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Jack had always stepped back, let her take the reins, but then questioned her after she made the decisions. They hadbeen a good balance of give-and-take… which made her wonder if Will would do the same?
Her biggest problem was that their two lives were so far apart, so different, so entrenched in their different worlds… it was learning how to define what ‘together’ would look like.
“And realizing that it shouldn’t matter,” she whispered aloud softly to herself, as she turned from his door and walked off, needing to think.
Will collapsed in his bunk,listening to Calista’s footsteps walk away as he closed his eyes… silently praying.
13WALKING THE PLANK
CALISTA
“Listen up, ya’landlubbers!” Shepherd called out, hefting his hook above his head menacingly as he scowled. “Today, the lot of ye’ sinners, will be walking the plank!”
“What?”Calista said aloud, swallowing her bite of scrambled eggs that was suddenly tasteless.
“I don’t think so,” Green interjected softly, primping her hair that was starting to look a little bedraggled after a few days with no curling iron, no hair dryer, and no way to re-do whatever elaborate coif she had when she first arrived.
“Yes!” Blue hollered, literally fist-pumping the air in excitement and enthusiasm. “Can we free dive down to look around? How far out are we from the coast? Do you have scuba gear? Can we swim for quite a while? What about Waydoo Flyers? You know… the eFoils? Those electric surfboards that skim the surface are gnarly, dude!”
“We’re not your ‘dudes’,” Jared muttered, shaking hishead and rolling his eyes. “We aren’t freediving, no eFoils, and no on the scuba gear…”
“Do we need to worry about the bends?” Red said, raising his hand.
“The bends?” Blue laughed annoyingly, answering the doctor’s question, as Jared and Shepherd both hid a smile. “You’d have to be far down in the water and come up quickly to end up with the bends, doc. Stick to your silicone injections and tummy tucks. You are out of your element here.”
“I think we are well aware that all of us are out of our element.”
“Will there be any sharks?” Purple asked, smiling broadly. “Can we chum the water first?”
“WHAT?”every set of eyes turned to the woman that was strangely revealing a slightly psychotic tendency to everyone, bit-by-bit.
“I didn’t sign a waiver for deep sea swimming,” Yellow said quietly. “I’m allergic to salt water.”
“And MSG,” Green muttered, making Calista bite back a laugh.
“And pepper,” Shepherd grumbled.
“And cotton sheets,” Marie added bitterly.
“And sweat,” Jared contributed bluntly.
“And latex,” Bo added – causing everyone’s eyes to swing towards him in shock. “WHAT?! Don’t look at me likethat. We have latex glovesin the kitchen– not what you all are thinking! Sheesh!”
“Besides, it was just the one time – and those were sheepskin, so I didn’t have a reaction,” Yellow volunteered, waving her fingers towards Bo’s brightly blushing face – which turned evenmore ruddy.
“Don’t judgeme,” Bo sputtered indignantly. “Between Jared and Marie, combined with Orange and the Captain…”
“Whoa! Orange… and Scarface? Seriously?” someone interjected as the attention suddenly swung towards her – and her eggs went down the wrong pipe, causing Calista to have a coughing fit as she struggled to breathe.
“This ship,” Bo continued, “… Ought to be called ‘The Love Boat’instead of ‘The Happy Pappy’.”
“Ought to be called ‘The Nappy Pappy’… because the accommodations are disgusting,” Green muttered, curling her lip.
“How about just ‘The Crappy Pappy’?” Purple muttered in agreement. “My cell phone ran out of juice two days ago – and who doesn’t have showers on a cruise ship?”
“This isn’t acruiseship and…” Jared began, looking flummoxed at having been called out for his relationship with Marie, that had obviously been quite a well-kept secret.
“It’s apirateship,” Shepherd interjected, and then looked at Jared in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me about you and Marie? We did two tours and…”
