Love on the Horizon ✎

20

[+18 - Explicit sexual content]

The next day is spent at sea as we have left Antigua behind and are now heading to Barbados. Phoebe and I have reservations for facials, which we have both been looking forward to as it is one of the few things we had booked ahead of the trip. It's the most expensive thing to do on the ship so we quickly dropped the idea of full body massages when we saw the jaw-dropping prices and decided just to treat our faces.

After our faces have been thoroughly massaged into complete relaxation, we go for a sit-down lunch at one of the complimentary cafés and I am amazed at the delicious meals to choose from. I order a fried chicken sandwich and Phoebe gets seafood pasta. My stomach welcomes the grease and fat to soak in and we enjoy our meal as we watch the other passengers milling about.

Just as I finish my sandwich my phone buzzes in my purse. Taking it out I stare at the name of the sender.

Damien.

The surge of excitement in my stomach clashes against the food and alcohol and I feel slightly nauseated. Apparently, I'm just sat staring at my phone because Phoebe just asks, "Damien?" I nod and finally open it.

It is nothing but a cabin number and a time. Ten thirty pm. This will be after his show ends tonight.

I convey the message to Phoebe and she's smirking at me like the Cheshire cat.

"If that's not a sex meeting, I don't know what is."

I put my phone away. I don't reply to the message because I don't know what to reply.

"It's like my brain is torn in half when it comes to him," I say, reaching for my soda and gulping the remaining liquid down.

"You deserve to be happy, Ellie. If you think Damien can make you happy you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. Rules be damned."

"Rules not be damned if we get caught and he gets fired. Besides, when we get home there's an entire ocean between us and you know I cannot do long distance. I could barely keep up conversation with Todd from California."

"Todd? Who was he again?"

"We met him on our weekend to Atlantic City."

"Right! You two spent the whole weekend naked together and you left me to waste too much money loosing at the Blackjack table."

"I already apologized for that. But see, even with sexual chemistry like that, it fizzled out almost immediately. It was an in-the-moment thing. Maybe this is the same. A holiday romance."

"Fine, so what if it is. Damien may be even better than Todd in bed. I mean, I've said it before, but I could masturbate to his voice alone."

"Too much information, thank you." The sudden image of Damien reading aloud from the dictionary as Phoebe writhers on her bed appears in my mind and I press the balls of my palms into my eyes. Phoebe is laughing at me.

"You still have hours to figure out what you want to do, and you already know what my answer will be. Do this for you and your body." She gestures up and down my body with a hand. "The girl down there deserves a treat."

At ten twenty-five pm I'm standing outside cabin number 6542 with sweaty palms and a rapid heartbeat. The hallway is full of other passengers moving about and I bite my bottom lip from nerves. It took me a few hours to decide, but I finally texted Damien back with a thumbs up and a smiley face. I didn't know how to reply in actual words so emojis had to do.

From the outside it looks like a regular cabin two floors above mine. It must be a vacant one, but I'm already questioning how he got a keycard, if he's had to confide in someone other than Javier when the door opens with a soft click. Damien beckons me inside with a warm smile and I rush in, afraid someone might recognize him in that split second, he's revealed.