Page 6 of Adrift

“We’ve met.” I ignore the shit out of Shayla. Four Med seasons ago, I passed out drunk on deck in between charters and she pulled my cock out and sucked it. Which normally I wouldn’t mind, but then she went and told everyone I touched her first—which was total bullshit—just because I didn’t want to date her or hook up more. I almost got fired. But the captain reviewed the tapes after I told him my version. I didn’t exactly want my old captain watching her going down on me, but being fired didn’t sound like a great idea either. The security camera proved I hadn’t moved or opened my mouth before Shayla showed up to play Where’s the Puppet.

Heavy steps down the stairs announce the rest ofRock Candy’s crew arriving for the meeting.

“All right. We’re missing three crew members who are all coming in tomorrow: chef, third stew, and another deckie. For those of you who just got here, I won’t lie. This is going to be a different season. If you haven’t done owner-occupied before, it’s a different beast. And on top of this, with the vessel being new... they’ve spent a hell of a lot of money and they are going to expect everything to be perfect.” The captain waves around the room. “Two days. We can do it. As soon as the deck crew has things tidied up with the water toys, I need you to help with the interior. Anyone ever worked in the galley before? Because I’m going to need someone to help Chef get his galley ready.” Both the stews raise their hands. “You’ve got enough going on, interior. Any deckhands?”

Good thing he doesn’t glance our way. My department has enough checks and tests to run to last a month.

“Right, well, we’ll figure it out. Who’s cooking tonight?”

We’ve been talking about what it will be like when we get a proper chef on board since we left Singapore. But one more night won’t kill us.

I raise my hand. “Waldo and I will cook tonight.”

“Good. Hopefully Chef will make us something other than pasta tomorrow. Any questions?”

The chief stew waves her hand at the captain. “Any word on which of the owner’s family will be with him? Shayla has a brilliant plan that we focus on those few rooms. The primary he’s going to use first and then the other cabins as we get time.” Haley folds her hands in her lap, her eyebrows raised.

“That’s an excellent idea. Pick the rooms you’re going to perfect and mark the others. The deck crew can work on those and at least get the cardboard and plastic in the dumpster before we set sail.”

Shayla sits beaming at the captain. Should I let Sam know to keep his fly locked up? Maybe not.

Haley is clever. I doubt Shayla actually had the idea about the cabins herself. But now she’s feeling like a queen bee from Haley talking her up in front of Captain Sam.Well played, Haley.

“That’s it for tonight. Make sure you get enough sleep. Safety is always my most important rule. Falling asleep on the job and making poor decisions won’t help anyone. Got it?” He points around the room at each one of us. A chorus of “got it,” “copy,” and “yup” rings through the crew mess, and people head back to their own disaster areas to work on.

The stairs to Engineering are a brief trip down the hall. “Hang tight,” I say to my guys, whom I’m trying not to see as one-eyed minions. But so far, I haven’t been impressed by any of the geniuses. I’ve got a lot of training ahead this season.And I need a schedule for these guys. Mitch, my second, isn’t bad. But honestly, he’s a little lazy. Then again, Thing One and Thing Two... Yeah, the captain used a yachting service to find two engineers this fast, since we weren’t supposed to leave the shipyard for another two weeks. The two guys I had the captain hire first are still on a transatlantic repositioning cruise for a mega yacht. So I’m stuck with the warm bodies that I can hopefully train in time.

The whole galley is clear except for us. I pull out an info pack on the engines with a quiz on it. Unconventional by yachting standards, but I want to know if they’ve retained anything I’ve taught them in the last ten days.

I push pencils to each of them. “Do the best you can. I just want to know where and what we have to work on.”

“Can’t we do this in the engine room? I’ll do better if I can see the stuff.” Thing One looks like he might cry.

“Hey, do your best. I don’t want you to see the equipment and read the gauges. I want to make sure you know the stuff. That you could explain it to someone else if you had to. Not guess at it.” I stand up and rummage through the pantry. The first officer did the provisioning, and he’s a health food nut. There’s absolutely no junk food on board, and I’m going bonkers. I might have to break down and bake something. I used to bake when I was a kid. I don’t have to worry about putting on extra weight, with all the lifting down in Engineering and sweating from the heat. My body stays fit without working out in a gym.

I’m just laying my hands on one last pack of peanut butter crackers when I hear Haley and Shayla laughing. I glance at my guys. My second is flying through the test, thank fuck. The other two are moving slowly. Thing Two’s lips move while he reads. Doesn’t mean he won’t become a brilliant engineer. But might mean he’d make a better deckhand.

I grunt and step into the crew cabin hallway. Haley’s laugh draws me in. It’s deep and throaty.

“And then I said, ‘Would you like another espresso martini?”’ Haley says.

Shayla cackles like Haley’s on a comedy special.

“Oh, hey... Calvin. I’m just telling Shayla about my last boat. She’s worked with a bunch of stews I know.” She puts a stack of shirts in a drawer.

I nod and put my hands on the top of the doorframe, leaning into her room. You’re bound to work with some people over and over. And others you’ll never see again. It’s a minor industry. Perhaps not the Asian market for Americans and Brits, but the Med and the Caribbean... Hell, yeah, you’ll work with the same people every once in a while.

“I’m across the hall,” I tell her. “Unless you want to move people around?” It’s customary for the chief stew to assign cabins. But a lot of the deck and all of the engineers moved on board weeks ago, bringing her in from Singapore.

“Oh, no. None of us have time for that. Plus, with the interior crew so small, we have a lot of extra cabins.”

“Great. I’m down the hall. Give me a heads up if you need anything.” I actually moved into my room after Shayla came on board. She picked the room farthest away from the crew mess. I had the one across the hall. They are the quietest cabins, but after she stood in my door talking to me while I was trying to go to sleep two nights ago, I packed up my one duffle and moved to the end. It had already occurred to me we’d have a lot of spare cabins. And Mitch was thrilled to have his own bunk.

Haley picks up her hard-shell suitcase and shoves it in under the bunk.

“Fancy,” Shayla says.

“This old thing?” She taps the aluminum case with her foot. “Two, no, three seasons ago, the primary left it on board. She’dinsisted on packing herself. And when the captain called her asking her where to send it, she told him don’t worry about it, give it to Hallalahie, which was what she called me the entire trip. It was full of designer clothes five sizes too small for me. I sold them on Designer Beotch dot com and made a ton. I almost sold this thing too. Waterproof, and on their website they have an elephant standing on it, and it looks brand new. As far as I can tell, they don’t go down in value. I’m going to use it until I’m done being a yachtie and trade it for an old VW bug.”

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