Chapter 7 #2
“Man, that does feel good,” he murmured as he rubbed the bandana across the back of his neck.
Terry took a moment to hang his shirt over a palm frond to dry, and then he slipped on his shoes.
“Simple pleasures are the best sometimes, aren’t they?” Terry asked as he knelt down to rinse out Mark’s clothes. He didn’t bother to hide his admiration for Mark’s body. “Take your time and enjoy it.”
Mark glanced over, one eyebrow cocked. “For myself or for you?”
Terry chuckled. “Why can’t it be both?”
That coaxed a laugh out of Mark. “Fair enough,” he said with a brief nod.
Mark didn’t comment further, but Terry thought perhaps he did indeed slow down, and the sidelong glances continued.
Terry would have been happy if the show continued, but he knew they needed to eat something and then get started on finding their way back to civilization.
Personally, he would have been happy roughing it with Mark for a few days, just to see what might happen between them, but it was more of a romantic fantasy.
After all, they didn’t have any real food, or a way to carry water, or even a band-aid if one of them got injured.
Since the ship would have sailed on to its next port, they were going to be spending plenty of time together while everything was figured out by the Bahamian government to either re-integrate them to the ship or send them home.
“I think that’s got your clothes as clean as they’re going to get,” he said, straightening up and walking back over to Mark. “We should get going before the day gets too hot. As it is, if we don’t find more water other than this trickle, we’re going to have to come back here when we get thirsty.”
Mark washed out the bandana and wrung it out before he handed it back to Terry. It took a little shimmying for him to get his shirt back on, but once he was dressed again, he faced Terry with a resolute nod.
“Let’s do it,” he said. “Good-bye, goats! I hope we don’t meet again.” A few distant bleats answered his call, and he chuckled. “I think they said good riddance.”
“I’m sure they will be happy enough that we’re out of their space,” Terry agreed.
He tucked the bandana into his pocket and reached for his own shirt, which was still damp but better.
Once it was on, he looked around. “Want some bananas to munch on while we walk? And if we spot any coconuts down, we can grab them. I just have no desire to climb one of those palms and risk falling.”
“Bananas will be fine. No need to ask for trouble.” Mark paused before adding, “Well, more trouble than we already have.”
Chuckling, Terry moved to the nearest banana tree that looked ripe and cut off several of the best-looking fruit. He passed half to Mark, then set off back toward the beach.
The sun was well up, but it was easy enough to find east. “Okay, so the main shipping channels are going to be east and north, if we’re where I think we are. So we need to head this way,” he said, pointing to their left as they faced the water. “Sound good?”
Mark had already stuffed half a banana into his mouth, so he gave a thumbs up and nodded, and once Terry set off, he fell in step beside him.
The stroll was pleasant enough, with a breeze blowing in off the water and keeping them cool despite the sun.
After finishing off a banana, Terry tossed the peel into the treeline and dusted off his hands.
“Keep your eyes out for any boats,” he said, gesturing toward the ocean.
On the far, far horizon there was a small blob that may have been a ship, but if so it was miles away.
“If we don’t find civilization soon, maybe we can figure out how to start a fire and bring them to us. ”
Mark shot Terry a skeptical look as he tossed aside his leftover peel as well. “We don’t have a flint, and I haven’t seen you pull out anything that looks like a magnifying glass. Are there other secret ways to start a fire I don’t know about?”
“Of course!” Terry considered the options.
“There are friction methods, like rubbing a stick into a log to generate enough heat to combust some kindling. I could also tear a strip off my bandana to make a bow to help with that. It’s obvious people have been on this island, so we’ll also keep our eyes out for anything they left behind that we could use.
Like a piece of steel we could use to strike a spark with a rock.
I’m not claiming it will be easy, of course, but as a last resort, we can make it happen with some trial and error. ”
Some of the tension in Mark’s body relaxed at that. “Have I mentioned how grateful I am to be stranded with you? I’m not an outdoorsy boy at all, as I’m sure you can tell. I wasn’t even a Boy Scout.”
“No, really?” Terry asked, schooling his features to feign surprise. “I’m shocked! And here I was thinking that you were going to go all macho and wrestle a goat for us to cook!”
Mark snorted and gave Terry’s shoulder a playful shove. “You have to get a fire started first. Then I’ll try goat-wrestling. We haven’t been stranded long enough for me to consider eating raw goat meat.”
It was great to see that Mark was still in good spirits. “Goat tartare isn’t high on my culinary exploration list either. But I have had all kinds of raw fish, so if we have to go the non-cooked route, I’ll dive for our supper. Assuming, of course, that you like sushi.”
“I do,” Mark said. “I’ll miss the wasabi, soy sauce, and pickled ginger, though.”
“Alas, that’s beyond my capabilities, I’m afraid. I guess that’s another star off my review for this excursion?” He winked at Mark.
They had made it quite a ways down the beach, which curved back from the sea into a small cove. There was a lot of driftwood piled up in the area, which Terry marked as a possibility for firewood if they needed it.
“So tell me about your home,” Terry said, wanting to learn more about Mark and keep him engaged.
It might distract him from the fact that there weren’t any signs of civilization.
No boats full of tourists or any sign of development of the pristine shoreline, not even any litter washed up as there would have been if the place was heavily settled.
He was thinking that they were on one of the unsettled small islands, but he didn’t want to tell Mark his suspicions yet.
Time enough for that later. “Do you have a house? Condo? Or do you rent an apartment?”
“An apartment.” Mark batted idly at the foliage as he walked along.
“It’s just me, so I don’t really need a house, and property is expensive in Atlanta.
If I got a house, I’d want it to be outside of the city, but then you’re getting into commuter traffic.
” He grimaced and shook his head. “It’s easier to stay where I am and take the MARTA to and from work. ”
“No chance to work from home?” Terry looked at him, and he could see Mark wanting to be close to his job and waste as little time as possible going back and forth.
“No pets or house plants, I suppose?” It made him sad to think that Mark was so alone that he didn’t have a single living creature to touch regularly.
Terry knew that he himself was very tactile.
He liked to feel his environment in every way.
“Oh sure, remote work is an option for everyone in the company, including me,” Mark said.
“There’s no real reason why anyone needs to be in the office everyday, especially considering what we do.
” He paused before adding with a sheepish smile, “Including me. I like being available. But no, I don’t have a pet, and I have a brown thumb, so no plants either. ”
Terry nodded and gave Mark a sidelong glance. “Feel free to tell me to fuck off, but aren’t you lonely?”
Mark opened his mouth and then shut it again, seeming to take a moment to consider the question before responding.
“I try not to think about it,” he said at last. “Ryan and I were together for five years and lived together for the last two. I moved in with him because I was still living in the crappy little apartment I had right after college.” He fell silent again, his expression turning distant as if he was getting lost in memories.
“It was nice having someone else around when I was home, but the problem was, I wasn’t home much..
That’s why I haven’t gotten involved with anyone since him and why I haven’t gotten a pet.
It wasn’t fair to Ryan, and it wouldn’t be fair to a new partner or pet. ”
Terry frowned. He didn’t like the thought of Mark being alone, but he could see why it might be a problem for a partner.
He knew he wouldn’t like it very much if his partner was never home, but then again, he’d never lived with anyone but his parents.
But he wanted to have the whole white picket fence scenario someday.
He wanted someone to share his life with.
Someone attractive and funny who could look at the crap life threw at them and still laugh.
Someone like Mark. Just with fewer workaholic tendencies.
“I suspect when you find the right partner, work won’t look nearly as attractive as it does right now,” he said lightly, hoping to distract Mark from the apparent heavy direction of his thoughts.
“I would give up the ship and the sea in a heartbeat for the right man. I love my job, but my job doesn’t keep me warm at night, or hold me when I’m lonely.
It pays the bills, but it doesn’t feed my soul, if you know what I mean. ”
“If you’d asked me on the first day of the cruise, I would’ve said I have no clue what you mean.” Mark still looked thoughtful as he glanced over at Terry. “But things have changed. I don’t know if I want to go back to the way things were. I don’t know if I can.”