She went to the balcony door and pushed it open. From behind the small dividing wall, she heard Trina. “What a view.”
Lori peeked around the partition. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Barcelona buzzed from beyond the ship while passengers funneled on board.
“This balcony is bigger than my college dorm room,” Trina said.
“I’m glad you like it.”
A soft knock on the open door behind her captured Lori’s attention. A short Filipino man dressed in a formal black-and-white uniform stood smiling. “Ms. Cumberland?”
She nodded. “That’s me.”
“I’m Datu, I’ll be your butler while onboard.” He stepped inside the room, placed his hand on her luggage. “I understand you’re here with a few of your friends?”
“That’s right.” She gave Datu the names of the others.
“Most wonderful. I’ll see to unpacking your things. Might I suggest you enjoy our cocktail of the day with your companions before we set sail? Perhaps you can plan your evening. I’m happy to make any reservations on your behalf, or bring you anything you might need.”
“Thank you, Datu. That would be wonderful.” She pointed to her laptop case. “Please leave that case out so I can get some work done.”
Datu narrowed his eyes. “Work, Miss?”
“Sadly. No worries, I plan on playing quite a bit.”
“Wonderful.” Datu opened her suitcase as she moved past him.
“Oh, Datu?”
He turned. “What is your cocktail of the day?”
“It’s called rebellious fish. One of my favorites.”
“What’s in it?” The question no sooner left her lips than she waved off any answer he might have. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”
With her room key tucked into a small clutch, Lori made her way to the exclusive bar.
She found Avery already flirting with two young male passengers, her glass half-full.
“There you are.” Avery had managed to don a pair of tight shorts and a tank top destined to give the tops of her breasts a tan before they left port.
“It’s been less than thirty minutes since we checked in,” Lori told her.
Avery offered a flirty smile at the bartender, as if the two guys talking to her weren’t enough. “She’ll have one of these. It’s a rebel something.”
“Let me go out on a limb and say you know a thing or two about being a rebel,” said the man to Avery’s right, who had a thick Italian accent and equally thick hair.
“Why would you guess that?”
“I’m Lori,” she chuckled and introduced herself.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Lori, this is Mr. Married, and this is Mr. Engaged.”
Lori lifted an amused eyebrow.
Mr. Married lifted both palms in the air as if apologizing. And Mr. Engaged, the one who nailed Avery as a rebel, flirted with his eyes. “We will have to find you Mr. Single, Miss Rebel.”
“It’s a big ship, and I’m going to need more than one.” Avery sipped her drink.
The bartender put Lori’s colorful drink on the bar and moved away.
“So that’s how it is?” Mr. Engaged said.
Avery played with the straw using the tip on her tongue. “Yep. At least two for me and one for each of my friends.”
“That didn’t take you two long,” Shannon said as she joined them. Trina walked beside her with large sunglasses hiding her eyes. Those sunglasses had become a shield in the past month, whether to keep the media from recognizing her or to hide the pain in her eyes, Lori wasn’t sure. She made it a goal to see those glasses gone by the end of the week. Or at the very least, put away when the sun wasn’t shining on Trina’s face.
“The rooms are phenomenal,” Shannon told Lori.
“I can’t imagine we’ll spend much time in them,” Avery said.
Lori finally sipped her cocktail. Rum, she thought . . . and a bunch of other stuff. It went down way too smooth.
Avery did another round of introductions, keeping with the theme of Mr. Married and Mr. Engaged. Something told Lori that she’d never remember the men as anything other than that. More drinks were ordered, and before she knew it, her shoulders started to relax.
This might be a working vacation, but Lori was determined to enjoy herself.
When Mrs. Married and Miss Engaged found their men, the eye flirting ended and resulted in Avery looking around the deck in search of a fresh catch. The space slowly filled up as passengers made it from their rooms to the bar. Two kids, both boys, ran past them en route to the pool in the center of the deck.