Voyage To Submission (4 page)

“I wasn’t doing anything to Andy. Gayle has
no reason to be upset.”

“You gave her the drink!”

“I wanted to loosen her tongue up so she’d
talk to me.”

“She was on your bed,” Ray pointed out
instantly.

“Sitting, since I don’t have decent chairs
in here.”

“Andy was lying down and you were leaning
over her.” Ray countered once more.

“Look, pseudo-Gayle, I’ve been trying to
get out of her what her graduation plans are. It’s harder than pulling teeth to
get information out of Andy.”

“Damn it, Jack! Who cares what she’ll be
doing? You’re heading to Harvard, man! With a Harvard MBA you can go anywhere!”

Jack had to hold back his anger at Ray for
the offhand way he was dealing with a friend’s future. Hell! They’d known the
girls for close to four years. Of course he cared what they’d be doing. Before
he could yell at Ray, Gayle reentered the living room, calling out his name.

Jack remembered the look of happiness on
his friend’s face at Gayle’s appearance and Ray had run across the room to meet
her. Glancing at Gayle, he recalled she never had talked to him that night, or
the next day. Of course, it wasn’t until after graduation, with everyone
milling around before he could get close enough to her to ask where Andy was.
They had skipped her name during the callout for diplomas. He’d been watching
for her quite closely.

“She left this morning, before the rest of
us got up.” Anger blazed in Gayle’s gaze. “All she left was a short note saying
she didn’t like ceremonies or long goodbyes.” Her voice had cracked for a
moment, but she’d straightened her back. “She also wrote it had nothing to do
with you or last night. I didn’t believe it until now.”

Hearing Ray and Gayle laughing over
something, usually a medical joke, drew him back to the present. Every time he
thought about that brief conversation, he recalled he had not asked why she
changed her mind. Somehow he was pretty sure her answer would have been it was
look on his face. Abruptly, he felt the need for some space and stood.
Realizing he’d drawn almost everyone’s attention, he muttered briefly. “Just
heading to the gents’ and you can start the champagne without me.”

Jack ignored the sign directing to the
right for the men’s restroom and kept on walking. Seeing the sign for the
Golden Lion Pub on the right, he entered the darkened room. It was partially
filled and he easily found a seat at the bar. As the bartender wiped off the gleaming
bar top in front of him, Jack noticed the guy was in his early twenties, tanned
and obviously worked out, when he wasn’t tending bar. For the first time in his
life, he questioned his own appeal to a woman. He wasn’t in his twenties
anymore.

It had begun with the comment about sexual
peak for a woman starting now. He’d noticed the way the swarthy waiter’s eyes
had lit up when Andy replied she was the lady he’d sought. Then there had the
extra glances Tony kept shooting towards her. He’d not once considered facing
competition on this cruise for Andy’s attention. Not that he couldn’t face it
because he could, he argued silently. If she rejected him—

“What would you like to drink tonight,
sir?”

Jack looked at the younger man, shrugging.
“Whisky on the rocks.”

“Make that two,” Ray said as he sat beside
him. “Thanks to you I’ve just embarrassed myself in the men’s room.” Quickly he
held his hand up. “No, I won’t tell you how. Just tell me why you are holed up
in here instead of drinking the included booze at the table and enjoying all
those lovely ladies.”

“I was coming straight back. I just needed
to get away for a second.”

“Then tell me why you were staring at Gayle
so hard.”

Jack glanced at his friend. “Relax, Ray,
I’m not going to put the moves on your lovely lady.”

“I wasn’t thinking that at all.” Ray
accepted the drink and passed the barkeeper his keycard for charging the
drinks. Sipping his drink, he turned slightly to look at Jack. “Not that you
could,” he chuckled. “Instead I wondered how you were going to tell Tony he’s
out of the running.”

Jack took a long swallow of whiskey before
he glanced at Ray. “Are you turning into the man with a riddle for every
occasion?”

Ray shook his head, drained his glass and
stood up. “Keep on lying to yourself, buddy, but I know what you’re denying.”

Jack pushed his glass away and stood as
well. “Let’s go before Gayle comes looking for you.”

* * * * *

Returning to the table, the first thing
Jack noticed was Gayle had moved into his seat. The second was that she was determined
to stay in this particular chair.

“I switched chairs so I can catch up with
Andy. Jack, you and Ray can sit together and talk sports or whatever,” Gayle
said without a smile.

Jack glanced from the set look upon the
dark-haired emergency room resident’s face to Ray. Obviously, his friend had
gotten some unspoken message because he was already walking to his chair.
Before stepping away, he glanced at Andy, but she had her face down. He’d
forgotten the trait she did whenever she chose to opt out of a decision-making
process. It was clear she accepted Gayle’s action.

“Sure thing, Gayle, enjoy your girl talk.
Just don’t hog all the champagne.” Shrugging, he smiled at Gayle.

Andy gave a quick sidelong glance as Jack
moved around the table. She could have protested and insisted, but she liked to
avoid drawing attention to herself. And to be honest, she’d be more relaxed
with Gayle beside her than dealing with the onslaught of emotions being close
to Jack was causing.

For the next several minutes, she just
listened to the others talking back and forth across the table. She laughed
when required until she realized Jack was staring. Quickly, she lowered her
gaze to the table, aware of a flush now covering her cheeks. Feeling
overheated, she blew little puffs of air upwards, slightly fluffing her soft
bangs across her forehead.

“Shall I pour the champagne, ma’am? Do you
want all the bottles opened at once?”

Andy jumped at the waiter’s voice. Looking
up at the young, dark-haired man, she asked, “Uhm, how many are there?”

“Four, ma’am, and I have them all on ice.”

Andy turned to look at Gayle and then at
the others. “Do you want to drink it all now?”

She couldn’t make out who said what, but
the overall answer was yes. Except for Jack who suggested she keep one for
herself, for another time. Avoiding Jack’s gaze, she told the waiter her
decision. “We’ll have three and could I have the other bottle delivered to my
suite?”

“Of course, ma’am, we’ll have it placed in
the refrigerator of the downstairs bar.”

Tony leaned forward. “I’ll be happy to pop
that cork for you later, Andy. I’m getting very curious to see this
little
cabin
you’ve got for the trip.”

Everyone laughed and the champagne was
poured into everyone’s glass. Lifting their glasses, they toasted their trip.

“Here’s to a successful cruise!” Ray
pronounced the first toast.

“How do you define a successful one, Ray?”
Andy questioned him a few seconds later, waiting until everyone had sipped at
least once.

Ray shook his slightly balding, blond head.
“Still getting into the psychological mojo, aren’t you, Andy?”

Shrugging, she replied, “Yes, I guess I
always have and not really thought about it. I just squirrel all of it away for
later.” She jested, hoping to make light of the situation.

Ruthie smiled. “Other than Andy and Jack’s
secrets, what’s been going on with the rest of you?”

Jack knew he stared at Andy, and suddenly
he didn’t give a damn what the others thought. One way or another, he had to
make sure the two of them got time together tonight! Accepting more champagne,
he listened as the conversation moved back and forth across the table.

Danny took on the duties of adding
champagne to each person’s glass. When he reached Ruth, he leaned down to kiss
the side of her neck. “What happened to that schmuck I saw you with at lunch
last week?”

Ruthie shook her pale blonde head, lifting
one hand to tuck loose strands of hair behind her ear. She looked so cool and
polished with her hair pulled into a roll at the back of her head. Jack saw the
nervous tremors, even though they were minimal. As she opened her mouth to
reply, he wondered whether Danny’s words or his gesture upset the usually
reserved attorney.

“Just a guy I work with, Danny, nothing
more. I’ve been too busy to date,” Ruth murmured.

Gayle leaned forward to get a better look
at Ruthie. “Any idea when you’ll find out if you’re making junior partner or
not?”

Ruthie shook her head. “The decision is all
based on billable hours and the clients you bring to the firm. Thanks to Jack
and one other, I know I at least have a good chance.”

Jack shrugged, not liking to draw the
attention his way. “I needed a good attorney and luckily, I knew one.”

Ray laughed. “Did you ever realize we have
the perfect little society here? We’ll have two doctors if anyone gets sick, a
businessman to organize our shipwrecked bunch, and Danny will be our accountant
to organize our riches in case we need to buy our way off the island.”

“Or dole out the sheets of toilet paper,”
Danny quipped self-deprecatingly.

Ray laughed and finished his explanation.
“Tony can hopefully whip up some good food to eat. Ruthie can set up a fair
judicial system for our disputes so we avoid any hostile coups. Liz and Mark
will serve as the brains of the outfit and will make us a phone or a hot-air
balloon to get off the island.”

Everyone laughed.

“What about Andy?” Jack asked softly.

Ray turned and looked at her before he
replied to Jack.

Jack felt sure he knew what his friend was
thinking, especially with his added attention to her.

Interrupting, Danny asked another question.
“What do you do, Andy?”

“Well, for one thing, I type.”

“Super! You can work for Jack and be our
chronicler,” Ray suggested quickly. “When we are rescued, you can publish your
journals and become a famous writer.”

Ruthie coughed suddenly, choking slightly
on her champagne.

Jack leaned forward, looking at Andy. If he
had to guess, he’d have said she deliberately avoided looking in his direction.
Perhaps if he spoke provocatively enough to catch her attention, she’d have to
look towards him. “Without a proper desk, you can take dictation sitting on my
lap.”

“Perhaps I’ll be the one casualty at sea,
you know, shark food, never to be seen again.”

His ploy worked, but only for a few
seconds. Her words, though, took him by surprise. Hearing her casually refer to
herself coming to such a tragic end didn’t sound at all humorous to him.

Mark Sherman, usually quiet and fulfilling
people’s expectation as a college professor of science, sat beside Andy. He
reached over and lightly patted Andy’s hand. “You can be our mascot, our
Gilligan!”

Andy laughed, smiling at Mark. “I’ve heard
it said if had it been real life—Gilligan would have been murdered by day two
and served on a platter for the castaways that night.”

Jack spoke, knowing his words would get her
attention. “Since I’m the organizer and the boss, that makes me the skipper and
Andy can share my grass shack.”

Liz shook her head. “If the skipper had
looked as handsome as Jack, he could have been sharing with someone besides
Gilligan.”

Jack laughed with everyone else, but he
kept his gaze on Andy. Following his comment she had glanced at him, but almost
the very next second after their gazes met, she turned away. He had to wonder
why she acted so skittish. He definitely needed to talk to her privately.

* * * * *

Following dinner, they couldn’t decide as a
group what they should do. The women were leaning towards strolling on deck, or
perhaps adjourning somewhere quiet where they could talk. Four out of the five
guys were in favor of checking out the different bars or the casino.

Andy listened to the suggestions and when
they had finally decided, she spoke quietly. “I’ll say good night here. I have
a few things I need to do tonight.”

Before she could leave, everyone seemed to
be speaking at once, vying for attention. Voices and sentences ran together.

“Aww, Andy, don’t be a sleepyhead. We’re
here for fun,” Danny jested quickly.

“Do you feel okay, Andy?” Ruthie reached
out, touching her arm.

“I suggest you don’t drink any more
champagne, or you’ll have one hell of a headache,” Ray offered in his most
official tone.

“I’ll walk you back to your cabin and meet
up with you guys later,” Jack spoke softly.

“We plan on sleeping in tomorrow and
ordering room service, Andy. Do want to join us?” Gayle asked finally.

Andy couldn’t remember whom she answered
but in less than a minute, she stood once again in the elevator, alone with
Jack. She pressed the button for deck ten and then stepped back to the far
corner. Since they were alone, there would be no reason for Jack to stand so
close. When he didn’t say anything, her nervousness drove her to speak. “You
can get off on your deck, or just go straight back. I don’t need to be
escorted.”

Jack turned and nodded. “I know, but I’ll
walk with you anyway.”

“All right, I guess.” She looked around the
elevator, anywhere but at Jack. She was surprised they rode all the way up
without any other passengers joining them. Finally the doors slid soundlessly
open.

Andy bolted forward. The soft shush-shush
of his feet along the plush carpet intensified her awareness of Jack walking a
few steps behind her. At the double doors of the suite, she fumbled in her
purse, juggling the folder with the papers, before she finally found her
keycard. Gratefully, after several curse words, she reached out to insert the
card.