to the ends of the earth

five

Walking back from Julie’s cabin to my own, I came face to face with Nelson. He smiled brightly at me, “I was just looking for you!”

I stopped in my tracks, welcoming him with a hug. As we stepped back, I eyed him. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you I’m having a drink with Julie tonight.”

He raised a brow and grinned at me. “Really?”

“Approved by the fiancée and all,” I answered, shaking my head with a chuckle. “He almost crushed my hands thanking me for returning the ring, then said she and I should definitely have a drink.”

Nelson laughed in disbelief, leaning against the wall of the corridor. “I can’t believe it worked, what a pathetic little man he is.” He crossed his arms over his chest, then turned his gaze towards me. “I introduced him to Jim, those two hit it off immediately.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course, they did.”

“What can I say?” Nelson shrugged. “English love English.”

I nodded in agreement. “And Astrid?”

“Probably off somewhere scooping up some more stories and secrets.”

“It’s what she does for a living.”

Nelson laughed at my comment, then asked me something with a hint of excitement. “Want to do something fun?”

Whatever it was, it’d be a good distraction before having that drink with Julie. So, I said yes. “Sure!”

“Ever heard of squash?” he asked as we continued walking through the corridor.

“Can’t say I have,” I said. “Tell me about it.”

“It’s like tennis? But a little different,” Nelson explained vaguely.

I stopped in my tracks and he eyed me with confusion. I pointed at my long blue dress. “You’re telling me I’ll have to run in this?”

He laughed lightly at me and shrugged with a suggestion. “I mean, you can try one of my trousers?”

If we were going to do some intense activity, then I’d rather do it with comfortable clothes, no matter if it didn’t look ladylike enough.

I took his offer.

Nelson rummaged through the clothes he’d brought along, then handed me a pair of black trousers. I changed my clothes in the bathroom, my dress tucked in the trousers. They were a little too big for me, but they were comfortable and that’s exactly what I wanted.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I was met with an enthusiastic looking Nelson. His eyes went up and down, before he gave a thumbs up. “I don’t know how you do it, but it looks good on you.”

His words convinced me to walk out the door in that outfit. The judging glares were inevitable, but we reached the squash court that was two decks down.

I had never seen it before – but it was a room with four walls, the wall in front of us had two red lines with a rectangle-like space in between. On the floor there was a line vertically dividing it until the middle, and one horizontal, making it a T. Inside the T, there were two square boxes. In the back of the court there was a small tribune.

Nelson came up to me with a racket and handed it to me, while he held one himself with a small ball in his other hand.

“These squares are where we have our service,” Nelson explained, pointing at the divided floor. Then he pointed at the red lines on the walls in front of us. “The idea is we take turns hitting the ball in between those two lines each time, you can use all the walls to make that happen.”