Crew Hates by Deana Birch

Chapter Three

Day Three

The three porthole windows let in the first signs of day, and as my alarm went off, I heard the shower in our bathroom kick on. With a hesitant eye, I peeked to Robbie’s bunk where he slept soundly. I closed my eyes again and waited for Nick to finish. He was quick, came out of the bathroom fully dressed in his white polo and navy shorts and shot out of our room before I had the sand rubbed out of the corners of my eyes. I swung my legs over the bunk, hopped down, grabbed my own uniform and repeated what I imagined would become a morning ritual.

I found Rosa and Nick in the kitchen, him sitting at the little staff table with a coffee in front of him and his hair still wet from the shower—a look that I hated to admit worked well for him. Rosa served him his eggs, and I worked around her to make myself a cup of tea and spoon myself a bowl of the granola she had soaked in almond milk the night before. With my hands full, I slid into the seat next to Nick.

“Good morning,” I tried.

His response was a clipped nod and brief eye contact. It was a depressing victory. What was so hard about greeting someone?

Robbie bounced in and kissed Rosa on the cheek, gave me a big smile and sang a “Morning!” He flipped a chair around and slid up to the table.

See, Grumpypants? Not hard at all.

Robbie turned to Nick. “Are we actually going to sail this thing today or just sit here while Ding and Dong go shopping with Daddy’s Amex?”

“Be nice. And don’t let the missus hear you call her daughter Ding Dong. She’ll have your head and won’t pay you for your time,” Rosa scolded him but served him a cup of coffee and patted him on the shoulder.

Nick finished his eggs and shrugged. “Who knows?” He turned to me and asked, “You clear on what you have to do?”

Wow. He knew I existed. A girl could almost be flattered if his tone didn’t sound like he was talking to a third grader.

“I think I can manage.”

“Good,” Nick said, getting up. “Because Rosa and Rob are going in for supplies, and I don’t need you pestering me with a hundred questions.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but for the first time in my life I was stunned into silence, although in my head a list of insults spewed at Nick and his stupid broad shoulders. As he walked away, I felt like sending him off with my middle finger, but with Rosa around, it would have to wait patiently in my clinched fist for a more appropriate moment.

My gaze went to Robbie, who had a huge grin on his face.

“Is he always like that?” I finally managed to say.

“Nope.” Robbie took another pull from his coffee as Rosa slid a plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of him.

I finished my tea and busied myself with the chores at hand. I soon realized that the stairs would be a road well-traveled over the next two weeks. I must have climbed up and down fifty times before any one of the Phillips or their guests had even peeked out of their cabins. It was an incredibly effective way to defuse my anger.

Landry and Cameron were the first to surface. She wore simple shorts with a peasant top, her long light brown hair in a low ponytail. Cameron wore typical preppy gear, and I wondered if his mother still shopped for him. The two of them sat down at the big glass table and ate a quiet breakfast. I liked hearing Landry talk but did my best not to seem like I was eavesdropping. The night before I had learned that after our two weeks in France, she would travel to Switzerland where she had an internship at the CERN, and she would spend the rest of her summer in Geneva. That was a level of awe-worthy intelligence. I studied her from afar and took in her little quirks. I decided she was the most beautiful nerd I had ever seen. I might have been girl-crushing on her.

Mr. and Mrs. Phillips joined Cameron and Landry as they were finishing. Mr. Phillips liked his coffee black and kept warm. Noted. Mrs. Phillips drank warm lemon water, ate an egg-white omelet with spinach and picked crumbs off the table.

Abby and Victoria finally dragged themselves to join them. Both wore short sundresses and helped themselves to the remains of the breakfast buffet. The girls were eager to go into Cannes and lay on the beach of an exclusive hotel. Robbie’s wish of taking the yacht on open waters would not be happening anytime soon.

“Emilia,” Mrs. Phillips said to me, “please ask Nicholas to radio for a water taxi for the girls. They’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Of course.” I smiled. More stairs, but at least my butt and legs would benefit from this job.

I found Nick and Robbie on the top deck looking at an electronic map on a large flat-screen.

“Hey.” I lifted my eyebrows and the two guys shot me glances but only Robbie smiled back. “Nicholas, Mrs. Phillips would like you to call a water taxi for the girls. She says they’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“It’s Nick,” he snapped, annoyed. It made me warm and fuzzy. Finally some kind weapon, even if it was just saying his name. The small victory of irritating him was what I needed. I shot a quick smile to Robbie and left the bridge.

After the girls had gone, the rest of the family filed onto shore as well. With none of them around to worry about, my tasks of straightening their cabins, washing the breakfast dishes and tidying up went by quickly. Rosa and Robbie were the last to go, leaving First Mate Cranky Face and me alone on the boat. Rosa had prepared a vegetable pasta salad for lunch, and everybody else would eat in port.

In the early afternoon, we sat together in the little crew nook to eat.

“This is really good.” I pointed my fork to the bowl.

“Yup.” Nick stared down.

Why had I even bothered?

Fine.If he wanted to hate and ignore me for absolutely no reason, I would give him one. I just needed to find it. I rose and took my bowl to the sink, and he did the same then went to climb the stairs. With my back to the counter and no one around, my middle fingers danced like puppets on strings until every bit of him was out of sight. I fluffed pillows and re-organized the bar while I plotted some kind of revenge for his rudeness.

When they returned from port, Rosa and Robbie were a welcome sight, and the boxes and bags of food presented a happy distraction. I readied the dining room table. Only the parents and Cameron and Landry would be eating on board, and Rosa was making her Cuban chicken with rice and beans. Robbie had somehow sweet-talked her and bumped up his favorite meal to earlier in the week.

I helped Rosa with the prep for the meal as much as she would let me then went to change into my evening uniform before meeting the family upstairs for cocktail hour.

In front of my closet, I slipped out of my shorts and polo and folded the shorts for the next day. I zipped up the back of my dress and spun around to head to the bathroom, only to find Nick standing in the doorway staring at me. Understanding that he wasn’t going to speak, I rolled my eyes and closed the bathroom door behind me.

When I opened it again, Robbie had joined Nick, and they were both tucking their long sleeve shirts into their pants that were designated for the evenings.

“If you give me your day shirts, I can wash them.”

“Cool… Thanks, Emmie.” Robbie smiled and handed me his polo from the pile on his bed.

“Thanks.” Nick handed me his own.

“You’re welcome, Nicholas.”

“It’s Nick,” he insisted.

“I know.” I turned and walked out of the cabin and into the machine room, where I put some towels in the dryer and started our uniforms.

The four of us ate quickly, Robbie having seconds and making Rosa promise to keep him some leftovers for his lunch the next day.

With the girls gone, Nick and Robbie were invited to have a drink with the Phillips. The guys each chose a beer, Landry and Mrs. Phillips drank white wine and Mr. Phillips a vodka tonic. Being the bartending fly on the wall was giving me some insight into Nick, as Mr. Phillips drilled him about his plans for after law school. He wasn’t offering Nick a job but wanted to know about all the firms he would apply to. He never suggested himself as a reference, and it was clear that the Phillips were happy for Nick to work for them, but not with them. I couldn’t help but wonder why Mr. Phillips wouldn’t throw Nick a bone. According to Robbie, this was Nick’s eighth vacation with the family.

“I’m sure you’ll land on your feet, Nicholas. You always do.” Mrs. Phillips gave him a small smile, and he quickly looked away.

Robbie and Landry were in a technical conversation about physics, and I wished I understood anything they were saying. Biology made sense to me, but physics, not so much. Nick stood from his seat on the couch then set his empty bottle on the bar before making an excuse to check something on the bridge.

Cocktail hour over, the four of them moved to the table and ate with hushed conversation. The kitchen sparkled under Rosa’s magic, and there wasn’t much for me to clean up after dinner.

Mr. Phillips and Cameron played a game of chess inside, and once they retired to meet their partners, I wiped down all the surfaces and took down the last of the glasses. Back up the stairs for what I hoped would be the last time for the day and my final check, I found Nick sitting on the couch reading. He was charged with the task of waiting up for the girls—who, thanks to Robbie, were now officially Ding and Dong in my head—and wouldn’t be able to go to bed until their return.

I contemplated asking if he wanted a bit of company, but if he did, it probably wouldn’t be me. The server in me took over, and for whatever reason, I asked, “Do you need anything before I head down?”

He looked up from his papers with a confused expression across his handsome face. “I’m not your boss, Emmie.”

Right, he hated me.

“Good night, Nicholas.”

“Nick!”

“I know.” I hopped down the stairs.

Sitting at the staff table with a laptop and a beer, Robbie greeted me with a smile. Thank goodness for Robbie.

“Tomorrow, we move!”

“Night.” I smiled back.

After hanging my dress, changing into my pajamas and using the bathroom, I climbed up into my bunk.

I was going to need a better plan than just calling him Nicholas. That was starting to get childish and stupid. But what could I do? Nick was getting under my skin, but I had zero effect on the man. And why not? I might not have been a super model, but I was a far cry from ugly. Hell, a patient at the hospital had proposed to me three weeks prior and proclaimed I was the hottest nurse he’d ever seen. Granted, he’d been high on morphine, but still… I was pretty, and I could be sexy. Maybe it’s the uniform.