3. Jones
3
JONES
It’s not very often I’m thrown off by the utter perfection of a woman.
I’ve been around my fair share.
When you’ve experienced life the way I have, healthy handfuls of women surround you.
But none that shine like she did.
Capri.
For the first time in my thirty-nine years of life, I was at a loss for words.
Shit, we talked about candy. I bought candy bananas.
Hard, candy bananas.
I don’t even like them, but I couldn’t admit to her I grabbed them by accident. They were the closest thing to us. I was too preoccupied staring at her like she was a part of some wild dream—a guest of honor. So, I scooped banana Runts into my bag without looking, giving myself a task to keep my hands busy.
Hands that wanted to fucking reach for her.
What are the chances of meeting a stunning woman named Capri in the city of Capri? Slim, I’d say.
I’m fortunate enough to live in Capri nine months out of the year. The other three, I’m in the United States caring for my mother.
Working in the travel industry has its perks and led me to visit Capri roughly ten years ago and never look back.
It’s my home. The place I chose to plant roots.
Meeting the mysterious woman in The Candy Emporium, of all places, was a shock. I’ve strolled the streets of the village more times than I can count, and I can assure you, I’ve never seen her.
I would have remembered.
Although I’ve lived here for years, I never once stepped foot in that candy shop…until today. I can’t explain why I did, other than the smell of baked sugar caught my attention on my way into the office. My mother used to bake what she called Texas Sheet Cake growing up, and I’m almost positive the icing was sugar by the gallon. But I fucking loved it.
The filtering sweet smell reminded me of that. Of a clearer time.
I’m beginning to think my nostalgia wasn’t the only reason I ended up with a pound of banana Runts and an out-of-sync heartbeat.
If I wasn’t so caught off guard, I would have asked her out.
Not usually my style, but goddamn, she was irresistible.
Her long legs were toned and tanned to perfection, something unusual for a tourist. Her long blonde hair was shiny and looked like silk, with small streaks of chestnut red, making her bright blue eyes pop. She had on the tiniest yellow sundress that covered enough to not only make me wonder what she was hiding underneath but also admire her silhouette of healthy curves.
She’s divine.
Unfortunately for me, I’ll probably never see her again. Not that I’d pursue anything with her. I’ve adapted to being alone far too well.
However, she was the exact distraction I needed on my Friday afternoon walk to the office. It’s been a week from hell, and I’d like to speak with the big boss to file a complaint.
Too bad that’s me.
Before my father passed fifteen years ago, he stated in his will that my older brother, Tommy, would inherit Archer Chartering, our family chartering company, after his passing. Sadly, Tommy never made it to see that legacy continue from him, leaving it to me.
To say my father and I were not on the greatest of terms is an understatement. If he had his way from the grave, he’d rather sign the company off to someone without the Archer last name. I’m aware of my fuckups and the ones that likely led to my mother’s current gray hairs and my late father’s anxiety, but I’ve seasoned with age.
My twenties were what I like to call my experimental years. I didn’t take life seriously and fucked around with anything and anyone. To the extent of sinking one of my father’s most toured yachts into the Atlantic. I had no respect for valuable things and the feelings of those who came with them.
Not a day goes by that I don’t regret it. I’d like to think I was only young and stupid, but twenty-four is hardly considered too young to know right from wrong.
Losing Tommy destroyed me, and inheriting Archer Chartering forced me to grow up.
It also saved my life.
It’s daunting and unlike anything I expected to come from my time here, but I realized not long after that I was born to do this.
There’s privilege in the seas, in travel, in the beauty of the unknown.
I’m fortunate enough to meet foreigners from near and far, giving them a fun and memorable chartering experience, even if it’s just for a day.
Those trips are the fun ones. The ones that my family experienced when I was younger, making us fall in love with the allure of Italy.
However, I won’t lie and say I wish I had someone to share it with.
I’m only getting older and although I do everything I can to stay in shape and keep myself young, I haven’t been on a date, yet alone fucked a woman in longer than I can remember.
Work has always been my top priority.
Entering my office, I’m greeted by Romeo, my best friend and business partner. I hired him, along with my other partner, Luca, when I permanently relocated to Capri after years of rebuilding our brand, and they’ve been instrumental in making Archer Chartering succeed. It helps that they’re natives to the Amalfi Coast.
“There he is,” Romeo chants as I enter.
“Get the fuck out of my chair,” I tell him, nodding to his feet crossed on my desk.
“I just got comfortable,” he whines in his heavy Italian accent.
I cut him a sharp look, circling to where he stands and taking my seat. “Don’t you have yachts to clean or something more productive to do?”
He knows I’m fucking with him.
Romeo is thirty and the more reckless one of our trio—similar to the old me, except he’s still responsible.
“Hardly. He just got in,” Luca announces as he enters the office with three coffees in hand.
He hands me mine. “Thanks.” I nod. “What’s that supposed to mean? You just got in?” I turn to Romeo in question.
“More like an hour ago,” Romeo scoffs.
My brows rise. “An hour ago? It’s one o’clock.”
“Tell him where you were,” Luca says to Romeo, taunting him.
“Sure thing, snitch,” Romeo says to Luca before turning to me. “I met a woman.”
He met a woman? Now, that’s unexpected. Unexpected because Romeo never meets a woman he thinks is worth mentioning or remembering.
“What the hell, man? Your job is to open. What if a customer showed up to book with us? Your distracted ass wasn’t even here. This is a business.”
“Don’t give me that shit, Jones. I’m here every day like clockwork.”
“Maybe, but not today.” I love the guy, but his priorities are fucked. This doesn’t happen often with him, and that’s what has me questioning this woman he met.
It seems we both met a woman worth remembering.
Romeo sips his coffee, choosing to ignore me further and make no apologies. My curiosity takes over as I ask him, “So, about this woman?”
Don’t fucking say a woman in a yellow sundress.
He grins smugly. “Tiny blonde thing, sexy as hell spitfire. I invited her on the boat tomorrow,” Romeo says.
Thank fuck Capri is tall.
“You have such a way with words,” I murmur, questioning how he gets any woman to come remotely close to him.
“Don’t be a hater,” Romeo says. “We could all use a day off.”
“I don’t need a day off. I have too much to catch up on.”
Luca speaks up, “Come on, man. We’ll cruise the Blue Grottos with some beautiful women, good food, good drinks and just fucking chill for a day.”
That doesn’t sound terrible.
But this work won’t get done on its own.
“I don’t think so. You two go have fun,” I tell them.
“Nope. Not happening,” Romeo argues.
It’s crazy to think that just an hour ago, I was smiling like that.
I lift my head, meeting his adamant stare. “Fuck off.”
Luca chuckles and Romeo perseveres. “Nah, I’m good right here.”
“Jones, when was the last time you took a break? You work like a dog to have all the luxuries you do, but you never let yourself actually enjoy them. What’s the point?” Luca asks.
Well, shit.
My pride tells me to ignore them and act like I’m not affected by Luca’s words. But I am. I know I’m a workhorse, but it’s all I have. My mother is in the States, I have no family other than her—this company is the only thing left.
If I don’t work, I can’t afford to support her.
I told myself I’d invest everything I have into my father’s business to honor my brother. I’ve done just that. Archer Chartering has never been more successful and has taken the leading spot in chartering by storm.
It seems, while knee-deep in accomplishments, I lost myself along the way.
I come home to an empty house at night—eat alone, sleep alone, wake up alone.
I guess I can sacrifice one day to let loose.
“Okay.”
Romeo jerks his head to Luca. “Did you hear the same thing I did?”
“It sounded like the old fucker agreed to have some fun,” Luca says.
I roll my eyes and focus on the stack of papers in front of me. “You can leave now.”
“Hell yeah, boss. You won’t regret it,” Romeo chants.
My two overbearing best friends leave the office, and the sound of the heavy door closing leaves me in silence—the stale air I’m used to.
A day off…I forgot what that feels like.