Pacific Ring

Chapter 3

"I told you you're boss wouldn't say no," Aleisha was sitting cross legged in my bedroom surrounded by a pile of clothes.

"Well, I did lie a bit so it sounded legitimate," I handed her a cup of coffee and settled my self down opposite her. "Can you write doctor's notes yet?"

"I don't think so," she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "I can't believe he gave you the weekend off though."

"And I can't believe you used my free weekend to pack everything," I said with a laugh. "Anyway, I think he was really happy when I won the court case. You should have seen his face."

She laughed. "This coming from the girl who couldn't debate to save her life in Year 7."

"Oh shut up," I retorted. "Now let's get back to packing."

"OK. Are you only bringing one bag?" she asked eyeing my small bag wearily. "We're going to be on the cruise for about 4 weeks."

"No, of course not," I made a weird face. "I'm bringing two more. I should probably go get them actually." I got up and pulled out two large suitcases from my closet. Aleisha opened them and looked at me expectantly. "Right, well we've got three bags. So we'll have three categories. Make-up and toiletries in the small bag, casual clothes in another and the fancy stuff in the third."

"Got it," she took a sip of coffee and put it back on my bedside table. "So how are things going with Jacob Blare?"

"Nothing's going on," I could feel myself blushing and I could see Aleisha's grin widen. "To be honest, I think he's got something going with another woman at work. I saw them talking at her desk."

She took a mock gasp and plastered an affronted look on her face. "Oh no, they were talking to each other at her desk. That must mean I have a thing going on with my supervisor, or you have something going on with the coffee clerk downstairs."

I laughed. "Ewwww, your supervisor?"

"He is a fine specimen," Aleisha shrugged moving a bottle of concealer next to the smaller bag.

"He's like 10 years older than you."

"There is no such thing as age when it comes to love. Romeo and Juliet taught us that," she sighed putting a hand to her heart.

"Tell me that again when you actually know the guy," I retort good-humorously.

We spent the rest of the afternoon packing everything in to bags and talking and gossiping about our jobs, middle school and high school and some of the guys we used to have a crush on and the girls we used to hate. Once everything was packed, it was about 7 pm. I put all the suitcases back in to my closet and drained the fifth cup of coffee. "Do you want to go out for dinner?" Aleisha asked as we made our way in to the kitchen. 

"We can order something and watch a movie or something today," I told her. "I don't feel like going out."

"Cool, what do you want?"

"You pick, I'll eat whatever."

"Malaysian?"

"Get me the Lemon Chicken."

"I'll take that as a yes," she said dialing the number and going in to my room to make the order. I switched on the TV and flicked through the movies. Aleisha came out a few minutes later and sat down next to me. "It'll be here in 20 minutes. What movie are we going to watch."

"Take your pick, Life of Pi or Barbie."

"Which Barbie is it?"

"A Mermaid Tale," I flicked to the info about it.

"Watched it," she said with a grin. "Life of Pi."

"Life of Pi it is."

For those of you who haven't watched Life of Pi, it's about the story of a young boy who survives a shipwreck and is stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker. The story is basically how he learns to train Richard Parker and survive the ordeal. "You know, if he hadn't lived in a zoo. he would definitely have no chance of surviving with that tiger," Aleisha said pointing her fork at Pi, who was trying to catch flying fish, a pile of rice balancing precariously on the end. "I mean, if he lived in a suburban house, and then find himself on a lifeboat with animals on board, he'd be screwed."

"Haven't you read the book?" I let out a little sigh of relief as she ate the rice without spilling a morsel. "The animals are a metaphor of the people he was actually with."

Aleisha grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "whatever". Story-lines that she thought were unrealistic made her very aggravated. "Would you be able to survive on a life boat with a Bengal Tiger?"

"If I trained it properly," she retorted. "Plus, I would prefer having a Bengal Tiger with me on a lifeboat than to be alone in the middle of an ocean."

"Depends on the animal I guess," I agreed. 

We spent the rest of the movie discussing which animal we would like to have and wouldn't like to have on a lifeboat with us. At the end of the movie, Aleisha unfurled her long legs and got up. "I'd better head off. I'll pick you up the day after tomorrow for the cruise."

"Sure," I carefully folded the blanket and rearranged the pillow. "What time are you picking me up?" 

"The cruise leaves at 9, and it takes a while to get everything is order, so.....I'll be around to pick you up at 6," Aleisha grabbed her bag and headed to the front door.

"Great, I'll see you then!" I wrapped my arms around her in a hug. 

After Aleisha left and I had cleaned the apartment up so it was so clean, I turned on my laptop and checked my emails. There were three. One was from my fellow employees about the advertisement for our firm, another was from my boss wishing me good health and the last was from Jacob Blare wishing me a safe journey. I reread the email and grinned stupidly. Life was looking great, with a great 4 week holiday on a cruise ship coming up, my boss being worried about my health and literally begging me to take a break before I injure myself, winning a huge court case and Jacob Blare wishing me a safe journey. 

Life was looking absolutely wonderful.