by Holly Kerr
I searched the website.
Being aboard the Oceanic Aphrodite will reignite your passions as you experience the magic of faraway places that you have only dreamed about. Discover new ways of looking at the world as you travel to the far corners of the globe. Savour your time with imaginative tours and culinary and cultural traditions.
Fall in love.
Legend has it that everyone who boards the Aphrodite finds their true love.
Find your passion on the Oceanic Aphrodite. Our flagship is world-renowned for the luxurious settings. The perfect settings for weddings, anniversaries and to fall in love.
Further searching found pages of stories about the famous and non-famous who found love aboard the Aphrodite. I read about Prince Benedikt of Liechtenstein, singer Justin Sheehan’s assistant, well-known hotel magnet Elliot Marshall, who fell in love with one of the dancers, and race car driver Declan Dodd, who got married on board last year.
Maybe there was something to the stories.
Except love was the last thing I was looking for.
Chapter Nine
After my research, it was time for a nap.
When I woke up, I put a serious dent in the fruit basket and unpacked Petra’s clothes before spending a couple of hours curled up on a lounge chair with her copy of Michelle Obama’s book.
The seating for the late dinner was at eight thirty at the Mount Olympus restaurant. I debated all day whether to go. I was going to be seated with Petra’s friends and my stomach was queasy with the thought of meeting them. On one hand, I was pretending to be Petra, so why would I go to be with people who knew her? On the other, maybe they were worried about her.
The chance of that was slim since I’d been in the cabin for a good part of the day and no one had shown up looking for her.
No one had come looking for me either, which was a good thing.
Finally, when the sun dropped low in the sky, I decided to go for dinner. The grumbling of hunger pains in my stomach cinched the deal.
I took some care with my appearance. Hair straightened to fall below my shoulders. In Petra’s bag, I found enough makeup still in the plastic wrappings to outfit a small SEPHORA and I had fun shadowing and highlighting, something I hadn’t had the time or the supplies to do for a long time.
Then I went through Petra’s clothes. Dresses hung neatly in the closet, all with matching shoes and accessories in little satin bags.
And that was just her evening wear. The suitcase was so big I could have curled up inside and pulled the zipper. Everything had been packed so perfectly that there were enough clothes for a three-week cruise, and I’d never have to wear the same thing twice.
The well-known designer labels made me nostalgic and as I touched the fabrics, I couldn’t help remembering when I had a wardrobe like Petra’s.
I still had a bit of time before I needed to be in the dining room, so I headed up to Deck 14 for a predinner drink, walking carefully up the stairs in a pair of Jimmy Choo wedge sandals.
I barely stepped out of the stairwell when I heard a familiar voice. “Petra!”
“This is becoming a habit,” I called with a smile as I walked towards Will leaning against the Parnassus bar.
“You going to the bar or bumping into me?” Will asked, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Both, I guess.” I fought the urge to press my hand against my stomach to stem the butterflies that took flight at the sight of Will. He was dressed in his uniform, the blue shirt fitted to suggest muscles hidden beneath it, with his curly hair windblown from a day outside. His blue eyes were bright against his tanned face.
Was that a second arrow from Cupid that I felt?
No. Just…no.
Adonis had my martini poured by the time I walked the short distance. “Your drink, my lady,” he said as he added the second olive. “You look lovely tonight.”
“You really do,” Will agreed. “You look a little more like your passport photo with your hair like that.”
The butterflies took flight as my stomach sank. He still thought I was Petra Van Brereton.
Of course he did. Everyone on the boat thought I was Petra Van Brereton. Almost. I searched my memory. How many times had I slipped up? Had I told Adonis my real name?
As this flew through my mind, Adonis moved off to take another drink order. I motioned to the empty counter before Will. “Where’s your drink?”
“My boss frowns on drinking on the job.”
“Then why are you hanging out a bar?”
“You mentioned Adonis yesterday so I thought there might be a chance that you’d show up here tonight,” Will said, shocking me into silence with his words.
“You…here? You came here looking for me?” I stammered.
Will’s smile vanished. “Was that not a good thing to do?”
“No…no, no, it’s fine. A good thing.” I couldn’t hide the giddiness bubbling up.
His smile was quick to return. “I thought we could look for some more dolphins.” Will’s blue eyes twinkled and I clutched at the bar in case my knees weakened further. He was cute and nice and had come looking for me. The no in my head faded to a whisper.
“But you look like you’re headed for the dining room,” he added.
“I do have a reservation,” I admitted.
“I wouldn’t want you to miss that. Scotty H is one of the best chefs in the cruise line and he’s making his famous chicken tonight. Maybe we could hang out tomorrow after your excursion. Where are you going?”
“I have no idea.” My mind was racing and I would have difficulty telling anyone either of my names right now if they asked me. “Don’t you have to work?”
“I’m on duty from seven to four, and then I get a break until the nightly entertainment.”
“You spent your break looking for me?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. Of course, I wouldn’t have to troll the bars if I knew more about you.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly.
“Maybe we could get to know each other more tomorrow,” I suggested, trying to sort out my thoughts.
Maybe I could tell him who I really was.
Will stayed with me while I drank my martini as slowly as I could until he suggested I go to dinner since the rest of my table wouldn’t be served until I was there. Then he insisted on walking me to Mount Olympus.
The dining room was enclosed with frosted windows offering privacy to those eating. “Enjoy your dinner.” Will seemed as reluctant to end our time as I did.
“Enjoy yours,” I echoed. “Wherever you eat.”
“Not in there,” he said ruefully. “Off limits for the staff.”
“Are there a lot of places on board that are off limits?”
Will leaned toward me and brushed his arm against my shoulder. “Luckily, the passengers aren’t. At least, as long as you’re not working for Max. He doesn’t like the entertainment to associate with the passengers. He’s old-fashioned like that. And kind of a jerk,” he whispered.
“Do you often associate with the passengers?” I held my breath waiting for his answer.
“Never,” Will said with enough embarrassment that I knew he was telling the truth. In the last few years, I’d gotten good at telling when men were lying. “Can’t you tell that I don’t know what I’m doing?” he continued with a wide smile. “I see dolphins every day but that was the only thing I could think of as an excuse to talk to you.”
“You don’t need an excuse,” I said in a soft voice.
Chapter Ten
It wasn’t until Will left me at the door to Mount Olympus dining room, that I remembered who I was meeting.
Petra’s friends. People who knew Petra. People who probably wouldn’t be happy to see me.
For a moment, I was tempted to run after Will.
But then I straighten my back and smoothed the skirt of the red Michael Kors sheath dress. I might be as nervous as if I were meeting the gods, but I could do this.
This would be a breeze
for old Siggy. New Siggy was letting her nerves get the better of her.
I stepped inside.
“How are you this evening?” The maitre’d at the door was a wizened older man with a cheerful smile, and so tiny that even at five foot five, I towered over him.
“I’m good, thanks,” I said before clearing my throat. He gave me a knowing look as my voice cracked.
“Are you meeting someone, my dear?” The tag on his pristine white shirt read Mickey from Davao, Philippines.
I’d always wanted to go to the Philippines.
“I’m meeting people and I don’t know any of them,” I confessed in a rush. “Friends of a friend— sort of. And I’m never nervous. But tonight… ” I trailed off with a rueful shrug. “Maybe a little.”
Mickey smiled and glanced around. “Wait right here.”
I stared after him with bewilderment, wondering what I was supposed to do if another diner showed up behind me. But he was back in a moment with a glass of champagne in his hand. “For you.” He bowed as he passed me the glass. “Liquid luck.”
“I need it.” I smiled as I took a sip. Bubbles slide down my throat as I drained half the glass. “Thanks.”
“I hate seeing a pretty girl like you scared of anything. In my experience, nothing works better than a pretty dress and a glass of champagne. And you already have the dress.”
“Thank you,” I said again, gratefully.
He nodded. “Ready to give it a go?”
I finished the glass and handed it back to him. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
I gave him my cabin number and Mickey collared Robbie the waiter to show me the way. I approached the round table of attractive twentysomethings dressed in the latest fashion according to Petra. They were talking and laughing, clinking glasses and no one looked up at my approach. I waved the waiter away before he could pull out the one empty chair.
I took a deep breath. “Hi, there.”
No one turned. I hadn’t had a more unwelcoming reception since I tried to sit at Cristal Adamson’s lunch table in grade six.
“I’m a friend of Petra’s,” I said loudly. “Not exactly a friend but—”
Heads turned in a flash towards me.
“Petra!”
“Where is she?”
“What happened to her?”
“Did she miss the boat?”
Accusing voices accosted me, mixed with affronted faces, like it was my fault Petra wasn’t there. “She, ah, she gave me her tickets. I’m here in her place.”
Dead silence greeted my words. Then—”Seraphina Park-Smith? Siggy? Is that you?”
He stood up, towering over the others at the table. My past rushed towards me as I stared at the boy—the man—who used to be as close to a brother was to me.
It took me two tries to say his name. “Miles.”
“What are you doing here?” His chair scraped as he stood up. “I haven’t seen you in years. Not since your wedding.” Miles pulled me into a hug and I breathed in the scents of home—starched cotton, expensive aftershave and the fruity tang of good red wine. “What are you doing here? How do you know Petra?”
“It’s kind of a long story.”
“Well, you’ll need to tell it. Sit—Xander, will you switch with Siggy?”
“What if I want to sit by this Sigalicious?” the redhead mock grumbled as he changed seats, leaving the empty one beside Miles.
“Next time. I haven’t seen this girl in years.” Miles’ smile was blinding, perfect after years of orthodontics. I wished I could return the smile but seeing Miles—seeing someone from home, made me feel like the boat was crashing over a tsunami-sized wave.
“What happened to Petra?” The question came as I sat down beside Miles, from a blonde across the table. She was practically identical to the girl beside her.
They were the only females out of the four at the table who looked remotely welcoming.
“I’m not sure, but she’s okay. She gave me her tickets,” I said. “It was really great of her; I needed to get away—”
“Man trouble?” The blonde clone clucked sympathetically.
“You could say that.”
“Like Charles?” Miles’ voice was harsh and my stomach dropped, thinking that anger was directed towards me.
“Not exactly,” I said in a quiet voice.
Miles muttered a curse, but then his expression cleared as he squeezed my hand. “Never mind. It’s good to see you. It’s been a long time.”
“And how long has it been?” The question was from the women in the seat next to Miles. She was practically a clone of Petra—same thick shiny dark hair and perfect make-up, same haughty expression.
“Four years,” I said in a quiet voice, wishing I could slide away from the table and sink through the floor. I shouldn’t have bothered with this. No one came looking for Petra so why would they care why she wasn’t on board? I knew what these kinds of people were like. I knew what they cared about and what they valued.
But I knew Miles and he was nothing like that, so maybe I should give them a chance.
“Tell me what you’ve been up to,” Miles began. “The last thing I heard…” He trailed off and I saw in his eyes that he remembered exactly what the last thing he heard about me was.
That my husband, the love of my life, the man I brought into my family against my parents’ wishes, turned out to be a criminal.
Charles had been a first-rate con artist, better than me, better than Eduardo. Charles had seen me, empty-headed, party-girl Siggy, as an easy mark to get at my family’s fortune.
And it had worked—Charles got away with my trust fund, as well as a healthy chunk of my parents’ savings after I convinced them to invest in his startup.
Once I found out who he really was and what he’d done, I disappeared. I couldn’t deal with the guilt and my family’s disappointment. I haven’t been home since.
“What happened with Petra?” Miles asked when I didn’t reply. He picked up the bottle of wine and poured me a healthy glass. “Let’s start with that instead.”
I took a gulp of wine, and then another before replying. “Well, I met her when she jumped into my car, thinking it was an Uber. She convinced me to drive her to the cruise terminal.”
“But she’s not here. She’s not on the ship,” the first blonde said.
“No. On the way here, she got a call and insisted I pull over. She said she wasn’t going on the cruise and gave me her tickets and boarding pass—everything.”
“But you can’t just change the name like that,” the brunette across the table pointed out.
I shrugged. “How do you all know her?” I asked instead. Some of the expressions thawed. A few, like the redhead, probably because of the now-empty beer glass.
“Petra, and Greer, here—” Miles touched the arm of the glowering woman beside him, “—went to school together. It’s Greer’s thirtieth birthday on Friday.”
“Happy almost birthday,” I said automatically.
“Gillian—” Miles continued, pointing to the brunette, “is Greer’s roommate. Or was her roommate?”
“Soon to be past tense,” Gillian said, holding up her hand, so I could see the diamond twinkling in the lights of the dining room chandeliers.
“I’m going to have to put up with her now,” the man beside her groaned.
“I don’t think it’s going to be much of a hardship,” Miles said with a smile at Gillian. “That’s Ari. And that’s Xander, beside him.” Xander was the redhead with the beer. “He and I were roommates back in the day. And he’s Greer’s big brother.”
“Aren’t I lucky?” Greer muttered.
“And last but not least, this is Alicia and Amy.”
I nodded at the blondes across the table. I would never be able to remember who was whom. They weren’t twins but could pass for it as each gave me a friendly smile, which was more than I could say for Greer.
“So, none of us really knows Petra,” Amy or Alicia said as she he
ld up her glass. “Welcome.”
And just like that, I understood that they didn’t really care whether Petra was there or not. Another weight lifted from my shoulders.
“Well, she told me to tell you—I guess, you.” I looked toward Greer’s sullen expression. “That she got a better offer; that she no longer needs Aphrodite’s luck. And something about Peter—”
“Peter?” Greer grimaced. “Does she really think it’s going to work out with him?”
“Well, he got down on one knee to propose, so I guess she does.” I took more enjoyment from Greer’s discomfort at the news then I should. “They didn’t notice when I drove away. I even honked. Much too busy to notice.”
“Good for her,” Miles said. “Well, one mystery solved.”
“What’s the other mystery?” Xander asked.
“Who’s buying the wine tonight?”
Chapter Eleven
I never found out who was buying the wine, but it wasn’t me, even though I drank my fair share as I struggled to get past the awkwardness of dinner with strangers.
And Miles.
“So you’ve heard about the legend of Aphrodite?” Amy asked as the plates were cleared away. At least I think it was Amy.
“That she’s the goddess of love, associated with beauty, pleasure and procreation?” I replied carefully.
“That’s she’s a boat and everyone who comes aboard are supposed to find their true love,” Alicia retorted.
“I’ve heard that, but I’m not sure if I believe it,” I said as I tried to vanquish the image of Will dancing before my eyes.
“Greer does,” Amy said in a low voice. I glanced over to see Greer with her hand on Miles’ arm, who laughed at something Ari had said.
I lowered my voice. “Are they together?”
Both blonde heads shook the negative. “Not for lack of trying on her part.”
“Miles is a great guy,” I admitted.
“We’re here because it’s Greer’s birthday,” Amy began.
“And she always gets what she wants,” Alicia finished.
