Page 49 of The Second Chance in the Mediterranean
“Tell us about your boat,” Seb said, snapping me back to the conversation.
They were on a twenty-meter performance cat, a brand I’d never heard of. Edie got Bryce onto the topic of rotating masts and the electronic controls, while Nan leaned toward me and we talked about long passages. I told her about my experiences onEikand sailing through the islands.
“What do you do onThemis?” she asked me.
“I’m the head chef.” Pride infused my voice, which made me hesitate for a moment. Had I ever been this proud of my job?
“Oh, that’s great.” Her eyes were wide. “How fancy does it get here?”
“Pretty fancy. ButThemisis one of the most luxurious boats I’ve been on. She’s one of a kind.” I doubt Nan’s galley had any of the luxuries mine did. In fact, I bet it was more likeEik’s, and I shuddered to think about giving up my space and toys.
“That’s amazing. I did some basic cooking skills classes through the charter company, but our owners like more home-style meals.” She waved off her skills humbly. “They love to fish, and that seems like half my job when I’m with them, taking care of the things they catch.”
“That is one thing I miss about the cruising I did. We don’t fish very often onThemis. We’ve got too many mouths to feed, and charter guests, at least the ones we had recently, aren’t interested. But we are so fortunate to have a lot of fishermen we can buy from in every port.”
“Did you work in restaurants, too? Would you go back?”
“Yes, several throughout Europe.” I pursed my lips. “I haven’t really thought about what I will do next. Maybe someday I’d go back, but for now, I like this lifestyle. It forces me to be more creative, more flexible. Unless you are the head chef with a nightly menu, there’s not much creativity in restaurants.”
“It’s hard to beat the traveling,” Nan said, smiling.
I looked out over the water to the boats at anchor around us and the island of Corfu rising out of the sea. My job was tough, but a good kind of challenge. And I was getting paid to tour the world now. This was exactly what I wanted; I just had to make sure I held on to it. “It sure is.”
* * *
Several crew memberswere going out for the evening, but Edie had declared it a movie night.
“We’re watchingThe Princess Brideand ordering pizza. If you don’t like it, you can fuck off,” she had announced.
We’d all had drinks at the bar—poor Will only got a partial night off—while Edie set up the movie.Themisdidn’t have an entertainment room like many of the other yachts I’d worked for, but Roy swore to me that the setup was even better.
I watched from below as the rig was adjusted. The mast was rotated so the yards were perpendicular to the boat. Then a single square sail rolled out, creating an enormous projector screen.
Seb and Roy returned with the pizzas just after sunset. We all trooped up to the aft lounge deck and claimed our chairs. Seb flopped onto the double-wide lounge and patted the spot next to him.
I looked around, but no one seemed to be paying any attention or cared where we sat, so I eased myself down and propped up my feet. As the day faded, boats around us lit up, masts blazing and hulls glowing in the night. Speakers were set up around the deck, so we watched Princess Buttercup escape the Sicilian in surround sound.
The next thing I knew, Seb was gently shaking me awake.
“Marce, wake up,” he whispered. “The movie’s almost over.”
I was curled up on my side, a leg thrown over Seb’s and my head on his chest. I sat up quickly, but our double lounger was a little bit farther back than everyone else’s chairs, so no one seemed to have noticed. A blanket lay stretched across our laps too, covering us both from the cool Mediterranean air.
Resting back beside Seb, I settled down in my seat again. “Thanks for waking me up.”
“Sure. You were about to miss the best part anyway.”
We watched Princess Buttercup have a ridiculously long fall from the castle window, and then she and Westley rode off into the sunset together and shared the most romantic kiss in history.
Seb twined his fingers with mine under the blanket. I wished for the rest of the crew to disappear so I could lean over and kiss him. It was so romantic here, with a beautiful island behind us and the stars above. The only thing that would make it better would be Seb’s lips on mine.
Twenty-Three
Anchoring outside a marinahad another downside besides having to dinghy back and forth to town—every night at anchor the deck team had to take shifts. Seb and I spent less time together now.
AsThemisbobbed out in the harbor, I’d go to bed after we’d cleaned up from dinner service. Seb would take a nap in his own bed, do his watch in the middle of the night, and then sneak in to join me in my bed when he was off his shift.
But one night I thought,Why go to bed?Instead I worked on my provisioning list and supplies for a little while in the crew lounge until everyone had gone to sleep except Toby, who was on watch. He passed through occasionally for a midnight snack or while doing his rounds.
