I wouldn’t even wish that on Daniel, but I knew what she was getting at and nodded in acknowledgement.
‘You’re lucky to have found your freedom at a young age.’
Long after Marissa had left, her words resonated. You’re lucky to have found your freedom at a young age. Whilst I didn’t feel young, in comparison to Kristy at least, I knew what she meant. I had to make my time count just like Marissa was. I thought back to the sail-away, when I’d pushed myself into imagining Daniel by my side. I made the decision there and then, to leave him at home and filed him under ‘memories’ rather ‘imagination’. I wouldn’t let him impinge on my new chapter in life.
We finally finished work at nine p.m. and I slumped into one of the chairs at reception, smiling.
‘You’re very happy for someone who’s worked non-stop since the crack of dawn with a … now how did you put it … “hangover from hell!”.’ Kristy said, flopping into the leather chair next to me and closing her eyes.
‘Do you know what I like about it? Working on the ship I mean,’ I asked.
‘Not really,’ she replied wearily.
‘Being busy and having a purpose. It’s been a while since I’ve felt like that.’ Back in the village, trying to save the business had been a necessity and a welcome distraction but being on the ship felt like I was part of something, a team, and that felt good.
‘Well you’re in luck. Tomorrow is a sea day and it’s formal night, so there’ll be plenty of walk-ins on top of the bookings we’ve already secured. There’ll be a giant scoop of busy for you.’ She winked. ‘Fancy a drink?’
‘You know what? I think I do.’
The dance team weren’t in the bar when we arrived as the evening show was still on, and I sensed Kristy was more relaxed for that reason. As we sat down with our drinks, a few officers entered. They intimidated me a little in their pristine white suites, very Officer-and-a-Gentleman-like. A little shiver of excitement ran down my spine.
‘Hannah,’ Kristy muttered. ‘Stop staring at them.’ She looked tense.
‘Sorry, I didn’t realize I was.’
‘We don’t bother the officers.’
‘I didn’t even realize I was. What’s the big deal?’ I asked, resisting the urge to look back over at them.
‘It’s like an unwritten code. You don’t bother the ranks above you. Only talk to them if they talk to you first, that kind of thing.’
I made a face. ‘Well that seems daft – there was nothing in training to suggest that.’
‘Like I said: It’s unwritten.’
‘So where do we fit in?’ I asked her, interested. Wherever I came in the pecking order couldn’t be worse than the status I’d earned back home – worst wife, worst business owner, object of pity for the whole village. Before she got a chance to answer, a guy strode towards our table. He was striking.
‘Hey, Kristy, how’s it going?’ he said in an American accent before turning to look at me. ‘And who’s this?’
‘Hi, Pete, this is Hannah. She’s just joined us in the spa.’
‘Oh hey, Hannah, welcome aboard!’ He flashed me a wide, bright grin and held a hand out for me to shake. It was a split second before my brain could register it. ‘I work in the gym next door, so you’ll see a lot more of me.’ Pete was toned and muscular in a lean, I-work-out way, and his naturally highlighted blond hair was shaggy and unruly. He had a friendly, attractive face, and the way he leant over the table to talk to us suggested an easy confidence. I estimated him to be in his late twenties.
‘It’s very nice to meet you,’ I said, coolly taking his hand whilst trying to act as if my being introduced to gorgeous American gym instructors happened all the time.
He turned to the bar and shouted over to the barman, ‘Hey, my man George, could I get a water please?’
‘Of course, Pete. Coming up,’ George said in his easy Caribbean accent. He smiled at Pete with friendly affection, revealing two rows of perfectly white teeth. I sat back in my seat as Pete and Kristy chatted about some beach they’d visited last week. I smiled as I realized I hadn’t thought about Daniel all evening.
***
I awoke in the pitch black as the ship groaned, slowly swaying to and fro. Disorientated and unsure of the time, I fumbled around for my phone. It was five a.m. I felt drunk, but we’d only had two drinks the night before. I rested my head back down and felt the sway, glad I had an extra hour. By the time six a.m. arrived, I wasn’t feeling very good. The relentless toing and froing had started to make me feel queasy, a sensation that intensified on sitting up. The light came on, causing the dizziness behind my eyes to sting.
‘Well you look crap,’ was the cheerful greeting I received from Kristy.
‘I don’t feel great. I’m hoping norovirus isn’t doing the rounds. In training they said it can spread quite quickly around the ship.’ My eyebrows knitted together as the dizziness made my head feel numb.
She laughed. ‘You’ve not got norovirus, you daft cow; you’re seasick!’
‘Seasick? I’ve never been seasick before.’
‘You just haven’t been out on the open sea for any length of time before. It’s the Atlantic; it gets choppy. Here, take a couple of these.’ She threw a foil packet of travel sickness pills onto the bed in front of me. ‘No time to be sick. I’m afraid we’ve a busy day ahead.’
On our way up to the spa I noticed piles of sick bags attached to the handrails around the ship, which made me feel even more uneasy.
‘Are we expecting things to get worse?’ I asked nervously. Kristy just shrugged.
When we walked in Marion was already on reception, checking through the booking forms for the day.
‘Oh good, you’re here. We’ve a busy day today as expected,’ she said without making eye contact.
‘Where do you want us first?’ Kristy asked, but I couldn’t stand it any more. I ran outside onto the deck. The wind was against me and took my breath away as I went towards the rail. It was early enough to be completely empty so I stood, looking out to sea. The horizon moved up and down slowly in the distance and the strip of grey sea grew narrow and wide with the movement.
I inhaled deeply, hoping the fresh air would help, but the sickness tingled around my numb head before plummeting to the depths of my stomach, churning up whatever lurked in there – I grabbed the paper bag from my pocket and retched into it, feeling better as soon as I had.
‘Oh dear,’ Kristy said, coming up behind me. She chuckled. ‘It gets us all on the second day,’ she added. ‘Take another couple of pills and sip some cold water.’
The nausea subsided over the course of the day as Kristy’s pills kicked in, and besides, I was far too busy massaging and exfoliating to even notice the motion of the ship. Before I knew it, it was seven o’clock. I told Kristy I’d meet her in the bar and
