Seriously, what the actual fuck?
Rachel was left standing there mortified, looking at the two of them slowly slipping into the distance, out of her reach, left in a dark, cold void of her own shattered emotions. She just stood there once again like a complete fool, uncertain of what to think, what to do and what to say, as more fucking pests hovered around looking for the same opportunity with her perhaps; well fat fucking chance in hell.
That’s when she snapped. Anger? Envy even? She couldn't tell anymore, but she didn't need to question it because her actions thereafter did the explaining for anyone smart enough to decipher it. She grabbed Sadina's wrist and tried to pull her away from the guy, to which he reacted angrily, ordering her to back off, that Sadina was his, as though she had been relegated to just property. When Rachel responded in kind by telling him to fuck off, he resorted to crude behaviour, suggesting a threesome and that they'd both be privileged to share a specifically detailed, with indeterminate measurements included, part of his anatomy to which he expressed great pride.
She called him a pig and slapped him across the face, something she had never done before, nor had the courage to even think about doing, but suddenly she felt invigorated, empowered and boasting with courage, the courage to defend a clearly drunken Sadina, or at least that’s what she thought she was doing, Sadina’s horrified reaction and immediate condemnation of her reaction to his behaviour left her stunned. Not only did she chastise Rachel for hitting him, she then proceeded to undermine Rachel by labelling it just harmless sex, words that echoed on and on, breaking Rachel completely. What was wrong with her? Why did she say those things? Was it the alcohol speaking?
Her onslaught didn’t stop there either, she referred to Rachel as crazy, allowed her friends to laugh at her without saying a thing to them and said nothing still when that man shoved her aside.
Who was she? Rachel didn’t recognise this person? How had she gone from the most wonderful person in the world to the cruellest in just a few hours?
Rachel backed off, consumed with anger, overwhelming humiliation, bitterness and crushing, heartrending disappointment. It was all too much to take and she had no possible way to respond, so she just turned and ran, ran from the dance floor, ran from the club, ran all the way back home and hid in her room, where she remained for the rest of the night, distraught.
The remaining events of that night after Rachel left were murky at best, Rachel certainly didn’t want to remember it, she was quite content with moving on with her life and Sadina didn’t seem to remember much of it either, which didn’t come as much of a surprise given how much she had to drink. She probably fucked that guy too, not that Rachel cared or anything.
The preceding days around Sadina were incredibly awkward, not only because of what happened, but because Sadina had been the one to finally force her to confront and accept her exclusive interest in women, she was gay and it felt so weird thinking that. She still needed further confirmation of that, however and since it wasn’t going to be Sadina to help her there, she had to find another way to explore these new feelings and see where they eventually took her.
That night was only the beginning of several years that would continue to shape Rachel’s life and finally result in her standing here staring up at the magnificence that was a Starling cruise ship, reflecting on the events that led up to this very moment.
The ship was due to deport in a mere few hours and set sail for fourteen long days across the ocean towards the Caribbean.
Like a reflection of her life, this was going to be a new voyage, taking her on a new journey she couldn’t anticipate. When next she stepped upon this land, she would be an entirely different person, hopefully with a clearer perspective on some things, repaired relationships and a better understanding of what she wanted from life.
Taking a deep breath and squeezing her girlfriend’s hand, she took her first step onto the bridge leading to the vast marvel that was the MS Heaven of the Seas.
CHAPTER 2 - CHRISTINE
8:23am - 5 Days until outbreak
. . .
. . .
Christine Heart, Rachel’s mother would admit that she and Edward, her husband, were perhaps not always the most attentive parents to Rachel, but one would be hard pressed referring to them as bad parents. They did their best by Rachel and no one could dispute that, not even Rachel herself. They sent her to the best school, gave her the best possible start at life, provided her with everything her heart could possibly desire and more. She was well travelled, given a car and waited on, hand and foot. This was a young woman who had grown up without a worry in the world, everything she could possibly want or need was provided for her, so her daughter’s recent arguments and choices in life were bemusing to say the least.
Christine herself knew she was far from perfect, she certainly had her own flaws and her relationship with her husband had seen better days, but they were at the very least trying to work things out, improve it little by little, day by day. She loved him still, her heart hadn’t wavered there, but she only wished she saw more of him on a daily basis, he was always working and whenever he returned home, he was too exhausted to partake in any family related activities. It was a guilty admission, given how much she appreciated his efforts to help keep a house over their heads, but it made her feel incredibly lonely.
This wasn’t the extent of their relationship when they got married, they could barely keep their hands off of each other, fast forward twenty odd years and she would be so lucky to even exchange a glance that lasted longer than a few seconds with him. Christine didn’t want to admit it, but maybe that had had an effect on their relationship with their daughter, there was the strong possibility that the unhealthy dynamic of their household relationship had contributed to why she had rebelled and taken on this faze.
Christine could only pray that that was all it was, a faze, because God forbid, if her one and only daughter had convinced herself that this perverted behaviour was the norm, it would break her, she simply couldn’t fathom the notion that her only daughter had chosen this sinful path.
In hindsight, maybe sending her to that all girls school wasn’t the best idea, for where other girls had the mental strength to overcome irrational curious feelings, her daughter clearly didn’t, subjugating herself to a distasteful immoral lifestyle that would only end in misery.
The facts spoke for themselves after all and no matter how her daughter try as she might to convince her that this lifestyle was the right one for her, Christine would never accept it, she had done the research herself. Fact one, homosexuals were not born homosexual and there is no credible evidence to prove it so, this was a fundamentally flawed way of thinking and would negate the biological function of the different sexes. Fact two, the ideal that ten percent or more of any one population was homosexual is bullshit to say the least; homosexuality stemmed from a pushed agenda and misguided perceptions on reality. Fact three, homosexual relationships were not in any way similar to heterosexual ones, homosexual relationships are not constructed on the foundations of monogamy, and they wouldn’t even understand the principles of the word. Fact four, homosexuals were more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases, why else the pandemic of aids, gonorrhoea and other STDs? Fact five, contrary to popular belief, homosexuals were not as happy as they would lead all to believe, they are experiencing what could be considered a psychological downturn, indicative of past dilemmas and in Rachel’s case, quite possibly the trauma of her parent’s waning feelings towards each other and being sent to an all girls boarding school. Fact six, female relationships of those types were no less unhealthy than males and that’s because facts demonstrated that two thirds of women still had sex with males, therefore transmitting diseases back and forth, not only that, studies showed that women in these illicit relationships are also more susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer. The biggest and final fact is that homosexuals are not lost, they could be helped, in the same way criminals could be reformed and
those with psychological defects and deficits could be helped, because that is exactly what homosexuality is after all, a psychological defect, nothing more, nothing less.
Although Christine had carried out the extensive research, she had no idea how she planned to resolve this. Her daughter no longer lived with them and any attempts to bring it up in the past had only resulted in an argument and her daughter storming out before the end of the discussion. She was immature, that was obvious, she didn’t know what she wanted and her naivety was as clear as day. Sooner or later she would wake up lonely, childless, aimless and realise what a complete mess she had made of her life.
Christine wanted nothing but the best for her daughter, why couldn’t Rachel simply understand that this wasn’t out of spite, it was all purely for the sake of love. She herself had had a very strict and somewhat unloved upbringing, so all she had ever wanted was to offer her daughter the lifestyle not afforded to herself.
Following Rachel and her girlfriend, Christine, her husband and her eighty-six year old mother were greeted just before entry to the ship by several of the ship’s staff. They were all very immaculately dressed, polished shoes, waistcoats and ties, even the women.
The grand spectacle of the ship defied expectation, leaving her in a state of awe, awe enough even to temporarily quell her irritation at watching her daughter and her test subject promoting their shameful public indecency, clinging onto each other like that.
The interior of the ship was just as impressive as the exterior, if not, possibly more so. Everything about it spoke eloquence and class, exactly the sort of experience she had become accustomed to throughout life and wanted never to change.
Tickets to get onboard this cruise liner were not cheap, it was the best ship that the company had at its disposal, and Christine made sure of that. Trips across the Atlantic didn’t seem to be a favourable option, consequently nor a common itinerary option, perhaps because of the length of time at sea, but it would provide them ample time as a family to build bridges without distraction in the first few days aboard and that was exactly what this trip was supposed to be about, family, a chance for them to make amends for the past few years of nothing short of negative feelings, tension and the general unpleasant aura of increasing distance. To say they knew their daughter now was akin to saying they knew what secrets the universe held. Yes they were visible from afar and perhaps she knew a little bit about both, but if her daughter’s complexed thinking could be compared only to the vast expanse of space itself, then there was indeed a great deal yet to learn and understand.
Rachel was a big girl now, it wouldn’t be so easy for Christine to simply return her to the house and there keep her confined until rehabilitated, completely cleared of all this nonsensical bullshit she now referred to as her life, as much as she had half a mind to. The only other way was to coax her back into being the sweet heterosexual girl that she raised, a doting wife and a good mother. This was easier said than done, what with her daughter’s girlfriend intervening at every possible opportunity and any attempt to deter the leech of a woman would surely create wedges between them as a family and that was the last thing she wanted.
More staff greeted them with a smile and offered to help.
“Can I help you with your luggage, ma'am?” A kind blonde female member of the crew asked.
“I should be okay”. She turned to her husband who was lugged with most of the baggage. “Edward? Can she help you carry anything?”
“The smaller things if possible, my hands are rather full at the moment”, he replied, indicating which ones to take with his mouth. The kind member of staff leapt in to help where possible, grabbing as many bags as she could muster and taking the lead.
“What are your cabin numbers?” She enquired.
“We have a loft suite, number three, zero, four, six, I believe”, Edward replied.
“All of you?”
“No, just the three of us, my daughter and her… friend, will be staying in a different cabin”.
“Oh, did they need assistance? I can call for someone else to help”.
Christine turned to her daughter, deliberately disregarding her girlfriend.
“Will you be okay? Can you manage?” She asked.
“We’ll be fine, mum, you three go ahead, we’ll catch up to you a little later”.
“You have my number, give me a call if anything goes wrong and you can’t find us. You also have our cabin number, so you know where to come looking for us”.
“Yes, yes, I get it. Go, we’ll see you later”, Rachel insisted.
“Okay”, Christine replied and with the lovely member of staff, they made their way up a set of grand marble steps, reflecting the exquisite chandelier hanging overhead. Putting the main decks of the ship aside however, the corridors leading to the individual cabins were your typical five star affair, marble flooring that glimmered with the sheen of a perfect polish, gold coated lamps attached to the walls, doors with gold plated numbers screwed on and each with a peephole.
They eventually came to their cabin door, three, zero, four, six on a gold plate perched upon the door.
“You can use the keycards you received down in the departure terminal before boarding to access your cabin, everything including lighting and television will be activated when you enter the room automatically and should you lock the doors again using your keycard, it will all switch off automatically. If you should lose your card, I should inform you that it will incur a replacement fee of one hundred and fifty pounds, this is to deactivate your lost card and activate a new one for security measures, so we suggest keeping your card with you at all times”, the lovely blonde staff member informed.
Christine turned to her husband who had taken all three keycards earlier and was now having difficulty finding them.
“Don’t tell me you’ve lost them already”, Christine jibed, with a hint of seriousness in her tone.
“I haven’t, I just can’t remember where I put them”, Edward replied.
“Typical”.
“It’s not as though I’ve just been standing around with my hands swinging, Christine. Don’t start”.
Christine sighed and after a few moments of watching him hopeless shuffle through his pockets, he found them.
“Ah ha, here they are”.
“I should probably take those, for our sanity and security”, Christine proclaimed and took them from his hands.
They entered the cabin and the lights flickered on; not that they were required, for the cabin already brimmed with outside light from the vast, single two level windows that only came with an extravagant two level luxury suite. Downstairs was a small kitchenette, an adjoining bathroom, a dining area and a lounging area close to the windows, of which the largest sofa could unfold out into a double bed.
Assuming the cabin was exactly as described on the website and in the ensuing emails, the upstairs was where the king sized bed and small ensuite bathroom resided. Although to give credit where credit was due, seeing was most definitely believing and the real thing effortlessly triumphed over the pictures and virtual tours provided on the site.
Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped as they stepped into the cabin made for royalty. The air conditioning kicked in, regulating and maintaining a consistent and perfect temperature throughout the cabin and there, right next to the large windows was a doorway stepping out onto the balcony and overlooking the dreary dockland coastline of Southampton.
Not too long now and dull grey skies and cold would be replaced with sunshine and heat. Just the thought was enough to make Christine giddy with excitement.
She inspected the cabin, making sure everything was up to snuff, taking a mental checklist of things they might require as she helped the staff member and her husband carry in the luggage.
Once all luggage was in the cabin, she sighed with relief and once again resumed taking in the splendour of her surroundings. Expensive paintings on the walls, a large flat screen TV, leather sofas, soft
cushiony carpet, not a speck of dust in sight, ambient lighting, facilities for her elderly mother. The cabin was flawless and that was something coming from a perfectionist such as herself.
“Will there be anyone to attend to my elderly mother?” Christine enquired.
“Oh yes, of course, I can get someone to handle any daily routines, ma’am. There are service buttons throughout the cabin, so should she require anything at any point, she need only press the button and either I or someone else will be over to help immediately”. She turned to Martha, “If you need help at all, don’t be afraid to ask”.
“What time is dinner served? Also, will there be itineraries provided?”
“Seven pm daily, ma’am. We will have a ship wide banquet that you have the option to attend, but of course you may also visit any of our other restaurants on board if you so desire and most are open all day and night. There are a variety of different foods to try, so if you have any particular palette preferences, I’m sure there is something to suit you. Itineraries can be found on your bed and will contain all events occurring on the ship during the voyage, as well as details about the excursions. There is an information bay on every level you can visit if you have any questions, they will assist you in anything you might need in reference to the excursions. I should also inform you that banquets are an opportunity to meet the captain, Captain Photis Alexakis and other members of the crew. The dress code is formal and children are more than welcome”. As the lovely member of staff continued to run through the full list of things they should probably know, her husband Edward wandered off to explore, stepping out onto the balcony. Christine had no intention of reciting to him everything the fine young lady had taken the time to explain.
Cryptophobia | Book 2 | Hell & High Water [Fear The Unknown] Page 2
