*****
Venus seemed to be moving along at a brisk pace now, while rain had begun to lash at the windows. Inside the main guest lounge, however, we were being served lunch. The chef had originally prepped an exotic seafood salad, with crab, oysters, shrimp, and lobster but, considering the weather, at the last minute he paired it with a thick, fish-based soup with plenty of cream, to keep everyone a little warmer. It was so successful, I asked Tristan to come up personally so everyone could all thank him.
As the afternoon wore on, even once we were moored and sheltering in a secluded bay, Venus was suffering through some choppy waters. The girls kept the party going, but playing twister as the boat lurched from side to side made it a fight for anyone trying to maintain any dignity. Mick and Jay Money mainly seemed to be entertaining themselves as spectators, enjoying the view as Antonia, Coco, Jessica, and Valentina, only wrapped in short togas, bent over and around each other and left very little to the two guys’ imaginations.
George looked pretty green around the gills for most of the afternoon. The poor guy was not enjoying the rough seas. Mia and I sat at the bar again. However, when Mia finally excused herself, I saw Tara hand the spinning pointer over to Suzy and make her way over to refill my glass.
“I’ve been longing to talk to you,” I whispered as she poured more scotch. “It’s been so hard, though.”
She smiled back at me. “It’s okay, we don’t need to talk.”
“What do you mean? You kissed me, Tara!” I hissed, a little too loudly.
Tara looked around the room. Thankfully no one seemed to have heard me. “Please don’t,” she pleaded. “I’ll lose my job.”
“I’m sorry,” I told her. I didn’t want to get her in trouble. I just liked her and I felt like she liked me too. “It’s just… I can’t stop thinking about it…” About you, I was going to say. I opened my mouth to tell her, only there was a sudden and almighty crash right above us, and it felt like the world was ending.
I had no idea what was happening. I heard a colossal bang, followed by a loud shattering of glass. Then screams. I looked over to see guests and staff alike diving for cover as broken glass rained down on the whole lounge.
I had only an instant to react. I didn’t think, I just leaped over the bar, grabbing Tara as I flew through the air and taking us both toward the back wall. I couldn’t stop myself landing prone on her but, at least, I could use my body to keep her shielded from anything that might come down on us. We lay still, silently staring into each other’s eyes as I sensed sparks flashing around us and felt pieces of glass bouncing off my back. It was intense. Neither of us knew if this was about to be our last second alive. I wanted to kiss her again. In that moment, about to die, it was all I could think about.
“Is everyone okay?” I heard Michelle’s strong voice, after what seemed like an eternity. All the commotion had died down. Alarms were going off across the boat and I looked up to see Sofia gather up her toga and run to help the other deckhands. Fortunately, it seemed the glass that formed the skylights in the lounge was made of that toughened safety glass and we now seemed to be surrounded by small, ragged, marble-like pieces capable of doing us no more harm than a little light hail, so happily, there were no injuries more serious than a couple of bruises.
I got up and helped Tara, then we stood face to face, brushing each other clean of broken glass. “Are you okay?” I managed to ask. Before Tara could answer, Mia appeared, having returned from the bathroom just after the disaster.
Wind and rain were now whipping their way through the hole in the cabin roof. I looked up and saw the reason the glass had smashed. The top of the main mast had fallen through the ceiling and was now buried in the floor behind the bar, almost exactly where Tara had been standing. There were still a few small flames crackling along the broken, charred shaft, where a bolt of lightning must have hit it. I saw Suzy grab an extinguisher and deal with the small fire, but we could still see the bigger flames on top of the remains of the mast, high above us.
“Everyone into the dining room please,” called Michelle and, keen to get out of the rain that was now lashing down on us, we quickly obeyed.
“I guess you owe him your life again,” said Mia to Tara, not looking at her. She threw her arms around my neck and whispered in my ear, “You’re so sexy when you’re brave. Quite the hero.”
“Yeah, he’s making a habit of it,” said Tara, quietly. “Please, if you’ll both go through.”
Before long, the deckhands had safely dealt with the fire on the mast and Captain Samson was addressing us, reassuring us that all was well. Apart from the mast, he told us, there was no damage to Venus and no further cause for alarm. The boat’s radio was now out of order, but the internet was still working and, in case of dire emergency, there was a satellite phone. “That’s life at sea, folks,” he ended with, cheerfully.
Obviously shaken by the accident, the mood in the dining room was somber. Each couple or, in Jay Money Monarch’s case, threesome, cuddled together while Michelle, Tara, and Suzy served drinks and tried to remain upbeat.
As the time rolled past three in the afternoon, however, we saw the clouds part and radiant, heavenly sunshine began to scorch the sundeck, steaming away the gathered raindrops with alarming speed. Surprisingly, Mia was first to run back to the light, dragging me with her and discarding her bikini top almost immediately, then demanding I rub oil into her bare shoulders and back. The other girls quickly followed us and soon, with the skies clear and the ocean mirror flat once again, it was like nothing had happened. The stewards went back to their shifts, two serving drinks while one rested below, while my friends returned to their alcohol, sunshine, and sex-fueled frolics again in the lead up to dinner.