Ghungroo - The Siren Call of Lovers (#2)

Chapter 3 - Old Ghosts

Chapter 3

Just as I thought. The cut isn't very deep. A band aid is all I need after it is cleaned up and the bleeding has stopped.

I have no time to make it to the dinner. I will have to be happy with a bag of pretzels  which I have stashed in my cabin. I will eat it later after both shows are done.

I get backstage and get the evil eye from Rodney. He looks at me sourly. It's really the only expression he seems to have when regarding me. I raise my hand and wiggle the cut finger dressed in a plaster at him.

Suddenly the cut seems insignificant. For all he knows I could have slapped on a band aid on a perfectly good finger.

He taps the wrist of his one hand with the index finger of the other, indicating to me that time is money and that I need to get moving. At least I assume it's some shit like that.

Gosh my mood is reckless tonight! Reckless and foul. And so it has been since stepping on this ship.

Rodney's lame action does get me into second gear though. I change into my outfit and go sit at the dresser and start painting on make up. Tina is already changed and is stretching and chatting to some of the other can-can girl crew.

We are all dressed in some sort of 'national attire'. I call it 'national attire' with the utmost caution, because no person would be doing their country proud decked out the way we are.

There is Saskia, from Russia who is made up to resemble a babushka stacking doll. May, from Japan resembles a geisha with fake cherry blossoms in her hair and a silk kimono that barely covers her ass. Shanny, from Germany looks all ready to serve jugs of beer at Oktoberfest.

Each woman is decked out in over the top, ghastly themed clothing.

Tina has been fitted with a very tight safari suit, complete with toy rifle. As always, she looks cute.

Why couldn't I have gotten her outfit?

Every night I ask her to shoot me dead because of the costume I have to wear. And every night she laughs and pretends to do just that. She points the toy rifle at me and pulls the trigger. I pretend to go down, a casualty clutching at my chest and stumbling forward.

I die a different death every night. I try to make it as colorful as possible. Laughter helps keep us both sane.

Tonight, I flop down onto a chair. Unfortunately, my routine is becoming less humorous as the nights progress. Guess it was bound to happen.

Rodney appears and barks out orders.

"We on in five," he says.

Fuck off, Rodney.

This is what I want to say to him while giving him the finger. But I don't.

Rodney is a bit of a pervert. I see the way he looks at us ladies when we are dressing. He finds every excuse to barge in at random times to see us in various stages of undress. I bet it was him that approved these skimpy outfits we are squeezed into too.

I take my hat with the scarf and secure it around my head and across my face.

It's showtime. The anticipation is there as always. Somehow, I welcome the churning feeling in my stomach.

An hour later we are done. I do my routine, kicking my legs up into the air, swaying my hips like a seasoned belly dancer and bending so low that I feel every eye in the audience take in the sight of my bared ass.

I give it my all, like always, and at the end of the show everybody erupts into applause. We have succeeded once more in entertaining the crowds.

But we aren't done for the evening. We have a late show at 10pm so we have an hour to recover and get back onto stage.

Back stage I pull off my head scarf and wrap myself into a long coat that covers my body.

From November right up until March it is considered the slow months for cruising the Greek isles. It's winter and temperatures range from mild to bone-chilling cold on some days.

Our manager advised us that the winter tours are generally done by serious historical and cultural buffs who choose the winter months so as to avoid the massive summer crowds. Less queues and fewer people are generally the attraction for those who book in winter.

Tina and I usually make it up to deck 6 during this night time break-time. The decks are generally free of passengers and we love to just sit and stare out at the vastness of a black ocean while recovering and sipping on bottled water.

The deck is empty tonight except for a lone couple lounging about on deck chairs at a far corner. There is a brisk breeze blowing and I welcome the feel of it's coldness on my skin.

Tina and I grab two deck chairs closest to us and fall into them. I drag my knees up to my chest, wrapping my hands around them.

Tina and I need not talk in these moments. We both have a mutual understanding and drift into our own worlds filled with our own private thoughts.

It's amazing how the stars seem to be so much brighter in winter, like crystal shards of broken glass shattering open an inky night sky.

I relent to the thoughts that flood me.

My thoughts in these moments are not my own and I've come to accept it. They wander to Riaan and the love I had for him...still have for him...

Was it love, or infatuation? I'm not even sure anymore. I have nothing to compare it to be certain.

I think about his hands on me, the way he kissed me, like he couldn't get enough of the taste of my mouth...That all consuming, devouring kiss... like he wants to suck the whole of me into himself.

Did that all really happen?...It seems like such a long time ago...

My body becomes tingly and alive.

I need a drink.

I hope Tina is up to partying tonight. I'm restless and a few tequila shots and some dancing will help get me to bed and into a fitful, dreamless sleep.

I need to stop thinking about Riaan. He isn't good for me. He betrayed me. He told me he loved me and then went straight to Stephanie and f#cked her. There's nothing else to it. I need to focus on that.

Not his firm, full lips...not his eyes hooded  with want for me...not his breathing shallowed and raspy with my name on the tip of his warm, wet mouth...

"Layla?"

I hear my name being called and it pulls me from my thoughts.

"Layla...Is that you?..."

A shadow falls over me and I squint in the dim light to see who has found me.

At first my mind draws a blank at the large figure that shadows me.

Who could possibly know me here in the middle of no-where?