Page 36 of Three Times You

The ship’s horn sounds again, twice. The girls all start filing off the yacht as if on command, and apparently that is exactly what the twin toots of the horn signaled.

Guido comes over. “Well? Did you like your party?”

“Loved it.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

He hugs me and then turns to head off toward the tender along with everyone else. The party is clearly over, and the tender is filling up. I start to follow him, but he holds up his hand.

“No, no.” He smiles. “You, the commander, and the crew are staying the night. Enjoy this one-hundred-thirty-eight-foot yacht. There’s a suite just for you. It’s been locked all evening, they just opened it up. No one else has been in it.”

“Wait, I don’t understand. Why this yacht, who…and tomorrow?”

Guido smiles and climbs aboard the tender.

“Enjoy your last bottle in your suite. And tomorrow, when you wake up, there’s a speedboat waiting to take you to shore. If you’re up for it, that is…”

Without another word, he heads away from the yacht, following after all the others. The pilot revs the engine, follows a wide curve, and disappears into the night.

I see the captain waving to me from a distance. “Good night.” And he too vanishes into his cabin.

Silence, solitude. The boat seems empty; all my friends have left. The crew must include at least eight seamen, but there’s no one around. It’s spic and span, clean and gleaming. They did their work discreetly while the others were still celebrating. Never intrusive, busy and efficient.

I walk back through the dining room and head slowly toward the last cabin near the bow. On the teak door is the single word:SUITE. I open the door. The cabin is enormous with a king-sized bed. On a small coffee table stands an ice bucket with a bottle of Cristal champagne. Next to it is a rose, and next to it, a note.For you.

And then I see her, reflected in the mirror.

“I suspected for a moment that you might be behind all this…But just for a moment.”

“Were you hoping?” Babi smiles. She’s dressed in a silver-sequined dress that shimmers and gleams with even the slightest movement. Her hair is black and short with long bangs over her blue eyes, made up perfectly to stand out even more distinctly.

“No, I never hoped it. I dismissed the idea because it seemed nonsensical.”

She’s wearing high heels, and her skirt is short.

“Last time we were in that house. You remember?” She points to Ansedonia, outside the big porthole, across that dark sea, a hill dotted with twinkling lights here and there.

“Yes, we were. And yes, I do.”

“That was the first time we made love, and it was beautiful.”

“Yes, Babi, and it was a long time ago.”

Now she moves slowly. “Do you like this yacht?”

“Yes, very much.”

“I’m glad to hear it. It belongs to my husband. I never come aboard. But tonight I was happy to be able to put it to good use.”

“What did you tell him?”

She steps close, brushing against me, but then grabs the bottle behind me.

“Sit down, Step, and I’ll pour you a drink.”

So I go over to the sofa as she opens the bottle.

“I just told him I wanted to throw a party. He didn’t ask why or with who—he’s an ideal husband. He’s far away right now, and most of the time.” Then she pops the cork and pours two glasses full of Cristal, offering me one. She looks at me, smiles, and raises her glass. “To our happiness, whatever it might be.”

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