Chapter 9 #2
Terry was careful to make it clear he wasn’t tied to staying on the cruise ship after his current contract, just in case Mark might be interested.
“I can run a travel agency from anywhere,” he said confidently.
“It’s mostly about online presence these days.
You need a fantastic website and good marketing, plus reaching out to organizations where you might find interest for your business.
I already have ties with a wedding planner who specializes in rainbow weddings.
She said she can recommend me for honeymoon packages when I get set up. ”
“Where would be your dream location to settle down?” Mark leaned back on his hands and watched Terry, his expression inquisitive.
“Well, ideally I’d like to be at least within driving distance to an ocean,” Terry said, waving a hand at the water.
His expression turned thoughtful. “I love the sea, even if it tried to kill us. Other than that?” He looked directly at Mark.
“I’d prefer to be somewhere with sweet tea, but I can be persuaded to go almost anywhere.
” He smiled playfully and gave Mark a wink.
“Of course for the right companion, I’d settle in the middle of the desert. ”
Mark laughed, but he nodded in agreement. “Same. This little adventure has taught me I don’t need to be in the office as much as I am, and since a lot of what I do involves software, I could work from anywhere too as long as I have my laptop and a good internet connection.”
“You know, a lot of countries have a digital nomad visa,” Terry said softly.
“You can work a few months in a country, see all the sights, then move on somewhere else. Might be something to think about, you know? So that you can travel while you’re still young enough to do all the physically demanding things.
I’ve seen a lot of people on the ship who say that they regret waiting until retirement to travel.
They don’t have all the energy they once had for the adventure. ”
Mark turned his gaze to the fire, seeming to focus on the dancing flames, and his expression grew somber.
“It really is stupid, isn’t it? To waste your life on work.
” He shook his head and grimaced. “The ironic thing is I put policies in place to make sure my employees can have a good work-life balance. I don’t want any of them feeling like they need a second job or a side hustle to pay for daycare or an exhausting commute when they can work from home.
I tell them to set an ‘out of office’ message while they’re on vacation, and no one is allowed to bug them about work stuff, not even me.
If someone gets sick, they get PTO. Period.
I’ve only had one person try to take advantage of it, and they weren’t as knowledgeable as they claimed to be, so they didn’t last long anyway.
My turn-over rate is almost nonexistent, and I’m proud of that.
But I don’t apply any of that to myself.
Because I’m the boss?” He scrubbed his mouth with one hand, and his eyes grew glassy as if he were fighting back tears.
“Or because I’m still trying to prove something to my fucking parents?
Or worse, punishing myself for not being what they wanted. ”
Terry felt his heart breaking for the pain in Mark’s voice, and in the way his slumped shoulders spoke so eloquently of sadness.
He scooted closer to Mark, putting an arm around him and holding him close.
“Your parents are idiots, but you know, you don’t have to do anything to prove yourself to anyone.
All that matters is that you find a way to be happy.
Not as revenge, but because you deserve to be happy.
” He pressed a kiss to Mark’s temple. “I may not have known you long, but even I can see you’re special, Mark.
Don’t let anyone tell you any different. ”
Mark leaned against Terry and rested his head on Terry’s shoulder.
“Thanks. Felicia keeps saying I should get some therapy to help me deal with my ‘childhood trauma,’ and I’ve always thought I was handling it fine on my own, but…
maybe not.” He breathed out a long sigh, and Terry felt some of the tension leaving his body.
“I don’t want to keep on being influenced by them, consciously or subconsciously. ”
“I think that’s an excellent decision,” Terry replied.
He gave Mark an encouraging squeeze. He knew he was very lucky that his family had accepted him, and he’d seen the consequences for others who hadn’t been as blessed as he had been.
“Sometimes it helps to just get an outside perspective. Though I think this might be a little more outside than you might have imagined, huh?”
Mark gave a watery chuckle. “Yeah, I’d rather be in an air-conditioned office.” He shifted closer to Terry and sighed again. “But being totally cut off like this means I haven’t been able to distract myself from what’s going on in here.” He tapped the side of his head. “I think I needed that.”
“I get it.” Terry tightened his arm, offering Mark both acceptance and reassurance.
“There was a poet who wrote about ‘Ocean solitudes are blest’. I’ve always felt that way.
There can be great healing in stepping away.
I get that when I go diving in the quiet deep where you truly have no one but yourself to answer to.
Like when the mask you wear every day drops, even when you look inside. ”
Mark lifted his head and met Terry’s gaze.
“Getting stranded isn’t at all what I wanted,” he said, resting his hand on Terry’s knee.
“But it’s what I needed. It’s helped me figure out what I want without taking anyone else into consideration.
Not my parents or my employees or even Felicia,” he added with a quiet chuckle.
“And what do you want?” Terry asked, his heartbeat speeding up at the touch of Mark’s hand.
“I would like to cut back my hours, work remotely, travel more, and….” Mark ducked his head shyly. “I would like to see you again after we’re off this island.”
Terry grinned in delight, knowing he probably looked ridiculous, but not really caring.
“I want to see you, too. In fact, I’ve wanted nothing but to see you since the moment I first laid eyes on you at the pool.
That silver fox daddy who spilled his drink on you is lucky I didn’t scratch his eyes out. ”
Mark flicked his gaze back up, looking startled, but then he laughed. “Silver fox daddy had nothing on the hot lifeguard.”
“So it was mutual?” Terry asked, feeling rather smug.
“Yeah,” Mark admitted with a playful grin. “I wasn’t looking to hook up with anyone on the cruise, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t looking.”
“At the risk of inflating your ego… you’re the first person, passenger or crew, who’s tempted me at all.
” Terry lifted his free hand to stroke Mark’s cheek.
“I was wishing I was a passenger so I could pursue you, since otherwise you’d be totally off limits.
I definitely wouldn’t have wished for us to be stranded like this, but…
if I’m perfectly honest, I can’t say I’m mad about it, either. ”
Mark leaned into Terry’s hand, his expression softening into tenderness. “I don’t put much stock in fate or destiny, but maybe things happen for a reason sometimes. Maybe the universe decided we both needed to hit the reset button on our lives.”
“Maybe we did,” Terry agreed. He was lost in Mark’s eyes, and the moment stretched out as the world seemed to fall away. He felt like he could drown in the depths of that blue gaze, so trusting, so deep and tempting, like the ocean on a sunny day.
He was so wrapped up in thinking about how much he wanted to kiss Mark that the sound of a motor didn’t immediately register for him. Then a voice shouted out, surprisingly loud over the sound of the waves.
“Hey! Are you guys okay? Are you the ones who went missing from the dolphin encounter?”
Terry actually jumped, seeing his own surprise mirrored in Mark’s eyes. “Holy shit,” he said, and then he laughed and touched his forehead to Mark’s. “They actually found us!”
“Thank God,” Mark said with a shaky smile. “Their timing sucks, but if it means I can finally get all this sand out of my ass, I’m not going to complain.”
Terry chuckled as he raised his arm and waved vigorously at the men on the rescue boat pulling steadily into the cove. A man with a loudhailer stood on the bow, shading his eyes against the sun as he waited for their reply.
“That’s us!” he shouted as loud as he could as he rose to his feet, pulling Mark up with him. He lowered his voice so that only Mark could hear. “I can think of much more pleasant things than sand to put there, if you’d like,” he said teasingly. “But I’m flexible.”
Mark’s eyes flew open wide, and a blush rose in his face, but he seemed to recover quickly. “I’d rather have you than sand any day,” he said, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
That made Terry laugh, and he grabbed Mark’s hand and pulled him toward the water. “Come on. The sooner we’re back in civilization, the sooner we can do something about it!” He was relieved they had been rescued and even more eager to find out what might happen between them.
But as the rescue boat sent a dinghy out to pick them up, Terry turned to look back at the island for a moment.
He wasn’t normally a big believer in fate, or kismet, or divine intervention, but maybe Mark had been right.
Maybe everything they had gone through, the fear and the danger, the realizations and the revelations, really had happened for a reason.
He said a silent thanks to the universe for bringing Mark into his life, and for both of them surviving to explore what adventures they might have in the future.