Chapter Text
Landon is scheduled to be at the helm until around 5 pm. This allows Hope to check in with the rest of the crew, eat and take a nap before she has to be back up top.
Hope manages to nap until around 3 pm before she wakes up restless. She grabs her sketch pad and her mind wanders to the night before. After a while her page is filled with a rough outline of the overlook with the sun setting in the background. Two figures sat on the blanket she outlined. It is a good start for a pretty intricate piece.
Looking at the clock, she realizes she needs to grab a quick shower before returning to the helm. After her shower Hope grabs a fresh Captain’s outfit from the wardrobe and grabs her hat off the door hook.
Landon radios in, “Hey Captain, I know you aren’t supposed to be up here for another twenty minutes but we have an issue. Can you head up here now?”
“What’s wrong Lan? I’ll be right up either way.”
“It’s not a big problem, we will discuss it when you get here.”
Hope leaves her quarters quickly with her thoughts going a mile a minute. She’s worrying about everything from the health of her crew and the passengers to a possible issue with her baby Eviligo.
She passes by the outdoor eating area and notices Josie isn’t with her friends. Lizzie smirks knowingly at the Captain as she walks by. Hope takes the stairs to the bridge two at a time. When she gets to the top she is surprised to see a little table set up with two place settings. Josie was sitting in one of the chairs and Landon was standing off to the side.
“Huh?” Hope looks from Landon to Josie.
“Well Cap, the issue is that this fine young lady would like to have a dinner date with you but you weren’t here.”
Hope still stands there a bit confused.
“I will leave you two. Have fun.” Landon waves as he heads down the stairs.
Josie stands up and walks over to Hope and reaches for her hand. She is wearing a light blue sundress with her hair cascading over her shoulders.
“Surprise?”
“Yeah I’m surprised. How did you manage all of this?”
“I didn’t really. It was Maya and Lizzie. Maya got the crew to set this up and she made us a candlelit dinner.” Josie waves back to the table. “Lizzie pretty much kidnapped me and forced me into the emergency dress I had. Maya brought me up here a few minutes ago saying you needed to see me. I was just as surprised as you to see that they set us up this date. I’m not complaining now though. This is nice.”
“This is sweet of them to set up but I still wanna kill them for disregarding our wishes.”
Hope looks around the room before her eyes settle on Josie. Josie reaches out for Hope’s hand, “Would you like to have dinner with me?”
“Of course I would.”
Hope removes her hat and they sit down at the table. Josie tells Hope the salad course is waiting for them but Maya will be up with the main course and dinner shortly.
Conversation comes easily, in between mouthfuls of grilled eggplant and portobello sandwiches. The sandwich is paired with a Mediterranean inspired zucchini boat. It is a delicious and filling meal. The meal is finished with baklava ice cream dessert.
“Maya makes the best food I have ever had.” Josie almost moans at the taste of the scratch made baklava ice cream.
“Yeah, she is the best chef we have on any yacht. She makes sure I am always fed, I tend to forget to eat sometimes.”
“It’s so easy to forget to eat. You get so busy with work or life that sometimes meals aren’t a priority. There have been times I spend all day writing and I don’t realize I need to eat until late in the evening.”
“Exactly, if I am not on a Charter trip, I am in the office doing paperwork or in company meetings. Unless someone reminds me to eat I don’t on the busy days until I get home.”
“Do you work long hours when you aren't Captaining? Josie questions.
“Sometimes. Most days I don’t work more than 8 hours though. As much as I love our company, I refuse to spend all my time working. I have hobbies and friends that I enjoy spending time with too.”
“What are your hobbies?” Josie tries imagining Hope on an off day.
“I love art, I dabble mostly in painting and drawing. I also have a personal boat I can take to Wolf’s Bay when I want. I have a bungalow on the island away from all the public areas. I occasionally bring friends and we ride jet skis, paddle boards and what not. I love the outdoors. What about you?”
“When I’m not working on my novel I play guitar and ukulele. I sing a bit too. I like reading and video games. I’m kind of a homebody but being outside is a nice change.”
Josie takes Hope’s hand in hers over the table.
“Even though this was a surprise date for both of us, I'm having a great time.”
“Me too. I hope for our next date I can take you out.” Hope smiles at the brunette.
“I didn’t even get to plan the one I asked you out on. That’s not fair.” Josie playfully pouts.
“Here’s the deal then. I plan the next date, and you plan the one after. How does that sound?”
“So we are already planning out the next two dates when we aren’t even done with the first?”
“Yes, I am serious about wanting to see where this is going between us.”
“I agree. I really like you Hope.”
“I really like you too Jo.”
Hope connects her phone to the portable speaker she brought. Music quietly plays in the background of the rest of their time together. Hope gives Josie the official tour of the bridge and Josie tells Hope all about her current novel. The evening casually grows to an end as Hope must return to work.
They are standing at the railing on the small upper deck off the back of the bridge.
“I’m sad we can't stay like this.” Hope relaxes back against Josie and the brunette hugs her tighter. Hope turns her head enough for Josie to lean forward and kiss her. The kiss is soft and sweet, the perfect end to their first date.
On the morning of the third and final day of the charter, Landon guides the ship back to Wolf’s Cay. This time he anchors the yacht in the calm bay on the north side of the island near Hope’s bungalow. Normally on the third day of the trip most passengers play or relax in the water around the yacht or hang out on the ship in the hot tub. The crew brings out inflatables and preps the company's two jet skis. The passengers receive another safety lecture and tutorial before they are allowed to use the machines.
Josie hangs back and looks around for any sign of Hope. She hasn’t seen her at all that morning. All during breakfast her sister and friends talked animatedly about the activities they get to do that day but Josie was distracted. She daydreamed about what it would be like if Hope was able to hang out and have fun with them that day.
Unbeknownst to the brunette Hope was thinking about the same thing earlier that morning. She was considering allowing Landon to Captain the final day of the trip, both to prove his capabilities and to allow Hope to relax and enjoy herself. She calls an early morning crew meeting to discuss her wishes.
“Hello everyone, I know we don’t normally have formal meetings during our trips but I have something to ask of you all. As you probably all know by now, passenger Josie and I are... involved.” Hope pauses.
“For this reason, I feel as though Landon should take over as Captain for the remainder of the trip. Lan, you have more than proved yourself to be able to Captain this yacht. I am trusting you with my pride and joy.”
Landon stands taller and nods. This is a very big deal for him.
“I hope your respect for me as your Captain and as the future CEO of Mikaelson Charters remains intact with this choice. I do not think I could forgive myself if I decided to not pursue things with Josie. There is something special about her, and although we just met I feel in my heart this is the right decision. I will still be Captain on charters in the future. For now I feel it is a conflict to continue captaining this specific trip, given the circumstances. Thank you all for being great employees and a wonderful crew. I enjoy working with every single one of you.”
“Cap, we will support you every step of the way. I think I can speak for the rest of the crew when I say follow your heart and do what you need to do. I personally respect you even more for this decision.” Maya reaches an arm around her best friend's shoulder.
“Thank you for trusting me Hope. I won’t let you down.” Landon nods in agreement with Maya.
“Go spend time with your girl today Hope. We got the crew stuff. Enjoy yourself and relax.” Riley adds.
The other crew members give their well wishes and approval. It is a big weight lifted off Hope’s shoulders.
Josie gives up on finding Hope and heads to the bow of the yacht to meet her friends. MG and Lizzie are climbing onto one of the jet skis and Kaleb is lounging on a floating raft connected to the ship.
“Sorry Jo, we were gonna wait for you but we didn’t know how long you would be.” MG says.
“It’s okay. You two go for a ride, Lizzie and I can ride together later.” Josie sits down and dangles her feet off the edge of the yacht.
Lost in her own thoughts, she doesn’t notice someone sit down next to her. Hope waits a moment as to not startle the brunette.
“Jo? Why the long face?”
Josie shakes away her thoughts and looks at Hope. She didn’t expect her to be there let alone in a bikini top and board shorts instead of her uniform.
“Hi. What are you doing here?”
“I made a decision. I appointed Landon as Captain for the rest of the trip so I could spend the day with you and your friends. I’ve never given up full command before. It feels weird but in a good way. The crew gave me their blessings and told me to come find you.”
“Everything with you has been a surprise so far, but I like it. I am happy you are here.” Hope takes Josie’s hand in hers.
“Do you wanna go for a ride?” Hope nods to the remaining jet ski.
“I really do.” Josie says excitedly.
Hope laughs at the excitement and helps Josie up with her. They put on the life vests and Hope climbs onto the jet ski. Josie follows carefully as not to fall. Josie puts her arms around Hope’s waist and rests her head on the shorter woman’s shoulder. She leans forward to kiss Hope on the cheek. “Show me what you got.”
Hope smirks. She starts out slow to get used to the light waves of the bay. Soon enough she's speeding around the bay and circling Lizzie and MG’s jet ski. The group messes around for a while, racing and out maneuvering each other. MG and Lizzie head back to the yacht to relax on the rafts with Kaleb.
Hope and Josie float on the jet ski in the bay talking about schedules and when their next date could be. Hope wouldn’t be free until the following Friday if they wanted to go out for dinner. Josie frowns not wanting to wait a week to see Hope next.
“Would you be able to do breakfast or brunch on a sooner day?” Josie asks.
“I could probably go in after noon on Tuesday, I am sure my Aunt Freya wouldn’t mind. How does that sound?”
“I can do Tuesday. There is this cute little cafe by the marina I want to try. I think it's called Sidewinder cafe.”
Hope laughs loudly at the suggestion.
“What’s so funny?”
“It's just that my Aunt Keelin owns that cafe. Not many people know that. It's just a small world is all. In that case though, my Aunt’s definitely won’t care that I go in late. They may want to meet you actually. If that's okay I mean? I don’t want to rush you into that if you aren’t ready.”
Josie looks at Hope and grins. “Of course someone in your family owns that. The cafe gets great reviews. You Mikaelson’s are something else, running businesses is in your blood. I’d love to meet your aunts Hope.”
Hope kisses Josie, and the brunette immediately deepens the kiss. When they finally break apart for air, Hope asks another question.
“I know this is fast, like really fast and you can say no but will you be my girlfriend Josie?” Hope holds her breath waiting for a response
“Yes, Hope I will.” Josie recaptures Hope’s lips and kisses her passionately.
They eventually drive back to the yacht and begin packing everything up.
Captain Landon makes the announcement that it's time to head back to the marina and begins the 2 hour trek. Hope and Josie enjoy dinner with her sister and friends before finishing out the trip relaxing in the on deck hot tub.
Josie and Hope keep getting lost in their own world causing Lizzie to tell them to get a room multiple times. Josie just rolls her eyes and lets it go. This is the best vacation she's ever had thanks to her new girlfriend.
Hope and Josie deboard the yacht hand in hand, ready to take any journey this relationship sends them on.