Love Overboard

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

On her way back to the cabin, she bumped into Jack. He was rushing down the hall, staring at his phone, and he came towards her so quickly that despite trying to stand to the side, his shoulder crashed into her.

‘Watch it.’ She felt irritated by him not noticing her.

‘Sorry, Harlow, I’m in a bit of a rush.’ He tried to push past her but she blocked his way. She felt like picking a fight.

‘Where have you been then?’ She didn’t try to hide the accusatory tone from her voice this time. There was something about the arrogance of his being late and everyone simply laughing it off that rubbed her up the wrong way.

‘Christ, Harlow, is this an interrogation? If you must know, I bumped into an old family friend last night – Luchiano. He used to work for my grandmother when we were younger.’ He stopped abruptly. ‘Not that it’s really any of your business.’

Sofia kicked herself. Why had she made assumptions? And why had she taken it so personally that Jack might have spent the night with someone anyway? Her anger turned inwards and darkened into shame.

She dropped her head. Any amicable advances they may have made yesterday, she had dashed in a moment. ‘Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realise. It’s just that Petra and the captain were making all these jokes and...’

‘And you thought you could come out here and accuse me of something, something that I am well within my rights to do anyway, might I add.’ It was his turn to be angry. ‘I don’t really know what I have to do, Sofia, to convince you that I am not some horrible monster of a man, and to be honest I’m a little bored of trying.’

‘I’m really sorry, Jack, I don’t think you’re a monster. I think I’m just in a horrible mood today.’ Sofia felt awful. She had not included ‘grovelling apology’ in the list of tedious chores she had to do that day, and it was draining an already low reserve of self-worth. This, she noted, was just one of the reasons she had stopped drinking in the first place.

Jack sighed heavily. ‘It’s OK, Sofia, I’m just... It’s been an intense couple of days. Capri it’s... There’s some family stuff that always comes up whenever I’m here and...’ He trailed off and ran his hand through his hair exasperatedly. ‘Apology accepted. I don’t really have time for this right now, Sofia, but it’s fine, we’re cool.’ He was not very convincing, but Sofia was more than happy to let the conversation end there.

‘OK, sorry again. I’ll radio you when I need help with the supplies later?’

‘Sure,’ he said coolly and then he looked down at his watch. ‘Until then.’ He strode off.

It was a stark realisation to consider that men like Jack had ‘baggage’ of their own, inner lives and family drama that sat somewhere below the charm. Sofia wasn’t sure she was enjoying the revelation. It was far easier to think of Jack as purely two-dimensional. She stood alone in the corridor, fretting anxiously about her tendency to mess up her work relationships. She resolved to be friendly from here on out. He might be infuriating at times, but he had also really looked out for her and saved her from some tight scrapes. His personal life was none of her business, and now that she thought about it she wasn’t sure how she’d convinced herself otherwise.

‘Sofia, Sofia.’ Declan’s voice cracked through the radio. ‘We’re going to get supplies now, so if there are any last-minute changes to the menu speak now or forever hold your peace.’ Damn, she didn’t have time for contemplation. She had a whole new ingredients list to write up; mussels needed to be swapped out for chicken fillets, lobsters for steaks.

‘Give me ten minutes, Dec. I’ll bring the new list up to you.’ She marched towards the kitchen.

‘Copy that.’

Something about the need to distract herself from her run-in with Jack turbo-charged her ailing brain into gear. When Petra wandered into the kitchen, she didn’t even notice; she was scribbling away on her notepad so furiously.

Petra stood quietly, and when Sofia looked up, she jumped. She was making a habit of it – things on this boat always seemed to be creeping up on her.

‘Damn, Petra, you can’t creep up on me like that. I’m in a delicate state today.’

‘Tell me about it.’ Petra did not look like herself. She was pale and she seemed jumpy. ‘I’m really stressed about this Stuart situation,’ she blurted.

Sofia put down her pen. ‘Have you guys talked about it?’

‘God no, I’d rather die. Did you see the vibes at breakfast? Abominable!’ So it had been good old-fashioned tension Sofia had felt, and not the sexual variety. She felt a pang of pity for Stuart.

‘Well to be honest I think it’s best to just shut it down. He obviously likes you, but workplace stuff – it’s always complicated and everything will be much simpler if you just try and stay friends.’ Sofia was talking to Petra, but she was also talking to herself. It all sounded so reasonable when she said it out loud and part of her wished she’d had someone say this to her at Nakachwa, before everything went wrong.

Then again, she probably wouldn’t have listened.

Petra looked deflated. ‘I guess you’re right. It’s not like... I like him or anything, but he’s so sweet and the idea of blowing him off seems so cruel, like kicking a puppy.’

‘It’s got to be done, Petra, before he gets the wrong idea.’ She had been the puppy once, and although she knew it wasn’t nice being kicked, she hoped Petra might have a bit more tact. ‘Sorry, Petra, I have to get this list to Declan.’ Sofia put a steady hand on her shoulder and waited until Petra looked up. ‘You got this.’

Petra rolled her eyes, ‘Yeah OK, I’m not going to war, just gotta kick a puppy.’ Petra took a deep breath and the two of them split off in opposite directions, geared up for the tasks at hand.

Sofia found Declan standing outside the captain’s quarters on the top deck. The pair were laughing. Declan didn’t seem to have any problem making friends on board. When he spotted her he waved and walked over. She handed him the list.

‘Oh no, you’re not getting away with it that easy. I’ll be needing some guidance; I don’t know what half this stuff is.’

Sofia was not impressed. She was functioning on very little sleep and she had to start thinking about dinner. ‘You don’t know what...’ she glanced down at the list ‘...an onion is?’

Declan laughed. ‘Nah that’s not fair – I obviously know what an onion is but, man, I don’t know the difference between—’ he pointed ‘—a sirloin and a bavette steak.’

‘Well can’t you just ask?’

‘Don’t speak Italian, mate,’ he said. Sofia was finding his wide grin more and more irritating. ‘I was going to go with Jack but he’s got some family stuff or something to sort out. I’m not really sure what, so it’s you and me. At least you’ll know what this stuff looks like, then we can just point.’

It was clear to Sofia that she was doomed to have ever more tedious chores to do that day. She had resolved to be a helpful and friendly team player, and she sort of owed Jack one.

‘OK fine, but we need to keep it moving. I have to be back in time to get dinner ready.’