"Here we go then..." Dianne mumbled to herself with a sense of uncertainty to her voice. The sight of the beautiful city she had spent her past three days wondering around aimlessly in, exploring all manor of things, from the comfort of small cafe's and tapas bars - to the grandeur of its many art museums. Not that she ever had much of an interest in art, yet they were nice ways to fill the time she had, or so she told herself at the time of standing in un-airconditioned rooms in 37 degree heat with a hundred or so equally hot and sweaty people around her.
She had enjoyed Valencia. So much so that the Australian had seemed to have forgotten that she was here to work rather than for a holiday, only up until about 9am that morning when her alarm had unkindly woken her up. Yet whether she had forgotten or not, as the gentle lapping of the tide seemed to slosh up against the boat in a gentle white foam which bubbled underneath them, with the city slowly moving away from her, Dianne was definitely aware of her work schedule now.
Continuing to watch the small people milling about on the port get even smaller, whilst the previously colourful set of buildings with their bright red rooves which made her heart swoon with joy turned into nothing but a blur of beiges and creams, the dancer felt an unintended air of dread fall within the pits of her stomach.
This wasn't her first time away from home, neither was it her first time in another country getting ready to work. Yet never had the redhead spent so much time out on open water, contractually obliged to spend two weeks continuously entertaining the same group of individuals on the same stage.
Feeling her attention diverted thanks to an unnecessarily loud honk from the horn of the ship which scared the living daylights out of her, Dianne righted her posture from her previous position in which she lent all her weight onto the pristine, freshly painted metal bar in front of her. A convenient barrier which protected her and the many people around her from an unfortunate dip in the water below. Grasping a hold of it firmly, locking her elbows as she stood next to it with legs like jelly, Dianne allowed herself to take in a deep breath. Something her mother had always taught her to do from a young age whenever she was feeling overwhelmed. And as she stood there, practically on her own, watching the wonderful city meander off into the distance, whilst the gentle, almost in audible chug of the firing up engines began to whir away several layers beneath her feet, it was fair to say that the feelings of dread she felt where only ever getting stronger. As centimetre by centimetre - wave by wave - dry land began to move away.
Once being startled by another unsuspecting toot of the horn, Dianne snapped herself out of her little daze of concern. Her eyes flicking from side to side taking in one last view of the voluptuous scene, Dianne let go of the white barrier before her and allowed herself to gently take a step away. The initial feel of standing on solid ground whilst the light blue façade of the sea around her began to take its place seeming to feel odd and disconcerting.
Having grown up out in the sticks of Western Australia, Dianne was no stranger to the water. In fact as a child she spent a fare few of her days bathed in the stuff what with the beach being a five minute walk from her front door. Yet she was never a fan of going out any further than where her feet could be comfortably planted on the sandy floor. So the idea of heading to sea for the next two weeks seemed to fill her with a little bit of concern, and was probably what made her legs feel so jelly like that as she took a step away from the white barrier she walked right in to the path of a portly gentleman wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat. Clearly already in the holiday spirit.
"Ooh, sorry." She said loud enough for him to hear as she essentially spun off of his stomach and began walking away. Now with an added sense of embarrassment as he looked over at her with an less than impressed snarl and a look of derision.
Picking up the pace, Dianne moved away from the crowds as quickly as possible. The gentle milling about of holiday makers trying to work out where their rooms where, or what floor of the boat it was they had to go to in order to buy the rights to a sun lounger or a drink of some sort, seeming to confuse the redhead to no extent as she too tried to find her way about the grandeur of the ship. Heading up flights of stairs and down corridors which all looked the same, until eventually - by some miracle - Dianne found herself scrambling through the door to her cabin, shutting it quickly behind her with a large breath.
"What took you so long?" A voice from the bathroom attached to their room questioned.
Running a hand over her forehead, and straightening out the summer dress she wore, Dianne wondered across to the other side of their small room. The two single beds in the room pretty much already clouted in a sea of clothes. Picking up a cardigan from off the sheets and chucking it up towards the pillow end of the bed, Dianne sat herself down on the mattress.
"I got a little lost on the way back." She answered as she looked through the polished wooden doorway and into the bathroom. The subtle yellow lighting shining down on the other woman as she unpacked toiletries from a small burgundy makeup bag, placing them down on the shelving unit above the small white sink.
Smiling gently, the other woman stole a glance back to the redhead. "Of course you did."
"You say that like this place is easy to understand Kerry." Dianne responded as she threw a balled up pair of socks in her direction. Only to have them bounce off the wall and land back at her feet.
"Well I mean... it's fairly self explanatory." Kerry hit back with another one of her characteristically wide smiles as she wondered out of the bathroom. Pulling on the string to turn off the light as she did so.
Kerry Jones was practically a legend when it came to the world of Cruises. Having been dancing on them since she was 18 the samba sensation had covered more of the world than most could have dreamt off. Having been in every corner of the globe two or three times over at least. She was tall, sleek, had brilliantly blonde hair that cascaded in waves down her back, and a wide smile with perfectly white teeth which made her green eyes glimmer out even in the occasional darkness of a dancefloor. Overall, she was a little older than Dianne, a little taller, a little brighter on stage, and to Dianne's mind, just a slightly better human than she was.
And so, four months ago when the blonde happened to be in the audience of a show the redhead danced in when touring with a company in the UK, Dianne jumped at Kerry's proposal to join her on a cruise ship and dance along side her, and several other incredibly talented entertainers, as they made their way across the Mediterranean.
It was a strange offer, or so Dianne had thought at the time when the blonde with a slightly familiar name had asked her to be her right-hand-man in something she had never done before. Yet never being one to turn down a new opportunity, or some time in the sun, Dianne agreed in a heartbeat - quite literally getting on board with her idea.
"How?... How is it self explanatory when there's like a billion different floors to this place, each with like a hundred staircases and about a gazillion rooms on each floor."
Chuckling softly, Kerry looked over to the redhead, as she began delving into her suitcase to start the long process of hanging up the many clothes she had already spilled out onto the floor.
"Well, first of all can I just say that there's only eight floors on this one. I was on a South American Cruise a few months back with 12 passenger floors and then four more crew ones so this is way easier than you'd expect Buswell." She began, back at it with the wisdom - or so Dianne noted, suddenly realising that the wonder of being with someone who knows everything about their little escapade may wear out pretty quickly. "And secondly just follow the numbers and the Alphabet and you'll get to where you need to go. Besides we've got two weeks on this thing, and so far we've not even been on here for three hours so don't worry about it too much okay babes."
Shrugging gently, Dianne laid her back down on the soft springs of the mattress. Her feet still planted firmly on the floor as her eyes darted in between each of the spotlights plastered firmly into the ceiling. A small sigh escaping her lips as the concerns she had first thought four months ago about feeling out of place on a boat where no one had ever heard of her before, and where she wouldn't know what was what, suddenly feeling very real.
"Yeah I suppose so." She agreed with another gentle sigh, something which did not go unnoticed by Kerry as she opened up one of the wardrobes to start placing her clothes in there. Hanging up various dresses and t-shirts to minimise the amount of ironing she would have to do in the small room later on in their journey.
Turning on her heel, the blonde stole a look across to the redhead who, in fairness, she didn't know all that well just yet. Since Kerry had first broached the offer to Dianne back in April they hadn't seen a lot of one another in person. And if they did it was usually for nothing more than a quick coffee or a bite to eat after a meeting they had had with Adam the entertainment manager for this cruise. A young man with dark hair who had seemed to make the two of them feel incredibly comfortable in the set up to this little adventure. Yet other than those meetings, and the 24 hours which they had spent together in Valencia yesterday when Kerry arrived in Spain, their lives had been fairly separate until now.
Sighing softly, Kerry settled down next to the redhead. Her feet flat out the ground next to hers whilst her back laid flat across the width of the bed so that her beach blonde curls cascaded gently down the other side. Their shoulders gently touching as both pairs of eyes scanned the baron ceiling of their little room.
"I know that this is pretty bizarre." Kerry began with a softness to her voice which Dianne was yet to have heard from the London born dancer. "When I first stepped onto a cruise ship ready to do my first cruise I was bloody terrified. I was 18, I had never really been away from my family for more than a night or two when I went to sleepovers at my friends houses, and even then I was only down the road, let alone in the middle of the bloody ocean." She joked, causing the redhead to let out a small laugh in the form of a single breath.
"Anyway, my first day we started in Portsmouth on the English coast and I can still remember doing the exact same thing as you've just done now. I stood there on one of the decks, my hands gripped tighter than anything around this white bar which separated me from the edge of the ship to the water and my legs were like jelly... I had no idea what I was doing, where we were going, where anything was on this frickin giant of a boat, and I remember feeling like all I wanted to do was jump over that barrier and swim back to Portsmouth, and give my Mum a hug. But I didn't... instead I watched the port and the main land drift off into the distance, and I got on with it... travelled the world, saw some incredible things, met some incredible people, and I got to do what I love which is dancing whilst I did it. So even though you're feeling scared as shit right now Buswell, and you want nothing more than to get off this bloody boat because you don't know what you're doing and that you want to get on the first flight back to Australia. But trust me darlin' you don't want to miss out on this... because it's fucking brilliant."
As she finished her explanation, Dianne found herself looking happily in the big green eyes of the woman sat beside her. Kerry's wide, gleaming smile instantly being replicated on the redhead's lips. Something which Dianne now felt was going to be a common factor amongst the pair over the next couple of weeks.
The truth was that she was terrified. There was no point in denying it... After all, she was on a boat full of strangers with no real awareness of what was going to happen after she accepted a job from a woman she had only heard of once or twice before hand. Of course the redhead had done her research on what her job entailed. Had several meetings with the company, fellow dancers, and of course Adam, who Kerry said nothing but good things about. Yet despite her understanding of what she had to do, the redhead had never put all that thought into how she would do it. So now that it was here and the boat was making its way out onto open water, it was a fair enough justification that she felt a little knocked for six.
Gently hitting her palm onto the Australians shoulder, Kerry sat herself back up. "But for now Buswell, you just need to get yourself settled. So, suitcase open... clothes set out and packed away neatly. We've gotta live here for the next two weeks and this room isn't big enough for us and the four suitcases we've got with us all spread out on this floor."
Chuckling softly to herself, knowing all to well that it would be a matter of time before her suitcase explosion would take over the room, Dianne sat herself back up. Her eyes instantly darting behind her where her eyes caught sight of the brilliant blue of the sea out of the small circular window on the opposite wall. The occasional holiday maker walking past the window with a smile on their faces as they too began settling in for the journey ahead.
...
"5...6...7... drop, and finish there." The Italian screamed as he held the redhead in his left arm. Her back resting in the crook of his elbow as her legs continued out straight onto the floor. Her core screaming as she lied perfectly flat out of the professionals arm.
Hoisting her back onto her feet, Pasquale ran a hand through his dark hair which had fallen over his forehead. The sweaty ends of his dark tresses tickling his forehead as he ran the redhead through the intricate set of steps.
"How was that for you?" Dianne questioned as she ran a hand of her own across her perspiration doused forehead.
"Eh... it was... good." Pasquale responded with a nod of his head. "And, uh... for you?"
"Yeah..." Dianne agreed in a breathless voice as she took a small sip of water from a pink water bottle that she had packed with her. "Better than it was before anyway."
"Do you want to run it again?" He asked from the other side of the small studio which the two of them had been stuck in for the last couple of hours. Running their routines that they would be performing for the next few nights over and over again just to make sure they had got it right.
Shaking her head softly, Dianne took one final gulp of her drink, getting in the bit of hydration she was screaming for. The air-conditioning, or therefore lack of, in the small room seeming to make their jobs ten times harder, prompting the two of them to sweat ten times more than they would usually.
"Nah, I think we've got it. But umm... back here this time on Tuesday for the next set?" She suggested, knowing all to well that she and Pasquale had several more routines to remember and practice before they took them to the stage for the second leg of their journey.
Nodding in agreement Pasquale looked across to the redhead. Pasquale La Rocca was by nature a typical Italian stallion. With dark hair, tanned features, and a certain amount of self-assurity which gave him the biggest sense of body confidence the redhead had ever seen, he certainly wasn't one to go unnoticed in a room. And much to the redheads delight, one who wouldn't go unnoticed on the stage. As despite being an absolute charmer, the Italian was in his own right an incredible dancer who she had worked with several times before. So when the Australian signed up for the cruise and noticed the familiarity of his name on the list of other dancers who would be joining them, she was quick to let the organisers know that he was the one she wanted to dance with. And much to her delight, three months ago she and the Italian where beginning the choreographing and rehearsal of several dozen incredible routines which they could take to the sea.
"Yeah if you're happy, I'm happy... you know that." He conceded with a small smile as he walked over to the Australian and wrapped a tattooed arm around her.
"Well... I am... I think." She stuttered, clearly slightly dubious of her answer. "I mean, once we put it on the stage tomorrow we'll be better anyway."
"Absolutely. Half nine tomorrow night yeah?" Pasquale questioned softly.
"Yeah I think so... The stage on... on... On one of the decks anyway, I haven't really worked it out yet. It took me half a bloomin' hour to find the gym as a start."
Chuckling softly, Pasquale let the Australian go, wondering across with her to the corner of the room where the two of them had put their stuff - a small mound which amounted to a jacket which the Australian had brought with her for some reason, despite it still being 35 degrees centigrade outside, and a couple bottles of water for each of them.
"Don't worry Dianne, you'll get it eventually." Pasquale reassured kindly, using his own experience of the couple of cruises he's been on before to help her.
"Mhmm, that's what Kerry said. But I have a feeling that the two of you are wildly overestimating my abilities with this kind of thing." She responded sceptically, causing the Italian to laugh a little more.
"How's it been with her so far; Kerry that is?" He questioned as the two of them made their way out of the small studio space and out into the gym which was practically empty. Not that the two of them were expecting it to be full on the first night of the journey.
"Yeah it's been good. Turns out she's a lot more organised than I am at this whole thing so she's already put me and my exploding suitcases into a training regime." The redhead joked as she held a heavy wooden door open for Pasquale who was following her out into the corridors.
"Yeah she can be a bit of a... perfectionist shall we say."
"Hmm, anyway it's probably good for me to be a little less of a scatter brain whilst we're here."
"Yeah, or anywhere for that matter." Pasquale joked sarcastically, prompting the redhead to hit him slightly with the jacket in her left hand. "I'm joking, I'm joking. Seriously though, for your first cruise you couldn't be bunking with anyone better. She'll show the ropes and before you know it you're going to be strutting round here like you own the place darling."
"I hope so." Dianne mumbled softly, clearly not buying the words of support which kept coming her way before noticing the Italian had stopped walking beside her as they came to a set of stairs, the left hand side heading up, whilst the right hand side headed down.
"Up or down?" Dianne questioned, not being fully sure of where it is she was going next.
"Well I'm going down, but I have a feeling you're going up. Deck E right?" He questioned as he pointed his index finger her way.
"Umm, yeah I think so."
"Alright then, well in that case I'll, Uh, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon okay." He explained with a smile before taking a step forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Good night darling." He continued before heading to the right hand set of stairs, beginning to make his way down to the floor below.
"Night!" She called back in return, before following her accomplices judgement and heading to the left, wondering up each step with a small puff of air leaving her lips as her leg muscles felt loose and tired after the several hours of rehearsal she had just done with the Italian.
Before long Dianne found herself well and truly lost. Heading down corridor after corridor, all of which looked exactly the same, until they ended at a set of doors which all looked the same. Some of which lead outside onto the warm decking which the since gone down sun had spent the entirety of the day heating up. Whilst others lead her out into vast open spaces which she didn't even realise where on the ship which with every turn she took just seemed to get bigger with size.
Having been wondering around aimlessly for at least 30 minutes, Dianne was just about ready to give up, but when turning a corner and accidently walking straight into someone, the redhead thought that a small bit of hope was restored.
"Oh, sorry." She mumbled as she bounced off of the chest of the sleek man who stopped in his tracks when she had marched into him.
"Alright careful there." He responded in a typically British accent.
Looking up at the appearance of the man she walked into, Dianne took in his features. With bright blue eyes that shone out in the artificial light, tanned olive skin, and a cheeky grin plastered across his lips, he was unconventionally handsome. His hair was a light brown which was styled in a perfect mess so that the majority of it swept gently over to one side. The strong concoction of aftershave and hairspray he had clearly put on before leaving his room hitting her in the face just as much as his chest had. He was dressed in a deep blue suit jacket which contrasted a crisp white shirt which he wore underneath, tucked into a pair of crisply ironed trousers and a pair of polished black shoes.
"Hello?" He questioned waving a hand in front of her eyes as she continued to take in his appearance. "Anyone home?" He continued with a smug amount of sarcasm edged behind his voice.
"Oh... umm sorry." The redhead responded in a start as she shook her head slightly. Now slightly embarrassed that she had run into someone so nicely dressed when she had just been sweating buckets in a hot studio.
"It's fine just watch where you're going okay red." He hit back as he took a step out of her way and continued his walk down the corridor.
"Actually!" She piped up as he took a step away from her with a slight sense of arrogance. "Can you tell me how to get onto Deck E?" She asked in a half yell as he continued to walk away.
"Just follow the alphabet sweet cheeks!" He hit back as he continued to walk away, not giving another look back to her as he meandered down the corridor, the clearly pompous nature of the man beginning to tick her right off as he did absolutely nothing to help the clearly flustered Australian.
Sighing softly, trying not to let the random mans arrogance irritate her too much, Dianne continued on her quest to find her room.
'Yep.' She thought to herself as she continued to walk. 'This is going to be a very long two weeks indeed.'
A/N Hey people! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I just very quickly wanted to add onto here a quick thank you for all the kindness I received after posting the first chapter. If any of you know me, you'll know that starting off stories isn't exactly a strong suit of mine, so to receive such lovely comments as I got before was incredible so thank you. A lot of love for you all :) xx