Chapter Fifteen
Harper had never heard a human being make those kinds of noises in her life. She couldn’t even describe it. Or compare it. But if she had to, she’d say it sounded most similar to a distressed seal pup she’d filmed on an expedition to the Galapagos: high-pitched and guttural.
Elise wasn’t just bent over the toilet; she was practically in it. Her nose was almost on the porcelain, her arms braced the seat, and her body folded and unfolded itself like an accordion.
The vomiting had started exactly twelve minutes after they had left the marina.
The contestants had barely shrugged out of their dresses and into their bikinis, and Harper had just managed to take a shot of Megan helping herself to an Aperol spritz when, out of the corner of her eye, she’d seen Elise, pale as the dead, bolt past her toward the narrow spiral stairs leading to the hull.
Harper hadn’t even thought twice. She’d abandoned the shoot and followed her. In fact, she’d reached Elise just in time to scoop the majority of Elise’s curls into a low ponytail.
“Just breathe,” Harper muttered, stroking her back, which may or may not have been helping. Frankly, Harper was just waiting for Elise to kick her out. Until then, her aim was to keep her calm and give reassuring advice. “It’s going to pass.”
Elise turned her head slowly, as if she were in quicksand.
Her hair was stuck to her forehead in damp, wiry tangles.
Her royal blue sundress was bunched around her knees.
There was something suspicious caking the side of her lips, but Harper was just going to imagine she never saw it. For Elise’s sake. For her sake.
“It’s going to pass,” she repeated weakly. Her voice was all strained and watery-sounding. “Really?”
Before Harper could answer—and ignore the not-so-subtle sarcasm in Elise’s voice—the sound of hesitant footsteps clattered down the spiral stairs. Harper glanced back to see a young crew member in a sunshine-yellow tank top and jean shorts appear in the doorway.
“Umm… sorry,” she said, blinking rapidly. “The captain asked me to let everyone know we’ve arrived at the cove and will be stopping for snorkeling soon.” She glanced at Elise, at the toilet, at Harper crouched beside it, and immediately backed up a step. “Does she need a doctor?”
“She’s seasick, not dying,” Harper said at the same time Elise lurched forward, giving a wet and miserable retch that echoed off the tiny fiberglass walls. “Now, what do you usually do if one of your guests ends up sick?”
The crewmember flinched. “Umm… we usually tell people to get fresh air, look at the horizon, or chew some ginger.”
Harper was prepared to try anything. “Where’s the best place to sit?”
“The foredeck,” the girl said quickly. “Least motion out there. Bit of a breeze. From what I’ve seen, most people feel better once they’re up front.
Though…” she eyed Elise, whose head was so deep in the toilet she looked half-decapitated, and pressed her lips thin.
Harper knew what she was thinking: Elise was way past help. Not that Harper wasn’t beyond trying.
“Perfect. Thank you, and bring some ginger up here, will you?” Harper had no idea if there was any aboard, but she didn’t care.
She’d flag down a nearby boat and ask them if they had some if she really needed to.
She nudged Elise gently on the shoulder.
“Come on, we’re going up. You need to look out at the horizon. Sitting in here isn’t going to help.”
Elise answered with another wounded seal gag that suggested she disagreed.
But she let Harper help her up anyway, let her steer her toward the stairwell and up to the foredeck.
Harper was grateful the contestants were all too busy receiving a snorkeling gear demo and a safety briefing from one of the crew to notice Elise in her current state.
Though she did notice a few heads turn their way, and if she were to look back, she’d probably spot a few of them murmuring amongst themselves.
“You know,” Harper said, guiding Elise down onto the warm teak decking. “Seeing you like this kind of reminds me of when I did an expedition in Mongolia and I ate this fermented yak cream they—”
“I don’t care,” Elise interrupted, hanging her head low between her legs. “And don’t even think about finishing that sentence.”
“Head up,” Harper instructed, not even the slightest bit offended. Nothing Elise did or said could offend her, not after last night. “Look at the cove.”
Elise lifted her head a few inches and squinted. Her complexion still had that waxy green look associated with queasy people who regretted every decision that had led them onto a boat. But she did manage a breath in, so that had to count for something.
Harper sat down beside her and looked ahead.
The cove was gorgeous. Pale limestone cliffs rose up from the sea, with pine trees clinging to them.
The sea itself was turquoise and transparent enough for Harper to see the shadows of fish swimming lazily beneath the surface.
If Elise wasn’t in the state she was in, and Harper didn’t have a job to do, she might have been tempted into a little plunge.
“You know, you didn’t have to help me,” Elise said softly, sounding weak enough for Harper to want to wrap her arms around her and never let go. “To be honest… I didn’t actually want you to.”
“Why?” Harper asked just as the contestants leaped into the water.
They both watched them for a minute, some a little more tentative than others.
It was clear who liked the water and who didn’t.
Jasmine flailed her arms, trying to keep her head above water.
Harper hoped one of the crew members was a trained lifeguard.
Rebecca was coughing up what Harper assumed was swallowed seawater.
Megan looked like a fish diving in and out, and Nadia was using a water polo tread to keep herself afloat.
“Because, how can you kiss me again, or you know…” Elise said finally. She did a little embarrassed bobble of her head, and Harper knew exactly what she meant. “After hearing me vomit my lungs out?”
Harper laughed so loudly that one of the contestants snapped her head in their direction. “Firstly, your lungs aren’t actually coming out of your body.” Elise rolled her eyes. “And secondly, does that mean you want to have sex again?”
Harper would be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about it all morning.
That first time ten years ago had been magical; she’d felt parts of her body open and unfurl.
And then last night, it had felt so much more than that.
It had felt like she’d been folded in half without realizing it, and Elise had straightened her out with an iron.
She couldn’t imagine what the next time would be like with a little more practice.
“I do.”
“Good,” Harper said, doing a bad job of hiding her relief. She was grinning from ear to ear.
Elise smiled and leaned against Harper. It was only for a second, but it was long enough for Harper to feel like the world had suddenly gotten just a little brighter, a little more together.
For a while, they didn’t say anything. Elise kept her eyes glued to the horizon like it was the only thing keeping her from sliding straight back to the bathroom. In time, the queasy green tint around her face eased, and her shoulders un-hunched.
“Are you feeling any better?” Harper asked, turning to her. Then she realized the crew member with the yellow top hadn’t shown up with the ginger. She glanced back toward the galley. “You never got that ginger, should I go—”
“Why me?” Elise interrupted.
“What do you mean?” Harper asked, blinking. She was pretty sure Elise didn’t mean why me, as in why am I seasick? The question felt a little more loaded than that.
Elise looked down at her hands resting in her lap. Her nails were short, and a thin silver bracelet sat loosely around her slender wrist. Harper couldn’t see the tiny pendant, but she knew it was a tiny ladder. Elise’s motto was: never stop climbing toward success.
“You came out of the closet,” she said, still looking down at her lap.
“You got divorced. I’m sure London is loaded with hot single lesbians who can admit they’re lesbian without having some sort of existential crisis.
So why not one of them?” She swallowed hard, and Harper instinctively raised a hand to gather Elise’s curls in case it meant she was going to vomit, but then she didn’t.
She just said, “It’s been ten years since that night in Sesriem.
So much has happened since then. We’ve both changed. ”
Harper didn’t answer immediately. She wasn’t sure if Elise would understand if she tried to explain it to her.
Hell, even Harper didn’t quite understand how those little feelings she had developed for Elise all those years ago had never really died out, how they’d stayed there, simmering under the surface until one near-death scare had blown them back into something so hot it was undeniable.
Elise was her soulmate. Which was funny because she’d once thought that title had belonged to Harry. Oh, how terribly wrong she was.
“Is that really what you’ve been thinking about this whole time?”
“Not the whole time,” Elise said, pulling a face. “Maybe just for the last five minutes.”
Harper smiled, even though she knew that wasn’t the whole truth, and nudged Elise with her shoulder. “Have you ever heard of the titi monkeys in the forest?”
Elise groaned. “Oh, please,” she said, sounding exasperated. “Not another one of your expedition stories.” But she was smiling, staring at Harper with a spark in her eye she hadn’t noticed before. Either that, or her eyes were glossy from all the retching.
“Well,” Harper said. “I don’t think one can ever hear too many expedition stories, so let me educate you.
” She didn’t wait for Elise to reply, but she didn’t have to because Elise leaned her head against Harper’s shoulder.
“The titi monkeys typically leave their birth group as juveniles and find a mate through mutual choice. Once paired, they form a strong lifelong bond and can even become distressed when separated. They stay together exclusively, grooming each other, sharing food, and when they sleep, their tails curl.”
“Alright, ladies!” the captain called, his voice booming behind Harper like a party speaker. “We’re wrapping up snorkeling in five minutes.”
Elise sat up straighter and dragged her arms weakly over her knees to the teak, like she was going to push herself up. She winced.
“No,” Harper said, already on her feet. “You stay here and keep looking at the horizon. I’ll take over your duties for the rest of the day.”
“But you don’t know what to do,” Elise said, looking slightly panicked. Which was completely justified. Elise was right. Harper had no idea what to do. But seriously, how hard could it actually be?
“It’s a reality TV show about fake love… I’ll wing it,” she said, then winked.