“What kind of events do you prefer?” He wasn’t crazy about any of them, didn’t like feeling like he was on display, but it was expected of him.
“Children’s events, mostly. The hospitals can be so hard because those children often have such challenging diagnoses, but the kids are always so…” She stopped to think.
He understood even before she came up with the word. “I know what you mean.”
“Exactly. The education centers are different. I love them, too, but it’s not the same vibe at all. It’s like comparing apples and oranges. Or at least two different kinds of apples.”
Frederick could hear the grin in her voice, and he laughed with her.
“What’s on the agenda for rest of the week?”
“We have a sea day tomorrow, then another day similar to today. There was some sort of scheduling issue with the next destination, so it’s being postponed. We’ll have three days of visits in a row next week or the week after, I’m not certain when it will be made up. This week, we’ll go to the island where my mum lives for a couple of days instead of being at sea those days.”
As much as Frederick was looking forward to seeing his mum, he kind of wished he’d be able to spend the days alone with Elise.
“What will we do with your mum? Anything specific?” She didn’t sound upset by the idea, just curious.
“We’ll likely have dinner with her, possibly breakfast. I don’t know what we’ll do in between. There are a number of activities available. She lives in a small community on an island with a resort. They share amenities so we could do a zip line or parasailing or any number of other things.”
She pulled the blanket a little higher. “That sounds fantastic. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that sort of thing.”
“I’ll get a list of the options for us to look at tomorrow. It would be better to make arrangements before we arrive if possible.”
A noise behind them caught his attention. “Sir, ma’am, would you prefer to eat out here or inside?”
Elise sat up and looked behind them. “Did we order something? I don’t need to eat.”
“I’m hungry,” Frederick explained. “I thought you might want something, too.”
She shivered, likely from the breeze coming off the water. “Inside would be wonderful, thank you.”
Frederick stood and held out a hand to help Elise to her feet.
Once inside, they each took a seat at the table and continued to talk about their day as they ate.
He was discovering that although they’d been at the same places, they had very different experiences. Not necessarily in a bad way, just different.
“It seems a bit…” She stared into space as she thought. “…segregated by gender roles. I think that’s the right phrase. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that. I likely had a lot in common with the women, and I don’t currently have any reason to know or be involved in the more business or political side of things, but that may not always be true. Will that still be the default, even if I’m somewhere instead of you?”
Frederick thought about that. “I don’t know that I’d ever noticed, but since my father passed, I’ve rarely had a female family member with me.” He would keep it in mind and pay more attention throughout the rest of the trip.
“I’m probably over-thinking things,” she admitted with a wrinkle of her nose. “I’m sure it will be fine whenever I’m on official business.”
“I hope so. Please be sure to let me know if there’s anything off when you do act on my behalf.” He could feel his brows pull together as he thought it over. “I hope we don’t have anyone with those sort of gender prejudices working for our governments, in whatever capacity.”
“I will. Odds are I’ll run into unintentional misogyny at some point. It’s a fact of life. I haven’t run into intentional misogyny very often, but I have sometimes, and it definitely exists.” She pushed her plate away just a bit, seeming to indicate she was done. “Misogyny tends to be ingrained in our society as a whole. I’ve been fortunate that virtually all of the people I’ve worked with have treated me with respect and valued my contributions. That’s often not true in the entertainment industry - or many others.”
He’d have to talk to his mum about it. Things like that would have never occurred to him, and he needed to make sure that that sort of thing wasn’t systemic within the government and other groups where he had influence.
“I don’t want to talk about that.” Elise stood and held out her hand. “I’d rather spend a little bit more time together then get some rest. Tomorrow will be a restful day, but today was a long one, and I think I’m almost ready to get some sleep.”
Frederick stood and took her hand. She released it, but moved in closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. His arms went around her, pulling her even closer.
With her head resting on his chest, he could feel her begin to relax. He could feel the tension in his own shoulders begin to release.
A day of doing nothing sounded like a little bit of heaven.
Maybe they could watch a movie while sitting in the sun.
