Chapter Text
As the sun set low in the sky, two women leaned against the shaded railing of a cruise ship, overlooking the steadily rolling waves of the ocean. The taller of the two—blonde, all curves and sun kissed skin—leaned in close to her friend, whispering something into her ear.
“Don’t say that, Kam!” The shorter woman recoiled, her already reddened cheeks flushing as she pulled her bathing suit cover down to shield more of her backside from any prying eyes.
The tall woman—Kam—threw her head back and laughed, her beachy waves bouncing with the motion. “Oh, now is not the time to act shy, Livvy.” She teased, “The time to be shy was probably somewhere between the first and third drink he bought you.”
Livvy, whose blush began to spread down her neck, frowned deeply. She shook her head, causing her short brown bob to toss about and cover her face—a clever way she’d learned to hide her features when embarrassed.
“Well,” Livvy stomped her foot, eyes cast to the ocean as she wracked her brain for a reply. “Well, I had already had a drink, so I’m not really sure what I could have done differently.” She finally said, exasperated.
Kam laughed again. “Olivia, no one said you needed to do anything different. You flirted with a stranger, so what? It’s not the end of the world.” She shrugged.
Livvy’s face puffed up as she mulled over Kam’s words, finding that she herself was the sole cause of her sudden embarrassment. “Whatever,” she mumbled under her breath, defeated.
“Really though,” Kam’s tone turned a touch more serious—her big sister persona rearing its head. “Please be careful with all the drinks? Probably shouldn’t be taking so many free drinks so quickly. You’re not really used to that sort of drinking.”
Olivia huffed, pouting as she leaned further onto the railing. “Yeah, I know, I know.” She glanced at Kam out of the corner of her eye. “Thanks for looking out for me, Kamryn.” She offered a small, apologetic smile.
Kamryn grinned, leaning down onto the railing as well, and bumping her shoulder gently against her friends. “And enough serious talk. Pool time?”
Olivia couldn’t help but have Kam’s sparkling grin lift her mood and she returned the expression. “Yes! Pool time!”
The two turned on the spot, ready to head to the main deck and claim their usual spot beside the pool.
Olivia paused briefly, tugging at her swimsuit cover again. “Well, actually—maybe I’ll put some more sunscreen on first.” She said, her tone taking on the inflection of a question.
Kamryn nodded in agreement. “Good idea. We’ve been working hard to not have you turn into a lobster out here, don’t need to start slacking now.” Kam gave a subtle thumbs up. “I’ll grab our chairs and get us both a drink—a non-alcoholic drink.”
Olivia quickly rattled off her preference in drink before the two briefly parted ways.
The sunscreen application was quick, the longest part of the process being the trek to and from Olivia’s little interior room.
With pale skin glinting under the harsh rays of sun, Olivia eventually made her way back up to the deck. She placed her hands squarely on her hips as she glanced around the pool, looking for Kamryn in their usual spot and not seeing her immediately.
Olivia squinted—despite her sunglasses, the sun still glared off the cheap plastic and obscured her vision. Nervous to be walking around without her social buffer, Olivia chewed at her lip as she hesitantly made her way over to the bar, hoping to catch a glimpse of her friend there.
Olivia’s shoulders sagged when, again, Kamryn was nowhere to be seen.
Just as Olivia was about to step away, cool slender fingers reached out to catch Olivia’s wrist.
“You’re here.” A smooth male voice chimed, its familiarity causing Olivia’s muscles to tense.
Olivia set her jaw, not looking forward to the interaction ahead of her. “I mean,” she began, trying her best to not sound too mean, but hoping to hold an air of disinterest. “Not like I would be able to go anywhere else.” She shrugged, using the movement as an excuse to pull her arm away and out of the man's grip.
Turning to face the man, Olivia was not pleased to see the amused smile on his face. He’d found it funny—which, sure, she enjoyed people finding her funny—but she didn’t really want anyone to find her anything at the time being.
“True,” he shrugged, a small pause wafting over them, but his smile never fading. “I can buy you another drink, yeah?”
Olivia’s mood fell even further, if that was even possible, but before she could reject his advances, the two of them were interrupted. A feminine voice—Olivia had hoped it was Kam coming to her rescue, but the speaker’s tone was too raspy, like they’d gone too long without water and not long enough without a cigarette.
“He’s not even buying the drinks, you know? He gets them for free.” It was the bartender that spoke up, annoyance permeating both her tone and her demeanor.
The woman had piercing amber eyes, her smudged mascara emphasizing her glare on the man that had accosted Olivia, and her mouth was set into a slight frown. To complete her edgy look, she had a little stud piercing below her bottom lip, drawing the eye, and her messy blue hair was piled atop her head in a bun and pinned into place with a slightly out of place looking floral hair ornament.
Olivia let out a soft “oh” at the woman’s, welcomed, interruption. “That’s okay, I didn’t really want one anyways.” She attempted to plaster on a smile.
“She doesn’t even want it anyways, see?” The bartender repeated, rolling her eyes as an offended look appeared on the man’s face.
Olivia noticed, now that they stood in the bright sun and not in the stuffy buffett bar, the man was at least as pretty as her previously intoxicated mind remembered. He had long, golden locks, which were pulled up in a ponytail. A section of bangs hung in front of his face, shielding one of his eyes from onlookers, but the one Olivia did catch a glimpse of was a brilliant blue.
Similar to the bartender, he also sported a little smudged makeup around his eyes—this cruise line seemed to have a preferred look for their staff it seemed.
The man—Dei, Olivia finally recalled from the night before—rolled his eyes. “I heard it the first time, no need to rub it in.” He returned his gaze to Olivia, causing her to take a hesitant step back, preparing for the worst. “It’s fine, yeah. No pressure.” He shrugged, “didn’t mean to come off pushy or anything.”
Olivia scrunched her brow, looking between the two of them. The bartender offered Olivia one more pitying look before she went back to her work.
Another small oh slipped past Olivia’s slightly parted lips. “I think I’ll be on my way then. I need to find my friend.”
“Like I said,” Dei gave her a charming smile, “no pressure from me.” He then lifted a hand and Olivia instinctively took a step back, anticipating him to reach out to her again. Instead, to Olivia’s delight, he pointed a finger somewhere behind her. She turned, eyes going to where his slender digit gestured. “That’s your friend, yeah? The leggy blonde?”
Olivia let out a little, breathy laugh, happy to see her “leggy blonde” friend. “Yeah, thanks.” She turned and gave Dei a smile, overcoming her nerves a little with his display of kindness. “Maybe a drink later—I mean, if the offer still stands.” Her nerves broke through at the last minute and her smile turned sheepish. “I mean, maybe.”
In her head, Olivia cursed herself, especially as her final words came out in quiet uncertainty.
“Yeah.” Dei laughed, giving her a puzzled look. “Maybe.”
As Olivia took another step away, quickly retreating from the awkward parting, the bartender woman gave an exasperated groan. Olivia could practically hear the woman rolling her eyes at the exchange.
By the pool, Kamryn had settled under a large shady umbrella. She laid out in one of the comfy lounge chairs, though not her and Olivia’s usual ones, and she hoped her mousy little friend wouldn’t have trouble finding her in the crowd.
She eased the tension in her shoulder, taking in the bustling deck, and attempting to relax by taking a sip of her drink—which sported its own tiny umbrella.
So far, no Olivia in sight, but Kam had no need to be worried—yet.
Kamryn contemplated their time on the ship. Their little vacation was hard earned, though luck certainly played its role in their winning it. Their boss, Mr. Minami, as sleezy as he was, had offered their editorial team a fun little competition.
The industry was getting more and more competitive every day, and their small firm’s morale was getting lower and lower.
Even though you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting someone who wanted to submit a work, good clients—those best-sellers that you could spot from the first sentence of their manuscript—were a hot commodity.
The past five months, Kamryn and Olivia had been in the office—or zooming into meetings from home, coffee shops, and their parents' spare bedrooms—every day. Weekend’s and breaks didn’t exist. Of course, they weren’t the only ones going all in.
It was a hard competition to win.
In the end, though, there was no question who the winner was.
It was their best in-house editor—which just so happened to be neither Kamryn or Olivia. That was where luck had come in. That had been Gilbert.
But Gilbert was not so lucky.
He’d been chosen for the prize—which consisted of this 14-day cruise, a food and drink allowance, and office bragging rights—but Gilbert’s mistress went into early labor right at the perfect time. At least, the perfect time for Kamryn.
Gilbert, with all his faults, was a nice guy. So instead of going on the cruise with his wife, he decided to stay in town and see his mistress through childbirth—and to start the divorce process, of course.
A small smile played on Kamryn’s lips at the memory of how she’d gotten here. The frantic email from Gilbert just a day before the guest details needed to be finalized was a surprise—the juicy gossip that came through Teams a few hours later was jaw dropping.
But Kamryn was not too foolish to hesitate accepting his little trade deal, and with no one else to take with her—her family all being halfway across the country and too busy with their own lives—Kamryn chose her favorite intern to tag along with her.
Olivia was more than just an intern, or a work friend. The two of them had formed a solid friendship almost instantly. They were worlds different, but held similar interests, and their personalities just clicked.
“And what’s got you so deep in thought?” Kamryn was pulled from her thoughts by a man, tall and dark, stopping by her chair.
“Oh?” Kamryn hummed, looking up and over her sunglasses at her intruder. “Just wondering where my friend went.” She offered him a smile.
“So this seat is taken then?” He asked, gesturing to the lounge chair beside her, with its half melted drink sitting on the table between them.
“Unfortunately so. Shame isn’t it?” She gave a playful pout, earning her an equally playful grin from the man.
“Maybe I’ll just sit while we wait for her?” He offered, a touch of hesitancy in his tone.
Kamryn mulled over the question for a second, taking a refreshing sip of her drink. “It can’t hurt.” She shrugged. “As long as you secede your place when she finally makes her way over.” She smiled, though her tone held an edge of warning in it.
“Of course.” He let out a boisterous laugh, one that reverberated around them, drawing Kamryn in.
He made himself comfortable in the chair. The furniture gave true scale to the man’s size, his height and bulk dwarfing the poor, very normal sized lounge.
Kamryn pushed her shades up on her nose, hiding her gaze as she let her eyes linger on the man beside her.
“So, will you and your friend be getting off on our next stop, or are you staying on for the remainder of the trip?” He asked, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back, not taking his dark eyes off of her.
Kamryn mulled over the question, sucking on her teeth as she thought. She was not keen on telling strangers her plans, however, this seemed inconspicuous enough. Though, perhaps she’d think differently if they were, in fact, departing at the next stop.
She took a quick sip of her drink, the straw popping from her mouth as she spoke. “Nope. We’re here for a while longer.” She observed him as he took in the information.
“Good to know,” he nodded, taking a pause to ponder his next words.
Before he could get out whatever he wanted to say, Kamryn’s short brunette friend finally scurried over to her side.
“You’re here, leggy friend.” Olivia greeted, a little bounce in her step.
“Leggy friend?” Kamryn raised a brow and lowered her shades, turning to give Olivia a look of confusion.
“Is that what they call you?” The man let out another hearty laugh, bringing a subtle tinge of pink to Kamryn’s cheeks.
“Oh god, no.” Kamryn scoffed.
Olivia, predictably, blushed a deep shade of red at the attention the man’s loud laugh brought. “Oh, uhm.” She began, fidgeting in her spot. “New friend?” She asked Kamryn, shuffling to the side so that Kamryn was firmly between herself and the stranger.
“New friend.” Kamryn sighed out, replacing her shades and rolling her eyes. “And you can call me Kam. Please don’t call me Leggy Friend.” She addressed the man before turning back to Olivia. “Don’t call me that either, kay?”
Olivia grimaced, letting out a sheepish sorry under her breath.
Another laugh cut through the tense air surrounding the trio as the man rose from his seat. “Well, this was a short meeting, but I promised to give the seat back up for your awkward friend here.”
“Thanks,” Kamryn replied quickly, a smile spreading on her face again. “Me and my Awkward Friend appreciate it.”
The man couldn’t help but laugh again, doubly so as Olivia gave Kamryn an embarrassed look at the little nickname.
“I’m Kisame, just by the way.” He stepped aside, offering the seat to Olivia, who gladly took it with a soft thank you. “I’m here for the whole stent, so hopefully I’ll see you two around again.”
A moment later and the two were alone—as alone as two people could be on a fully booked cruise ship, at least.
“He seemed nice.” Olivia chirped.
“He did.” Kamryn replied, sipping on her drink again.
“You gonna let him buy you drinks?” Olivia eyed Kamryn out of the corner of her eye.
“Not a chance.” Kamryn let the umbrella of her drink hide her smile.
“You sure?” Olivia caught the way Kamryn’s cheeks lifted with her smile.
A bubble of laughter slipped through Kamryn’s lips. “Well, maybe a little drink. Maybe.”
Olivia let her own laughter break free, the feeling infectious. The bubbly mood did not last long, though, as the two of them slipped into the quiet, contemplative relaxation that they’d become accustomed to the last few days.