He tapped a finger against my résumé, which sat on the table between us. “No offense, kiddo, but you don’t look like someone who knows a lot about yachts.”
Break the beam, I reminded myself. I lifted my chin. “I was under the impression that yachting guests weren’t all that different from young children.”
Captain Xav’s eyes narrowed as he looked me over. “They have their similarities.” He glanced at my résumé again. “You’ve got quite an interesting history, despite the lack of relevant experience. Second in the US Gymnastics National Championships. First at the American Cup. You’re young. Why not continue competing?”
The man clearly knew nothing about gymnastics. If he did, he would’ve recognized my name and known why I was no longer competing. “I injured my knee,” I said. “All good now. Not gold-medal good, but good enough to work as a stewardess.”
Captain Xav scratched his beard, his expression unreadable beneath it. I bet that was why he’d grown it in the first place. “What makes yachting the alternative? Why do you really want this job?”
“I already told you,” I said, then paused when Captain Xav raised his eyebrows. “But you want the truth.”
“That’s what I asked for.”
I stretched my toes until they brushed the floor, grounding me somewhat. I could tell the truth. Part of it, at least. “There’s been an... unfortunate... turn of events in my life. I need to get away. I need to make money. And I need a place to live. This is the only job I’ve found that can give me all three.”
“And what would this turn of events be? We don’t hire felons,”Captain Xav said. He held up his hands. “Owners’ rule, not mine. I’m sure you understand. This is a twenty-million-dollar yacht, after all.”
Twenty million.I lifted the tips of my toes from the floor. “Do I look like a felon to you?”
Captain Xav shrugged. “Why not? Criminals can look like anyone.”
I bit back a laugh. If I’d learned anything in the last month, it was that. Criminals could look like people you loved. They could look like the last person in the world you’d think would hurt you.
“I’m not a criminal,” I said.
“Then?”
I dropped my gaze to the table. Other than to my parents, which was unavoidable, I hadn’t spoken about what had happened to anyone. Not even my friends. They were off doing marvelous things—competing, moving to new cities, getting married, landing dream jobs, traveling. I had always been the fun friend. The one who was always up for a late-night drive to the beach when you were bored or couldn’t sleep, or who’d take you thrifting and give you a makeover after a bad breakup. I didn’t want to bring anyone down with my problems. If I spent too much time around my friends, they’d know something was off, and I didn’t know how to explain what had happened. I didn’t want to be a burden. All I wanted was a solution. One that wouldn’t tear my family apart.
Captain Xav, however, seemed prepared to sit there staring at me for the rest of the day.
I lifted my head. “If I tell you, can I have the job?”
Captain Xav laughed, and for a moment, he seemed like a different person entirely. Someone who’d grab a beer with you and shoot the shit after a long day. “Depends on what you have to say. I can’t make any promises, but I do value honesty on this boat.”
“I’m honest,” I said. Besides, what did I care what this salty old man thought? “I accumulated a... substantial amount of debt after my knee injury,” I said. It wasmostlytrue. The injury wasn’t the main reason I was in debt, most of it had come before, but my knee was why I’d found out about it in the first place. “I couldn’t keep up with it, and now I can’t get approved for an apartment, or a car, or anything. I have nowhere to go. I need to get away from here for a while, and I need a job that will give me a place to stay while I start piecing my life back together as cheaply as possible.”
I couldn’t read Captain Xav’s expression as he looked me over. Perhaps he was one of those people adept at reading body language, someone who could sniff out a lie from a mile away. If so, I had nothing to worry about. Everything I’d said was true, even if I’d left out a few details.
Even so, I half expected him to ball up my résumé and toss it at my head, to say he didn’t give a shit about whatIneeded. Wasn’t the point of a job interview to sell yourself, not to convey your personal desperation? But then he nodded slowly, seeming to have come to a decision. “There are two courses you’ll need to take in order to be certified,” he said. “The Greens, the boat’s owners, will pay for them. I’ll have our bosun, RJ, email you the information. We set sail February first. Does that work for you?”
What’s a bosun?I thought. I opened my mouth to ask, but paused, realizing what he’d said. “You’re giving me the job?”
“Do you want to argue about it?”
“Not really. Just... why?”
Captain Xav took my résumé from where it sat on the table between us. He folded it into a square and stuffed it into the pocket of his polo. “You don’t get to that level of athletics without hard work. And even though I shouldn’t, I like your attitude. I don’t recommendbringing it on the boat with you, though. You seem like a kid who needs a lucky break. Everything else you can learn.”
The leather of my seat squeaked unattractively as I jumped to my feet. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” I stepped around the table and jolted toward him with my arms outstretched, then froze. “That was inappropriate,” I said, letting my arms drop back to my sides. “I’m a professional. Really.” I gave him a salute, then grabbed my shoes and turned to leave before he could change his mind.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he called.
“Oh, right.” I spun to face him. “What was the question again?”
“We’ll be at sea from February first to June first. That works for you, right?”
“My availability is wide open. As it turns out, drowning in debt makes filling one’s social calendar quite the challenge.”
