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“And on Saturday, before we return to port, we’ll be celebrating what an eventful week we’ve had… and yes, there will be plenty of rum involved. This will be an adventure for everyone – am I clear? Consider it live-action role playing on the high seas.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good,” he nodded. “Now, your cabin doors are labeled with your colors, and you’ll have supplies, information, and other details brought to your room. You have the entire run of the ship tonight to learn your way around – and I suggest you use it. Memorize the terms, apply them, and beprepared to set sail. Dinner is at sunset in the galley… so you might learn where that is first.”
The captain surveyed them – and then met her eyes before turning to walk away.
“Jared – start the color selection on the port side of the ship.”
He hesitated before barking out a single order.
“Dismissed!”
Calista watched the arrogant man walk off towards the back of the ship, climbing a small ladder up to another platform, before disappearing beyond what looked like a massive steering wheel with spokes.
Paying attention to what was going on around her now, she glared in understanding of what the captain had done. She’d argued with him – and was now last to select her color, which meant she got whatever was left.
The people around her were quite a selection, too. There was every type there, and every age. The first girl, a goth-looking chick that looked to be about nineteen years old, had selected the purple bracelet, rolling her eyes.
“Don’t you have anything darker?”
“This is the choices we have to pick from, Miss Kendra,” Bo volunteered, smiling at everyone and cutting off Jared before he could comment, moving down the line to the next guy.
This guy was a walking stereotype and she knew immediately she would be avoiding him like the plague. ‘Blue’, or ‘Ric without the K because it’s cooler’was self-employed and made surfboards in southern California, explaining that he was up for something ‘neat’…
Ric was a know-it-all… and it showed.
Greaaaat,she mused.
The woman with nicely coiffed hairthat barely moved in the wind was dressed exceedingly sharp and wearing nothing appropriate for a pirate ship, unless she was the treasure… and knew it.
Bella, a wanna-be Hollywood starlet, selected Green.
“Money is green, and also my favorite color.”
“So why are you wearing pink,” Ric retorted, taking the words out of Calista’s mouth before she could comment.
Meet loser number two, she thought silently.
“Mr. Suarez,” Jared began, and was cut off immediately.
“DoctorSuarez,” the man corrected. “I’ve worked a long time for my title and would prefer to use it instead of a color.”
“How about red,” Jared said bluntly, quickly snapping the red band onto his wrist before he could say anything else. “Nice power color that reminds me of blood, Doctor.”
The woman standing beside Calista was definitely giving off ‘Leave it to Beaver’ vibes. She was wearing a floral skirt that fell below the knees, a cashmere sweater, and even had gloves on her hands that looked so out of place on the wooden ship.
“Hello,” the woman smiled brightly, extending her hand as if she expected Jared to bestow a kiss on her knuckles like she was the queen. “Lori Kelley, licensed clinical social worker, vegan, chakra guru, and I enjoy meditation.”
“Greaaaat,” Jared drawled, glancing at Calista – who smothered a choked laugh as she realized they were probably thinking the same thing.
Meet Loser number three…
“Yellow or orange, Miss Kelley?”
“Yellow, if you please,” she smiled brightly – and winked at Calista, who felt her left eye spasm because the urge to roll it was so strong in that second. This woman wasin la-la land, and she was surrounded by crazies with eccentric personalities that…
Oh my gosh?! She was staring at a row full of crazies and losers – which probably included herself,she suddenly thought with sobering realization. There was a saying that ‘If everyone in the room was nice, you were the jerk – but if everyone around you was crazy? You were obviously in a sanitarium’.
