POV: Zuri Sparrow
I dropped the last box. "That's the last box, Anna!"
Anna, Beckett's maid, smiled at me. "I hope you and the Admiral like it here."
I push the door to the balcony open and sigh contentedly, enjoying the view of the endless blue stretched out in front of me. "James used to talk about this view all the time. He loved it here. I'll bet he's brimming with happiness that he gets it back."
"What's he like, the Admiral?" Anna asked.
"He's loyal," I said immediately. "Kind, too. Conscious of everything. Loving. Caring. He does everything with me in mind."
"He sounds sweet," Anna said softly.
"He is," I agreed.
"Ah, there you are, Zuri," Beckett said from behind us. "Was Anna's help well?"
"Very," I agreed. "Without her, I'd still be downstairs unpacking boxes."
Anna blushed. She backed away and excused herself from the two of us, seeming to sense the tension between the two of us. I wished she hadn't left the moment her skirts disappeared around the corner; the moment she was gone, ghostly touches to my hips, neck, and face.
Beckett and I stared at each other. He joined me at the balcony rail. A frosty and tense silence falls between the two of us as we pretend the other doesn't exist.
Beckett is the first to crumble. "I'm not the only one who feels this, right?"
"Oh, what, the tension over our past? Absolutely not," I snapped.
"Someone's in a bad mood."
"That happens when I see you."
"Cruel."
"Hardly."
Beckett's eyes scrutinize me. "Are we going to keep ignoring our past like this? Or perhaps—"
"Yes," I snapped.
"—could we acknowledge it instead of being so awkward?"
"No," I said stiffly.
"Touchy," Beckett muttered. I hoped he'd drop the subject, but it wasn't more than two minutes later when he started back in on it. "Zuri, I know things were left off awkward between us, but I don't want that to get in the way. We used to be the best of friends!"
"That was before you—!" I began to protest.
But Beckett spoke over me. "I just want our friendship back," he said. "It doesn't sound right, I know—you're a pirate and I'm the lord of the East India Trading Company, but you weren't always a pirate. You were once a respectable lady. And, if I'm being reasonable, marrying Admiral Norrington will—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who said anything about getting married?!"
"—once again make you a noblewoman. It wouldn't be too criticized, but it will be under critique that you have befriended another man. Yes, there would be talk. They'd assume I'd taken you on as a mistress or something of the sort—"
"BECKETT!"
"Yes?" he asked, finally stopping.
"Beckett, stop. Calm down. First of all, who said anything about marriage? Second, I will always be a pirate. Third, you ruined our friendship! If you think that I—after all you did—would return to what we had before, you've lost your mind." Anger flashed in my eyes.
Shame clouded Beckett's features. "Zuri—"
"No!" I said, my voice cracking. But it was too late. Memories I didn't want to think about were screaming to be heard. Accompanied by ghostly touches, I backed away from Beckett, shaking my head. Tears blurred my vision, but I saw him open his mouth.
Before he could speak, I turned and ran.