8. Marley
CHAPTER EIGHT
MARLEY
I’m sitting by one of the windows, letting the sun shine down on my bare shoulders as I read a book at one of the cafe tables. I can’t believe the trip is almost over. Tomorrow, we pull back into Miami, and I get to go home.
Back to my life.
I can’t even begin to decipher how that makes me feel. Relieved but also…sad.
“Marley!”
I look up in time to see Isaac jog over to my table. He’s wearing his activities uniform, the red polo shirt and the white Bermuda shorts, and he looks adorable. I glance around, feeling my face heat up. I feel like everyone knows what we did in that dark hallway last night. I haven’t stopped thinking about it for even a moment.
“Are you allowed to do this?” I ask when he takes the seat across from mine. I know he’s trying to be careful, but he isn’t exactly being sneaky right now, running across the deck to get to me and sitting with me where everyone can see.
“Uh, yes. I am now.” He smiles, dimples pressing deep into both of his cheeks. He’s got stubble around his mouth now, like he hasn’t shaved since yesterday morning.
“Now?” I ask, resisting the urge to laugh at the happiness on his face. He’s…glowing. Am I?
“Yes. I was fired.”
The smile falls from my mouth, and I drop my book onto the table with a thunk . “What? Are you serious? Because of me?”
He hasn’t stopped smiling though. “Frankly, yes. Or, you know, because of us . But that’s okay. It’s a good thing. It was time for me to give up the ocean and go back to Monaco.”
Somehow, my stomach sinks even further. “Oh. You’re going back to Monaco?”
I don’t know why this makes me so sad. It’s not as if I was ever going to see him again. But I guess, as long as he was on this ship, it felt like I could . Like all I had to do was show up at the port, and he would be here on this ship, waiting for me. But now, he’ll be an ocean away.
“Yes,” he says in a puff of air. “And I want you to come with me.”
I stare at his mouth, trying to figure out if he just said what I think he did. “What?”
He reaches across the little round cafe table and takes my hands. “I want you to come with me.”
“To…to Monaco?” I stutter.
He nods. “It’s quite beautiful there. I know I have a lot to face when I get there, and I don’t think it will all be pleasant, but I think I could do it with you at my side. I know we barely know each other, but I’ve felt so wonderful with you these past few days. And I don’t want to be parted from you, not yet. Please, run away with me.”
I snatch my hands away from him. “I can’t do that.”
His face immediately falls, the dimples disappearing.
“Isaac, I’ve had a wonderful time with you, too. You’ve made me feel so safe, and you helped me deal with something awful. But I have to go back to my own life. I have…” I wave my hand vaguely in the direction of the sea, like there’s a whole world waiting for me.
But there isn’t.
“I understand,” he says, the words coming out so heavily in his French accent. He pushes his chair back, stands, and then looks down at me. “Goodbye, Marley.”
“Good–” I start to say, but he turns and walks away.