Page 81 of A Perfect Disaster

Helen looks like she wants the ground to swallow her up.

“No one saw us there. I made sure to check the watch roster,” she murmurs desperately.

“Maybe not directly…” Gonzalo clarifies, savoring the moment. “But Laura, the receptionist, saw you two go up together to the restricted area at the bow. And then, coincidentally, she saw Helen come down with her hair a mess and her uniform wrinkled, and you, looking almost the same. If you put two and two together, you get an orgasm on the high seas.”

Helen slowly turns her head toward me, her eyes wide as saucers.

“Was my hair really that bad?” she asks me in a horrified whisper.

“Honey, I bet you even had your stripes on backward,” Gonzalo adds before bursting into laughter.

Seeing the great and feared security officer like this, embarrassed, disheveled because of me, and so utterly human, is so damn adorable that I can barely breathe.

“I’m not speaking to you again for the rest of the contract,” Helen mutters to Gonzalo, covering her face with both hands.

“That’s what you all say before you end up crying on my shoulder, telling me about your traumas,” he replies, winking at her.

“We don’t have traumas,” Helen protests, regaining a bit of her pride.

Gonzalo and I look at her at exactly the same time, raising an eyebrow with the same look of disbelief. She looks at us, holds out for three seconds, and finally sighs deeply, giving up.

“Fine. Maybe we do have a few.”

“Lots,” I correct her affectionately, giving her a gentle nudge with my knee under the table.

“And pretty serious ones,” Gonzalo adds, snatching a piece of toast from Helen’s tray.

Suddenly, the official communicator Helen has clipped to her belt vibrates, interrupting the moment. Helen reads the touchscreen and her expression changes instantly.

“Julianne wants to see both of us in the conference room in thirty minutes,” she announces seriously, putting the device away.

“Oh, oh, oh…” Gonzalo remarks. “A surprise meeting with the big boss. That never bodes well, girls. You’d better be on your guard.”

And, unfortunately, he’s absolutely right.

The meeting takes place in the same glass-enclosed room on the top deck. From the enormous windows, you can see the open sea and the distant, mountainous silhouette of Sardinia emerging from the mist on the horizon. Julianne Ferguson is waiting for us, seated at the designer table with her tablet.

“Before we get down to business,” she begins, “I wanted to offer you my sincere congratulations on the excellent security operation in Naples and, of course, on the overwhelming success of yesterday’s charity event at the pool. The passengers are delighted.”

Helen clears her throat, regaining her composure. I smile mischievously.

“Well, the limoncello we added at the last minute did most of the work, I won’t lie to you,” I admit honestly.

Julianne flashes a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

“I figured as much. Your ability to work as a team and resolve crises is truly exceptional, even in the most… unconventional situations.”

The words “unconventional” echo off the walls with a suspicious resonance.

“However…” Julianne continues, interlacing her fingers on the table, “there’s one crucial factor you need to understand about this position. The company is looking for a leader capable of prioritizing the shipping line’s overall objectives above any kind of personal or emotional dynamic. Even when she understands the passengers.”

I feel Helen stiffen beside me. My smile vanishes instantly. Because for the first time, they’re telling us to our faces that our relationship is obvious, tangible, and that it could cost us our careers.

“Does that mean you think we’re a problem?” I ask, bluntly and without holding back.

Julianne holds my gaze without blinking.

“I think you’re both extraordinarily brilliant women. But you must decide for yourselves whether this growing… collaboration between the two of you adds to the day-to-day operations of the ship, or whether, on the contrary, it compromises your leadership abilities and your objectivity when competing for a position.”