Page 5 of A Perfect Disaster

Her low, brief laugh runs through my skin like an unexpected electric current.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

I open the folder and point to the spreadsheet, though in reality I need to look at anything other than her mouth.

“The coordination meeting will be tomorrow at nine o’clock sharp. In technical room two. I need you to bring the complete activity plan, projected attendance figures, technical sound requirements, schedules, and any event involving passenger movement.”

“I’ll have it ready, don’t worry,” she assures me.

“And no surprises, Maika.”

“Of course,” she says then. “Oh, and Helen.”

I look up.

“What?”

Maika looks at me. Less defiant. And for a second, the Maika I remember from the times when we weren’t fighting, but devouring each other with kisses in some corner between her cabin and mine, appears. The one who knew how to listen to me and stayed with me at the end of an endless day.

“I didn’t come here to mess things up. I promise.”

The words hit me where I don’t want them to. Because they sound sincere. Because part of me desperately wants to believe them. And because another part—much smarter and more wounded—remembers perfectly how dearly it cost me to trust her the first time. And so, I close the folder.

“We’ll see about that.”

I walk past her. And I just keep walking.

“Helen!” she says behind me.

I stop, even though I know I shouldn’t.

“What?”

“I’m glad to see you, too.”

I close my eyes for a moment and tilt my head back. Because any response would be too revealing. If I used sarcasm, I’d be giving it importance. And if I turned around, I might see something on her face that I’m not ready for.

So I walk down the hallway with my back straight and my heart completely out of control. When I turn the corner, I lean against the cold wall for a second. Just one. A slight but persistent internal jolt gives me the first warning of a storm that hasn’t appeared on the weather maps yet but already has a real shape.

Maika Aranda is on board. And I have the terrible, clear feeling that this cruise has just become a lot more complicated.

2

Maika

Whenever I board a new ship, I’m overcome by the same feeling I had the first time I set foot on deck. I feel impatience, curiosity… as if I were about to open a door whose destination I don’t know, but which, even so, I long to cross with my whole being. My heart races, not out of nervousness, but because of that mixture of anticipation and vertigo that accompanies new beginnings on the high seas.

At this time in the afternoon, the sun beats down on the deck, bathing the wood and metal in a warm glow. I always take it as a good sign, a little wink from fate reminding me that, despite everything, things always turn out all right.

“Maika!” shouts a familiar voice.

I look up and smile. Hugo, from the catering department, approaches with open arms.

“Well, well!” I reply with a hearty laugh. “We meet again?”

“Transmarine can’t live without us, you know that,” he replies, winking at me knowingly.

“That, or maybe no one else is willing to work as many hours in a row as you do.”