For the women on board, he became an even bigger challenge. This dark, handsome brooding man just needed their own special charms and they would bring the light back into his smoldering eyes, the passion back to his heart and the rise of his throbbing member. Only they didn’t. He no longer noticed them and carried on with his tasks and duties as though he were alone in the world.
Standing on the bridge, the familiar sight of gulls swooping beyond the glass, Nico was oblivious to their screeching. In the distance, a small island could be seen. It was their next port of call and they would be docking nearby later that day. His thoughts returned to his surroundings and he watched his crew working around him. Since the sinking of the Costa Concordia, due diligence and the work loads of all cruise ships captains had trebled. Passengers were more demanding and safety procedures had increased. The industry was no longer the relaxed industry it had appeared to be. Today, everything was running smoothly and there were no problems. He signaled to his second officer that he was going to walk the decks.
Leaving the bridge via the side door, he climbed down the narrow steps to the main sun deck, one that was wide and full of sunbathing passengers. He walked along with his hands behind his back. Some passengers were jogging and he was surrounded by a flurry of activity. They smiled and waved at him as he walked passed. Others were strolling or stood at the rails, looking at the horizon. Today he walked away from the bow. He knew that would always be a busy area, because since the Titanic movie you could always find lovers copying the scene with Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio, arms outstretched in their own personal version. In the beginning they had tried to stop them, due to the safety risks to the passengers as it was formally a crew only area, but people still found a way in by stepping over the large and heavy linked chains and ropes. Until, in the end, the crew upon his instructions had cleared the area, made it safe and now it was the most romantic area on the ship. So many marriage proposals had been done there and he had married several couples there too.
He had walked this deck thousands of times, but never before did he feel the emptiness and the loneliness. It was as though all the passengers, and there were many of them, blurred and faded out of his sight. He walked the decks alone. Even though they and their laughter surrounded him, it did not reach him. The happiness and the sun on his face did not stir him. The elemental part of being part of the world had left him. Walking through the double doors into the relative coolness of the air-conditioned darkness of the reception area, Nico halted for a moment to allow his eyes to become accustomed to the lower light of the interior. The reception, sumptuously decorated in reds and gold was bustling. The gleam of the brass fittings shone and glinted at him as he walked to the purser’s office. The girls, all in their crisp uniforms, were all busy dealing with enquiries.
They smiled at the people they were dealing with, flashing white even teeth and tanned faces, faces made browner, by the whiteness of their uniforms. Nico turned towards Veronique’s office, or what was once her office, before remembering she wasn’t there any more and he turned abruptly in the opposite direction. He still couldn’t believe that she wasn’t there. He still saw her sitting in her chair, behind her desk. He stopped nearby and made pretence of reading the notice board of activities that had been posted there. There were several handwritten notices that had been put up by Veronique and were still there. She wanted a personal touch to the display.
“Hello Captain, what a surprise.” He was distracted from the notice board by the voice that spoke. “It is not often I see you down here. Have you come to visit me?” Her smile was warm and inviting and her eyes betrayed a hint of sexual interest; a gleam that he hadn’t seen in her eyes before. “Do come into my office.” She moved back, her body inviting him to go towards her office, Veronique’s old office.
“I haven’t time, I am afraid,” he said abruptly.
“Surely just for a moment? I do have some things I wish to discuss with you. I would very much appreciate your...” She paused for emphasis, “experience on the matter.” The word experience hung on the air between them. He nodded and entered her office. She shut the door behind him and signaled for him to be seated. He took off his cap and placed it on the desk in front of him. She sat on the edge and looked down at him and crossed her legs suggestively in the same manner that Veronique used to. He found his eyes drawn to her thighs, which was just what she wanted. He looked away, but not before noticing the fine blonde hairs on her thighs where her skirt had parted momentarily. She leant forward invitingly and gave him a glimpse of her breasts through her blouse opening. He looked away, remembering how very different it all was with Veronique in this office, how he had tried everything to get a glimpse of hers. She smiled knowingly at him, assuming that her ploys were working and having an effect on him. At the same time, he could see her eyes smiling, almost mocking him. Inexplicably he started to feel the anger rising in him. He repressed the physical betrayal of his body and felt angry that his eyes had been drawn exactly where she intended and she had intentionally manipulated him. He hated the fact his body had started to react to her sexual advances, however slight.
“You wanted to discuss something?” His voice was blunt and curt. She was surprised at the coldness in his voice. She was used to men being putty in her hands and normally she would be able to get whatever she wanted with just a flash of her thighs. It gave her a thrill to see them all predictably falling over themselves to be helpful and she felt a sense of power when they did. But with him, it was not in his eyes, only anger flashing in the darkness of his look. She was momentarily unsure of herself and quickly tried to regain her professional composure. She began to speak; speaking of problems he knew she should handle herself. He listened politely. The more she spoke, the more Nico was aware of the undercurrents of sexual desire that she felt for him. He felt an immediate dislike for her and a feeling of disgust formed in the pit of his stomach. There would be no pleasure in any sexual union with her; yes there could be a sexual and physical relief. He might consider those options at a later date, but for now. He brought himself to his own relief with Veronique in his mind. He still loved her and for him, no other woman would come close. There was not even the desire to try.
A few weeks later, and walking the decks as part of his normal routine, not a moment had passed without Veronique still haunting his every moment, and his every thought. Everywhere he looked, he expected to see her, hear her. Every morning he awoke with the thought of her. It was driving him crazy, she was driving him crazy. He had to do something. His whole life was on standby, on hold. Holding on to the rails and looking into the horizon, Nico threw his head back and laughed. It was obvious. He knew exactly what he needed to do and decided to take a sabbatical and physically track her down himself. Whilst he was on board, the ship going round and round from one destination to another, he was getting no nearer to her. He had to pound the streets, knock on doors and become his own detective if he wanted to find her. He would walk the world barefoot if that was what it took.
The flight to London was uneventful and the hotel room that he found himself in could have been any hotel room in any part of the world. Its very format was that of a standard international hotel room, impersonal, functional with bed, desk, TV, ensuite bathroom and wardrobe. He didn’t care, as it was all he needed. The next day he knew was day one of Operation Veronique, Operation Love.
Walking aimlessly through the hustle and bustle of the London streets, Nico didn’t even know why he was there. He was desperate. She could be anywhere in the world. He had followed his gut instinct and had been pulled to the UK. Quite by accident, he found himself stood outside the London head office that had employed them both. He walked in through the glass revolving door and crossed the foyer to the lift. The lady on reception stopped him.
“Good morning, can I help you?”
“I am Captain Nico Vangelis of the Emerald Queen. He held out his ID card with the company logo and picture on it. “I am in London fo
r a few days break and I thought I would drop in to the offices and meet the personnel that I work with here.”
“Oh Captain, how nice to meet you. It is not often that cruise personnel take the time and make the effort to come and see us.” Her eyes sparkled.
“Can I start with a tour of the building? Is there anyone that can introduce me?” He winked and she blushed.
“I would love to show you around personally, but unfortunately I am tied to this desk. I am sure that someone from upstairs will be delighted to show you around. Please take a seat. I shall ask for someone to come and collect you.” He sat down and she walked back to her desk, making an extra effort to sway her hips as she did so. It was lost on Nico who didn’t even notice. He was busy looking at the oil painting of one of the ships in the main foyer.
She called some numbers on her switchboard and after speaking for a few moments, came back to where he was sat.
“Caroline will be down in a few moments, she is from the marketing department and knows everyone in the building. Just tell her who you wish to meet and she will arrange it for you.”
“Thank you.” He nodded his thanks. She walked away, again swaying her hips provocatively. This time Nico was busy leafing through a couple of company brochures. Under the name of his ship, he found a photo that had been taken of him on board and a brief bio of his captaincy on board. More photos included the facilities on board, several passenger shots and one of him with Veronique that made his heart miss a beat. Although they were both smiling, at the time, both were angry that they had to take time out of their busy schedules to pose for the photo. It had been taken a few years ago and now he looked at the photo longingly. Veronique was wearing a white strapless evening gown that showed her tan off to perfection. She was laughing in the picture looking every bit as adorable as he remembered her. At the time, he had tried to persuade the marketing manager to use models, but she had wanted authenticity and had insisted they do it together. Now he was grateful to her for this, as it was the only photo he had of them together. He would ask for a copy of it from Caroline.
“Well, hello,” the words were drawn out. “So you are Captain Vangelis.” Nico looked up into the bright blue eyes of Caroline. He smiled and quickly closed the brochure. “You haven’t changed a bit; I have seen your photo a thousand times over the years. They are all over the place.”
They shook hands and formally introduced themselves to each other; it turned out it was thanks to Caroline, that the photo was taken. He mentioned it to her.
“Come upstairs, I can give you a copy of it immediately. I can also email it to you in any format you want.”
As Nico passed the reception, he winked at the woman who giggled girlishly.
In the lift, Nico evaluated Caroline. She was a little tired looking, had dyed blonde hair, was a little overweight, but carried it well, and she was not unattractive. Caroline, on her part, had no need to evaluate Nico. If he had gone to her apartment, he would have found a blown up picture of him on her living room wall. She smiled at him every day and kissed his photo. They both silently watched the digital numbers of the floors change. The doors opened on the seventh floor and she gestured for him to leave before her.
The open plan office was light, airy, had floor to ceiling windows, and lots of ringing telephones. Caroline led him to her office. As she passed, she was aware of all the women looking at Nico. Nico, who caught a couple of them looking at him, smiled diplomatically. It was the smile he had perfected over the years to charm the passengers and now, he did it without a second thought.
Inside her office, Nico was offered a seat opposite her desk. He had imagined that she would be a tidy person, but now, in her office, he could see papers and files all over the place, some had been semi tidied into a jumbled heap to allow her to work on the desk. She looked around apologetically.
“You have caught me at a bit of a bad time I’m afraid. I’m in the middle of updating several projects and we have just finished a massive mail shot to our many passengers.” There was a knock at the door and her secretary came in.
“Would you like any tea or coffee Ms. Bartlet?” Caroline looked at Nico and he nodded.
“Yes, thank you Linda. Make that two.” The door closed behind her.
“Now I understand that you would like to meet a couple of people here in the office and a tour of the building?”
“Yes.”
“It seems an unusual request–you cruisers–as we call you, rarely seem to come ashore. Let alone want to see the boring admin side of things.” Nico smiled.
“Yes I know. To be honest it was a spur of the moment thing. I was in London visiting friends for a few days and literally found myself outside the building. It seemed only polite to come in and say hello to all you lovely ladies.” He flashed her a disarming smile. “You know, us cruisers, think you land lubbers at the office are all shrouded in mystery too.”
“I think you have the best deal though; all that sunshine, the sea, the beaches, and the on board romances we keep hearing about.” This time it was his turn to laugh.
“You would not believe how many people, passengers, come on board thinking exactly that and mostly it is, for them, but not for us. We are working.”
The door opened and Linda walked in with two cups of steaming coffee.
“Linda, before you go, could you kindly email me all the ship’s brochures and the promotional photos for the “Emerald Queen?” Our Captain here would like a few copies of them.”
“Of course, Caroline, I’ll do it right away.” A few moments later and they were alone again.
“Would you like milk and sugar? Do help yourself.”
“No, I take it black.” Caroline’s hand trembled slightly when she accidently touched his fingers as she passed him the cup and saucer. She smiled to hide her embarrassment. How many times had she dreamt of doing just this? To have him sat in her office before her, as he was now. They would flirt a little, go out to dinner together and she would invite him back to hers for coffee and the next thing she would know, she would be in his arms being passionately kissed. She suddenly stopped the mental picture playing in her mind, put down her coffee and picked up a red folder off her desk.
“This is a folder regarding your ship. It has all sorts of information in it. I am not sure if there is anything of interest to you. Would you like to see it?”
“May I?” She passed the folder to him and returned to her chair behind her desk.
He glanced through the pages efficiently, mentally clearing all the information that he didn’t need and also looking solely for information on Veronique whilst all the time appearing nonchalant about it all. Finally, at the back, were a few pages marked “senior personnel.” He slowed and lingered over several pictures of Veronique. She should have been a model. There was a photo of her that he hadn’t seen before. She was standing with her back to the horizon. She was laughing, her face fully towards the camera, her hair was blowing in the wind, her chiffon dress was floating and caught in the breeze. The photo was so sharp that Nico could see the small blonde hairs highlighted by the sun on her arms. He had an instant memory of her perfume, the smell of the sea air and the sensual smell of her warm skin against his.
“This is a good photo of Veronique,” he said aloud. Caroline looked up from her work and nodded.
“Yes, that is the type of photo we love to have in the brochures.”
“Why was it never used?”
“Oh it might be still. It’s just that we had so many good ones of her that it didn’t matter which one we printed.”
“Really?”
“Yes she is uber photogenic, meaning the camera just loved her, but she asked us not to use them unless we had to. She never wanted any of her to be taken alone. In case you haven’t noticed, she is always in group shots or with people.”
“Oh, why was that?” He tried to appear semi interested when in reality his ears had pricked up and he really did want to know, badly.
; “I don’t know.”
“Tell me, what happened to her? Where did she go? She left the ship so suddenly.”
“Did she? I didn’t know.”
“A few months ago I think.” Nico looked down. His heart was pounding so strongly. He tried to make it look as though he had asked casually.
“I can try to find out if you like? If anyone knows, personnel should.” She picked up the phone and spoke to the personnel department. “No luck I’m afraid. She was paid in full, in cash, to the time she left. She also left no forwarding address. The only information we have is an address near Monte Carlo.
“I am sure that’s her family home. Her brother still lives there, I believe. She always spoke so highly of him, yet when I met him, he wasn’t at all friendly to me.” He smiled trying to make it sound as though they were very friendly. “Yes, he was always coming on board.” He paused. “It would be lovely to go visit them. May I have their address?”
To Murder Matt Page 12
