"What?" Karen asked, not having heard her bestfriend,
"Dinah." Normani repeated a little louder still staring at the back of her head.
"That's crazy. No way she's on this cruise. That would be a one in a million chance!"
"Well call it one in a million Karen! I know that's her. Who is she with?" Normani asked to no one in particular.
"Mani, you're being paranoid. I promise that it's not her. You've been thinking about her for awhile and now you're just seeing things. You probably just need a nap."
"I slept for majority of the fucking trip, K! I'm awake and I'm alert! I know it's her!" Normani argued,
Karen looked around, "Okay, okay, shush. Don't cause a scene. So say it really is her, it's a big boat chances are y'all won't even cross paths! I just don't think it's her, you didn't even see her face."
Normani just sighed, She knew it was Dinah. It had to be.
"Mani?"
Normani snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Karen, "Yeah?"
"Come on, let's go to our room and then we can explore the ship!"
Maybe Karen was right, Normani thought, maybe Dinah wasn't even here, she didn't see the girls face but something in her knew, that she was right. She couldn't shake it.
Normani decided to push it to the back of her mind, she took in her surroundings, the bar that stretched across the entire lobby, how each chandelier brightened the room, she noticed the different paintings that were hanging up, and her favorite, a pianist playing 'Isn't She Lovely' by Stevie Wonder, her dad used to sing that song to her when she was little. Normani was amazed by the entire set up, looking up you can see almost every floor, the elevators were glass, she laughed at the people who were going up, it seemed as though it was everyone's first time on a boat. She loved it. It was definitely a breath of fresh air, something she needed.
"Awww! They made us stuffed animals out of freaking towels! How cute is this?!" Karen squealed as she snapped a picture of it, "Our room is to die for!"
"Yeah," Normani agreed, she set her purse down on the bed next to the window, she loved the water, it always helped her clear her head when she needed to think, which is partially why she agreed to go on this cruise.
Their room had two queen sized beds, which were right next to each other with a couch sitting on one side of the wall. The flatscreen television hung right in the middle of the wall,
"Check out the bathroom Mani! I'm so glad we got a master suite!" Karen exclaimed.
Normani went to where her best friend was, "This is beautiful. A vanity! A freaking vanity! This is gonna be the best trip ever!"
***
"Ooh soda!" Lauren said as soon as she got into the room,"
"I wouldn't grab that, They're four dollars each." Camila told her,
"So what babe, let's live a little!"
Dinah laughed, "Yeah paying four dollars for a sprite is really living Laur!"
Lauren stuck her tongue out at Dinah, "Whatever, can we go explore?"
"You and Lauren can go, I'm so sleepy it's not even funny and as soon as my butt hits these sheets, I won't be moving for a couple of hours," Camila sat down slowly, "See? It's pulling me into it!"
Lauren shook her head, "Come on babe! It's my first cruise!"
"Baby just let me rest for a couple hours" Camila pleaded, "I drove thirteen hours, Wake me up before we take off! That's my favorite part."
"Come on Laur, let her sleep, we can find our way around here without her," Dinah said, pulling Lauren out of the room.
Lauren pouted, allowing Dinah to pull her, "Fine."
"Where should we go first?!" Dinah asked full of excitement.
"I don't even care! Let's just stop on every floor!" Lauren returned with the same excitement,
"I love these see through elevators!" Dinah exclaimed as she looked through them.
Lauren was busy looking at which number to press, "I think these four floors are just rooms. Lido deck?"
"Yeah sure, whatever." Dinah said continuing to stare out the glass elevator.
"I can't believe we're on a gorgeous boat full of activities and Camila is asleep!" Lauren complained,
"Laur," Dinah laughed, "Camila literally drove thirteen hours to get us here. I think you should cut her some slack. Besides, we'll be here for a week!"
Lauren sighed, "I guess you're right. Holy shit."
"Yeah holy shit is right." Dinah agreed as the elevator opened to the Lido deck.
In the center of the deck, there was a gigantic pool, with a water slide at the beginning. Surrounding them was several beach chairs, a jacuzzi on each side of them. At the top of the stairs, there was miniature golf and if you went around the backside of the deck, their was different varieties of food, from seafood to pizza, burgers, chicken and ice cream which was open twenty four hours.
"Where do we even start?" Dinah asked,
"Let's go back to the room and change!" Lauren shouted, running back to the elevator.
"Hey! Calm down dork." Dinah ran after her.
"We are gonna be out here all night! This is freaking amazing!"
Dinah agreed, "This is exactly what I needed!"
"When do we pull off?" Lauren asked.
"I forget. Maybe we should just wake her up when we get back to the room. She can sleep on the lawn chairs."
***
"We are hot." Normani said as she and Karen looked in the mirror together with their bathing suits on.
Karen agreed and grabbed their towels.
"I'm so ready to relax. I need this."
"Yeah you do, They'll be playing movies all night!" Karen said.
"We still have much to explore so maybe only one movie, Kare."
Karen yawned, "Oh right."
"You better get all your resting done today because every day after this, we're partying!"
"I know, I know!" Karen looked around once they reached the Lido deck, "We need to find someone to buy us some drinks."
Normani's face lit up, "I swear you read my mind! Who's our first victim?"
"Not right now, later on tonight. Maybe after dinner."
"What are they playing tonight?" Normani asks.
"John Wick 2."
"Okay, where are we sitting? Top deck or down here?"
Karen looked around, "Uhhh, let's sit down here!"
They threw their towels over their chairs, getting situated.
Before Karen had a chance to sit down, "Pizza!" Normani whined.
"Normani."
"You haven't even sat down yet! Come on, we're gonna get hungry."
Karen rolled her eyes, "Fine. How many slices?"
"Three, please."
Karen nodded and went off to the twenty four hour pizza parlor that was located inside, while Normani switched positions a couple of times in order to be completely comfortable. She hoped that Karen wouldn't forget to get a drink also.
"Dinah hurry, Camz hurry!" Was what Karen heard.
Karen froze in her spot, maybe she'd heard that wrong. Dinah couldn't be here. She literally told Normani that she was crazy for thinking that it was possible. She slowly turned around to look, she had only seen Dinah in pictures but she could recognize her in person. Nobody but two random strangers were behind her. Maybe she had heard wrong. Karen decided to push it to the back of her mind, for now.
She was on her way back to Normani when someone whizzed past her causing her to drop their sodas.
"Hey!" Karen protested,
"Crap, sorry." Dinah turned around when she heard Karen.
Karen's eyes nearly bulged out of her head, it was her.
"It's fine."
"Let me get you some more drinks."
Karen declined, "It's really fine. Don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?" Dinah asked, she studied the girl in front of her. She looked familiar.
"Yeah," Karen scurried back to Normani.
"Why do you look like you've just seen a ghost?" Normani laughed as Karen approached her.
Karen debated on telling Normani that she was right, that Dinah was here.
"No ghost, just a really hot guy who asked to see me later." She lied,
"Score! Where's my drink?"
"I forgot it. Sorry."
"Wow. I'll go get it then," Normani says as she gets up,
"No!" Karen yelled, "I'll go back and get it."
Normani eyed Karen suspiciously, "Okay."
Karen scurried off to gather two more drinks, doing as quickly as she could. She didn't want to have another run in with Normani's ex.
Returning, she finally laid down and began eating her pizza.
***
"I swear I know her. She looks so familiar." Dinah went on as the movie started,
Camila and Lauren shushed her, tired of hearing Dinah talk about the girl she ran into.
Dinah sighed heavily and pushed it to the back of her mind, maybe she had seen the girl earlier today and that's why she looked familiar.
She couldn't concentrate on the movie, she changed positions several times, sitting up Dinah stared straight down and caught side profile of a girl she knew.
"Guys!" Dinah whisper yelled,
"What now Dinah?" Lauren asked.
"Is that Normani?" She asked still staring at the girl who had now moved her head back to original position.
Camila scoffed, "Seriously? You're crazy Dinah."
"Yeah. You really need to relax."
Dinah's stomach dropped, "Guys I know it's her!"
"No it isn't. Come on, let's go explore." Camila said getting up.
Dinah wasn't leaving.
"You guys go. I'm gonna finish the movie."
"Get up Dinah." Lauren demanded.
Dinah refused, "Really go. I wanna finish this movie."
Lauren sighed, "You know she isn't here, right?"
Dinah nodded, knowing it would do no good to fight with them about this. She would just find out for herself.
Lauren gathered her things alongside Camila, "We'll catch up with you later!"
Dinah nodded once again and focused on the girl in front of her once her friends were out of sight.
The movie dragged on for about another hour or so but before it ended, Dinah noticed that the girl she thought she knew had disappeared.
She looked further and realized that her friend was still sitting there so she would come back.
What if it wasn't Normani? Dinah thought. What if I'm just being paranoid and stalking some random person. What if I'm not?
Many thoughts began running through Dinah's mind. What if it was Normani? What exactly was she going to say or do if it turned out to be her ex girlfriend but current love of her life.
Dinah sighed and decided to ditch the movie for some more food, after gathering her things she retreated inside and sat her belongings in an empty booth before going to explore the different food options.
Busy looking down at the selections, Dinah hadn't noticed that their was someone in front of her.
"Oh!" Normani exclaimed when she felt someone run into the back of her.
"I'm so sor-" Dinah said finally looking up but stopped when she realized who was in front of her. Her mouth immediately went dry. She tried to speak but couldn't, she'd gone mute as she stared at the girl who meant everything to her. Every single emotion was being felt by both of them at this very moment.
Dinah couldn't believe that the girl who stood before her in an airport and left was now right here, she felt like someone knocked the wind out of her.
Normani felt her stomach drop and her chest tighten. It had been Dinah, she knew all along that she was on the boat. She didn't know why to feel or how to feel about it, she felt paralyzed, angry, sad, happy and hurt all at the same time. What was she doing here? Did she just turn around and leave? Who was she kidding, she couldn't move right now even if her life depended on it.
Time felt frozen. Neither of them knew how much time had passed before they spoke, they'd only been staring into each other's eyes. Both of them trying to figure out what to say or do.
Normani felt the tears building up, she wanted to hate Dinah but looking into her ex girlfriends eyes, she knew it was impossible. It was impossible to hate the girl who made her the happiest and the saddest all in the same breath. What was she to do? Walk away? Again? Their was no way she could walk away and pretend that Dinah wasn't there or that she could even forget that Dinah was there.
"Dinah," Normani spoke first, realization hitting her. This was real.
"Normani," Dinah breathed out, she felt like she'd been holding her breath ever since she looked into Normani's eyes for the first time in months.
A/N: have a lovely day/night..