Four strangers from different walks of life meet on a cruise and spend an unforgettable week together. All of them on their own self-discovering journeys, and onboard for different reasons.
Texan heiress and ballet prodigy, Brooklyn Brankovich, lon...
Chapter Fourteen: "Every day patches the night up"
"Shhh!" I warned Brooklyn. My eyes darted around the hallway, making sure there was no one around who could've heard that. "Come in!"
As soon as the door unlocked, I pushed Brooklyn's body inside.
I held the door up and watched as she nervously paced.
"What did you say," I asked her to repeat herself.
"Me and Cassie, we saw someone get stabbed and thrown into the water," she whispered-yelled, grabbing fistfuls of hair at her temples.
You've gotta be fucking me, I thought. Shit, shit, shit!
I had to keep it together and not let Brooklyn see me sweat. One wrong move or a slip-up could make her suspicious. Composing myself, I looked around the room and saw the bottle of Bacardi from before was now empty. My eyebrows furrowed as I stood with my hands on my hips. When I left, it wasn't, meaning Brooklyn finished the rest.
"Why'd you leave," I asked Brooks, changing the subject.
"Huh?"
"The room," I repeated sternly, "why'd you leave the room?"
"Oh. I woke up and you weren't here," she hiccuped. I watched as she stumbled back and sat on the edge of the bed, holding her stomach.
"No?" I put on a front. I lightly laughed and looked at her like she was crazy. "I was here the whole time."
"What? No you weren't," she got confused. "I-I woke up like an hour ago and no one else was in here. You weren't in here. We-we cuddled a-and-"
I tilted my head as I rubbed her back and said, "Brooklyn, you've hit your head a couple times. You've been drinking all night, you don't know what you're talking about." She stared up at me blankly before becoming a victim of her thoughts.
I stepped back and noticed the empty bottle on the floor. I picked it up and waved it in her flustered face to remind her and prove me to be true.
She looked flabbergasted. "I did finish it... and I have hit my head a lot," Brooklyn began piecing it together. She chewed her lip and stood, stomping her foot.
"But I swear what I saw was real! It was so graphic, I can't get that image out of my head," she relented, pacing.
"Hey, hey," I lunged forward and grabbed both her wrists. "You've never drank before, right? Right. This happens, you're just seeing things."
KNOCK! KNOCK! A couple knocks on the door scared both Brooklyn and I. We jumped and gasped. Embarrassed, I cleared my throat and walked over to see who was there.
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"It's just Gael," I let Brooklyn know who was at the door knocking before I let him inside. She nodded and exhaled deeply, crossing the arms over her chest.
"Sup?" I asked Gael through gritted teeth, sending him crazy eyes so he'd know something was wrong. He returned with Cassie and shared the look, alluding to Cassie who was noticeably anxious.
"Woah, Cass, you good?" I tried talking to her but she demanded some space. Gael let her go and we all just watched her have a moment.
"Cassie claims she saw a man get killed," Gael told me. We looked at each other, then at Brooklyn, then at Cassie, and busted out laughing.
I fell back, putting on the act that I was drunk, too. Gael quickly caught on and did the same. My head banged against the mini fridge which was loaded with alcohol. Getting an idea, I grabbed a bottle and threw some miniatures at Gael. He caught them and offered it to Cassie.
I stumbled over to Brooklyn who was standing by my bed. "Here, drink this," I urged her.
Brooklyn angrily pushed it away and scoffed. "I'm leaving," she snapped.
I panicked and rushed to Brooklyn's side, trying my hardest to convince her to stay and drink with us. I know it sounds bad but I was in a bind. I figured she liked drinking so if she kept getting drunk, she'd probably lose her memory.
"No, Noah," she whined, smoothing the hair from her frazzled face. "This is all really weird, I know what I saw, and I'm scared."
"You're cute," I smirked. My arm held up the post behind her head as she backed into the wall.
As much as she wanted to stay serious, she couldn't help but start to blush. "Stop, you're annoying!"
"I'm just trying to cheer you up. You've had a rough week, let me make it better. And by me, I mean my friend Jose Cuervo." I shook the full bottle of vodka in her face and she lit up.
"No, I don't know," she sighed, looking away. "I should get back to my room, it's early."
"Or," I squared her hips, "we could watch the sunrise?"
She happily popped her bare shoulders and led the way to the lido deck.
***
6:21 AM
Coming down from a laughing fit, I noticed Brooklyn was cold. "Here," I offered her my black hoodie. It was one of my favorites but I didn't mind giving it up for the meantime.
"I was wondering when you'd man up and do that," she tested me. I chuckled and tossed my head back.
The sky went from a dark purple-ish color to a golden orange. It was beautiful. Seagulls flapped around, squawking.
"A dolphin!" Brooklyn exclaimed, flying from the reclined chair to look over the rails. I laughed at her excitement and tried to catch the dolphins, too.
I eased back onto the chair and locked my fingers behind my head as I shut my eyes. Honestly, I could've fallen asleep right then and there, it was so peaceful and I was exhausted.
To my surprise, Brooklyn got up from her chair right beside mine and cuddled up to me. She threw her lengthy leg over my body and wrapped her arms around me.
I swallowed and before I knew it, my eyes were closed and I was leaning in. Our lips touched and she went to pull away but I didn't let her. She was shocked by the control I took, grabbing the back of her neck. Brooklyn made the first move to add tongue and I followed suit.
Brooklyn bit down on my lip and backed off slowly, letting go. She blinked her eyes open and then sucked her pouty lips into her mouth.
I wet my lips and stared as she stood up.
"This was fun," Brooklyn let out.
I stood and asked, "Is this you saying goodbye?"
"Not goodbye, just good night." Her thick eyelashes batted.
It was obvious we were both exhausted but we were drunk and I honestly wouldn't have minded another cuddle session back at my room in bed.
"But it's morning," I countered, giving Brooklyn a hard time.
Her eyes rolled. "Then see you later," her voice softened.
I let out fingers part and watched her walk sensually away.
