Page 33 of Waylaid in Whittier

Millie, wisely deciding this wasn’t a battle worth fighting, lifted both hands. “Fair enough. I’m here. Shall we get started?”

Her refusal to argue appeared to have taken the wind out of Zevron’s sails. He actually looked disappointed that Millie was there and would be giving them the guided tour. She secretly suspected his next step was to raise a stink with plans to get the tour fee refunded.

“We’ll start your tour in one of the most important areas of the ship—the engine room.” While they walked, Millie rattled off some statistics. “Siren of the Seas uses between 30 and 50 gallons of fuel per mile. Of course, this figure depends on the ship’s speed, along with several other factors.”

Using her keycard, she accessed the crew-only stairwell leading down to the engine room. Reaching the designated area, Millie introduced the guests to the staff, including the chief engineer.

She stood off to the side while he greeted the group and answered questions.

Up next was a tour of the laundry facility. Rahul, the laundry center’s supervisor, shared interesting tidbits about his department, including how much laundry was washed in a day, pointed out the highlights of their conservation efforts, and answered a handful of questions.

Moving on, they trekked upstairs to the galley. Because Annette was on shore, Amit was on hand to share anecdotes about working in one of the busiest departments on board, rattling off some facts and figures, the number of eggs consumed per day, slices of bread, gallons of coffee.

The galley tours were the longest and most detailed portion, where passengers were allowed inside the refrigerators and freezers, and given a glimpse of where provisions were kept. After they left for the up close look at the inner workings of the galley, Millie stepped off to the side to check her phone.

While she was checking her messages, a new one from Sharky popped up.She’s out! Elvira has posted bond.

Millie promptly texted back.Great. Maybe we can meet her at her RV.

Sounds like a plan.

Millie’s group circled back around, returning to their starting location. Amit passed out special treats—cookies shaped like Siren of the Seas, with the ship’s initials etched in frosting, thanking them for stopping by the galley.

The tour continued downstairs and backstage, where Millie gave them a brief glimpse of the dressing room, along with a sneak peek at the props and then introduced them to Felix, who had just wrapped up a ballroom dancing class.

“What a good-looking group you have today,” he gushed. “Are you enjoying your tour so far?”

“Felix is in charge of our stage team,” Millie explained. “He’s one of our most talented dancers and performers on board Siren of the Seas.”

A woman spoke up. “I saw you last time I cruised on this ship. You were phenomenal.”

Beaming at the unexpected compliment, he took a small bow. “Thank you very much.”

“I thought you might give them a quick rundown of what a headliner show entails,” Millie said.

“So much work.” Felix twirled around. “Every moment, every lyric, every song is fine-tuned until our performance is seamless, magical and, most important, memorable.”

While Felix talked, Millie sneaked off to make sure her office was tidy. She turned to find a passenger coming up behind her. It was her grumpy group host. “Hello, Mr. Zevron. Are you enjoying your tour so far?”

“The engine room visit was interesting. We could’ve skipped the laundry part. Other than that, I guess it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry you found a part of the tour not to your liking,” she apologized.

“It’s okay. I knew going into it we would see the laundry center. My wife is asking if we’ll be touring the bridge.”

“Yes. The bridge is our last stop where you’ll meet Captain Armati.”

“Captain Armati,” he repeated. “Your last name is Armati.”

“It is,” Millie confirmed. “The captain is my husband.”

“Ah.” Zevron arched his eyebrow, and she could see his wheels spinning. “No wonder you have a top job.”

“My husband has nothing to do with my position as cruise director.” Millie bit back the rest of what she wanted to say and wisely left it at that.

“No? Seems to me your relationship would work in your favor.”

It took every ounce of willpower not to want to wipe the smirk off the rude man’s face. “The employment department doesn’t function that way. For the record, each and every crewmember, officer and staff employee on board this ship works long hours to provide you with the best vacation possible, including myself.”

---