They stayed until the sun pierced the horizon and floated into the sky, and Sofia found herself resenting it for rising too quickly. The rain stopped and the hairs on her head began to bounce into coils as the rays dried them both off. She didn’t want this time to end but the daylight had a way of illuminating reality. She slipped her hand from his.
‘I’d better go.’ She guessed he thought she meant to prepare breakfast, but as she said the words, they rang poignantly true. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, without turning his head and she found herself longing for one more swim in those green pools, before walking away.
She passed by her cabin, taking her time to shower and get dressed, suddenly feeling pre-emptive nostalgia for her cramped quarters. She made breakfast for the guests, huevos rancheros with the green salsa on the side, although she was hoping that Milly might continue her adventurous streak. When Petra came to collect the plates she seemed distracted. Sofia had been expecting an inquisition about the day before, but instead Petra just said, ‘Looks delicious, Sofia,’ absent-mindedly and took the food away.
When she came back with the empties, Sofia’s curiosity got the better of her. ‘Everything good with you?’
Petra looked like she’d been caught out, a deer in the headlights. ‘Yes, everything’s fine. Why do you ask?’ She rushed through her words defensively.
Sofia held up her hands in surrender. ‘No reason, you just seem a bit... out of it this morning, and you haven’t even asked for the details of yesterday’s fiasco.’
‘Not everything’s about you, Sofia.’ Petra had spoken teasingly but Sofia was stung, probably because she recognised the truth in it. She had come to rely on Petra as a sounding board, a confidante, but it was often only in moments of crisis that Sofia actually asked Petra about what was going on with her.
‘Ouch, noted.’ Sofia was embarrassed.
‘Oh sorry, I didn’t mean it – I was only joking. Obviously I want to know all about it.’ Petra leant over the counter and lifted Sofia’s cheek to look her in the eye. ‘Go on, spill,’ she said cheekily.
Sofia felt a little self-conscious now, but she had to play along, after she’d made such a fuss. ‘Oh it was nothing really. We just went scuba diving when the guests were asleep and then I ran out of oxygen in the water and passed out and he rescued me and swam me back to the beach.’ Sofia was wiping the countertop and delivered the news nonchalantly but she couldn’t resist peeking up to catch Petra’s reaction.
‘You WHAT?’ Petra seemed lost for words. ‘I’m sorry but what the hell? You two think you’re in a romance novel or something? That is beyond dramatic.’ Petra seemed to still be processing.
‘So what does this mean for your... situation?’ And there it was: the crux of the matter.
All of sudden Sofia felt shy. She worried that if she revealed her plan, Petra might try and talk her out of it.
‘I don’t really know,’ she said dismissively. Now she suddenly wanted to reverse the line of questioning. ‘So what did you get up to last night?’
‘Nothing,’ Petra said, a little too quickly.
Sofia narrowed her eyes. ‘OK, if you say so.’ It was a role reversal. Petra had once met Sofia’s evasions with exactly the same response.
Petra countered her suspicion with a bright smile. ‘Anyway, got places to be! See you later.’ And she was gone.
Chapter Forty-Six
Sofia had put it off long enough, she had to follow through. It was the only way. She was going to speak to the captain. As she made her way up the stairs to her office, she passed Stuart, who was grinning from ear to ear.
‘Hey, Stuart, you’re looking like the cat that’s got the cream today.’ She couldn’t help but comment on it. His usual expression would best be described as glumly uninterested.
‘You could say that,’ he chirped as they passed each other, but he didn’t stop to expand and so Sofia went on her way.
Outside the door she took a deep breath to steady herself. Had it really only been two days since she was last here begging to keep her job? So much had changed since then. Or maybe not. In a way everything was the same as it had always been; it was only that now she recogniseditfor whatitwas.
She knocked. She waited. When Captain Mary answered the door, she looked surprisingly flustered. Sofia was momentarily taken aback and they stood and stared at each other for a moment.
‘How can I help you, Sofia?’ the captain said finally.
‘May I come in?’ Her voice was croaky.
‘Sure.’ The captain sounded weary. ‘Take a seat.’
Once she was sat down Sofia realised that perhaps for the first time in her life, she hadn’t prepared anything to say. The captain raised her eyebrows and planted her elbow on the table in front of her emphatically.
‘I don’t mean to rush you, but I’m having quite a busy morning and I have some things to sort out, so if you would care to tell me what you came here to say, that would be much appreciated.’
The inflection of irritation in the captain’s voice jolted Sofia out of her stupor.
‘I have come to say that as much as I am really, really grateful for you giving me another chance, I don’t think I can keep working on this boat.’ Sofia surprised herself with how calm and considered she sounded. In her chest her heart was pounding wildly.
