MAYBE THIS TIME | JENLISA

9

Cruise Day Three: Half Moon Cay

Lisa had had a fitful night's sleep. Restless didn't begin to describe it. She was hot, she was cold, she couldn't get comfortable, the pillow was too flat. Everything was the worst thing ever and she was cranky, and now the line for eggs was slowing down instead of speeding up and she was going to be late.

"Lisa," Enrique called from the very front of the cafeteria line and waved to her, "come here."

Lisa jumped out of line and jogged to him, ignoring the dozen or so people who groaned as she cut them. She needed this boost today, even if it just meant getting the hard-boiled eggs while they were still hot. It was a win and she felt like she needed a win today.

Enrique held up two eggs and a whole avocado. "Breakfast of champions for my favorite bartender." Lisa looked at him in awe as he placed them on her tray and shuttled her out of line. "Save me a seat? I'll be by in a second."

"Sure thing." She slipped out of line and headed toward the coffee station before thinking better of it. The crew cafeteria coffee was grainy sludge at best. And with a Starbucks in the main atrium of the ship for the guests, there was no real reason to expose yourself to that mud unless it was after-hours or you had a death wish. Neither of those applied to Lisa, but the day was young.

She settled for some watered-down cranberry juice and sat in her favorite seat by one of the few windows. The crew area was mostly below the water, but the gym and part of the cafeteria had a partial view of sea level, which was something she looked forward to seeing before the start of the day. You never really knew what to expect weather-wise unless you checked one of the dozen or so televisions in the main corridors down here. Updates filled those screens—weather forecasts, expected drills, announcements—and there was a constant rolling schedule at the bottom of the screen. It was like a real-time office memo for twenty-two hundred or so people. But Lisa still preferred to see the day before reading about it.

Lisa watched as Enrique weaved through the crowd of crew members spilling in for breakfast before their morning shifts began. He lifted his tray high above his head to preserve its contents when a traffic jam at the cereal island formed as one of the sous-chefs dropped off what appeared to be freshly baked pastries. It was a masterful adjustment, Lisa mused.

"Whew," Enrique said as he wiped imaginary sweat from his brow, "I narrowly missed the fresh bagel drop-off."

"You're lucky to be alive," Lisa replied. He was. People took fresh baked pastries very seriously around here since they were a bit of a novelty. The crew had access to the same foods the guests did, but it wasn't always as fresh. "Thank you for the eggs. And the avocado! What black magic did you employ to get that?"

Enrique gave her a broad smile. "I'm covering an extra samba class tonight for Bebe. She's paying me back in avocadoes."

Avocado was a favorite of theirs. It was something they'd bonded on when they first met, hoarding them in their rooms whenever they were available. She was touched he was sacrificing his for her benefit. She had a feeling it had to do with the Zara thing.

They hadn't talked much since Zara's revelation the other day. Lisa needed someone to be mad at, but Enrique wasn't the right target of her anger. She knew that lay squarely on her own shoulders. She also knew they should talk, but she'd been so caught up in Jennie and Zara and her possible new position, she hadn't had the opportunity to chat with him. At least that was what she was telling herself, even if she knew she had been avoiding him because she felt like she'd overreacted. Because she had.

As if reading her mind, he said, "Look, I feel bad about dinner the other night and how things went with Zara. I'm sorry you felt left out—I know I would have been if I was in your position—but I felt like I had to be there for her. She needed me to be a sounding board, but I get how that sucked for you. And I'm sorry."