Chapter 6 #2
It was slow going, but after a few minutes, Terry stopped. He pointed to a faint area where the vegetation was thinner, almost down to the ground. “Huh. Does this look like a path to you?”
“I mean…sure?” Mark shrugged. To be fair, the grass did look sparser in a way that didn’t appear natural, but he wasn’t sure he’d call it an actual path. Then again, he knew fuck-all about nature, so maybe capybaras formed a conga line here every day. Hell if he knew.
“It looks like one to me, so let’s follow it.” Terry glanced over his shoulder, giving Mark a playful wink. “Who knows what we might find.”
The going seemed easier, with Terry not having to chop away as much vegetation. It grew darker somewhat quickly, and Mark could hear thunder approaching. Then Terry let out a whoop. “Hey! Signs of life! I mean it’s old, but at least someone has been here before!”
When Mark looked over Terry’s shoulder, he saw a somewhat dilapidated and vine-covered shack, set in the middle of what was almost a cleared area. Nestled into the short vegetation was a herd of goats, who began to bleat in agitation as Mark and Terry made their way closer.
Mark had never been so happy to see a shack, and as far as he was concerned, it might as well have been a palace. “Sorry, goats, but we need to share your space,” he said as he followed Terry to the shack.
Upon closer inspection, calling it a “shack” might have been generous, because there were large gaps in the walls, and it looked like the ivy was doing the work of holding up the roof in some places, but it was shelter, and Mark was relieved they wouldn’t be exposed to the elements during another storm.
The goats didn’t seem to want to share, and took off into the vegetation. Terry chuckled, but continued on, glancing into the shack. “Looks okay, but let’s cut something for us to sit on, okay? This place looks like it’s been abandoned for quite a while.”
He moved over to the nearby palms, carefully cutting a bunch of fronds along with several large leaves from a nearby banana tree.
Within a few minutes, they were laying down a covering over the rather doubtful-looking ground inside the shack, palm fronds first to form a foundation with the broader and softer banana leaves covering them.
Once their makeshift flooring was in place, Mark sat down and released a long sigh, letting go of some of the tension he’d felt since waking up on the beach.
They had food and shelter from the elements, and they could figure out a way to collect rainwater to drink if necessary.
Life might be uncomfortable, but they weren’t in imminent danger of dying, plus Terry seemed to know what he was doing, which made Mark feel more at ease.
Had he been alone, Mark had no idea how things would’ve gone.
Once the storm rolled in, the rain was filtered through the thick canopy of trees and hit the roof of the shack in a heavy, almost relaxing rhythm.
Some water slipped through the holes and cracks in the roof and formed small puddles on their banana leaf mats, but for the most part, they were covered and could stay dry.
A chorus of frogs (or was it toads? Mark wasn’t sure) could be heard over the steady rain, and off in the distance, the goats were bleating, probably to complain about having been evicted from their cozy spot by selfish humans.
Mark tucked his knees under his chin and wrapped his arms around his shins, letting his thoughts wander.
He felt a little twitchy having to just sit there.
Under normal circumstances, he would have pulled out his phone to check his email and text messages, maybe to call a client.
There was always a fire to put out, and he preferred to be the one handling the hose.
That was the main reason Felicia had such a difficult time convincing him to go on the cruise in the first place.
Mark hated the thought of not being available when he was needed.
You also hate delegating and not being in control. The little voice in the back of his mind sounded like Felicia, which was irritating. He could handle not being in control. He’d let her talk him into taking a vacation, hadn’t he?
And look where he ended up! Stuck on an island in the middle of a storm without a phone. Granted, having a phone meant nothing without reception, but at least he could have played solitaire until the battery died. All he had were the rain, the frogs, and his own thoughts–and Terry, of course.
How the hell did people manage being stuck in the same space as someone without a phone to focus on to keep things from getting weird and awkward?
“So…how long have you worked on the ship?” he asked, wincing slightly as the sound of his own voice filled the space and made the frogs go quiet.
Terry glanced at him, smiling as though he understood Mark’s discomfort.
“This is my fourth contract, and each one is for six months, with two months off in between,” he explained.
“So I started a bit over two years ago, but I’ve had several breaks in there, which has been great for keeping up with my certifications and visiting family. ”
“What’s it like living on a ship? Do you ever get claustrophobic?” Mark leaned forward, his curiosity piqued. He wasn’t sure he could handle living in a tiny cabin or being confined to a ship–even if it was a huge ship–for six months.
Terry held up a hand and waggled it back and forth.
“A little, maybe, sometimes? I mean I have a roommate, and it’s a small room, but we’ve learned to sort of dance around each other.
” He thought for a minute, then shrugged.
“I don’t know that it’s all that different from living in the dorms in college, to be honest. We’re so busy most of the time that I don’t spend much time in my cabin unless I’m sleeping.
But I like that the scenery changes, and that the people are usually pretty interesting, and I have the entire ship to wander.
And I do get to go into port when I don’t have duty during a port day, so it’s not like I never get off the ship. ”
Mark was on the verge of asking if it wasn’t monotonous traveling on a set route to the same places, but he realized his own life wasn’t that much different.
He spent ten-to-twelve hours per day in his office, came home and scrounged up something to eat if he hadn’t stopped for takeout on the way, did some more work on his laptop while something from some streaming service played on TV for background noise, and then he went to bed.
Lather, rinse, repeat. At least Terry was getting plenty of sun and socialization.
“That sounds better than my schedule,” he admitted. “Maybe it’s time for a new career path.”
Terry raised an eyebrow. “So what is your schedule like? What do you do that silence is a novelty and you can’t recognize a path in the forest?” His tone was light and gently teasing, but he seemed genuinely interested. “Office job?”
“Worse,” Mark said, giving him a lop-sided smile. “I own a cybersecurity company.”
“No wonder you give off the Type A vibes.” Terry shook his head. “I couldn’t do it. You must be indoors all day, tied to a computer, right? I could never handle it.”
Mark drew his knees up tighter and rested his chin on them, partly for warmth and partly for self-protection. He wasn’t usually this introspective, but without the usual distractions, he didn’t have much of a choice.
“It’s not easy starting your own company,” he said softly, his gaze fixed on the wilting banana leaves on the ground.
“Especially in the tech industry. But I’m good at what I do, and I was willing to put in the work.
” He fell silent, memories of conversations with both Felicia and Ryan echoing in his head.
“I kept putting in the work even after my company was stable.” He looked at Terry again with a rueful smile.
“This is the first vacation I’ve taken since I was in college, and Felicia had to bully me into it. ”
Terry’s eyes widened. “You really push yourself, don’t you?
” He reached out to touch Mark on the arm.
“Why are you working so hard without breaks? I’m not trying to get all up in your business, but it seems like if you have something to prove, you’ve done it.
There’s more to life than working 24/7.”
Mark turned his focus back to the ground, unsure whether he wanted to admit the truth aloud after spending years trying to avoid it.
“I wanted to be successful,” he said at last. “I didn’t want to have to go back to my parents and tell them I couldn’t run a business when they already saw me as a failure because I’m gay.
So I busted my ass, made it work, and by that point, busting my ass became a habit I didn’t want to break. ”