MAYBE THIS TIME | JENLISA

7

Jennie wasn't sure what had happened, or how it had happened so fast, but before she knew it, the blue skies above them had turned black and a torrential downpour had begun. She'd lost track of time, chatting with Barb and sipping those endless, sinfully sweet frozen drinks, and had no idea what time it was. Even though she'd switched to water some time ago, she still felt that carefree lull that accompanied day-drinking in the sun. Except now, there was no sun, and everything was wet. Like, so wet.

She'd been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed the mass exodus from the pool deck until it was too late. A crack of thunder sent the few remaining people scrambling for cover, Jennie included. She grabbed her beach bag to zip it shut in an attempt to save her tablet from getting waterlogged before she dashed from her lounge chair toward the only visible place with coverage: the bar.

As she approached the bar, she scanned the scene. Most people had fled indoors, but a handful of cruisers were clustered toward the far end of the bar, chatting and laughing with the hand-sanitizer woman Jennie recognized from the start of the cruise...Angela, was it? Lisa had been working the bar for the entire time she and Barb had been lounging poolside, but when Barb left a few minutes before the sky opened, Jennie hadn't noticed Lisa there any longer. Not that she had been looking, or staring, under the cover of her dark glasses. Because that would have been creepy.

A flash of lightning in her periphery motivated her to hustle, and she sprinted to the emptier, quiet end of the bar as the rain picked up. She leaned her back against the bar, making herself as flat as possible, the overhang above protecting her, but just. Not that it mattered anyway—she was soaked. She shivered from the cold wetness of her clothes, but she wasn't uncomfortable. The air was warm still—they were almost in the Caribbean, after all. The rain was falling in sheets in front of her, so thick she almost couldn't see through it. Lightning filled the sky, and she could see the stream of light in the distance, the current racing down from the black clouds above to the water's surface. Thunder clapped again and she jumped.

"Wow." She'd never been at sea during a lightning storm.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Lisa's voice sounded over her shoulder. Jennie kept her eyes on the storm unfolding in the distance as a new one began to brew under the surface of her skin at the sound of Lisa's voice.

"It's incredible. And terrifying, also that." The downpour was lessening, and though flashes of light still danced in the distance, the thunder sounded farther away now. They were moving away from the storm.

"You run into an occasional storm here or there, but they're mostly infrequent. I love them, though. There's something so amazing about them, right? The sheer power and magnitude of a storm at sea makes you feel so small and insignificant." Lisa's voice was soft.

"Like you could just get swept away." Jennie turned to find Lisa watching her.

"We are just a series of tiny moments in a much larger picture." Lisa placed down the glass she was holding, and Jennie wondered how long she had been standing there before she'd said anything.

"That was pretty fucking deep, Lisa," Jennie deadpanned.

"I have my moments." Lisa flexed and tipped her imaginary hat. "I'm not just a pretty face, you know."

"Oh, I remember." Jennie slapped her hand to her mouth, but the words were already out into the world. She might had been thinking that, but there was no reason to verbalize it. Idiot.

Lisa arched an eyebrow at her and placed her hands on the bar, leaning forward a bit. "Jennie Kim, are you flirting with me?"

"What? N-no." Jennie shook her head, her hand reflexively going to her chest. She pressed the tissue to slow her racing heart, a habit she'd had all her life when she was embarrassed or nervous. Lisa's eyes followed the movement and she wondered if she'd remember that. No, that was forever ago, and Lisa was only teasing her. She wasn't serious. They hadn't seen each other in a little over a decade. She was joking. Right?