signify an end to our conversation, if you can even call it that.
I scoff, blinking rapidly while he finishes up with sewing the sail and ties up the thread. Still crouching, I watch him pick up the sail, hating that I notice the flex in his arm muscles.He then walks away from me.
Refusing to be cast aside like one of his “girls” that Thomas Knight made mention of, I follow right after him. “I get it, you don’t feel the same way I feel about you and that’s okay, but you certainly don’t have to be mean about it.”
Chris climbs the stairs, sail in hand and goes about hanging it back on its mast. “I’m not being mean about anything. You’re the one overthinking things,” he grunts as he succeeds in tying it up and finishing up the knot.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Are you always this infuriating?”
He shrugs, coming down the steps and stopping directly in front of me. “Maybe.”
A sigh escapes my mouth. “What I’m trying to say is that we can forget about what happened last night. We are both adults and I understand that we both want different things. I’m just saying that for the sake of peace and the work we are about to start together, we should try to maintain our budding friendship. You don’t have to go back to ignoring me because you think I’ll be emotional about it and try to cling to you.” When he keeps on staring at me without saying anything, I sigh again. “Deal?” I stretch a hand out to him.
It takes a moment, but he takes that hand. I almost curse at the tingling sensation I feel running through my body the moment his hand touches mine. Maybe when we are in the lab and no longer alone together, I’ll finally be able to move on from this intoxicating feeling.
12
CHRISTOPHER
She thinks I don’t have feelings for her? She couldn’t be more wrong. Thoughts of her refused to leave my mind all through the night and even this morning, no matter how hard I try. I had even slept right in front of her door, if that could be called sleeping, because of how worried I was about her.
If the storm had been worse and she had gotten hurt in any way, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.
Guilt wracks my entire being whenever I glance at her. I was the one who had convinced her to come on the expedition with me a few days early. If only I had insisted we return to our hotel rather than embark on the journey ourselves, we wouldn’t have been caught in a storm that made her so terrified.
Her terror had been so great that all that mattered in that moment was comforting her. But due to my inability to resist temptation when it comes to Charlotte, I ended up kissing and touching her.
I had expected anger from her this morning for pulling away from her or even the silent treatment. What I hadn’t expected was for her to come up to me and speak like nothing happened. I should have known Charlotte wouldn’t react like other women I’ve dealt with in the past.
However, her air of indifference irks me more than I’m willing to admit. There’s nothing I can do about it though. I’ve already thought it through and come to the conclusion that Charlotte and I cannot work out.
I’ve been too scarred by my experiences with women to jump into a relationship with another one. The only thing I know how to do now is casual flings and one-night stands and Charlotte deserves so much more.
There’s also the fact that she is my daughter’s best friend. Ava is all I have left and she is the most important thing in my life. The last thing I want to do is ruin my relationship with my daughter by sleeping with her best friend and inevitably causing a rift between them. Ava would hate me and just the thought of that is too much for me to bear.
The speakers make a shuffling sound before Charlotte’s voice fills my compartment. “Oh my God, Chris, I think I just saw something move in the ocean. It could be a whale,” she speaks through the portable walkie-talkie I handed her minutes ago.
I watch her through the glass, standing by the railings on the deck with a pair of binoculars glued to her eyes. There’s clear excitement in her voice and her obvious love for the ocean reflects through her words. But I can’t help being worried about her. “Don’t stay too close to the railings, Charlotte.”
She pulls down the binoculars and turns her head in my direction, then she sticks her tongue out at me childishly.
