Page 44 of Date and Switch

“Wait until we get to the South Pacific, Bali, and East Asia. You’ll think your eyes are deceiving you. It’s so blue your brain can’t process it.” Trish Meyers sat directly next to me, slathering on her sunscreen. “Though, I heard from our steward this morning there might be a change in itinerary. From my understanding we may be skipping some ports and adding them on to the end of the cruise.”

Paolo hadn’t mentioned anything to us that morning. Of course, we’d probably been screaming in apogee so loud we didn’t hear him knocking. Based on the wink from Bryce, he and I had the same thoughts.

When I was a kid, we’d go on field trips to the Shedd Aquarium. I’d sit in the great reef exhibit, staring at the ocean behind glass that surrounded me, and just be in awe of the magenta and electric blue, highlighter yellow and neon green that existed on actual species in our waters. My teachers had a hard time getting me out of the magic of those worlds. I didn’t give two hoots about looking at oversized ugly fish in our rivers, or at all the little insignificant fish that they told us were imperative to the balance of our ecosystem. It was those brightly lit corals and darting multicolored fish that did me in every time.

The actual reef—I wanted to write a strongly worded letter to the John G. Shedd Aquarium and tell them just how off they were. How beautiful it was in comparison to the muted details hiding behind glass. That the photos I took with Bryce’s underwater camera even looked better than what I’d experienced as a kid in Chicago.

“That was amazing!” Bryce ripped of his mask before holding up his hand to be helped onto the ship.

“Those colors!” Trish agreed. “I didn’t know they existed in real life.”

Bryce helped me up the last rung of the step ladder, wrapping me in a towel as soon as I had my life vest off. He ran his own towel over my face to catch the remaining drops of water.

“I think I could have spent another four hours down there and still not seen everything I wanted to,” I told him and Trish, struggling to put into words all of the beauty I’d just bore witness to.

“Well, we could always plan to come back here someday.” He turned me around to face the ocean, resting his head on mine as we looked out at the horizon.

Someday. Plans. As if we were truly a couple and one day we’d be having toast and coffee and he’d look out the window over our backyard and say, “Let’s go back to Australia this winter.”

Based on the look on his face, he may have been thinking that very thing.

What were we really? He’d said we were official. Or dating. Whatever label it was that said we intended to be attached for the time being. What did that mean in five months when this was over? We both lived in Boston, so that wasn’t really an issue. Except I had a contract I was going to begin negotiating with Hursch regarding becoming an employee of theirs. That might mean permanently residing in New York instead of just collecting my things from my sister’s house and finding a new place to live back in Beantown.

“What we have, it’s not going to fit into a perfect box.” Bryce ran his hand down my arm as we made our way to dinner later that night. “I can see on your face every time you look at me there’s a question lingering.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me flush against his side while we stood waiting for the elevator.

“I don’t want to date anyone else, Sera. I was completely sincere when I said I wanted to be with you, to date you, and see where this went. Whether that means in two months we can’t stand the sight of one another and we leave with great memories and a fantastic vacation, or if we leave this ship feeling just as strong a connection, and we make it work. Whether that means I take the train to New York City on weekends, or we figure out something in Boston.”

Teddy waved at us as we approached the table. “Ellis, I had my assistant share your prospectus with a few of my friends. You and Penn have put together something really solid. Impressive. Have you considered what I said about diversifying? Having four silent investors versus one large one that will breathe down your neck and insert their opinions?”

“Oh you men and your work!” Teddy’s wife Laura tsked at her husband. “We’re on vacation. There should be no work allowed at the dinner table.”

“Diversifying what kind of investment?” Carver Robertson, our other dining companion joined the conversation. “We’re always looking to expand our portfolio and if Teddy is interested, it might be something I’d like information on as well.”

“Bryce’s family is looking to expand their hotel line into Europe. Primarily in the tourist markets.” I told him, “You know Paris, London, Rome—the places that the different groups take their clients. I have to say after having a front row seat to the birth of this idea—I keep saying I couldn’t feel prouder. Then he goes and does something else.”

“I don’t know what the holdup is Ellis, but might I suggest stopping at the next island and purchasing her something sparkly that is attached to a question that rhymes with Berry Bee.” Teddy gestured toward me and laughed while downing the last few drops of his bourbon.

I’d been about to inform Teddy that I’d been showered in more gifts than I could ever appropriately thank him for when the cruise director took the stage and turned on the mic.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am so very sorry to bring some potentially distressing news to you. He opened up a binder and read straight from whatever piece of paper was affixed inside:

“World Cruise Incorporated takes the safety of it guests seriously. Given the rise of dangerous activity in the islands of East Asia and throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans, WCI is making the difficult decision to truncate the cruise and head straight for Europe. We are very sorry to have to make these kinds of decisions, as the satisfaction of our customers is our highest priority. Safety is similarly our number one priority both of our customers and our staff. We will try to extend our time in each port to allow for a richer experience and in hopes of balancing the deficit from experiencing the ports of call throughout Asia. You will each be credited for a future cruise in the amount of the days in deficit after the port compensation. Please see the bursar for further questions or if you would like us to make arrangements to fly home.”

“Are we in danger?” I heard someone at another table ask.

“Are you planning on docking again in Sydney so we can fly home from there?” asked another.

“Is there a possibility the ship will be attacked by pirates?” Another added to the melee.

“Pirates? Like the shiver me timbers kind? Are you daft?” someone else continued.

“No, like the kind off the coast of Africa that have ships equipped with rocket launchers.”

I couldn’t keep up with all of the comments and the shouting. Those at our table tried to pull up the news on their phones to see what if anything had developed between the time we docked and the time we had dinner, but none of us could find anything worthwhile on a Google search.

“I’m bummed about the pyramids,” I admitted to the group. “The other stops I don’t really have any emotional attachment to. But the pyramids were something I genuinely had been looking forward to seeing.”

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