3. A Delightful Creature
3
A DELIGHTFUL CREATURE
Gabriel
As I walk across the gang plank toward the cruise ship, Fascinata , the sun burns down on me with a wonderful strength. I stretch my face toward it, enjoying the warmth.
The season has been long and hard, just as I expected, but the smile that’s creeping across my lips soon turns into a shit-eating grin at the thought of how successful we were! I wallow in the mental images that flash before my inner eyes.
We won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in China! Nobody expected us to get that far. Terengia is a full-on ice hockey nation, but our country has barely five million inhabitants, so we’re often the underdog in international competitions. But we did it!
I think back to the last game — the final. Was I disappointed not to win gold? Of course! Every athlete wants gold. But getting to the final at all was crazy. At the beginning of the Olympic games, it didn't look like we’d make it. The team just didn’t seem to gel, we couldn’t find any flow, and nothing was working out like we’d imagined.
Then, something happened. I don't know exactly what, but at some point, Daniel and Nico clicked. From that moment on, everything was pure magic. It was almost as if nothing could go wrong. We were just everywhere on the ice. Pucks found sticks from impossible positions and our teammates were always right where we needed them. As I said — pure magic.
And that wasn’t my only shot at glory.
The first days after my return from China were brutal. Even the thought of the massive jetlag I got when I landed back in Sweden makes me shudder. For the first few days back, my brain felt like it was wrapped in cotton wool. Out on the ice, I was making mistakes left, right, and center that had the coaches shaking their heads.
But then ... then I led my team, the Frolunda HC based in Gothenburg, to the Swedish championship title! It was an incredible victory. It's been more than ten years since my club last won the title, and the fact that I led them there as captain ...
I don't think I'll ever experience a more beautiful feeling than when I took a lap of honor around the ice with the massive trophy raised high above my head. My colleagues might claim their wedding day was the best day of their lives, but honestly, I don't think anything I’ve ever done has come close.
Now, I’m on vacation at last. I can hardly believe I'm finally here. The longest season ever is over, and for the next three weeks, all I have to do is kick back. Three weeks on this glorious cruise ship. Three weeks full of margaritas, sun, a little swimming, and nothing else. No commitments, no deadlines, and no coaches or teammates demanding anything from me — it’s going to be pure paradise!
A short queue has formed in front of a steward dressed all in white who’s checking the boarding passes. So I have a moment to cast my mind back to the telephone conversation with my sister so many weeks ago and shake my head in disbelief. She’s outdone herself this time. Just as she promised, I didn't have to worry about anything. She organized the entire vacation right down to the last detail. She even booked the cab that picked me up at the airport and brought me to the port.
I hate to admit it, but I didn't completely trust Susan. I've even stooped low enough to check my credit card statements regularly over the past few months. Contrary to my worst fears, Susan did only used the cards for vacation costs.
My fears weren’t really grounded either. Susan is a student who works as a waitress to support herself. I’ve offered to help her financially several times, but she outright refuses to accept any money from me. I really should stop letting our childhood sibling rivalry seep into our current relationship, but old habits die hard ...
When a tall, blonde woman moves past the steward, all thoughts of my sister vanish like smoke. She appears to be by herself and I start to wonder if she’s my mystery woman — the cabin mate my sister’s set me up with. Her long, slender legs are barely concealed by her summer dress which is being tantalizingly lifted by the wind. Susan has been uncharacteristically silent about the "delightful creature" she’s chosen as my traveling companion, but this woman’s exactly my type!
The steward nods amiably as he hands back my boarding pass, and I take my first step on board the Fascinata . My gaze wanders slowly around the deck. There are a surprising number of young people on board. When I mentioned that my sister had booked a summer cruise for us to my hockey colleagues, Dietrich, my left winger, burst out laughing and said, "That kind of thing is for seniors!”
It doesn't look that way from where I’m standing. I whip out my phone and snap a photo to send to him. I add a smiley with its tongue sticking out for good measure. If he’d seen the blonde, he’d be green with envy. And not only her. One sweep of the deck tells me enough to gauge that the age average must be under forty.
I don't know what cruises Dietrich goes on, but this ship is definitely not god’s waiting room.
I wander along the main deck and let my eyes float around the crowd. Waiters in white jackets carrying trays full of colorful cocktails stuffed with teeny umbrellas run back and forth. They hand out their precious cargo with open smiles. The floor and walls of the main deck are white and look pristine. Can I see the refreshing blue of a pool shimmering near the stern? I'm not totally sure but head off in that direction. I should probably go straight to my cabin, but the glorious weather is too inviting to do anything other than stay on deck. I’ve spent a long winter in ice rinks, so I intend to enjoy every moment of the sun's rays now.
A familiar laugh reaches my ear. Susan is standing only a few steps away. She’s just thrown her head back and is laughing heartily at something one of her two companions have said.
One of her two male companions.
Magnus
I watch Susan laugh and it brings a smile to my own lips. If I was even remotely attracted to women, then she’d be the ideal partner for me.
My eyes roam over the postcard her boyfriend Klaus has just passed her. On the front there is a picture of a DNA spiral. Hearts are drawn onto the point where the two DNA strands connect and the caption reads: You and I make a great (base) pair . I have to laugh. When she flips it over, Klaus has scrawled in his barely legible handwriting: "I'm looking forward to a great vacation with you!" He’s even drawn a heart next to it. An anatomically correct heart. These two are epic!
I met Susan over two years ago during an organic chemistry class at the University of Terenberg. Neither of us knew anyone else in the group so we became lab partners and clicked right away. Not in that way, obviously, but within minutes I knew that this petite woman would become an important person in my life. I’d never experienced anything like it before. My hunch proved right, because from that first organic chemistry class, we became inseparable.
About a year ago, Susan dragged me to a party held by the medical students in the courtyard between the Anatomy and Physiology departments. The beats were so loud, I’m sure the windows of the old buildings were shaking. I felt sorry for the students attending classes in the physiology rooms that evening. Nobody seemed to be complaining, though.
It was at this party that we met Klaus. He was a third-year pre-medical student at the time, and all three of us hit it off. For Susan and Klaus, it went deeper than friendship, and now the two couldn't be happier. I'm so pleased for my best friend, even though I have to admit that sometimes I’m a little jealous of what they have. I’ve kissed way too many frogs and not one of them turned into a prince.
While Susan wraps her arms around Klaus’ neck and kisses him passionately, I push my depressing thoughts aside. It's summer! We’re on vacation! I can hardly believe we’ll spend the next eighteen days on a cruise ship!
Susan's brother was generous enough to invite us all on this summer vacation. I've never met him and Susan doesn't talk much about him. I only know that he's got some high-paying job overseas.
I'm a little nervous thinking about sharing a cabin with this stranger for the next few weeks. From my quick glance around it earlier, the cabins don’t appear exactly huge. So if we don't get along, it won’t be easy to avoid each other. It’s a twin room, so there’s a few feet between us at least.
"Get your hands off my sister," the deep rumble of a male voice makes me spin around.
Klaus freezes, but after a moment of surprised silence, Susan bursts out laughing again. She gives her boyfriend another peck on the cheek before jumping into the arms of the big man who has come over — and I mean “jump” literally. She whirled around, sprang off the floor, and the new guy caught her with practiced ease.
Maybe sharing a room with this man for the next few weeks won't be so bad after all. If first impressions aren't deceptive, he has a similar sense of humor as his sister.
Then as my eyes sweep over him, my balls tighten joyfully. Damn! He’s as close to perfection as it gets. Muscular arms almost burst from the sleeves of the tight-fitting, black T-shirt he’s wearing, and tempting tattoos peek out too. His matching black sports shorts can’t hide that the rest of the body is equally well built — his thighs are like tree trunks! I lick my lips.
Until today, I’d assumed this guy’s well-paid job abroad was likely to be in finance or some other office-based job. But looking at him now, I’m way off.
My mind immediately flips to whether Susan has ever mentioned if her brother was into men? If she did, I can't remember. Although the sight of this work of art has scrambled my brain.
Susan pulls back from the hug and she takes a half step back. Now, I get a proper look at the face that belongs to the wonderful body. Mirrored sunglasses mask most of it until he pushes them up onto his buzz-cut head.
My breath is instantly snatched away when I recognize who this is. It’s Gabriel Verieux. And he’s only one of the most famous ice hockey heroes Terengia has ever had.
I'm going to kill Susan!
Gabriel
She’d never hear it from my lips, but it feels so good to hold my little sister in my arms again. As much as I love my job, and as happy as I am to be living my dream playing ice hockey professionally, I miss my family during the long, cold months of the season. That’s something else I’d never admit out loud. I hug Susan even tighter for a moment. For once, she lets me do it without some snarky comment.
Then, as she bounces out of my arms and back onto solid ground — as solid as the deck of a ship can be — I turn to the two men with my sister.
The man she was kissing so passionately is tall and slightly lanky with ear-length mousey-brown hair. He lays a slightly cautious arm around Susan's shoulders, so I guess this must be Klaus, her new boyfriend.
Not new, actually. The two have been together for quite a while, but it was new enough last summer that Susan wasn’t ready for me to meet him, and last season was so mad I didn’t go home once. Not even at Christmas. I managed to grab a coffee with my parents while I was at the Terengian team’s training camp in the run up to the Winter Olympics, but I didn't see Susan at all. She wanted to come to the trial game we played against the Terenberg Capitals, but she caught the flu and couldn’t make it.
"Hey man! Nice to meet you," I say and hold out my hand to him.
"Klaus."
He says his name more like a question than a statement as he takes my hand a little tentatively. I send my sister a questioning look, but her eyes are turned upwards to watch a seagull screeching overhead. If she’s deliberately pretending not to notice her boyfriend's strange behavior, I have no idea why.
"Gabriel," I answer firmly.
Klaus' lips move wordlessly, and even though I can’t usually read lips, certain words, like "Thank you," or "Shit," are easily recognizable. And anyone who’s ever waited tables knows, "Check, please!"
But the two words that his lips formed were very definitely, "Gabriel Verieux." My whole name.
He can hardly be surprised, can he? I mean, I've never met him before, but he's been to our parents' house. I know Mom banished all the ice hockey trophies, medals, and stuff to my room years ago, and Klaus would hardly go in there, but surely one of my family mentioned what I do for a living?
Thinking about it, though, Mom is a professor of contemporary literature and Dad works as a biochemist for a pharmaceutical company, so sports don’t feature much in their day-to-day lives. Of course, they are proud of me and have always supported me, but maybe other topics took over when Klaus visited. Especially as he’s a medical doctor. My father probably went on information overload about his field of research in immunotherapy. When he talks about that, nothing else matters.
Honestly, though, with the Olympics and Frolunda’s victory this year, has Klaus really never associated his girlfriend Susan Verieux’s brother Gabriel with ice hockey player Gabriel Verieux? Verieux is quite a common name in Terengia, but still!
However, before I can decide what to do next, Susan interrupts my thoughts.
"And this is your roommate for our wonderful trip," she says, beaming innocently at me.
I look around expectantly, but even though there are hundreds of people around us, no one else has joined us. It's still just Susan, Klaus, me, and another guy.
"Magnus." His voice is surprisingly deep and a little raspy.
I turn to him, and the first thing that catches my eye is his bright red T-shirt and matching shorts that are covered with large garishly-colored flowers. He’s almost as tall as me but slim as a greyhound. Unlike Klaus, though, who is all awkward angles, Magnus has the physique of a runner. Shoulder-length blond hair hangs casually around his face. I can’t see his eyes because they’re hidden behind some surprisingly plain sunglasses given the rest of his outfit. His lips are full and shiny, as if he had used lip gloss, and they’re twisted into a crooked smile.
He stretches out his big hand toward me, and I shake it reflexively before I’ve even processed my sister's words.
Roommate?
Where’s the delightful creature Susan promised me?
Before I can say anything, and despite still shaking my hand, Magnus starts to giggle. Literally, giggle. It has the pleasant mix of a bell ringing and yet it’s deep and resonant at the same time. As if the smallest and the largest bells were pealing in a church tower. All I can do is stand there befuddled as he disengages his large hand from mine and uses it to playfully shove my sister.
"You're in a hell of a lot of trouble, missy!" Magnus sounds stern, but as he turns his head to the side, I glimpse a cheeky twinkle in his eyes, although I still can’t make out their color behind the brown lenses. "How long have we been friends now?"
Magnus then rams his hand down onto the hip that’s tilted to the side and cocks his head. His body is a question mark personified — a damn angry question mark.
Before my sister can get a word in, Magnus continues, "So all these years you’ve been hiding the fact that your brother is the famous Gabriel Verieux?"
Shit! I look around, panic-stricken, but luckily, no one else seems to be paying attention. My head spins back as my sister bursts out laughing — again! Klaus, Magnus, and I exchange surprised glances, while Susan leans against the white wall behind her, clearly unable to keep on her feet from laughing so much.
"Your faces ..." she hisses between bouts of laughter.
Did Susan's boyfriend and her best friend seriously not know who I am until now?
The next moment, pity wrenches my gut. I’d forgotten how often Susan was taken advantage of by kids at school — she was their direct line to me. Even one ex-boyfriend's parents weren't above begging Susan for hockey tickets. So I get why she did this.
Right now, though, that is not the biggest revelation I’m having to process. The fact that I'm supposed to share a room with Magnus definitely is! Just when I was picturing some cute preppy student who’d sweeten the trip for me …
"Excuse us for a moment," I murmur to the other two men. I grab Susan by the upper arm and pull her out of earshot of the two guys.
"What are you thinking ?" I growl at my sister as soon as I think it's safe.
Susan's eyes widen innocently. She's always been good at that. Too bad her doe eyes don't work on me. My eyes become slits. Not that this intimidates Susan in the slightest — she knows me too well.
"I have no idea what you mean." She doesn't give up the innocent act so quickly.
"Susan!"
She looks at me with her big eyes for another moment, but when she realizes that I’m serious, she drops the innocent expression like a mask.
"I didn't want to deal with one of your bimbos for days — no, weeks on end again. The last one you dragged along could barely string a sentence together. I wanted to spend time with you and have real conversations," she says seriously, and I can't remember the last time she spoke to me so frankly.
Frustrated, I run my hand over my face. Susan's assessment of my last girlfriend isn't entirely fair, but she's not completely off-base either.
"Why didn’t you say this before?" I reply earnestly. "We could have just come together. Or the two of us plus Klaus."
Susan shrugs, but there’s more to this than meets the eye. As honest as she clearly was a moment ago, now her eyes have taken on a hard glint. And if there's one thing I've learned in our childhood, it's that I won’t get anything else out of her.
I try a different tack.
"But you promised me a delightful creature," I whine playfully, trying to draw her out like that.
Susan's gaze softens a bit and a mischievous twinkle is back. "You can’t tell me Magnus isn't delightful."
Before I can stop myself, my gaze wanders over to the two young men, who’ve been whispering excitedly to each other since I pulled Susan away.
She's not wrong, pops into my head.
Woah! Where did that thought come from?
Susan doesn’t miss my inner monologue — it must be written all over my face. She brays out her characteristically raucous laugh until her entire body shakes, then grabs me by the arm and pulls me back to the others.
"Maybe he'll surprise you," she whispers before we reach them.
Excuse me? What does she mean by that? But before I can quiz her, Susan strides over, takes Klaus by the hand, and pulls him toward a staircase that probably leads to their cabin.
"We'll meet in the grand ballroom in exactly two hours for our first tango lesson," she calls cheerfully over her shoulder.
Klaus, Magnus, and I raise our eyebrows in unison.
Did she just say tango lesson ?
Susan! What are you playing at?