Pacific Ring

Chapter 1

Sharks are interesting creatures. Many people say that sharks aren't man-eating creatures, and they aren't, but they are dangerous whether they choose to eat you or not. Now I must tell you, I never had any interest in sharks previously. I was a corporate lawyer, my biggest interests consisting mainly of reading and piano. To be honest, my job was my life. Anything else was unknown to me. Heard of, but unknown. In fact I struggled to cook my own food, as every night I would be filing paperwork and notes for a multiple number of cases. Corporate Law wasn't a walk in the park, that's for sure.

I was the sort of person who liked everything in order and in place. My black hair was always cut 5 centimeters past my shoulder. Clothes were ironed and there couldn't be a strand of cotton out of place. My desk was practical and logical (in my head at least). The red pens were next to my blue pens and the pencils were beside the pencil sharpener. Everything would always be in place. That's how I liked it.

Because of this obsession, I had lost many boyfriends and lived in an apartment by myself. No one could put up with my level of neat. I still had many friends who I went out with on the occasional nights I didn't have such an overload of work. Despite my organisational skills with keeping things neat and perfect, I liked leaving things to the last minute. Stress calmed me down. It gave me a lot of things to focus on and excuses for friends who wanted to set me up with yet another poor guy for me to scare away.

I still kept in contact with my family. I wasn't close to them, but I didn't shut them out. It was the sort of relationship that scored the occasional family dinner and Christmas together. So in conclusion, I lived a boring yet happy life by myself in a large apartment with a lot of money. I needed nothing more and didn't want anything to change, until that one faithful day.

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It was a Saturday morning when a close friend of mine called me in the middle of yet another cooking disaster. Frying eggs was harder than it looked on Master Chef. She had asked if I wanted to meet up for Coffee, and still being energized by last night's granola bar, I agreed. Coffee would do me good and maybe while we're at it, a slice of French toast with maple syrup wouldn't sound too bad either. Aleisha (my friend) and I decided to meet at the coffee shop next to my apartment building in 5 minutes. I pulled on a pair of fresh jeans, a white top and a black blazer. Dressing simply yet elegantly was always the way I dressed. Aleisha was sitting at our usual table by the time I got there. Our table overlooked the river which ran through the city. It was a wonderful feeling to judge the women that walked past and the men who ran and rowed over and under the bridge. It was a gorgeous day and I was trying not to think of the pile of work on my desk. "Hey Rachael," she greeted me with a hug, "I was about to go order. Will it be the usual for you?"

"Yes please, and can you order some French Toast as well?" I said settling down in the seat opposite her's. 

As Aleisha was ordering our breakfast, I took the time to check all my emails. There were twenty out of the forty new ones that provided some importance to me. Five of them were from my boss asking me to come in early tomorrow for a quick conference. By quick, he meant a two hour conference. I booked the meeting in to my schedule, quickly arranging my other plans in to different slots throughout the day. My run was moved to my lunch break, meaning I had to pack deodorant for tomorrow.......and that would have to be moved in here......

"God Rachael, the day you aren't working you're working," Aleisha sighed as she sunk back down in to her seat. "And what happened to that diet? Here you are ordering French Toast. What would your personal trainer say?"

"My personal trainer quit a few days a go," I informed her nonchalantly, enjoying the look of alarm cross her face. "Aleisha, you're the only person who can put up with my constant need for everything to be perfect. No one else can deal with it."

"That's because I've been your best friend since we were five years old. And it doesn't matter if your personal trainer quit, you should keep going with your diet," Aleisha gently plucked my phone from between by hands and read through my schedule.

"I eat a granola bar every night Leish," I reach out and wave my hand for my phone back, but Aleisha leans further back still reading. "I think I'm on already on a diet."

" You call Chinese Dumplings and Noodles a diet?" she raised her eyebrow, tilting her head to one side. Disbelief was dancing in her emerald green eyes. "You call Kentucky Fried Chicken a diet?"

I rolled my eyes. "OK, so I'm not eating healthily. It's hard when I don't know how to cook."

"Rachael, it's easy to follow a recipe. You just don't have time to make anything you would want to eat," Aleisha waved the phone in my face. "Look at how busy you are. Your schedule is jam-packed Rachael. It's a wonder how you made it to breakfast here with me."

"I always have time for you Aleisha," I cooed inching my fingers slowly towards my phone.

"Don't butter me up Rachael," Aleisha's voice was serious and had the 'don't mess with me' tone to accompany it. "You need time for yourself."

"But I do," I argue pointing at the phone wildly. "Look everything there is for me."

"No, it's for your job Rachael." I slumped back in to my chair as she continued. "There's nothing here for you. 'Lunch break with client', '6:00 meeting' and what's this? 'Bake cake for Office Party'?" She looked up at me and burst out laughing. But nothing came out, so she was just sitting there clapping her hands together like a performing seal. "And how are you going to do that when you can't cook?" she finally said trying to get her breathe back.

I took that moment to swipe the phone away from her. "I'll buy a cake," I said. "See, I've made time to cook."

"It takes more than 15 minutes to bake a cake Rachael," Aleisha said trying to keep a straight face. A waiter brought our food and coffee to the table, and I was glad to not say anything as I took a long sip of my coffee. "And don't say you're going to wait for it to bake in the oven, you're going to a meeting straight after that."

"Then what do I do Aleisha?" I snapped slamming the coffee cup back down on the table. "I can't just leave my job."

"Yes you can Rach," she reached over and squeezed my hand. "I'm going on a cruise in a couple of weeks. You should come with me. It'll give you a break and the ocean air will calm you down."

I didn't see how salty water air would calm me down but I could tell Aleisha was worried about me. "I'm busy Aleisha. I have a court case in a couple weeks, and my boss wouldn't be to happy if I suddenly bail out of it."

"Can't you move the court case forward? And your boss loves you, Rachael. I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to marry you."

"Ewwwwww," I said with a laugh. "He's 63."

Aleisha laughed again. "Please Rachael. At least try....for me?"

I sighed. "When did you say the cruise was?"

"I didn't, but it's on August the 14th and goes for 2 weeks through the Pacific Ocean."

I scanned my phone. My court case was the week before. "I don't know Leish......I don't feel to good about it."

"Come on Rachael!!!!! PLEASE!"

I smiled at her. "Alright, I'll come," I agreed as Aleisha squealed and threw her hands around me. 

"You won't regret this Rachael. This will change your life forever."