Lost at Sea

by A. E. Radley

  And so, once a week, a yoga class was held on the usually restricted bow of the ship. Caroline watched as the yoga instructor stepped into the middle of the large, white H in the green circle that made up the landing pad and unrolled her mat.

  Maybe I should take up yoga again, she thought.

  “Did you get that email from Luciana about the stop at Napoli?” Thomas asked, coming to stand beside Caroline.

  She nodded. “Yes, as usual, Luciana overestimates how much free time we have on our Napoli stop. I suggested it would be better to do it tomorrow at Civitavecchia.”

  “Exactly, it’s often up to ninety percent of passengers who disembark tomorrow, much fewer at Napoli. I don’t want to do a system reboot when so many passengers will be on board,” Thomas said.

  “Agreed. Check with Dom to see how many passengers we know will be off the ship for excursions tomorrow and then the following day,” Caroline suggested. “Hopefully with the raw data we’ll be able to convince Luciana to bring her plans forward one day. Every single time we’ve done this, it’s caused mayhem. I’d like to minimise the disruption to the passengers if we can.”

  Thomas agreed and started to talk about something else. Caroline had no idea what because she was suddenly completely and utterly distracted. It was as if Mara had somehow managed to plan an epic joke, something she wouldn’t put past her friend at all.

  Down on the helipad, in full view of the bridge, was the yoga class. One member of that class was Serena Rubio.

  Of course she’s here, Caroline thought to herself. Just as I’m trying to forget about her and get some work done.

  Thomas was looking at the iPad in his hand, so he thankfully was unaware that Caroline’s gaze had dropped from the mountain range to a quite different set of hills.

  She coughed lightly and turned her body away from the sight of Serena doing the famous downward-facing dog pose. Her eyes had refused to look away, and the only way Caroline could assure her body of complying with her brain was to walk away.

  Luckily, her crew were used to her strutting along the length of the bridge to look at different stations and take in different views. Thomas followed her, continuing to talk about something to do with the next refuelling station.

  Caroline stopped at the end of the bridge, still able to see the yoga class perfectly.

  Damn them! Why did I ever agree to yoga on the helipad? she wondered.

  She’d seen the yoga classes every week for the last four years and had never once found them to be as interruptive as then and there. She angled her head in another direction but strained her eyes to look to the side, trying to look without seeming as if she were watching.

  Serena wore a strappy tank top and tight leggings. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, but some strands had come loose. She was obviously a seasoned yoga enthusiast as she contorted her body with great ease.

  Caroline’s mouth was dry, and she could feel her cheeks burn with a deep blush. She never ogled women. Ever. It was disrespectful at best, but she honestly couldn’t stop looking. Her body betrayed her. She was appalled with herself for watching but also turned on beyond all belief.

  Serena was stunning. Stretching her body to its limits, the sunlight twinkling on the tiny droplets of sweat on her skin.

  Stop watching! she screamed to herself.

  In a show of Herculean strength, she turned around fully, presenting her back to the window and trying to focus on whatever it was Thomas was reading from the iPad.

  “What do you think about that?” Thomas asked, looking up at her.

  “What do you think?” she countered; she had no idea what he had said.

  “Well, it’s obvious that we’re going to need to consider the timing—”

  She mentally congratulated herself on not getting caught. She took a step away from the glass and turned to give Thomas her full attention. As she tried to focus on what on earth he was talking about, she noticed something over his shoulder.

  At the other end of the bridge, a junior officer was openly staring out of the window. She followed his gaze; he was unquestionably looking at the yoga class.

  Caroline narrowed her eyes and stormed past Thomas towards the junior officer. She felt fury pulsing through her veins.

  “You’re dismissed,” she said loudly.

  He jumped so hard it was entirely possible he pulled a muscle.

  “C—captain?”

  “You heard me. Get off my bridge,” Caroline ordered. She spun around and looked at the other half a dozen crew members. “I will not accept anyone on this bridge acting in an unprofessional manner. The yoga class on the helipad are not there for our entertainment. If I see anyone else watching them in that manner, then I will write them up. Understood?”

  Everyone quickly acknowledged her. The junior officer attempted to apologise, but one glare from Caroline and he realised it was futile to speak with her now.

  Caroline’s heart was pounding. Anger had flared in her quicker than she’d ever known it to before. Now it was fading away and guilt was taking over. Her double standards were inexcusable.

  “He was looking at the yoga class?” Thomas asked, disgust clear in his tone.

  “Almost drooling,” Caroline said.

  “I’ll speak with him.”

  “Do that,” Caroline agreed. “Now, where were we?”

  Thomas picked up where he’d left off, but Caroline still couldn’t focus. She couldn’t understand what Serena Rubio was doing to her. Her world seemed off kilter and she didn’t know how to right it.

  No Escape

  La Spezia was just as hectic as Annie assumed it would be. There were mopeds racing around the streets everywhere she looked. It was a very busy, very industrial town. There was nothing necessarily wrong with that, Annie just wanted something a little calmer to soothe her mood.

  She’d encountered a couple of people she recognised from Fortuna, and they had recommended she get a taxi to the castle on the hill. Apparently, the views were breath-taking, and there were a few smaller restaurants up on the hilltop.

  When she arrived at the top of the hill, she was glad she’d taken their advice. It seemed that most of the tourists stayed in the town and didn’t want to venture up the hill.

  Which meant they were missing out.

  Tuscany was beautifully mountainous, which meant there was something to see in every direction. From the castle area, she could see down to the port and up into the mountains behind her. To either side were more gorgeous landscapes.

  She sucked in a deep breath of fresh air. This was a place where she could rest, where she could relax and take time to think. Away from the constant bustle aboard the ship.

  She started to walk around the area, in search of somewhere quiet to have lunch. She wanted a glass of wine, a homecooked meal, and some time to think about things. She passed a couple of restaurants but deemed the crowds dining a little too noisy for her liking.

  She saw a sign promising a café down a small, cobblestoned passageway. She didn’t know what she would find but decided to take the risk. If she had hesitated before walking down the narrow path, hopefully other people had, too.

  The gamble paid off. She found herself in a small courtyard with a beautiful, ivy-covered awning shielding a handful of tables from the sun. It looked absolutely idyllic, just what she had been hoping for.

  A woman gestured to her to come farther in. “English?”

  Annie nodded. How do they always know? she wondered.

  “Welcome, welcome.” The woman pulled out a chair for her and placed a menu down on the table. “To drink?”

  Annie turned the menu over and quickly scanned through the wine list. She pointed to a Chianti that she’d heard of.

  The woman nodded and hurried away to get the drink.

  Annie looked around the space. It was quaintly perfect. A little rundown but it still held its charm. And it was completely empty. Everything on the menu looked delicious, and she felt a world away from
all of her worries.

  She let out a content little sigh and relaxed further into her seat. A glass of wine appeared on the table.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “I leave you a while,” the woman replied, nodding to the menu in Annie’s hand.

  Annie smiled. She took a sip of the wine and then closed her eyes. She leaned her head back, feeling a few soft shafts of sunlight on her face through the ivy screen above her. She couldn’t have stumbled upon a better location if she’d tried.

  Just as she was starting to congratulate herself for her find, she heard footsteps softly echo from the passageway she’d entered by.

  Great, she thought. Hopefully just a delivery. Or someone who lives in the courtyard.

  She didn’t want to share her tranquil little escape. Not for a while at least.

  The footsteps got a little louder, and Annie opened her eyes.

  “You’re kidding me,” she muttered to herself in shock.

  Of all the people to run into in La Spezia, the odds were incredible. Captain Caroline West was walking out of the passageway and preparing to take a seat in the restaurant. She must have felt someone’s eyes on her and paused before taking her seat.

  She looked around, quickly making eye contact with Annie and looking as surprised as Annie felt. Caroline nodded a brief greeting to her before taking her seat.

  So, we’re sitting apart, Annie thought. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. The rejection still stung, but there was a little excitement at seeing Caroline. She wondered if Caroline knew about this place or if her instincts had brought the captain here in the same way her own had.

  Awkwardness permeated the atmosphere. What had been a nice little haven a few moments ago was now tense. It was ridiculous that they were sitting apart. Annie knew it, and she knew that Caroline probably knew it as well.

  Caroline suddenly stood up. Annie fixed her attention back on her menu, trying to ignore her but secretly wondering if she was leaving. She hoped she wasn’t.

  “Hi.”

  Annie looked up. Caroline stood to Annie’s left, holding onto the back of the chair with almost white knuckles. She wore a casual variation of her work uniform: black trousers and a white short-sleeved shirt, which was unbuttoned at the top with no tie.

  “Hello,” Annie greeted her in a polite but cold tone.

  “I… we… seem to be at the same establishment. I wondered, and please don’t feel in any way obligated, if you’d like to dine together?” Caroline asked.

  Nervousness radiated from her, but Annie couldn’t fathom why the usually put-together woman was suddenly on edge. However, she had made the first move and was making an effort—something that Annie couldn’t ignore.

  “I’d like that,” she admitted.

  Caroline pulled out the chair and sat down. “I’m sorry again, about yesterday.”

  “It’s fine.” Annie took a sip of wine.

  The waitress appeared, handing Caroline a menu.

  “Grazie,” Caroline replied.

  Annie sipped her wine again. Maybe Serena was on to something with this whole fate nonsense. What else could possibly explain the endless coincidences of them bumping into one another?

  “I’ll admit,” Caroline spoke as her eyes focused intently on the menu in her hands, “that I feel rather guilty over my behaviour yesterday. I’d… suddenly begun to think it was unprofessional of me to monopolise your very enjoyable company. The call from the ship came in at the right time for me to run away like a coward.”

  Annie blinked in surprise at Caroline’s honesty. Caroline remained fully focused on her menu, tense fingers around the edges of the leather binder the only thing that indicated her nerves.

  “We seem to be bumping into each other often,” Annie admitted. “And I can’t complain about that. I enjoy your company. A lot.”

  Caroline glanced at her from over the top of the menu. “Likewise.”

  “Then there’s no reason for us not to have lunch together,” Annie said.

  Caroline smiled. “I’m glad you agree. And, again, I’m sorry about yesterday.”

  “It’s fine,” Annie said. “Besides, it’s worked out well. At least here I don’t have to fight with the legions of your fans aboard the ship. I have you all to myself.”

  Caroline chuckled. “It’s I who has to fight through your fans. You’re the star.”

  Annie deflated a little. The reminder that it was all a lie was too real for her. She wanted to enjoy this time with Caroline and be able to talk without mentioning Serena Rubio at all.

  “How long have you worked for Dream?” Annie asked, wanting to keep to topics she was comfortable with. Talking about Caroline was definitely preferable to talking about herself.

  “Five years,” Caroline replied.

  “What did you do before that?” Annie asked, interested in unravelling the mystery that was Captain West.

  “I was in the Royal Navy,” Caroline said. “I started out in the security service and worked my way up.”

  “And then… left?”

  Caroline smiled. “Well, it isn’t quite that simple.”

  “It never is,” Annie agreed. “Want to tell me about it?”

  Annie had expected a fairly quick no. She got the feeling that the change from naval officer to cruise ship captain wasn’t exactly a simple one. It was possibly a long story that Caroline wouldn’t want to tell someone she hardly knew.

  To her surprise, Caroline seemed to give the matter some thought before slowly nodding. “Why not? You might as well know…”

  In a Previous Life

  They ordered their meals and Caroline ordered some fruit juice, mindful of being on duty and the very strict alcohol policy that she enforced with an iron fist aboard Fortuna.

  Seeing Serena in the hilltop restaurant had been a shock, so much so that she had foolishly sat down at another table. She’d agonised for a few moments over what would be best to do. Eventually, she pushed her anxiety to one side and walked over to Serena’s table.

  She was so pleased that she’d taken the gamble. Within a few minutes, the air had seemingly cleared. An apology was issued, a confession made, and now things had returned to normal.

  Caroline’s previous relationships had been volatile, with both parties under an enormous amount of work stress and taking it out on the other. Serena’s laidback, carefree attitude was a breath of fresh air.

  Of course, she had asked the one question which Caroline knew she would struggle to answer: how did she find herself as the master of Fortuna? In some ways it was good that Serena had asked so early on. It allowed Caroline the chance to get the sorry saga out of the way. To explain exactly how her life had been turned upside down and how she had ended up in her new life that she was still, even after five years, trying to settle into.

  “I joined the Royal Navy the very moment I left school,” she explained. “My father had been in the navy, died in service even. But that didn’t stop me, it encouraged me if anything.”

  Serena offered condolences through facial expression alone, offering Caroline a clean run at what was so obviously going to be a difficult tale to tell.

  “I worked hard, progressed quickly. I’m insatiably curious, which led to roles in security. I was with the Surface Fleet and eventually commanded a frigate. Do you know what that is?”

  “It’s a type of boat,” Serena joked, looking very pleased with herself.

  “It is,” Caroline agreed. “Frigates are all-rounders, quite agile. They take on roles from antipiracy to humanitarian aid missions.”

  Serena’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Caroline wasn’t surprised. Being in charge of a cruise ship was considerably different from her previous career. She certainly wasn’t drinking Champagne and wondering why they were serving lobster for the third night in a row when she was in the Royal Navy.

  “I continued to progress. Ship to ship, command to command. I earned a huge amount of experience and honestly thought I’d never le
ave the service. I was in, what I thought was, a long-term, committed relationship with a… with a woman who was based in Portsmouth.” Caroline sipped at her juice. She’d already made the comment about a lack of Mrs West, but this was a lot more direct and it made her a little uncomfortable. Over half a century old and coming out still felt like an ordeal.

  “What happened?” Serena asked, fascination clear on her face.

  “I was on an operation in the North Sea. We’d heard of human traffickers using a particular route and had been sent to intercept them. We got there, and this ship was overflowing with people, with literally no food and no drinking water. Conditions were horrendous. We called for backup, knowing that we couldn’t take all the people as well as the traffickers.”

  Caroline leaned on the table, her head in her hand. She looked at Serena and let out a small sigh. “Do you ever have that feeling when you know something terrible will happen, but you just don’t quite know what? Not an anxiety over a situation, but a concrete certainty that something is about to happen?”

  Serena quickly nodded. “I know what you mean.” She ran her hand over her bare arm. “The hairs on your arm stand up. You get goosebumps.”

  “Exactly.” Caroline sat back. “I knew something was about to happen, but I never could have predicted what. The backup ship arrived, and the commanding officer was drunk.”

  “What?!”

  “He was out of control, and let’s just say the only reason he was in the role in the first place was because of family connections.”

  “What happened?”

  Caroline swallowed. “He was on my ship, and I decided I needed to relieve him of his duties. He didn’t agree. He tried to fight his way out of the situation, and all of my bridge officers became embroiled in this ridiculous attempt to get him under control. We lost control of the situation. Security was called, and one of the cells wasn’t locked correctly. One of the traffickers decided to use the distraction to his benefit to escape.”

  Serena covered her mouth in horror.

  “He killed a member of my crew to take control of the bridge of the vessel we’d seized. He attempted to engage the engines and sail away, but we’d tied the boat to our ship. It was mayhem. We started to lose control, and the engines on the other vessel started to overheat.”