Page 8 of Love Overboard
“You came to the right place. Let me ask another question. Is this the first cruise for anyone?”
Hands rose around the room.
“Whether this is your first time or you’re an old sea dog like my friend Emily”—he motioned to her on the row below him and winked—“I’ll try to keep this short and sweet so you can get out of here and hit the buffet.”
“I’m in no hurry.” On Lacey’s left, a ruby redhead wearing cutoff jeans and a neon pink tank top snickered with her friend. She flipped open the bejeweled case on her cell phone and recorded Jon as he made his speech. “Keep talking, hot stuff.” She perched on the edge of a row, leaned out at a precarious angle with her device pointed at the stage, and pinched at the screen to enlarge the picture. “Whoo, check out the muscles.”
Lacey paused for all of five seconds before she wandered into the aisle and stood a few feet in front of the redhead. After years of being asked to “take a quick picture” for social media junkies, she knew camera angles cold. If she calculated correctly, this should be the spot.
“Hey,” the woman behind her whispered. “You’re in my shot.”
Lacey pretended not to hear.
“Cruise ship lady. Hey!” The woman’s voice got louder.
People shushed her, and she sat on her seat with an offended huff.
Lacey enjoyed the silent victory—until she surveyed the auditorium and saw at least seven other females with their phones out. Call her cynical, but she didn’t think they were recording Jonathan King for informational purposes.
Fine. Let them drool. What did it matter to her? It wasn’t like she’d never been leered at by a passenger. It was part and parcel of working on a cruise ship. Inappropriate people did inappropriate things. Jon was getting ogled. So what?
“Lacey.”
Her attention jerked to the stage, where Jon was motioning for her.
“Can you join me please?”
Lacey smiled bigger and shook her head.
“Oh, come on.” Jon waved his arm a little more.
Lacey shook her head a lot more.
“Looks like she’s shy.” Jon grinned at the crowd. “How about a round of applause for encouragement?”
The crowd cheered and clapped.
“La-cey. La-cey. La-cey.” Jon chanted into the mic, and the audience chimed in.
Her name echoed through the room, and Lacey hurried forward to make it stop. She climbed up the stairs to center stage. The last step was wider, and Jon held out a hand to assist her. She grabbed it and dug her nails into his fingers. His bottom teeth showed as he smile-grimaced and pulled away.
“Can we get another microphone for our fabulous hostess?” Jon called to a worker backstage.
Lacey faced the audience. The house lights were up, and she had a clear view of the entire room. Tiny-Umbrella Man slouched in the sixth row with his arms crossed, still pouting. Leering Lady in the back curled her lips and eyed her with disdain. And the Shippers were front and center, observing everything. Daisy sat with perfect posture, while Althea whispered in her ear. Emily took Gerry’s book, handed her the binder and pen, then raised her phone and pointed it at the stage. A crew member appeared with the extra microphone and passed it to Lacey.
“Don’t worry,” Jon said. “I won’t make you sing.”
“If you value your life.” Her smile dripped honey and her voice retribution.
The passengers laughed and applauded.
“I’m going to let you in on a secret.” Jon leaned out to the crowd and whispered. “This is my first cruise too, at least on this ship, so I wanted to introduce the woman with the answers. Anything I don’t know, she does. Take note of her uniform. She, or any other person wearing this white jacket with gold buttons, is your sailing sage. If you have any questions, please ask.”
“How about a date tonight?” A college-aged guy stood from the front row on the left side and leaned his arms on the stage.
Jon bristled, but Lacey spoke into her mic.
“You’d have to get permission from the captain first.”
