Chapter Four #2
Picking up a copy of the Daily Times, she studied the day’s itinerary and wondered what Tom would have liked to do.
She knew he would have enjoyed the destination presentation, keen to learn about the tours ashore.
Always ready to try something new, perhaps he’d have joined in with Killer Darts, whatever that might be …
Resting back on her pillows, Joy closed her eyes and thought of the previous evening when she’d ventured to the Triton Lounge after dinner. Despite preferring an early night, Susan’s words had drummed in Joy’s ears, insisting that she join in.
Arriving early to find a quiet spot, Joy positioned herself on a comfortable chair at the end of a row in the balcony area. As the theatre filled, she ordered sparkling water from a steward, and while she waited, Joy studied the audience.
Sitting below, in the middle of the front row on the main floor, she could see Barbara and Kenneth.
Barbara held a fluted glass in her hand, and as she spoke to the person beside her, she waved it around.
Joy wondered if Barbara was making a point, perhaps extolling the virtue of the fine wine or describing the benefit of their personalised fjord cruise the following day.
Kenneth meanwhile appeared to be dozing, his head falling forward to rest on his chest. Joy hoped his hairpiece was secure and didn’t slide onto his lap.
To one side, she caught sight of Leticia, resplendent and impossible to miss in her glorious red gown.
With practised ease, she assisted Jim into a seat while chatting happily with everyone within her radius.
Joy admired the sheer force of Leticia’s presence and remembered that Leticia had told them at dinner that she was a nurse.
Joy sensed that the kindly woman had excelled in her caring career.
There had been no sign of Henry in the packed theatre, but he’d be impossible to spot with his silver-grey hair blending seamlessly into a sea of similar heads.
Joy had enjoyed his company at dinner. Although quiet and unassuming, Henry had contributed to the conversation despite Kenneth’s occasional snide remarks.
The show wasn’t to Joy’s liking. She considered the content by Taffy Taylor, the comedian, somewhat sexist. Consisting mostly of mother-in-law humour, his jokes felt inappropriate, and the act laboured.
But the audience had clearly enjoyed the entertainment, and Kenneth took to his feet to applaud when Taffy took his curtain call.
Opening her eyes and returning to her copy of the Daily Times, Joy saw that the show that evening was named Colours.
It was described as a magical world seen through an artist’s paintbox, showcasing song and dance.
She decided that Colours was more to her taste.
But what to do in the meantime as the sea day stretched ahead?
Joy was tempted to settle with her book. In the comfort of her cabin, she wouldn’t have to socialise, but the bestseller she’d brought wasn’t hitting the spot and she found it challenging to engage. Time passed, and despite Joy flicking through the channels on the TV, nothing caught her attention.
It was no good. Joy knew she had to get dressed and join the day’s activities.
By now, Tom would have planned the day, having completed three brisk walks around the promenade deck, working up an appetite for his breakfast. If she’d enabled Wi-Fi, Joy knew that Susan would be calling to ensure that she was up and about.
‘Come on, Joy Bradley. Pull yourself together,’ she mumbled as she reluctantly rose, steadying herself as the ship occasionally swayed.
In the bathroom, she looked into a mirror and saw that her cheeks were hollowed and the eyes that stared back appeared tired, her expression forlorn.
Joy shrugged. The mirror reflected a stranger’s face but what did it matter how she looked?
Her glow had faded a long time ago, like sunlight leaving a room.
On the other hand, Susan, was striking. Her daughter had inherited the best of both parents.
With her mother’s sculptured features and her father’s charm, the result was effortless beauty.
Joy sometimes wondered if Susan felt any pressure from her looks, but her daughter had the arrogance of one who took such a gift for granted.
In her job as a tough-talking prosecuting lawyer, she was the confident queen of her own successful world.
Joy wondered if she’d ever been that assured herself. During her career as a domestic science teacher, she’d taught generations of students self-sufficiency, but now, the woman who’d educated others in managing their lives no longer knew what to do with her own.
Joy smoothed moisturiser into her skin. She could see that the lines were fine, the skin soft and, thankfully, belied her age.
Despite feeling ancient some days, she knew that she really wasn’t that old.
For years she’d told her students that you were as old as your mindset, reminding them that fifteen-year-olds often acted like fifty and vice versa.
Life was as young as you made it, but these days that sentiment felt hard to embrace.
Joy dressed in navy trousers, adding a cream cashmere sweater and matching scarf. Slipping into soft leather loafers, she brushed her hair and, with a last glance at her reflection, picked up her cabin card then headed out of her room.
Joy stood by the lift and acknowledged a couple waiting to ascend to the buffet restaurant. As the doors opened the ship suddenly rocked and the couple held onto each other as they lurched into the lift.
‘It feels like the sea is doing the samba today,’ the man said, ‘do you think it will get worse?’
‘Like everything else, these waves pass,’ Joy replied. But as they reached the upper floor and stepped into the foyer of the buffet restaurant, another swell hit the ship.
‘Good gracious,’ the man exclaimed as he staggered sideways, knocking into a fruit sculpture. ‘Apologies,’ he said, ‘blame the swell not the spirits.’
Joy braced herself against the wall as they watched apples and pears tumble to the floor. Turning to the couple, she shrugged, ‘At least it wasn’t a chocolate fountain.’