Page 9 of Viktor at Sea

Thankfully, before he could protest further, his father called out to him, having finished chatting with his friends. Roscoe sent me one last pointed look before he jumped off the wall and took off in a light jog to rejoin his father.

The call for him couldn’t have come at a better time. I remained firm in my decision that Roscoe wasn’t ready for a life at sea.

Left alone to my own musings once again, I finished the last of the eggs on my plate and pondered going back for a second helping. It had been many months since I had the pleasure of tasting eggs, especially ones as fine as quail eggs, but I couldn’t fill myself up too much. Not if I were to truly enjoy an evening meal with the Skaus, and of course, my favourite Skau of them all.

Speaking of Astrid, I couldn’t help but glance around the square. As the Skau family hut wasn’t far from here, Astrid, Kis and her friends often got breakfast here, but unfortunately, I couldn’t spot her anywhere this morning.

Despite the declining hope, my eyes continued scanning around the island square, lingering on the people and the buildings, scarcely hopeful that Astrid would suddenly appear and entertain me for the rest of the day. But alas, that was far too wishful of thinking.

Instead of my eyes settling on Astrid, they landed on Chara. When she grinned widely at me, looking far too excited to see me for my liking, I was quick to avert my eyes. I mentally cursed myself for slipping up and staring at her for a second longer than necessary and hoped that she hadn’t noticed.

However, when I caught the movement of the beige material of her dress moving in my peripheral vision, I knew I had no hope.

CHAPTER FIVE

Chara looked like she wanted to devour me like she devoured my cock last night.

The reminder of last night made me feel slightly nauseous, but it would be a waste to throw up such a perfectly cooked breakfast, so I tried to settle my stomach with a few sips of water. Mead would have done the job a lot better.

I wish I could make up some excuse and leave, but the look on her face told me that she would follow me to the very edge of Jorvik if she needed to.

Why wouldn’t Chara be more like Erlene and leave me alone?

Why did she feel the need to approach me even after knowing that I didn’t wish to pursue anything more with her? If I did, I would have kicked out only Erlene last night instead of them both.

“Good morrow, Chara,” I greeted her with a polite smile. I reached for the last piece of egg on my plate and shoved it into my mouth. “I’m afraid I don’t have time to chat right now,” I said with a mouthful of egg. “I have to get going. Very important matters to attend to.”

“Good morrow, Viktor,” she smiled sweetly at me, flicking her hair over her shoulders. It was a beautiful, strawberryblonde and fell in waves around her, but I preferred darker hair. I don’t know what it was, but there was something bewitching about a woman with dark hair.

I moved to leave, but Chara sidestepped me. When I attempted to leave twice more, and she did the same thing, I sighed, giving up.

“How are you on this fine morning?” She asked, arching her back to draw attention to her large bosom.

Much like last night, Chara was wearing a tight dress which hugged her body in all the right places but it was a little too much for everyday attire if you asked me. When facing either the front or back, you could make out her body shape entirely, and while she could dress whatever way she wished, she also left very little to the imagination.

“I’m good, thank you,” I pursed my lips and glanced over her shoulder, hoping and praying that someone would come and rescue me.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how I am on this fine morning?” Chara asked me, masking her annoyance with a sickly sweet smile.

“I really do have to get going.” I tried to sidestep her again but to no luck.

“You can’t spare your special friend a few minutes?”

“I’m in a little bit of a rush.”

“But not enough of a rush to not be able to spare me a few minutes, right?” Chara grinned at me, her lips tugging higher at the corners at the deflated look on my face, and the elongated, tired sigh of defeat that escaped me. She had me right where she wanted, and she knew it. I had never been good at confrontation, especially when it was awkward. “It’s rude not to return the question, especially when it comes from such a fine, polite young lady such as myself,” Chara laughed, the expression on her facestill sweet despite the darker, heavier undertones in her voice. “You wouldn’t want to be rude, would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t want to be rude,” I sighed. “How are you on this fine morning, Chara?”

“Very well. Thank you for asking, Viktor. I’m much better now that I’ve got your attention.”

I hummed and nodded, waiting for her to continue. When a few moments passed and she still hadn’t said anything, instead, stood staring at me like there was something insanely fascinating about my face, I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I didn’t want to be confronted about that as well.

“Was there something you wanted to speak to me about, Chara?” I asked, willing for her to say no so we could end the conversation here and I could escape. But of course, that would be too easy.

“There was, actually,” she nodded and grinned. “I was hoping we could get together again tonight like we did last night…” Chara then went on to clarify, extending a sharp fingernail to jab me in the chest. “Just us two,” she emphasised. “No Erlene.”

“I don’t think we should repeat last night…with or without Erlene,” I groaned, and reached a hand up to brush the hair off the back of my neck. Any other time, I loved the length of my hair, especially when it was cold and windy out at sea, but right now, in this very uncomfortable situation, it was very annoying. Or perhaps, it was far easier to take out my frustrations on my hair, than the person making me uncomfortable.

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