Page 25 of Eat Your Heart Out
11
Ali
The ship was quiet in the morning. I made my way to the kitchen. Zheng stopped me, so I ordered a coffee from him. I didn’t want to wake up the crew to serve me, but clearly, I’d been seen.
The staff directed me away from the kitchen and to the coffee machine in the main room. A moment later, Zheng brought me a cappuccino on a tray.
Perfect.I grabbed my cup, headed to the top deck, and found a cozy spot to watch the sunrise.
Last night, alone in my bed, I’d ached for Gerard to hold me. He’d starred in my dreams, and I’d twisted the sheets so much thinking about him. So I’d showered, run out of the room, and I was ready for the sun. Maybe, one day, I would be good at being alone.
I sipped and watched and waited. At some point, Gerard would find me, and I would be his companion, not lover. My head needed to be focused on reality, not dreams that would never be.
Gerard approached from above. His bedroom was below, near mine. Part of the dream had been me sneaking out of my room and knocking on his door.
I tilted my head to look up at him. “What’s going on?”
He plopped into the seat next to me. “A storm is coming up from Florida. We’re detouring to avoid.”
My mind raced. I thought I’d heard about a possible hurricane. My arms grew goosebumps, as I had no idea what I would do on the ship to help in rough waters. “That sounds bad.”
He shrugged and sat back. “It will set us back a day, but the crew are experienced and know what they’re doing.”
My heart calmed. I put my coffee down, as adrenaline didn’t mix well with caffeine. “You have faith in them.”
“I hired the best for the world trip.”
I took a deep breath. I was useless in a weather situation, but I was there to be a distraction, so I swallowed hard and said, “So, last night, I set up a profile like yours on the website, like you asked.”
His lips curved higher, stirring my heart. “I saw and introduced you as my guest blogger, using a cartoon that matched mine.”
The new phone meant I could play with setting up a decent picture. “Can I change it to my picture?”
He nodded. “Absolutely. I’m happy you changed your mind. I’m glad one of us has the guts to show off.”
Right. I could claim it on my nonexistent resume so people knew I did something. Unlike me, he had more influence in his pinkie than I had in my entire body, and he didn’t need recognition. I laughed. “Funny again.”
He scooted forward. “So, I want to repay you for everything you did for me.”
I hadn’t done anything. My skin buzzed, and I glanced away. The sun was up. I’d missed the moment, but there was always tomorrow. I sighed and wished, just once, I would sleep through the night. I wrung my hands. “You don’t have to.
“I’m excited to read your next review in the Azores.”
“Next?” I met his gaze. Last night, I’d tried writing a post about a diner in Virgin Cove that had good chicken sandwiches. I’d been about to show him, but I swallowed as I lost my nerve. “You read about the diner in Virgin Cove I wrote for practice?”
“I put it as your first post.”
“No. I saved it as a draft.” It wasn’t ready.
“You did. I pressed Publish.”
The wheels in my head stopped as I realized what he’d said. My eyes widened. I couldn’t delete it now. “How are people liking it?”
“Good so far, though it’s hard to know what the ad revenue will be until we ask for an update, but I think it was great.”
Heat rose to my face, and I scooted my legs behind me. “I’m not used to compliments.”
“That’s going to change.”
