The Fall

Chapter Ten

The next few days passed quickly for Peter. Being on a ship in the middle of the ocean made him feel a bit... claustrophobic. Especially with the things Janet would say sometimes.

"Look down there," she had said one day as the two leaned on the wall, overlooking the sea. "This is the ninth deck? You'd die on impact."

"Hmm." Peter didn't want to look.

Janet smirked and crossed her arms. "Unless you did a perfect pencil dive. But a belly flop- yuck."

"Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"How about tonight? Dinner."

Janet groaned. "No way. I told you, I'm going no where near that man."

Peter sighed, turing his head to look at her. "Janet- please... do it for me?"

Janet shook her head again and looked as though she was about to storm off.

Seeing that it was no use, Peter fell silent, leaving them both to fume alone for a few minutes.

"Janet. This may be yout last chance to say something. The worst words are those that remain unsaid."

Janet finally looked over at him again, an ancient pain in her eyes. Then she let out a huff.

"Okay. Whatever. I'll go! But only because you'll be there."

Peter smiled in triumph. "Great! Rita will give you something to wear-"

"I brought a dress. Her stuff won't fit me. She's petite," Janet interrupted.

Peter raised an eyebrow but smirked at this new information. "Well... seems like you've come prepared."

Janet smiled a little and grabbed his hand, causing him to blush. "Come on, let's go eat or something."

~

"Call Number One? Why?"

Ever since the strange encounter with the mysterious captain, Travis had been worrying. The captain hadn't approached him again, but Travis was still uneasy. "Something isn't right here, Rita. We're being watched."

Rita rolled her eyes. "Who would be watching us? NSA? Anyway, we couldn't. The wifi here is too expensive."

Travis shrugged. "I'll split the cost with you. Half and half."

"Just a few minutes for an email?"

Travis nodded. Rita sighed. "Alright then. After dinner, though!"

Travis smiled in triumph but worried about how much would cost.

Evening came quickly, and Travis donned his usual black suit. He waited at the bar that the group always met up at before dinner, wondering whether he should treat himself to a pre-meal drink.

Peter arrived first. Travis could smell his cologne from a mile away. "You smell good," he commented, then pointed at the flower in his friend's button hole. "That's a bit feminine. Where'd you get it?"

"The flower shop upstairs," Peter said quickly. "And it's not just a flower. It's a boutiniere. And it's very masculine."

Travis chuckled. "What's the occasion?"

"Janet," Peter answered. "She's coming to dinner tonight."

Travis tensed up. "...oh. okay."

"What? Haven't you been annoyed that she hadn't been showing up?"