Sky held on to Knox's hand as she led him along the dark deck, to the front of the ship. The sky was still black, but the air held a soft glow from the lights coming from inside the ship. They had docked in Miami towards the end of the party and they could see the lights from the Miami skyline off to their left.
"Have you ever seen a sunrise from the front of a ship?" she asked, when they were as close to the front of the ship as they could be.
"I haven't."
"Well, it's a good thing you got me, because it isn't something that should be missed."
"I guess I'm lucky then."
Sky could just make out half of Knox's smile, the other half in shadow. There was a warm, quiet breeze ruffling their clothes and hair.
"Over the course of my in depth research trying to find the best spot to watch the sunrise, I have found this is the best," she said, dragging a lounge chair closer to the edge.
"I think that statement needs another opinion. I guess I'll just have to see for myself." Knox sat and pulled Sky down with him. She moved back, resting the back of her head on his chest. She smiled when he extended his hands and she laced her fingers through his.
"Did you have fun at the party?" she asked.
"Oh, you know, as much fun as one can have while being hunted by a pack of wild dogs."
She laughed, his answer surprising her. "It couldn't have been that bad."
"Have you met Bianca? She introduced me to her family like we were announcing our engagement next week. I got dragged onto the dance floor and into the photo booth, which I usually try to avoid."
"The dance floor or the photo booth?"
"The photo booth. The dance floor is like my second home."
"Oh really?" Sky asked, surprised.
"Some people think my voice is my greatest talent but it's really my dance moves," Knox joked. "Just you wait, I'll take you dancing and show you my moves."
"Does Marcos like to bust a move also?" she asked, keeping the conversation moving, not giving his talk about the future a second thought.
"That would be a negative. He is usually the solid statue in the middle of the dance floor people have to move around."
"How about Calvin?"
"Wouldn't know."
"Tell me more about Calvin," Sky said, "He seems like an interesting character."
"Marcos and I joke that he is really a secret agent on his time off," Knox laughed. "He's a good manager. He keeps things professional, which can be tricky in this business. He tells it as it is and doesn't sugar coat things."
"Sounds intense."
"It was, in the beginning, but then I got use to it. Now it is one of the main reasons I love having him as my manager. He helps keep things logical and business like."
"And Marcos is the court jester."
"When he isn't stressing out about a security problem he is known to tell a joke or two."
Sky smiled. She could feel her eyes getting tired and she couldn't help feel sleepy snuggled close to Knox. But she liked hearing more about his life and the people in it. She tried to shake away the drowsiness and sat up straighter.
"And has it been like that since the beginning?" she asked.
"No. In the beginning he was more distant and professional, but you go through a few crazy situations and it forces you to become friends.
"Tell me about some of the crazy situations?" she said, her quiet and tired voice making Knox feel drowsy. Sky's whole body seemed to relax against his chest. The rhythm of her breathing was soothing and slowly putting him to sleep.
"I'll tell you some stories but let's walk," he said, gently sitting up. "I don't want to fall asleep and miss a minute with you."
He could see her smile as he gently pulled her to her feet. Taking her hand, he started to lead her around a small area of the deck. The sky was starting to turn indigo, hinting at the rising sun. He smiled when she let out a big yawn and seemed to shake the sleepiness away.
"Let's hear some crazy stories," she said, sounding more awake.
They formed a small route, circling the front of the deck as he tried to think of the craziest event. Over the years there had been so many he was having a hard time deciding which one to tell, until his thoughts landed on one.
"Ok, so I was in Germany on the European leg of my tour, about two years ago. I was at my hotel. I had had a late night with the concert before and our flight wasn't until the afternoon; so I didn't plan on waking up until I had too. But I got jolted awake by the sound of a door opening. I looked around to see a girl coming towards me from the direction of the balcony."
"No!" Sky said, her eyes gleaming as she got caught up in the story.
"At first I couldn't tell if I was still dreaming or if it was real. But then she starts talking really fast German and I realized I don't speak German so it must be real. I moved as fast as I could, but she got ahold of me and starts speaking German, crying. I didn't understand anything. I ended up out in the hallway in only a pair of gym shorts running away from the girl and looking for Marcos."
Knox grinned as he watched Sky dissolve into laughter.
"I'm glad you find my almost death so hilarious," he said sarcastically.
"Then what happened?"
"Marcos popped out of his room, always at the ready and carried the girl off but not before she got a picture of me in my gym shorts. That was the only thing interviewers wanted to ask me about for the next month."
"Were you scared?"
He thought back on it. "Mostly just shocked. I didn't really have time to be freak out, but we made sure I didn't have any balconies that could be reached from other rooms after that."
"That's crazy," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.
At some point in the story they had stopped walking. Knox was leaning against the railing with her arms wrapped around him as they watched the water.
"What else?" she asked, her head gently resting on his chest.
"I've had fans sneak onto my tour bus, into my car. The scariest I think is when they show up at my house. It's just unsettling to have people camped out on your front lawn."
"That sounds so strange. What did you do?"
"Moved to a gated community."
"Well, that works."
"How about you?" Knox asked, "I bet working on a cruise ship you have some crazy stories."
"Just a few."
Knox waited for her to continue, tiredly resting his cheek against the top of her head.
"I use to help with the safety drill on the first night. One time as I was explaining the emergency spot to the customers, the place where they should go if there was an emergency. This lady comes up and starts asking me questions about the lifeboats," Sky said.
"I try to let her know I can answer her questions once I am finished. But she starts freaking out and saying there aren't enough lifeboats. It's a conspiracy. We don't want the passengers to know. I try to calm her down and tell her there are enough lifeboats, but she just keeps getting worked up and starts screaming and freaking out the other passengers."
Sky pulled away from Knox as she got more into the story.
"Pretty soon my whole group of passengers are freaking out and demanding proof that there are enough lifeboats. I am stressed out of my mind. I had to call in backup. Security to do crowd control. It took an hour and a copy of the ship's blueprint to clear up the whole situation. Needless to say that woman was placed on our banned list."
"That's crazy. I couldn't imagine dealing with that."
"Ehh, you get use to it. I'm sure just like you get use to the crazy fans."
"Very true," Knox agreed.
"I am happy whenever I leave the ship for a break."
"How does that all work?" he asked.
The edge of the horizon was getting lighter and he could see the moving outline of the waves. They slowly made their way back to the lounge chair, this time sitting side by side and more alert.
"It depends. I usually sign a three month contract and then take some time off in between but my first time I was on for seven months."
"How long have you been on the ship now?"
"It's all weird because of this celebrity cruise," Sky explained. "I signed a three month contract but this cruise came after I had only worked a month. Because they didn't have as many passengers they didn't need the whole crew, so I was on a small break before Louis called me in."
"What?"
"I wasn't suppose to work this week, but I got called in last minute."
"We almost didn't meet?" he asked in disbelief. This past week would have been drastically different is she hadn't been working.
"Yeah, I almost didn't make the ship," she said. "Actually I must have landed close to when you did because I was greeted by your fans when I landed in Miami. I was actually at baggage claim when you came through."
"You were cutting it close. I was one of the last passengers on the ship." Knox smiled thinking about how he had been so close to where Sky was before he even knew her.
"I'm glad you made it," he said,
"Me too."
"When will you be off the ship next?" he asked.
Sky was silent as she thought about it. "In about two months."
Now it was Knox's time to be quiet as he tried to think about his tour schedule.
"I'm not sure where I will be but no matter what, I want to see you," he said, looking down at their interlaced fingers.
He looked up when Sky was silent and searched her eyes, something giving him an uneasy feeling.
"I know its not ideal but as soon as we can meet up, I'll make it happen. You can fly and meet me," he said hurriedly.
Knox realized he had been so focused on Sky he hadn't thought about the end of the cruise, but he knew he had to see her again. As he thought about it, two months felt like a long time after spending almost every waking hour with her, but they would both be busy and it would go by faster then they thought.
"No," Sky said simply.
He looked at her confused. Which part was she saying no to?
"Or I can fly to you too," he offered, already mentally trying to remember when his scheduled breaks were.
"Knox," she said softly, her hands gently cupping his face as she pulled him out of his thoughts. He stopped, focusing on her and found her eyes looked a little sad.
"This is goodbye."
**********************************************************************
You know what I'm thinking?
Yeah! Right! You get it! It just makes sense. It's a natural progression. You've read the chapter so clearly you'll...
Vote, comment, follow!
Also who wants to punch Sky right now?
Who says no to a hot pop star?! A stupid person! That's who!