The Nightmare at Sea

Chapter 3

On impulse I lunge towards him, my arms wrapped around his neck as his slide around my waist. And for a few seconds we stay like that, I pull away as I attempt to blink the hot tears brimming from my eyes out before punching him in the shoulder, a proper punch. Hard. And hurt my knuckle in the process as well as his left shoulder. "Ouch!" He shouts aloud among other obscenities. "What the hell was that for?" He murmurs, as if to suggest that he already knew the answer. But it was too late for him to bite back those words. I start shouting too. Louder than him! "What the hell was that for?! The audacity of it. I thought I'd never see you again you son of a bitch!" I say before my voice breaks slightly. "I thought I'd lost you forever..." I say, now practically inaudible. I know right. What a vocal range.
Gus looks at me solemnly and is about to speak to me, his hand extending towards my cheek before being interrupted by a set of heavy footsteps above deck to which he withdraws rather hastily. "Calista?!" The young mans familiar voice calls, vaguely recognisable. But when I do realise. My hairs stand up on end. "Nico..." I murmur in realisation before grabbing Gus' hand before he can protest and shove him into my room.
"First you punch me, now your dragging me to your bedroom. You move quickly Miss Portakalos. You really need to make up your mind about our relationship" he says sarcastically; which obviously earns him another punch on the shoulder, my knuckle is more than throbbing at this point. "Don't make a sound Gus!" I hiss before shutting the door behind me as I leave to see Nico coming down the stairs in a rush. I leave it slightly ajar. "What was all the commotion about down here?" He asks with a raised eyebrow looking somewhat perplexed. I can tell he is about to ask more questions about the noises but immediately afterwards the attention goes straight to my bloody right knuckle. "You're hurt" he says in a slightly less gruff tone of voice and hesitates before he brusquely takes my hand placing it over his palm to examine it, I look in turn and can't help but realise the contrast of our hands, mine are small and soft, his are considerably larger and the skin is rough after hours of labour, yet he had the same thin fingers and elegant nails I had also possessed.
After thirty seconds I realise Nico has stopped examining my hand, he's just staring down at them. Like I was earlier. I look at his face, his brown eyes in a trance giving them an almost dreamlike state. He must be thinking what I am thinking as he quickly drops my hand and speaks:
"We should really get you to the infirmary" he says as we walk along the dorms.
I get my hand bandaged up and when the man at the infirmary asks me for the cause of my injury I bluntly lie and state that I had punched a wall in my apparent rage. Nico leaves, and I am given some antiseptic and am told to change my dressing every couple of days. I say thank you and walk back to my room to see Gus sitting on the bed in the same position I saw him in when I left.
"Who was that?" He says in attempt to appear evasive and uninterested, but his eyes give him away. He seemed oddly... I try and think of a word.. Hostile? No. He showed no signs of aggression. Placid. Yes. He looked rather placid.
"Nico. One of the Cabin boys" I say wondering why he wanted to know when I remember I had left the door partially open. He must've seen Nico take my hand and automatically he made a somewhat deluded assumption.
I don't protest. I just act calm and composed before changing the subject.
"So what are we going to do about you being here? We could tell father. I'm sure he could understand. We could share my dorm. You could sleep on the floor" I say before he replies: "yeah. I could sleep on the floor. Great" he says with a slight smile but with his words were traces of... disappointment? How odd.
"I'll go get him now" I say with a smile. "This is going to be great Gus! Just amazing! Think of all the things that could happen! We could even go fishing!" I say enthusiastically and run up to the deck to see dad talking to a few of his comrades.
"Papa?" I say in hopes to get his attention, ignoring what my ears hear to be a wolf whistle. He was lucky dad didn't hear. Dirty old men. "Papa!" I say loudly as his head turns toward me. "Could I have a word please? In private?" I say with a sweet smile on my face. Oh yes. I was evidently a daddy's girl.
"Of course my dear. Whatever is the matter?" He says as I usher him downstairs and open my room door.
"Hello Mr Portakalos" Gus says with a somewhat tired flourish.
Before my dad can protest I explain to him the living arrangements we have planned. How Gus will be anything but a burden on his shoulders.
"You know. You are both lucky I have known Gus since he was a baby. If it was anyone else I would have veneered this ship around and dropped him back hom-" he is interrupts by me jumping up and hugging him "Thank you Papa! A thousand times thank you! You won't regret this I promise you!" I say with a grin to which he embraces me in return. Gus gives his thanks.
"It's fine Calista. As long as I don't find you bringing any other boys into your room" he says. Only half intended as a joke, and obviously Gus murmurs under his breath "then you better want to keep a leash on Nico". Luckily papa did not hear and I elbow him in the ribs when the door is closed. Already feeling my cheek burning.
"Well. The adventure starts here Calista. And I can already tell it's going to be great" he says. And I could not have agreed more.
I decide to never ask him about the kiss yesterday, his feelings towards me, or why he came. In that moment I was just happy to get my best friend back.
And for a moment I was so blissfully happy.

Little did I know that I was fortunes fool, I was oblivious to what rite of passage fate would put me through in the months soon to come.