Penny wasn’t in our cabin. She also wasn’t in the studio, the attached locker room, or the laundry room. Out of desperation, I checked every restaurant on the Lido deck in case she’d had a late night craving, but no dice. I did spot Robbie talking to a group of passengers, so at least they weren’t together. Unfortunately, I couldn’t interrupt to ask if he knew where she was.
Cell phones didn’t work at sea, so I didn’t have a contract. My prepaid card ran out back in Florida. After about twenty minutes of searching, panic started to rise in my chest. Standing at the railing, I forced myself to draw several deep breaths. She couldn’t have gone far. There was no way off the ship once we left the port. Yet it was a big ship, with many places to hide.
Finally, I headed back to our room, thinking if nothing else, I could use the phone there to call some of the other dancers. Maybe someone had seen her.
As I stepped off the elevator, someone called my name. I stopped, peering through the dimly lit room to see who approached. Guillermo, a member of the cleaning staff. Not running down the hall, but not moving at a leisurely pace.
My jaw dropped when I realized Frank followed directly behind him. “What’s going on?” I asked in Spanish.
To my surprise, Frank spoke first, also in Spanish. “You need to come with us.”
Guillermo answered my question while Frank started down the stairs. “It’s Penelope.”
At that, I abandoned my questions and ran to keep up. When we stopped at the elevator, I nodded toward Frank. To Guillermo, I said, “What’s he doing here?”
“I found her,” Frank said. “And you’re welcome. I could have left her, you know.”
“Lo siento,” I said. He was right, of course. My concern for my friend consumed me, overtaking basic human politeness. At the same time, I didn’t want to waste time explaining things to a passenger if Penny was in so much trouble they needed to find me. “Guillermo can take me from here. We don’t want to take away from your plans for the rest of the evening.”
“I don’t know where she is,” Guillermo said. “This man just asked me to bring him to you.”
“Thanks again,” Frank said to him.
The elevator doors dinged open, and Frank took off down the hall. I followed at his heels with Guillermo close behind me. “Okay, where’s Penny?”
“I found her, throwing up into a sink. In the staff kitchen behind the casino.”
Passengers walked through the casino to get to the amphitheater where Penny and I performed earlier. It made such perfect sense, I kicked myself for not looking there myself. But Frank didn’t have any business in that area. “How did you get in?”
His face turned red. “Nellie was giving me a tour.”
Of course she was. As the owner’s daughter, the same rules didn’t apply to Nellie as the rest of us. She could take passengers into restricted areas. She could flirt with them and promise the world and walk away with shiny gifts, while the rest of us couldn’t even accept tips over a certain amount. She could even date paying guests. I swallowed my disappointment. “Did she see Penny?”
“No. Nellie was talking as she opened the door. I saw Penny, told Nellie I was tired from the long day, and walked her back to her room. Then I came to find you.”
“Thanks.”
Frank led me down one hallway, up another, and through a door requiring my employee ID for access. Finally, we wound up in one of the room service kitchens, empty and unused this time of night. I glanced around before turning back to Frank with a shrug. “Is this some kind of joke?”
Behind me, Guillermo went to a table in the far corner and crouched on the ground. “She’s here.”
I went to her and fell to my knees. My friend sat beneath the table, legs tucked to her chest, hair matted to her head. Mascara streaked down her face. My heart broke at the sight. “You told him, didn’t you?”
She nodded, and I crawled under the table, hugging her to my chest.
“What’s wrong?” Frank asked. Until he spoke, I’d forgotten he was still there. “Told who what?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. If he knew, he’d tell Nellie, and we’d all be in trouble. “We appreciate your concern, but I’ll take it from here. Go back to your girlfriend.”
“Nellie? We’ve known each other since we were kids,” he said.
Even better, childhood sweethearts. He spent his formative years traveling in circles I didn’t know existed. “It’s none of my business.”
Ignoring me, Guillermo said, “She’s pregnant.”
“Jesus, Gui, what are you doing?” I asked. “Trying to get us fired?”
Penny barked out a humorless laugh, a hollow sound that sent chills down my spine. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Let’s tell everyone. Stupid lovesick Penny got knocked up by Robbie, who is absolutely the worst.”
“Jake’s frat brother Robbie?”
“Who’s Jake?” Penny asked.
“One of the friends I came on the cruise with. He was in the security line with me.”
I shrugged. “Robbie probably is an overgrown frat boy. He’s the head waiter here.”
“Yeah, I know him.” Frank said. Did this guy know everyone? “I’m sure once you tell him–”
“He knows,” Penny said dully, confirming my suspicions. “And now you know, and now you’ll tell your little girlfriend, and we’re all screwed.”
“What if I do tell Nellie?” Frank asked. “What does it matter?”
“Oh, no big deal,” I said, trying to ignore the way my stomach lurched when he called Nellie his girlfriend. “A pregnant dancer who can’t dance is no use to our bosses. She’ll get fired. No big deal to a moneybags like you, I’m sure.”
“You think you’ve got me all figured out,” he said. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it sucks to be rich and successful and good-looking,” I said. “Not to mention having rich, powerful friends. Do you even know what it’s like to wonder where your next meal’s coming from? Any of us would trade places with you in a heartbeat.”
Frank rolled his eyes, but didn’t respond.
I turned to Penny. “What are you doing under there?”
“I heard someone at the door, so I hid. Then they left, but I didn’t feel well enough to get up.”
Poor thing. As if getting dumped wasn’t bad enough. While we spoke, I’d backed out from under the table, keeping hold of Penny’s hand. Once I got into a clear space, I tugged, drawing her inch by inch with me.
As soon as we cleared the table, I stood and tried to lift Penny. Pole made me strong, but my friend was tall. As a fellow dancer, she weighed as much as I did. Combined with the fact that her state made her dead weight in my arms, I stumbled. Guillermo caught me.
“Gracias,” I said.
Frank stepped up. “Let me help.”
“Thanks, but I’ve got her.”
“No you don’t,” Guillermo said. “Let him help you. I’ve got to go before Max finds out I left my post.”
My arms shook. I didn’t want to accept Frank’s help, but at the same time, didn’t know how I’d get Penny back to our cabin by myself. “Are you sure you can handle her? Examining patients isn’t exactly manual labor.”
“I used to dance ballet,” he retorted. “I understand hard work, and I’m strong.”
Penny whistled under her breath, the first sound she’d uttered since we arrived.
“You’re a doctor who dances?” For a millisecond, I gazed at him, wondering why the universe would send me the perfect man who I couldn’t have. He started to answer, but I cut him off. “It doesn’t matter. We have to get out of here.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Do you mind if Frank carries you?” I asked Penny.
She shook her head and reached out for him. He took her from me, as gentle as if she were made of glass. Begrudgingly, I let go.
“Lead the way,” he said.
Carefully, we skulked out of the kitchen. I breathed a tiny sigh of relief once we made it to the deck, but we weren’t out of the woods yet. Guests didn’t usually carry performers around the ship, so we needed to stay out of sight.
I slowed my pace because the only thing that would seem stranger than the three of us out in the first place is if I ran while Frank chased me down the deck holding Penny. None of us said a word until we were safely inside our cabin.
I flipped on the lights while Frank carried Penny further into the room. He looked at our bunk beds, the lack of a window. Crew cabins barely fit the people required to sleep in them.
“It’s…cozy,” he said. “Which bed?”
I pointed at the lower bunk. He laid Penny down so gently, it made me think a little better of him. Of course, he was a doctor so it made sense that he’d treat people with care. It wasn’t his fault he’d been born rich any more than it was my fault I wasn’t.
“Thanks.” Penny stood, then swayed, grabbing onto the bedpost for support. “I need to get cleaned up.”
“Are you okay?” Frank asked.
“Fine.” A full-body heave sold her out. She bolted for the bathroom, one hand over her mouth. The retching sounds carried clearly to our ears.
“Morning sickness?”
I shook my head. “Apparently, it lasts all day.”
He made a sympathetic noise. “That happens with some women. Why doesn’t she go to the infirmary?”
“Like I said, pregnant dancers can’t dance,” I said. “Especially ones who spend several hours a day throwing up.”
“Ahhh,” he said. “She’s got hyperemesis gravidarum?”
“Huh?”
“Violent nausea, all the time. Lots of throwing up. Sometimes requires hospitalization. The Duchess of Cambridge had it with all three children.”
“Who?”
“Some people call her Princess Kate. William’s wife.” I stared at him until he said, “Diana and Charles’s eldest son? Second in line for the throne of England.”
The idea that he thought I had any idea of the Royal Family’s medical issues told me volumes about our differences. Ten seconds ago, I couldn’t have told you how many kids Kate and William had. I shrugged. “I’m no doctor, but maybe. She’s sick all the time. It’s awful.”
“There’s not a lot she can do, but staying hydrated and being monitored by a doctor will do wonders. She might need to take time off until it passes.”
The casual way he suggested not working brought my hackles up. “Easy, right? Of course, if she doesn’t work, she doesn’t get paid, so there’s no money. She’s not allowed on the ship unless she’s working, so she won’t have a place to live or money to get one. She can only visit the infirmary while onboard. Oh, and the cruise line doesn’t provide health insurance, so good luck paying for a doctor anywhere else.”
“What about FMLA? Anti-discrimination laws?”
“Cruise ships aren’t American. Most of the companies, including Oceanic, are registered in Panama. U.S. law doesn’t apply.”
His features softened as I spoke. “I get it. Your friend is in a bad situation.”
“Yeah.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, for now, I’m going to go in there, smooth her hair back, and hold her hand until she feels well enough to go to bed,” I said. “I’ve been covering for her as much as I can. Swapping shifts and making deals with the other performers to get her into things like Bingo or Trivia Night, where she can sit and smile and not have to move much.”
“Janey is doing way too much,” Penny said from the bathroom doorway. Until she spoke, I hadn’t realized she listened to us. “I tried to get pills while we were in Miami, but the doctor said I’d have to pay for them.”
“That’s great!” Frank said.
“Not great,” she said. “It’s nine hundred dollars for a three-week supply.”
My mouth fell open. I’d known that she’d requested pills, but not the exorbitant cost. No way we could afford something like that, especially not when she might need them for nine months for all we knew.
“I don’t suppose you’d accept a loan,” Frank said.
“From you? Of course not. I can’t pay you back. And it’s too late now, anyway. Thanks for your help tonight.”
“You’re welcome,” he said. “Do you need anything else?”
“Not unless you know a way I can dance in the Talent Show on Friday,” Penny said. “I’d hoped everything would work out, but without those pills, there’s no way I’ll make it. Janey and I will both lose our bonus if we don’t perform. It’s a doubles routine. She can’t do it alone.”
“Penny!” The last thing we needed was Nellie’s little boyfriend even more in our business.
“A doubles routine, huh?” Frank asked.
“Yeah. We’re demonstrating pole moves. If it goes well, they’ll book us to do the same routine on other cruises, and the bonuses are awesome. But I’ve been too sick to practice,” Penny said. “The rocking of the ship makes it worse.”
“She can’t do the routine alone?” Frank asked.
“I could,” I said, “but then it’s not a doubles routine. It’s not nearly as impressive as what Max wants. That means no bonus. They’ll find someone else to close out the Talent Show going forward. And I can’t afford to lose the money.” He didn’t need to know how Dad depended on me. My sister had no extra money to help, not as a single mom.
“Can’t somebody else fill in?”
“Who?” I gestured around the room in a wide, sweeping motion. As wide as one could get in a space the size of a closet occupied by three people, at least. “You’ve got a surplus of pole dancers hiding on the ship? It’s not exactly as common as ballet.”
His face flushed. “I realize that, but you’ve got a huge team of entertainers here.”
“Show dancers. Broadway-types. If I needed someone to do tap or hip-hop, most of them could dive into the show in a heartbeat. But I’ve just started teaching pole this season, and the entertainers don’t get time off work to attend classes. We’ve all got our own stuff,” I said. “One of the other dancers is strong, and she could probably do the moves, but she doesn’t have time to learn the routine.”
“Not to mention,” Penny said, “that most of them would jump at the opportunity to steal the finale and make it their own. They’d want the bonus for themselves, both this week and every cruise from now on.”
“You’re not going to be able to dance much over the next few months, anyway,” Frank said.
“If we can find a way to do Friday night’s show, we’ll figure something out,” Penny said. “We’re off for two weeks before we report to the Alaska cruise at the beginning of May. Morning sickness is only supposed to last the first trimester, right? I’m getting close.”
“Give it up, Pen,” I said hollowly. The more we talked about this, the bigger the pit in my stomach grew. “It’s not going to happen.”
Frank said, “Come on, there’s got to be someone–”
“What? You want to do it?” I laughed hollowly. As if.
He shook his head. “I don’t know the first thing about pole.”
“Now there’s an idea,” Penny said.
“It’s an idea, alright. A terrible one.” I couldn’t believe my friend thought I should spend more time with Nellie’s boyfriend.
“He’s got the right build.” She walked around Frank, eyeing him up and down like a prized racehorse. At least she didn’t lift his lips to check out his gums and teeth. “And he’s got the background. You said you used to dance?”
“Ballet, yeah.”
“It’s not that different,” she said.
My lips twitched with amusement. Not that different? “Go on.”
“Both require a lot of strength. Flexibility. Grace. You’ve seen it yourself. When someone comes to a class with a ballet or dance background, they pick pole up no problem.”
“That’s true,” I admitted begrudgingly. “They still need more than a week to pick up the more advanced moves.”
“So we make a few changes, take out the super difficult stuff. You’re a wonderful teacher, Janey. You can teach anyone.”
I turned to Frank. “This is one problem you can’t throw money at. You said you wanted to help. Is that true?”
“Yeah, I want to help. And I do miss performing. You think I can do it?”
“Let’s find out,” I said.
“Take off your shoes,” Penny told him. “You’re about to get a crash course.”
They both looked at me. Part of me wanted to walk away. But Frank had the right background. I’d already noted how gracefully he moved. More importantly, he was our only option. If we didn’t do the performance, we’d lose money I sorely needed. Max would dump us ashore in a heartbeat.
I could manage. After all, I’d always been poor. I could get by, skip a few meals, sleep in some parks until I found a new job. Not the end of the world. But Penny had grown up comfortably, the daughter of two Cuban refugees who ran a very successful restaurant. Upper middle class, which was rich to me. She didn’t know what it was like to go to bed hungry or to walk around in the dark all winter because you couldn’t afford lights. Her parents cut her off when she told them she wanted to be a dancer instead of taking over the family business.
Even if I could screw Penny over, I certainly couldn’t do that to her unborn child. The baby deserved better. He or she might grow up without a father thanks to Robbie’s unwillingness to help, but Aunt Janey would fight tooth and nail to get that baby whatever he or she needed.
One look at Penny sealed my fate. She worried her lower lip between her teeth, eyebrows drawn together. I knew all the same thoughts swirled around in both our heads. The only difference was, I had the power to give her peace of mind.
I turned to Frank and held out my hand. “Let’s do this.”