by Vivian Wood
We’re doing a raised ropes course that is supposed to, as my sister puts it, help us function better as a team. I feel like this is all kind of pointless, but Malkia has been pushing for this for months. Wrapping my arms across my chest, I repress a sigh as I look at the group.
“Okay,” Malkia says. “Look around you, everyone. This is the group that you will be relying upon for the next month. As soon as our yacht leaves the dock, we need everything to run smoothly. Everyone has their jobs to do, and everyone else relies upon each person to do it. Gabe and I can step into any role… but basically, we need to work as a cohesive unit.”
She grins and motions to the ropes course behind her. “That is where this comes in. This is a safe place where we can work out our kinks. Tomorrow we move onto the boat, but today… today is fun and constructive. Got it?”
I puff out my cheeks and slide my gaze to Luna. She is staring at me, but as soon as we make eye contact, she jerks her eyes to the floor.
God, she looked amazing when I saw her the other night. She was wearing a little baby pink dress, her hair pinned up, her jewelry expensive yet tasteful…
She was like looking at a movie star, honestly.
Not that looking at her now is bad… I just got a glimpse into what her life is actually like. Going to parties and galas, playing the benefactor… she just fit into that room full of wealthy people.
Born and raised, I guess.
What in the world is going on with her I won’t even begin to guess. Just when I thought that we’d found some common ground, hiding from everyone at the gala… she disappeared.
I came back with two champagne flutes and found myself alone in a dark, empty room. No word from her; I wasn’t even sure that Luna would show up today, to be honest.
It made me realize that it is infinitely better if I just compose myself and separate work from personal stuff.
Besides, she’s my employee. That won’t stop me from staring at her occasionally, or erase my memories of that night in Vegas.
But it will keep it from happening again.
…won’t it?
“Let’s break into teams!” Malkia calls out. She points to the person closest to her. “One!” She points to the next person. “Two.” She points at Luna. “One… and then you’re two… one…”
When she gets around to me, she gives me an odd smirk. “One. Which means I’m two… that way, one of us is with each group.” She gives me a wink.
I squint at her, frowning. “Who will go first, Mal?”
She grins, showing me her perfect white teeth. “You should, Gabriel. Show us how it’s done.” She looks down at her watch. “I think I’ll take my team down the street to the coffee shop. I wouldn’t want to spoil the team building surprises or steal any of your moves.” She spins around. “Come on, team two! This way!”
She leads half the room away, leaving four of my crew mates and the sweaty teenage boy that works here staring at me. Pressing my lips into a smile, I look at the remaining crew members.
“So… I guess we just start, huh?”
“Aye aye, captain,” Luna says.
I squint at her, but she’s already turning toward the obstacle course. It’s roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool, all the platforms about ten feet in the air. Luna leads the group up a ladder attached to the first platform.
It takes several seconds of staring at her ass to realize I’m fading out again, receding into memories of exactly how amazing that ass is when she’s stripped bare.
Scowling, I take up the rear, following the teenager that works here. When I finally get to the top of the first platform, I peer at the guy’s name badge.
“Zach,” I address him. He’s easily a foot shorter than I am, and he swallows anxiously at me. “Who goes first?”
“Who is in charge? Because they usually lead the way.”
I give him half a smile. “I’ll take the lead, then.”
“Sure,” he says, his voice cracking. “Let me hook you up to the safety line.
I step forward, watching as Zach attaches a dangling carabiner on a stretchy length of rope to the back of my harness.
I look forward, where there are about twenty ropes dangling, each with a peg and the top and bottom. The ropes are evenly spaced for the most part, but at the end there is a wider gap.
“This first bit is easiest when you all go together,” Zach explains. “And then use your collective momentum to swing to the platform at the end.”
I make a face. “Right. Just so we are clear about this, I do not like heights and I do not want to do this.” Zach winces but doesn’t say anything. I crack my knuckles, looking at my crew mates. “Come on. Like he said, it’s easier if we all go, one after another.”
Luna pipes up, adjusting the waistband of her yoga pants. “I’ll go after you, Gabe.”
“Then me,” one of the guys grumbles.
“There we go,” I say, turning to face the ropes again. “Come on. We want to finish before the other team gets back. That way I can lord it over my sister.”
I mean it as a joke, but no one can see my face so no one knows I’m kidding. Repressing a sigh, I reach for the first rope. It’s actually kind of far out now that I’m actually looking at it…
“If you want, use your team,” Zach says. “You can link arms and lean out further to catch that first rope…”
I shoot him a scowl. He’s totally right, but in doing so, I’ll have to link arms with Luna.
Taking a breath, I hold my elbow out to her. She smiles a little as she takes in, then offers her elbow to Carlos.
It seems like the contact is almost electric, her skin so smooth and cool against mine.
We all link up, then I move out, using the weight of my crew to balance myself. It’s no work at all to catch the rope this time.
Letting go of Luna, I take the first leap.
Luna whoops as I land on the rope’s pegs, swinging to the second rope with ease. I look back and swing the rope I just left toward Luna.
She catches it with a grin, jumping on it. She makes a small sound of victory when her feet touch the pegs. To my surprise, Emma shouts, “Yes!” from her place at the back of the line.
We work our way down the line, all the way until I am clinging to the last rope before the balcony. I turn my head, looking back.
“Okay. I think if we all swing together, it’ll give me enough height to jump to the platform. Then I can try to catch Luna, and Luna can catch Carlos…”
It takes us a couple of tries to get our collective swing high enough, but eventually I do jump on the platform. Then I hold out my arms and Luna swings to me.
She almost doesn’t make it, but I grab her and keep her from falling off the platform. She clings to me, blushing vividly the entire time.
“I got you,” I say, steadying her.
Her light eyes burn into my face. “Thanks,” she says, a little bit breathless.
My blood heats up, just having her so close to me. She feels fragile to the touch, as though she’s made of glass and I have to try not to break her. Still, I hold onto her for a few more seconds before I turn her loose.
Holding her again, smelling her delicate perfume, brings me back to that packed dance floor, reminds me of how amazing Luna felt in my arms the first time I laid eyes on her.
My heartbeat is loud in my own ears. Luna looks up at me for just a second me, her eyes crinkling, biting her bottom lip in a way that drives me wild. Something crackles in the air between us, electrified, just waiting for one or the other of us to make a move.
Does she know that I still dream about her? She sure seems to…
In the next second, she pulls back from my embrace. Her gaze goes down to her feet as she steadies herself. The connection snaps instantly, vanishing like it never existed.
“Hey, captain!” Carlos calls. “Come on, grab me on my next big swing…”
I am caught up in the commotion, helping the rest of my crew mates get across. The
re are still three big obstacles left to race through, including a big wall and a zip line finish.
Luna avoids making eye contact for the rest of the time. Or maybe I just imagined that moment, the two of us frozen in time. I don’t know.
But when I fly down the zip line as the last person to touch the ground, she’s already taking off her harness. And by the time I manage to get my harness off, she’s over having a very animated conversation with Malkia.
Sighing as I return the harness to Zach, I steady myself. This is just another day. Luna is just another employee. Nothing to see here, nothing at all.
Heading out to my car, I remind myself of that, saying it over and over in my head like a mantra. That doesn’t really make it true, though…
10
Luna
Remember what you agreed to do for me… the closer you can get to him, the better it will be for me… and you, by extension.
I read the text from Dr. Montgomery in the marina parking lot, scowling down at the screen. Shoving the phone in my pocket, I take a deep breath.
His demand sounds an awful lot like something you would pay a hooker to do. I shake off Dr. Montgomery’s weird pressure and struggle to pick up my camping backpack.
Walking down the dock toward the High Hope, I worry that I have packed poorly for our trip. I went off of a much-photocopied list of essentials that Malkia presented the new crew members with. Sweaters, pants, shoes, underwear.
The most basic-bitch list ever, and that’s coming from a white girl who loves Starbucks.
It explicitly stated that no more than one personal bag would be allowed and even specified the measurements. So I stuffed everything I thought I would need into two bags, eyed it all critically, then repacked.
Five repacked bags later, I am hauling basically everything I can take with me on my back. I almost can’t get the damn pack out of the car but eventually I make it down the docks in one piece.
“Need a hand?” Malkia asks as soon as I huff and puff my way up the gangplank. She sticks out her hand, but I’m worried that she will see how heavy my pack is and order me to repack again.
Plus, I’m not sure that I can get it off my back without lying down. I can’t do that and still have the crew think that I’m not crazy, so…
I shake my head, breathing hard. “Where is my room?”
Malkia eyes me skeptically. “Come on. I’ll show you.”
Her footsteps across the deck are thunderous but quick. I struggle to keep up with her as we round the upper deck and she disappears down the stairs.
Making it down the stairs is a special kind of struggle, balancing everything just perfectly. I break out in a sweat.
At the bottom of the stairs, I follow Malkia down the tight corridor and into a tiny room. Four bunk beds take up almost the entire space, with four lockers at the back. There is a roll away door on the whole space, but otherwise no thought has been given to privacy.
“Voila,” Malkia says, waving her hand. “I took the top bunk on the right. I think Julie took the other top bunk.” She motions to the two bottom bunks, only a few feet apart. “So you have your choice of the bottom bunks. Okay?”
I push myself off the wall, launching myself toward the right bunk. Malkia is kind enough to get out of my way. I slip off the straps of my backpack and it falls to a floor with a loud thunk.
That’s the moment at which I feel my period start. And it isn’t a mere trickle either; it’s a thunderous monsoon.
I planned ahead and I’m wearing a super absorbency pad. But still, it’s definitely not the way that I want to start this trip.
Malkia raises a brow, motioning over to the lockers. “You can claim whichever locker you want. I’ll meet you upstairs on deck, okay?”
I nod emphatically. “Yep!”
Stepping around me, she disappears out into the corridor. I lean against the bunk bed briefly, thanking my lucky stars for birth control pills. With the pills controlling my hormones, I’ll only menstruate for a few days.
It’ll just be painful, especially without the hot water bottle and handful of painkillers I usually take. Resigning myself to taking a shitload of acetaminophen, I push my backpack toward the first open locker I find.
Rummaging around in my backpack, I take a couple of Tylenol and then lock everything up. As I head out into the hallway, I take a deep breath.
I jog up the stairs and hit the main deck. Malkia and most of the crew are already there, standing and listening to Gabe talk. I wasn’t really ready for Gabe in uniform, but looking at him now, my eyes drink him in.
He wears all white, from a short sleeve shirt down to crisp white pants. His belt buckle is gold, his tie is solid black. And at each of his shoulders are two black and gold patches.
With his dark hair and his height, he looks utterly delectable at this exact moment. When his blue green eyes land on me, he pauses for the merest second in whatever speech he’s giving.
Then he looks away and clears his throat.
A slow heat slithers through my lower stomach. It’s not just me that feels the pull of attraction, then.
“As I was saying,” Gabe says. “We will have a couple of hours to finish getting settled. Malkia will hand out uniforms to everybody…”
I stand by the railing, my fingers curling around it. My stomach cramps rear their ugly little head. I lift my chin, determined to set off on this trip.
“In two hours, you had better be dressed and ready to sail,” Gabe continues. “Because the clients will board the ship… and then once they are on board, please please consider every single thing you say and do. From the second that they step on board this ship, it becomes a working ship, with you as its crew.”
“Yes sir!” Malkia says, looking at her brother with something like admiration on her face. “Everyone line up here now to receive your uniforms…”
I head to the back of the line, my mind traveling back to my cramps. Damn, I really wish that I’d had them yesterday. Or even tomorrow when we are far enough away from shore that I don’t have to worry about getting kicked off the boat.
My eyes go instinctively to Gabe, who is clapping Malkia on the shoulder. He wouldn’t kick me off for something so minor at this point, right?
As he turns and heads to the upper deck, I repress a sigh. I really should have taken some more pain killers. At home, by now I would’ve usually just taken something heavier, like a sedative.
But that’s not possible here, I think. Somehow the idea of a narcotic and the sea don’t really seem to mix very well.
The line moves along slowly. I stare at a coil of rope that lays on the deck, my lower body really starting to ache. My back is in on it too now.
“Luna?” Malkia asks.
I look up, realizing that I’m the last one. I’m about five feet away from her too. I flash her a smile, shaking my head, and walk forward.
“Sorry. I’m a little out of it today,” I explain.
She frowns. “Stay away from the sides of the boat then. We cannot have one of the new recruits falling overboard during the first hour that we are all on the boat, okay?”
She passes me my uniform, which consists of a white polo shirt, a long black skirt, and a black tie. Behind that is a heavy black parka with a large red cross splash over the back.
“Whoa.” I look up at Malkia. “A skirt? I would’ve thought that they would be banned on the High Hope.”
Malkia gives me a secretive smile. “I hope you like it, because Captain Gabriel put the order in to the uniform company all by himself. I had nothing to do with it.”
I raise my brows. “Really? Well, you won’t hear any complaints from me…”
She makes a long mmmmmm sound. “Go change, Luna. We have a lot of work to do today to get this yacht out to sea.”
I bow my head. “Of course.”
I hurry downstairs and change. Malkia isn’t down in our room, but the other two women are. I say hi to them and we all squeeze into our uniforms.
Malkia directed that I should help turn down the guest beds. When I am done with that, Sam needs help in the kitchen, peeling potatoes and preparing garnishes.
In between all this, I am running to the bathroom every half hour, praying to god that I don’t bleed on my freshly pressed uniform. I also max myself out on the over the counter pain meds, determined to just breathe through the pain.
I help Sam make little sprigs of thyme, making faces when my cramps get especially bad. By the time I’m done with that, the guests are on board.
Gabe pops his head in the kitchen, summoning me. He’s all business right now, his face lacking a single bit of playfulness. “Come say hello to our clients. Let them know that you are available for anything they need.”
Raising my eyebrows at Sam, I follow Gabe out of the galley and upstairs.
There I see people milling around with champagne flutes. For a second, I could easily believe that this was the gala I attended just yesterday.
“Everyone, this is Luna, the doctor who will be servicing this trip,” Gabe announces. Everybody turns to look at me, nodding faintly. “Luna, these are our guests.”
The oldest man looks me up and down, smiling a little. He offers his hand. “Alejandro Vera. This is my wife, Sofia.” He waves his hand to a very elegantly dressed blonde with literally the biggest fake lips I’ve ever seen in person. Actually, on second glance, I’m a hundred percent sure that she’s had her eyes, nose, breasts, and butt remodeled too. I nod my head.
Alejandro continues. “These four are my daughters and sons…” He waves to several people that are about ten years my senior. “And then the grandchildren are mine as well, of course.”
He looks extremely proud. I know just how to key into that, because he reminds me exactly of my own father.
I smile widely. “How wonderful. It is a pleasure to meet your beautiful family, sir.”
I curtsy, bobbing my head. When I look up again, Alejandro is grinning ear to ear. “Thank you, Luna. Or is it Dr. Luna?”
