Got him, I thought to myself.
He’d noticed me, that much was obvious. Honestly, I was a little surprised. Seeing that Asian goddess on his arm, I never expected him to seem so interested in me. I wondered if this Mia just might be the most completely attractive woman I’d ever seen in my life. Exactly what I’d expected to see with him. In person, though, he was far more handsome than I’d anticipated. It didn’t worry me. I still hated him. I just never expected to find myself even a little attracted to him.
Venus had been underway for an hour, the guests were settling into their quarters, and Michelle and I were helping Tristan prep for lunch when Suzy stumbled into the galley, giggling.
“Oh, my God! I just passed by Jay Money’s room. All three of them are fucking like mad!” she squealed. “You can hear that black girl moaning and that skinny blonde screaming right up on the sundeck.”
“Well, they’re paying guests. No harm in them enjoying themselves,” Michelle said absently, concentrating on pairing a cucumber for the salads.
“Speak for yourself, Michelle,” cried Suzy. “If I have to listen to any more of that, I’m either joining them or I’m gonna need that cucumber and a twenty-minute break in my bunk!”
“Oh! How crass! You are a filthy slut, Suzy,” teased Tristan.
“Look who’s talking!” she teased him back. Here we go again, I thought, having seen this scene play out once or twice before.
“Can’t you just stop being gay for a second and do me a favor?” Suzy cornered the chef against the walk-in freezer, where he mimed frantic shock and panic. “Please, Tristan, ‘me so horny’!” she flipped around, lifted her skirt, and exposed her G-string clad behind, “Puhlehehease… stick it in… just for a second… it won’t hurt a bit, I promise!”
“Do you see this, Michelle? This is sexual misconduct of the highest order!” wailed Tristan, as Suzy ground her nearly naked butt against his crotch, “Vile temptress! Get thee to a nunnery!”
“That’s enough, Suzy,” Michelle scolded her, still smiling.
Suzy pouted and made herself decent. “It’s still not fair, though, is it?” she whined. “We slave away for them, no booze, no sex, while the whole weekend they get to have the time of their lives.”
“Just think about that fat tip waiting at the end, darling,” reassured Tristan, before rushing over and diving into one of his ovens. “Dozy cow, you nearly made me burn my meat!” He pulled out a lightly smoldering tray of pork cutlets.
“I thought that was what she was trying to do,” I murmured, and the other three burst out laughing again.
“Well, someone’s got an admirer,” said Sofia from the galley doorway. We all jumped a little.
“Christ!” breathed Tristan, indicating desperate heart palpitations. “How long have you been there? I hate it when she does that.”
“Who?” I asked, ignoring Tristan’s theatrics. “Has Suzy found another heart to break?”
“No, silly!” said Tristan. “We all saw the way the primary was looking at you.”
“Yeah, he didn’t even see me,” Suzy whined. “Which is a pity. He’s hot, I’d jump him in a second...”
“Of course you would, darling,” Tristan teased again. “Right, this is too much! I see I’m going to have to take one for the team. C’mon, Suzy, you’re disturbing everyone. We are going into that freezer to sort you out. Back in five, Michelle darling, just make sure there’s a hot towel and a fresh Appletini ready for when I emerge.” He grabbed Suzy’s wrist and made to drag her off, as she fanned herself and made "oh my!" faces.
I normally loved watching my shipmates messing around and laughing. This time, though, I was distracted. I was thinking hard. Seth really did seem to like me as soon as he saw me. No one in his position has done that since my family went broke. And he was very good-looking... Come on, Tara! Stop it! I shouted inside my head, Him, his family, and all his greedy, arrogant friends. They’re the reason you lost your father, the reason you lost everything.
But what I’d never completely figured out was: How did I exact this revenge? I’d never quite planned that far. I’d dismissed threatening or injuring him in any physical way. When I thought about it, I got angry enough. I just wasn’t that kind of person. Maybe I could ruin him like he ruined my life? Should I get close with him, tear my clothes and cry assault? Sleep with him and cry rape? Technically, neither of these scenarios seemed too difficult to set up, but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to go through with having actual sex with him. It didn’t matter how hot he was, I just wasn’t that loose. Besides, he probably had an army of high-priced lawyers that could make issues like that, and maybe even me, disappear. The untouchable rich.
In the end, I decided to settle for honesty. I get him to really like me, open up to me, then make him see exactly what misery he and his kind had inflicted on me. I would make him feel responsible for the death of my father, for my mother abandoning me, for screwing up my life and having me dropped from the place in society that was rightfully mine.
If I really had managed to get him to fall for me already, I could leave him with a broken heart. If he was so cold inside that he could care less, that I was merely a hot piece of ass to him, at least I’d confronted him. I would be another thing he would have to add to his pile of dirty deeds, collecting and festering until he was ready to be judged by his maker.