AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fueled with extra strong coffee and a scoop of collagen protein powder, Beth was standing on her front stoop when a shiny black Cadilac Escalade pulled into her driveway. “Decided to bring out the beast today,” Beth commented as she dragged her luggage down her tiny little sidewalk towards Chad. He met her halfway, retrieving the bag from her shoulder and claiming the handle of the large luggage.
“It is a couple hour drive, and we both have large bags, so I didn’t want the trip to feel claustrophobic in the BMW. I love my sports car, but it isn’t exactly practical for longer trips.” He lowered the tailgate once the bags were stowed in the cargo area next to his own bags, then escorted Beth to the front and openedthe passenger door. “My lady, your chariot awaits,” he said with a wave of his hand and a bow.
Beth chuckled and replied, “Why thank you, kind sir,” before settling into the plush leather seat and fastening her seatbelt.
They traveled in silence as Chad navigated through early morning traffic, but as soon as they cleared the worst congestion and got up to cruising speed, he asked, “Did you get all the details to the kids? I would hate to be met with angry phone calls if Tom feels it is necessary to hack my accounts to get the information. I don’t see your children letting you go on this extended adventure without knowing your every move.”
A smile split her face at the accuracy of his statement. “Yes, I made sure that everyone had the details of the itinerary and I spoke with Tom directly. He made sure I didn’t forget my GPS trackers and had already conferred with both Sarah and Annette. All of my family, both biological and adopted, are in agreement that this trip will be good for me, but they will be watching over me to make sure I stay safe. Tom made sure to say that they trust you, but he will be watching the GPS- just so you know.” She glanced over at Chad and gave him a mischievous smile. “As for Tom, if he did feel it was necessary to hack your accounts, you nor anyone else would have known unless he wanted you to. He is very good at his job. And… If Sarah gets worried for any reason, I have no doubt at all that they won’t be watching a tiny GPS dot on a screen but will use a satellite to straight up watch me.”
“Does that bother you?” Chad inquired, giving her a skeptical look.
“No, I know they love me, and this adventure thing is way outside my norm. Sarah can be a worry wart when it comes to her mother, and Tom is her secret weapon. Why worry when your best friend can commandeer a satellite and just give you a quick peek. It is kind of funny if you think about it.” A thoughtfullook played across her features as she turned to eye Chad once more, “Chadwick Fox, do you have something on your computer you are worried about my son finding?” Her right eyebrow lifted as she stared at him intently.
“What? No! Absolutely not. Bethany Elouise, you know me better than that. Gotta admit, though, the threat of your son snooping unannounced on a person’s computer is enough to keep all your close friends honest.” He chuckled at this thought and sent a smile her way.
“Well, I wouldn’t know, as you and his mother are my only close friends, and both of you have been awarded the Honest Abe and Children Approved awards.” She returned his smile before turning to watch the scenery pass by out the window.
“Chad, what was happening at the hospital this week that warranted you wearing your fancy toe pinch shoes?” As she gazed at him with concern in her eyes, she noticed his professional face begin to slip into place. Then, with a shake of his head, it lifted, and he met her eyes. His look was sad, and it was obvious he didn’t want to share this with her.
“Beth, you know me too well for me to try and hide anything from you. I will say this piece, but then we are not talking shop anymore for the rest of this trip. I want this to be just you and me, not work. Okay?”
“That sounds fair, but this conversation needs to be had first, or I will be worried about it the whole trip. I have wanted to ask you about it since our lunch, but you sidelined me with this invitation, and then everything spiraled out of control. Now, what is going on?”
A heavy sigh escaped his lips before he said, “The board is not happy with their end-of-the-year financial statements. They didn’t make as much profit as they had projected and want budget cuts made next year to bring up their bottom line. Larry and I both argued that they have been making a killing sincethey bought us out two years ago, but they want more. They want personnel cuts and department merging. They want to completely shut down one department and outsource it. It is a mess, and I have been fighting all week to keep all of our staff. I am not sure if I managed, but at least no one will be laid off before Christmas. Larry is finding more fat to cut this week while I am gone, and we will meet again as soon as I get back to figure out a plan.”
“I am so glad you and Larry work well together. CEOs and CMOs often find each other at cross purposes, but you have a great partnership going on. I have every hope that you will figure it out. Just remember this is not your fault, and don’t take any layoffs personally. I remember how badly the last round of layoffs affected you. I don’t ever want to see you that low again.”
“I feel personally responsible for every person on our staff. Laying them off or firing them is hard, especially when it is not warranted. It is just greedy businessmen grasping for more money when they are dripping with it already. This job is getting harder every year. I am thinking more and more seriously about stepping down.”
“What? This is the first time I have heard of this. You hit retirement age this year. Do you think you will cut the cord completely or just find a different position in the medical field?” Beth’s heart had started racing with this announcement, and she wasn’t sure why. Chad deserved to step back and do something easier. He had been CMO of the hospital for eight years and had held highly stressful jobs long before then. The medical field was stressful enough, but once you moved into leadership, there were so many more balls to keep in the air.
“I don’t know. It hit me recently that I am not getting any younger, and I am not sure I have squeezed everything out of this life that I want. I need to make some changes. That is what part of this trip is all about. I needed time to think and processmy options. What better person to do that with than my best friend.” He reached over and squeezed her fingers resting on her left thigh. “Thank you for coming with me, Beth. We both need this time away.” The look in his eye warmed her.
“Thank you for asking. Now that the decision has been made and I am on my way, I agree. I think I have needed this for a long time and am grateful you asked.” Turning her hand, she squeezed his fingers, and they resumed a companionable silence as the miles ticked by.
Chapter 8
Beth stood at the railing, looking down on the port staff at least nine stories below, and marveled at how tall the ship was. She wondered briefly how it compared to the Titanic, then quickly brushed that thought aside. “Don’t even go there, Beth. Not even for a minute,”she mentally chided herself.
Chad stopped at her side, handing her a frozen fruit beverage with a cute little umbrella adorning the top. “One ‘Ships Ahoy’ beverage of the day for you. I have no idea how it will taste without all the alcohol they put in them, but they assured me non-alcoholic would be just as fun.” They tapped the rims of their plastic glasses together and took a sip. The syrupy, sweet beverage was going to lead to a sugar crash later, but for now, the frozen liquid was refreshing as the Florida sun beat down on them. Sunny and seventy-five had nothing on today. While other states were already shoveling snow, Floridians were melting in ninety-six-degree weather with ninety-eight percent humidity. They were headed to the Caribbean, and Beth pondered if the heat would increase or decrease as their trip progressed. Shedoubted it could get any more uncomfortable than the current temperatures.
“I forgot to ask earlier, is this a new outfit? I have never seen you in it before.”
Turning to eye him dead on, Beth asked in an incredulous tone, “Chadwick, do you seriously think you have seen me wear every item of clothing in my closet? We have spent most of our friendship at the hospital.”
“Fair point. Well, new or not, you look lovely in your navy blue and white stripes. If you are not careful, the guests will think you are part of the ship’s crew. Unless they notice your sandals and hot pink toes. The uniform look definitely stops there.” A smile graced his face as he lifted his eyes back to hers after taking in her cute little feet. He had never noticed how dainty they were before, and he had seen her in sandals on numerous occasions.
“If that was supposed to be a compliment, you are a little rusty, but I thank you for the attempt. And, yes, this is a new outfit. I had to go shopping for a few things and wound up restocking my entire wardrobe. Sarah would have laughed herself silly if she had been there to see me carrying in all my shopping bags.”
“That is wonderful. You don’t do enough for yourself. I think Sarah would have been proud of you as well.”
The ship’s horn blew three times, announcing it was time to depart. A subtle vibration could be felt as the thrusters were engaged, and the ship began to pull away from the dock. They watched as they cleared the port, and the distance grew. “What do we do now?” Beth inquired, turning to Chad, hoping he knew the ins and outs of cruising so they weren’t both in the dark.
“Now, we will do a muster drill, and then we can find our staterooms. We can decide where we want to eat dinner and then sit down to look over our itinerary. Anything that my travel agent arranged that we don’t want to do can be canceled or rescheduled at the excursions desk.”
“Okay. That sounds like a lot. Did I hear they have a burger place on board? I am feeling like a hamburger. My protein coffee wore off a few hours ago.”
A look of embarrassment covered Chad’s face, “I am sorry, Beth, I didn’t think to ask you about lunch when we finally boarded. We could have grabbed a sandwich earlier. I will do better checking in with you, I promise.”
