Sybil smiled at Janey. “Of course, you’re right. Every diver should carefully check their own equipment. It’s an absolute necessity when diving, one that I overlooked. I hope you’ll remember what happened to me if you ever scuba dive.”
Janey looked at me and frowned. “I have no interest in scuba diving whatsoever, especially after hearing your story.” She finished her scone.
A waiter came to our table offering a variety of cakes. I chose a piece of hazelnut chocolate espresso cake. Elizabeth opted for the New York cheese cake, and Deirdre, a dark chocolate pear cream éclair. Sybil passed on the cakes as did Janey to my surprise.
“What is your husband’s job?” Deirdre asked.
“He’s in finance and just finished working on a big acquisition for his company. Four couples were rewarded with this trip as a thank you. Those are the only other people I know on this cruise.” Sybil looked over at me after she stated this.
Janey looked over at me knowingly, slightly shaking her head. Had she also noticed the little goings on between Sybil and the passing man? Then she asked, “Kay, can I be excused? I see a friend from the tween club over there.” She motioned to a table a short distance away. A girl about Janey’s age was looking over at us, motioning to Janey. The girl was sitting with three women at her table.
“Sure. Have fun.” I watched as she walked over to her friend’s table.
“How generous, the cruise as a reward,” I said. I took the first bite of my chocolate cake and closed my eyes for just a few seconds, taking in the exquisite taste and wondering why Sybil made a point of looking at me when she mentioned about not knowing anyone else on the cruise besides her husband’s co-workers. For some reason, she wanted to make it clear, she didn’t know anyone else and definitely not the couple that was sitting three tables away, who she was looking at right now. I didn’t care who she knew or didn’t know on the ship. And why should she care what I thought anyway? Was she worried I might mention it to her husband in conversation?
“Why aren’t you sitting with the other couples at dinner?” Elizabeth asked. “I would think it would be more fun than just the two of you.”
And I doubt she would be insulted with others present from George’s office.
“George insisted on our own table. He likes his privacy and he isn’t exactly what you would call ‘friends’ with the others.”
“I couldn’t help overhearing at dinner that you mentioned his secretary was on board.”
She gave me a quizzical look. “Yes, she and her husband are among the couples. George isn’t fond of her at all. Always avoids her at social functions at the company. She must be good at her job, otherwise I believe she’d be gone. George isn’t afraid to fire someone.”
Nice guy.
“We’re trying to work through some issues. George thought this cruise might renew our marriage since this is where we first met.”
With the insults he’s throwing around. It didn’t seem like he was trying too hard.
“How long have you been married?” Deirdre asked.
“Two years, but we lived together before that. Our marriage has been a bit rocky since we moved to Iowa.” She took another sip of her tea.”I don’t know.” She looked down.
“Where did you live before?” Elizabeth asked.
Sybil patted her mouth with her napkin. “Arlington, Virginia. My husband worked for the government. Then suddenly, we upped and left all of our friends for his new job. He’s a bit overbearing.”
A bit?
“He thought we should form new friendships in our new city and didn’t want me to keep in touch with anyone back in Virginia.”
“That must have been tough,” I said, thinking about the many times we moved.
“It was.”
“What did he do in the government?” Deirdre asked.
She put down her cup. “To tell you the truth, I’m not exactly sure. He worked for the State Department. He didn’t like to talk about his job. In fact we never did. He went on a lot of business trips. Probably why we got along so well back then.” She laughed. “He was away more than he was home.”
Elizabeth looked from me to Deirdre.
“I had a lot of hope for this trip,” Sybil said and shrugged. “There’s still many romantic nights to come.”
I thought about the call I had overheard at the dinner table from someone on the cruise that George obviously must have just broken up with and then I visualized George and the woman sitting in the corner of the karaoke room. I took another bite of my cake.
“Now that you’ve heard my life’s story, what about all of you?”
The three of us looked at each other. Deirdre started in first. “I have a shop, Planetary Herbals...”
Elizabeth looked over at me and smiled.
* * * *
As we got ready for dinner for formal night, I mentioned to Phil about having our photos taken.
“Do we have to, Kay?”
“I think it would be nice to have a group photo taken, and I’d like to have one taken of you and me. All of us are going to meet at the piano bar at six o’clock for the photo.”
“Geez. Those photos never turn out.”
“How would you know? These are professional photographers. The photos would be a nice keepsake.”
Phil and Mike took off for pre-dinner drinks. Deirdre, Elizabeth, and I decided to kick off the evening and visit while listening to piano music at our meeting spot. Janey had taken off with a friend earlier after getting dressed in a sleeveless linen colored dress.
When we approached the area, we could hear the tinkle of the piano. We sat at a round table and ordered glasses of wine. Many of the tables were full.
“The guys could have come here for drinks,” Elizabeth said.
“They wanted to get in on the two-for-one specials,” Deirdre said.
The pianist was taking song requests. Elizabeth went up and wrote a song on a piece of paper.
While we listened to the music, I told Elizabeth and Deirdre my suspicions about Sybil lying about knowing the man at tea.
“Give her a break. It’s possible she was just admiring the man. Thought he was good looking and he responded back to her attention,” Elizabeth said. “Even though I’m married, I still notice attractive men and probably given them second looks.”
“What about third, fourth, and fifth looks?” Deirdre said.
I looked up and saw Phil and Mike coming towards us. The pianist still hadn’t played Elizabeth’s request yet. We waited a couple more minutes, then “Hotel California” was announced. Elizabeth stood up, went over to the dance floor and started dancing. I started to get up to dance with Elizabeth so she wouldn’t be on the floor alone, when Phil joined her. All eyes were on Elizabeth and Phil, the lone dancers. Phil gazed at me a few times, picking me out in the crowd of tables. I smiled. Elizabeth beamed radiantly. She laughed, she smiled. She looked younger with every twirl. I loved her free spirit.
When the song ended, I looked around. “Janey should have been here by now.”
“She’s probably off taking photos still,” Deirdre said.
“I saw her taking a photo of her hamburger and fries about a half hour ago in the food court with a friend,” Phil said, still a little out of breath.
“Before dinner! Lobster is on the menu this evening. Phil, what were you doing there?”
He shrugged.
A few minutes later, Janey arrived. She looked at me and then down at my shoes. “Kay, really! A ninth pair of shoes?” I was wearing the pair of shoes I had bought with Deirdre and Elizabeth.
After we had our pictures taken, we went into the dining room. It was nice seeing everyone dressed up, cocktail dresses, jackets and ties. Some women went over the top with evening gowns and loads of jewelry.
I was talking with Deirdre when Elizabeth said, “He just doesn’t let up.” She shook her head and motioned in the direction of Sybil and her husband. “He’s constantly criticizing.”
T
he assistant waiter must have noticed what Elizabeth had said because I heard him say to Sybil, “Madam looks very nice this evening.”
Sybil smiled at the waiter, then proceeded to talk to her husband. I didn’t know why she bothered with him. Her marriage, I’m sure all of us thought, was beyond repair. I looked around our table. All were now watching them.
She stopped talking and looked at her husband suspiciously. Then we heard Sybil say, “Did you hear what I just said?” She hesitated. “You weren’t listening to me, were you? Are you at all interested in what I have to say?”
George looked over to her, taking his eyes off the menu. “I would listen, if you ever said anything of interest.”
“I’d like to belt him one,” Elizabeth said.
Our appetizers arrived. I had been looking forward to the escargot and later to the lobster that were on the menu for this evening. I hoped the evening wouldn’t be ruined by our neighboring tables.
Just then George’s phone rang. “What?”
Silence.
“Incompetent fool! Tell him he’s fired!”
He ended the call.
“Sybil and George were playing trivia at a table near us today,” Janey said quietly. “I could hear him criticizing her for not knowing the answers. When we exchanged papers to correct them, he obviously didn’t know many of the answers either.”
“George isn’t a very nice man,” I said. “Let’s try to concentrate on enjoying this wonderful dinner.” I went back to the escargot, savoring the heavy garlic taste.
After dinner we walked Janey to the tween club, and then went to listen to the blues band. During their break, the singer came over to our table and introduced herself.
“Hi, I’m Sparkle.” This evening’s short blue dress certainly sparkled. Any shorter and you would have seen her behind.
“Hello,” I said. We all introduced ourselves.
She visited at our table for several minutes, asking us how we liked the cruise so far. Then the three of them, Phil, Mike, and Sparkle, went over to the other band members and conversed for a while.
“She did seem very nice,” I said to Deirdre and Elizabeth. I looked at my watch. “I wonder what they could be talking about for so long?”
“Probably trying to convince the band to let them join in on the next set,” Deirdre said. “I noticed you twisting your wedding band when Crystal was talking to Phil. You have nothing to worry about. Phil adores you.”
Elizabeth laughed. “You mean Sparkle.”
“Deirdre, I don’t know what you mean. I’m not worried about Sparkle even slightly.”
When the music started up, I asked Phil to dance to a slow number. Sparkle kept her eyes on us, really on Phil, her eyes never left him. She smiled with each word she sang.
“Kay, you seem a bit upset. Remember I’m here for you if you ever want to talk about anything. I mean it.”
I looked at Phil. “You mean you’re not just eye candy?”
He laughed. “Well, that too.”
After we finished dancing, Janey walked into the blues club and sat down next to me. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at the tween club until we pick you up.”
“I knew you’d be in here. I have to tell you what I just saw. Who do you suppose that guy was that Sybil noticed at tea this afternoon?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I just saw her with him, standing in another lounge, when I was walking by. I stopped for a minute to watch the piano guy, and then saw Sybil walk up to him when his wife left to use the restroom outside of the lounge. I watched Sybil and the man for a couple of minutes. They looked like they were having an intense conversation.”
“Could you hear what they were saying?”
“I tried to get closer to hear without Sybil seeing me. But I couldn’t hear anything. The piano was too loud. I could see that he didn’t like their conversation and looked worried.”
“Did she look worried?”
“She didn’t. Then Sybil kissed him on his cheek and left. The guy’s wife was already returning or whoever she is. He seemed upset.”
“I wonder if the woman saw Sybil kiss him.”
Janey shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Interesting. “Janey, you know, you shouldn’t spy on people.”
She smirked. “You seemed pretty interested. Besides, you’re not the only detective here.”
I smiled at Janey’s comment. So Sybil did know him. Strange that she went out of her way to deny it. “Next time, please wait for us to pick you up at the tween club.”
Janey showed me the viewer on her camera. “Sure. I even got a picture of them talking from a distance, a side profile, but you can zoom in. See. You can make out who they are.”
Phil came around and asked Janey to dance. She put her camera down next to me and walked over to the dance floor with Phil. I looked at her last photo. Sure enough, it was Sybil and the man from the tea. While Janey and Phil were dancing, a man in an officer’s uniform asked Elizabeth to dance. She stayed out on the dance floor with him for the rest of the set.
Before retiring, Phil and I went out on the promenade deck and looked up at the sky. Deirdre had suggested to Mike that they take Janey to their cabin for a little while so we could have some time to ourselves. A mild wind was blowing, rippling the sea. We marveled at how well we could see the stars, the bright clusters that totally filled the sky. We saw the bright swath along the Milky Way. Phil pointed out other constellations: Cassiopeia, Orion. The sky was beautiful. It was truly spectacular and romantic. We kissed under the stars.
Chapter Eight
Day Four on the ship
Tuesday, March 29
THAT MORNING, WE all had room service for breakfast, but not at an ungodly hour. We had early excursions. Janey was excited to eat on the balcony as we looked out mesmerized at the beautiful waterfront of Jamaica. The sun was hot and shimmered on the water, dancing on the small waves. Palm trees waved in the island breeze against blue skies.
“Such a beautiful island. There’s nothing better than experiencing a day in the tropics. I can’t wait to get out there,” Phil said, then finished his chocolate croissant. “Isn’t it exciting? This is why we’re here!”
I closed my eyes, facing the sun. “Desire, belief, and expectancy. You’ll have a great day.”
“That sounds like something Deirdre would say,” Janey said.
I winked at her. “I read that in one of her magazines.”
Looking through the daily newsletter of the activities offered on the ship today, I noticed a photo of the officer Elizabeth had been dancing with yesterday evening. “Look. Here’s Elizabeth’s dance partner.” I turned the paper towards Phil and Janey. “He’s the Chief Security Officer on board.”
Janey took the newsletter from me. “That’s him all right. I figured he was someone important wearing that uniform.” She gave the newsletter back to me.
“So what are you doing today, Phil?” Janey asked.
Phil took a sip of his coffee. “Picture this.” Phil’s eyes opened wide. “Mike and I riding through the rainforest seven hundred feet in the air and...”
“On a chairlift?”
“Yes, Janey, on a chairlift.”
Janey looked out in the distance as if imagining what it would be like. “That should be thrilling.”
Definitely something I would never do. I was afraid of heights. “I’m sure glad Mike is here to go with you on these excursions.”
Phil put his cup down and picked up a second pastry.
“Hey, I ordered that!” Janey said.
He put the pastry back on the plate.
“That’s okay. You can have it,” Janey said sheepishly.
“No. Go ahead. Afterwards, there’s the Jamaican bobsled and zip lining through the trees.”
I took a sip of my coffee. I definitely would never do that either. I reached for a mixed berry yogurt parfait. I had ordered one for each of us.
“Kay, why d
idn’t we sign up for those excursions also?”
I raised my head up and looked in the air.
Then she turned back to Phil. “What’s the Jamaican bobsled ride?”
Phil smiled. “Speeding through the jungle, roller coaster-style.”
Janey picked up the pastry Phil had handled and took a bite. “Wow! That sounds cool.”
“You and Deirdre are going to swim with bottlenose dolphins. That should be thrilling, don’t you think? You wanted to do that.” Janey actually begged to do that. Deirdre had volunteered to go with her. It seemed like something that would be up her alley anyway, communing with the dolphins.
“I did. I do.” She looked over at Phil. “Did you have to sign some waver?”
“Not yet.”
Janey was wise beyond her years. Actually, I should have thought about Phil taking out extra life insurance for this trip.
Elizabeth and I had decided on a raft trip on the Martha Brae River. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I hoped there wouldn’t be much in the way of whitewater.
We all left the ship at the same time for our adventures. We agreed that later we would meet up for a little shopping before going back to the ship. I wanted to pick up gifts for everyone back home. My thoughts drifted to Neelam and Dinesh, hoping everything was going all right for them.
Still a bit traumatized from my kayaking adventure after Elizabeth’s wedding last summer, I was happy to discover that the river rafting was a lovely meander on a tranquil river. Elizabeth and I sat back on a homemade two-seater, bamboo raft. We were joined by “our captain” who guided the raft along the stunning river. He gave us a narration about the tropical landscape, pointing out birds and animals, telling us about the history and the legends of the area, and life in Jamaica.
The ride was incredibly relaxing and just as exciting, in a different sort of way, than what I suspected the others were experiencing.
“This would be so romantic with our husbands,” Elizabeth said as we passed by vine covered trees.
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