Ride the Wave Page 6
‘Yep?’ Natalie said, taking her full cup, avoiding eye contact, thinking Eden would probably say something nice and charming, smooth over the situation like she always did.
But Eden said, ‘What’s your problem with me?’
Twelve
Eden slipped into the breakfast buffet with trepidation. It was a breezier affair than evening dining, and people were in their shorts and t-shirts, ready to fill their faces and get out onto the deck to catch some sun. Eden was in shorts too, denim, paired with a flowy vest top. She was glad to see she’d guessed the tone correctly. Still, it hadn’t been an accident. She’d spent two hours trying to look casually nice, getting her hair into a perfect ponytail, choosing the correct sunglasses to go with her outfit, subtly tanning her legs to look less like the surface of the moon. She was starving from the effort.
She joined the line and saw a mountain of croissants, a trough of bacon, a cornucopia of scrambled eggs. But she moved past all those, going for a fruit plate and low-fat yoghurt instead. It wasn’t easy, but Eden was pretty much made of steel when it came to picking the healthy choice. That steel had been forged from a desire to keep her weight under a certain point. If she put on even five pounds, her face took on a piggy look. The only way to avoid turning herself into a swine was to keep her cheekbones on point. So nothing pastry or fried passed her lips.
She glanced around the room and didn’t see Natalie. But she did see Beatrice, sat with Mary, Angelique and Florence. Eden wondered if she might avoid them, because Natalie was bound to turn up at that table. Eden didn’t want to see that inevitable look of disdain on her face directed at her.
But before she could decide what to do, she was spotted. ‘Cooey!’ called Beatrice. ‘Eden! Over here!’
Eden dutifully trooped over and took a seat that Beatrice pushed out for her. ‘Morning everybody,’ she said to the table.
‘Looking fresh-faced,’ Angelique noted. ‘But I suppose that’s what comes of being sensible and getting an early night. We weren’t so smart,’ she said, popping an aspirin out of a packet and washing it down with orange juice.
‘No? You guys kept it going?’ Eden asked. But looking closer at the table, it wasn’t a question that needed asking. Everyone looked tired.
‘Do you have an aspirin for me?’ Florence asked from behind large shades. Angelique passed her one, and she swallowed it dry. ‘I don’t know why I let you all talk me into going to another bar. The first one was quite enough.’
‘I somehow doubt anyone talks you into anything you don’t want to do,’ Angelique remarked.
‘Yes, you were having fun. Just admit it,’ Beatrice said cheerily.
‘What I was having were double whiskeys, handed to me by god knows who. It’s no wonder I took leave of my senses.’
‘Oh, that was me,’ said Caz, sitting down.
Florence rounded on her. ‘Why would you do that to an old lady?’
‘Don’t give me that. You were necking them!’ Angelique said.
‘I do not neck. I have never necked,’ Florence said rancorously.
Angelique tutted, but she didn’t argue further. ‘Hey, where’s Saz?’ she asked.
‘Epic hangover. She asked me to leave her to puke in private. Actually, she said it was coming out of both ends. Ooh, are those pancakes?!’ Caz jumped up and ran off to join the buffet line. Beatrice pushed her half-finished fry up away. ‘Well, that’s breakfast ruined.’
Maggie sat down, her eyes downcast. ‘Morning,’ Eden said. ‘How was your evening?’
‘Oh, you know, just trying to get over the embarrassment of night one, if I’m honest’ Maggie said quietly. ‘I guess now I’ve got something to write about. If I can bear to commit it to the page.’
Eden gave a half smile. ‘I thought that was kind of shitty, actually. What Isabella did, making it public. She could have just said no and left it at that.’
Maggie sighed. ‘No, it was my own stupid fault. I don’t know what got into me.’
‘Cheap wine?’ Eden said.
Maggie laughed. ‘Partly. But I’m telling you, something about being on a singles cruise, it made me go mad. Trying to pull that quickly?’
‘Well, there’s your story,’ Eden said.
Maggie nodded. ‘Yeah. Maybe it is. I might call it, ‘Cabin Fever.’ She looked unsure. ‘Or something else. Work in progress.’
‘Aren’t we all,’ said Steph from behind giant sunglasses, clutching her head across the table.
‘Max! Cooey, we’re over here,’ Mary called, and everyone looked up to see Max coming in. She was talking to someone over her shoulder. Natalie. ‘Morning everyone!’ Max said, sitting down and pouring herself an orange juice from the jug on the table. She nodded at Steph. Steph nodded back. Eden knew better than to call it friendly. But she was less concerned about that than Natalie.
But Natalie wasn’t at the table, she’d no sooner sat down than she’d bounced straight back up again, filling her plate at the buffet.
‘Isn’t Isabella down yet?’ Mary asked the table.
‘God, who cares?’ Max said snippily. But Eden thought Max just might. That woman needed to stop trying to plant so many seeds and focus on one woman. Like the one she’d just walked in with. Then again, Natalie could do a lot better.
‘Actually, I think I saw her leaving with someone last night,’ Mary noted and then chuckled. ‘You kids, you move so fast.’
Mary, Beatrice, and Steph turned with varying levels of surreptitiousness to see how Maggie was taking this news. Maggie, who’d just bitten into a croissant, stopped mid chew at the eyes on her. She swallowed quickly and said, ‘Oh, for god’s sakes. Yes, we all know I made a tit of myself. But I really don’t care what Isabella does.’
‘Wait, what happened?’ Max asked.
‘She got knocked back,’ Steph said.
‘Ha!’ Max guffawed.
‘But so did you,’ Steph reminded her happily. ‘By Eden.’
‘So did you!’ Max reminded her and then added, ‘And no, I didn’t.’
‘I need more coffee,’ Eden cried and jumped up. They’d been on this cruise two days, and the drama was already ridiculous. It was like being on a school trip. Everyone needed to slow down. Or maybe Eden had it wrong. Maybe she was supposed to speed up? Why was she always so out of step, she wondered?
Eden went to the coffee machine and bumped right into Natalie. ‘Oh, hi,’ Eden said uncertainly.
‘Hi,’ Natalie said. She hit a button on the coffee machine without looking at Eden. Eden watched Natalie studiously ignoring her, and she found that she couldn’t take it anymore. Something had officially snapped. Whatever it was that Natalie hated so much about Eden, she needed to know, and she needed to know now. ‘Hey, Natalie?’ she asked.
‘Yep?’ Natalie said, taking her full cup.
‘What’s your problem with me?’ Eden asked as nicely as she could, her heart pounding. She never confronted people like this. She wasn’t sure why she’d picked now to start.
Natalie spun in shock, her cup spilling slightly. ‘What?’
‘You never seem to want to be in the same room as me, and if you are, you won’t make eye contact. We were talking in the sauna and then you just… ran.’ Natalie looked at her in frozen horror, and Eden felt she’d made a dreadful mistake. But she’d started talking, she had to keep going. ‘Look, we work right next to each other. If you can’t stand me, I’d like to know exactly what it is that’s so abhorrent to you. Because I’ve tried to be nice, but the nicer I am, the worse it gets.’
Natalie did a pretty fair impression of a goldfish, opening and shutting her mouth for a few seconds. Eventually, sound made its way out. ‘Oh. I… I don’t… You’ve got it wrong, no. I don’t dislike you. You’re… fine.’
Eden looked at Natalie for a moment, horrified. Fine? Natalie really did hate her. ‘Right. I’m fine. OK then. I guess we’ll just leave it at that.’ She turned and walked out of the dining room.
Thirteen
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br /> Natalie nearly dropped the coffee cup in her hand as she watched Eden storm out. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. Her disbelief had two sources. First off, Eden had noticed her avoidance tactics. Natalie wouldn’t have thought she even registered on Eden’s radar. Secondly, she thought Natalie hated her, and she was hurt by it. Natalie knew it was more complicated than hatred. But from the outside, she could see how it could look that way to Eden.
She wasn’t sure what to do. Should she go after Eden? And say… what? You’re too good at everything, and you look like a model, and I don’t wanna be around you because you make me feel my inadequacies too keenly? Eden would laugh in her face.
But Natalie had to say something. Not only were they stuck on this boat together, but Eden was her boss. She was completely unavoidable. Natalie was going to have to deal with this. Or maybe she could just jump off the side of the boat and start a new life wherever she washed up. Natalie thought about that more seriously than she should have before going to find Eden.
But she’d waited too long to catch up to her, and it was a big boat. Natalie spent half an hour walking around, looking everywhere she could think of. Pool, tennis courts, spa, observation deck, various eateries, shops, bars. Eden wasn’t to be found.
Natalie sat down on a lounger on the deck, tired from the search. She’d never even gotten to eat breakfast, she remembered. Someone sat down on the lounger next to her. Natalie turned and saw Isabella. ‘Oh, hello,’ she said.
‘Hi,’ Isabella said with a nod as she laid out her towel on the lounger. She was wearing a bikini. Natalie wasn’t sure where to look, confronted again with her own discomfort with nudity, even partial.
But clearly, Isabella suffered no such hang-ups. She was laying her almost naked body out on top of the lounger, soaking up the sun with her caramel skin.
Natalie still needed to find Eden, and she stood. But she wasn’t sure where to check next. ‘Hey, you haven’t seen Eden, by any chance?’ she asked Isabella, making sure to keep her eyes fixed on the woman’s face.
‘Eden? She the tall one with the perfect eyeliner?’ Isabella asked, sliding her shades down.
‘That’s her.’
‘Haven’t seen her,’ Isabella said, sliding the shades back up, opening a glossy magazine.
‘OK, thanks.’ Natalie turned to leave, but then Isabella’s cool voice surprised her. ‘You guys a thing?’
Natalie turned, astonished. ‘What? No. What?’
Isabella shrugged. ‘You guys work together, don’t you? Thought you might have used the holiday as a chance to let loose. But you should be careful. Shagging people you work with can get messy. Trust me.’
Natalie was stunned. ‘Me. And Eden? That would never happen.’
‘Why not?’ Isabella asked, placing her magazine on her stomach. ‘She not your bag of chips?’
‘Not my…’ Natalie started to laugh. ‘I wouldn’t even think of it. She’s one of those women you… you don’t even consider thinking of like that.’
‘Because…’
‘Because they’re so far out of your league, they’re playing a completely different sport.’
Isabella snorted. ‘If that’s how you see it, I’m not gonna argue. But you’re wrong.’ Isabella considered what she’d just said. ‘Well, I guess I’m gonna argue a little bit.’
Natalie raised an eyebrow, immediately on the offensive. ‘Is this a joke? You gonna reel me in and make fun of me at dinner? I heard what you did to Maggie.’
Isabella was incensed. ‘And what, pray tell, did I do to Maggie?’
‘You embarrassed her.’
‘I’m allowed to say no, aren’t I?’
‘Of course you are. But I heard it was rather public.’
‘I was just a bit shocked to be propositioned during the starters. My voice gets louder than I realise sometimes. I wasn’t trying to make it public, it just happened,’ Isabella said reasonably.
That broke Natalie’s stride a bit. ‘Well, if you’d done that to me, I would have been pretty mortified.’
‘Hey, if it had been you, I might not have said no,’ Isabella shrugged. She picked up her magazine again.
Natalie didn’t understand what was happening. First Max cracked onto her, and now Isabella. Though Max had a short attention span and Isabella was a bit bitchy, they were hot women. People like that didn’t pay Natalie any mind on land. Were they putting something in the water on this ship?
Natalie decided now was a good time to make her exit. She turned to leave. Once more, Isabella had one last thing to say. She was like a sexy Columbo. ‘Have you checked Eden’s room?’
Natalie turned. ‘No. I don’t know what her room number is. I think she’s on the fourth floor, but I can’t just go knocking on all the…’
‘It’s four-zero-eight. She’s three down from me, saw her come out this morning.’
‘Oh. Thanks.’
‘You’re welcome. But I wouldn’t go there if I was you.’
‘Why not?’ Natalie asked.
‘Because you’ll probably end up having sex,’ Isabella said conversationally. ‘I mean, if that’s what you want, by all means, go, but-’
Natalie’s jaw dropped. ‘No, we won’t! Are you crazy?’
Isabella dropped her magazine again and sat up on the lounger. ‘You know, I’ve been getting a lot of attention on this boat, but frankly, they’re all a bit boring. I can’t stand to be bored. And I was sitting here thinking maybe I shouldn’t have come on this stupid trip. Then you show up. And I don’t know, you kind of do it for me. That face, the little walk, the way you obviously don’t know what you’ve got. So part of me wanted to ask you to have a drink with me, so I could see if you’re a bit more interesting than everyone else. But I have to tell the truth, it’s just what I do. It’s a blessing and a curse.’ She sighed. ‘Mostly a curse. But I gotta do me. So go, see Eden, do the dance with no pants. And when it goes wrong, maybe we’ll have that drink. If I’m still available then, of course.’ Isabella lay back down and picked up her magazine, done with Natalie for now.
Natalie had no words. So she took her shocked face and turned away. She headed in the direction of the staterooms in a daze. By the time she’d reached floor four, she was less discombobulated. But that one thing Isabella said, about not knowing what she had, it stuck out. She didn’t believe it. Because she’d given Gabby the option of locking it down, and she hadn’t taken it, didn’t even look like the question had ruffled her feathers.
And there had been other Gabbys, women who’d rejected or strung her along before tossing her aside. So Isabella was just trying to entertain herself like she had with Maggie before her. That was the only thing that made any sense to Natalie.
Natalie had just about managed to shake the incident off by the time she reached room four-zero-eight. She knocked on the door. That’s when the other thing that Isabella had said smacked her around the head, that thing about not going to Eden’s room. ‘You’ll probably end up having sex.’
Eden opened the door, and Natalie saw it, finally. The reason she’d been avoiding Eden, couldn’t speak to her, wanted to run whenever she saw her. It was so absurdly obvious now that it had been pointed out. Natalie was running alright, but not from Eden, a woman who was everything she wanted to be. Or no, not wanted to be. She was simply everything she wanted. Natalie was running from a world-class attraction to her boss.
‘Natalie?’ Eden said unsurely. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you at my door.’
Natalie found herself doing that thing again, standing there like an idiot, unable to find words, not just the right words, any damn words. ‘I…’
Eden crossed her arms. ‘Yes?’
There was one obvious thing that Natalie could say. It was the only thing, really. ‘I just came to apologise.’
Eden unfolded her arms. ‘Did you?’ she asked, surprised.
Natalie nodded. ‘Yeah. I’ve been… You’re right. I’ve not been very nice to you.’
‘It’s not like that,’ Natalie said weakly.
‘So, what’s it like?’ Eden asked.
Natalie took a deep breath. She didn’t consider telling Eden the truth, or not the whole truth anyway. It was fresh information, and it was too confusing. It needed to be processed, considered. And then shoved back down into the little box where Natalie had been keeping it before, the one marked ‘Repress’. ‘Look, I’m sorry for my behaviour, Eden. Really. Can you just forgive me, and we can forget all about this?’