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“I’m not sure if stiletto nails are for me,” Claudia commented as she and Emily left the ship’s beauty salon. She held her left hand up and examined her fresh manicure. “This shape reminds me of claws.”
“It’s very trendy right now,” Emily replied. She leaned over to peer at Claudia’s manicure. “Your nails look fantastic, like ten miniature works of art. Look how sparkly they are! And those little rhinestone embellishments are so fancy! Those nail technicians are really talented.”
Claudia tilted her hand so the light caught the sparkles. “They are definitely talented,” she agreed. “I’ve never had a manicure this elaborate before. Every time my nails catch my eye, I stop what I’m doing to admire them.”
“That’s how I was with my engagement ring,” Emily remarked offhandedly.
She held up her own left hand. It looked similar to Claudia’s, except Claudia had chosen a pale peach color and Emily had gone with a dramatic dark purple. The other difference, of course, was that Claudia’s ring finger was bare.
Emily suddenly realized what she had said. She clamped her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I know engagement is a sore spot for you. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s fine,” Claudia assured her, even though it had smarted a little. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to walk on eggshells around me. You have every right to be happy and excited about your own marriage. My lack of proposal from Scott is my problem, not yours.”
“You know I adore Scott, but he’s an idiot,” Emily declared.
Claudia managed a small smile. “Maybe I’m the one who’s being dumb. Why am I so hung up on a silly ring? No offence,” she added quickly. “Yours is lovely.”
“None taken.”
“But, I mean, what’s the big deal? Scott and I live together. The only thing we’re missing is a piece of paper. Does it matter? Maybe it doesn’t matter to him. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t matter to me. But why is it so important to me?”
Emily shrugged.
“Maybe I need to stop obsessing over what I don’t have. I should put that energy into being grateful for what I do have,” Claudia decided. “If marriage happens, it happens. But if not...I still have a pretty fantastic life.”
“You do,” Emily agreed. “And that sounds like a terrific plan, Claudia. You’re a smart woman.”
Claudia didn’t reply. Truth be told, she felt like a bit of a fraud. Despite what she said, deep down she still yearned to have a ring on her finger. It wasn’t about the diamond. It was about the commitment, the symbolism and the romance.
“This was fun,” Emily said, changing the subject. “Are you sure I can’t pay half?”
“I’m positive. It’s my treat,” Claudia told her best friend firmly.
“Thank you.” Emily glanced at her phone. “It’s later than I realized. I need to get going. Kyle and I are going to go have a romantic dinner together. Date night,” she explained, her excitement hard to miss. She looked and acted like a newlywed in love.
“Lucky. Scott found a sports bar on the ship - and a group of guys who like to sit around talking shop. He’s been down there discussing carpentry and fishing nearly every waking moment,” Claudia grumbled, only exaggerating a little. “It’s nearly as bad as when we’re at home and he spends half the day gossiping with his buddies at the hardware store.”
Emily laughed. “Sounds like Scott. Drag him out of there at some point and make him spend some quality time with you,” she advised. “You deserve his undivided attention. Talk to you tomorrow!”
Claudia decided to give Scott a little more time to chat with his new acquaintances. Even though she good-naturedly complained from time to time, she didn’t actually mind that Scott sometimes got carried away talking shop with other people. At least then she didn’t have to hear all about it.
She noticed a coin on the ground and bent down to pick it up. It was a British threepence.
“Neat,” Claudia murmured.
She had heard lots of foreign accents on the cruise ship, from both crew members and passengers. She wondered how many different countries were represented on the Mermaid Fantasy.
“Whoops!” she exclaimed as the coin slipped from her fingers and fell. She tried to grab it, but it rolled across the deck and between the ship’s guardrails. It fell over the side and plummeted into the water below.
“Good thing it didn’t land on anyone,” she grimaced. “That would have been bad.”
She idly wondered if she should make a wish after “tossing” the coin into the water. She wasn’t sure if she believed in superstitions like that, but they were nonetheless fun. Part of her wanted to wish for a proposal. Then she sternly told herself that was foolish and pathetic.
The waistband of Claudia’s shorts felt tight. She could feel it digging into her abdomen, which was admittedly bloated. She had no idea how many calories she had consumed while on the cruise, but she knew it had to be a mind boggling amount. It was difficult not to overindulge when there were endless buffets of delicious food.
“I should go for a walk,” she decided. “If I don’t work off some of these extra calories, soon none of my clothes will fit!”
Her pace brisk, she made her way past the main deck. There, loud music was blasting and a party was in full swing.
She noticed Lucy in the middle of the dance floor. It was hard not to. The scantily clad blonde bombshell wasn’t dancing. She was making out with some muscular shirtless hunk with dark hair and a golden tan. It looked like they were getting hot and heavy.
“For someone who wanted to spare a grieving family’s feelings, she’s sure not hiding that she’s moved on,” Claudia said to herself.
She suspected copious amounts of alcohol had likely played into Lucy’s decision to carry on in public with her vacation fling. Like food, it was difficult not to overindulge in alcohol on a cruise - particularly when one had purchased the drink package.
Claudia headed to the next floor, opting to take the stairs instead of one of the notoriously slow elevators. Indoors, a cake decorating class was taking place. Outside on the deck, a number of people were gathered around to watch a mime perform.
The next floor was one Claudia hadn’t spent much time on. It was mostly for kids. There was a daycare, a small rock climbing wall, a craft studio and an entertainment area with board games and children’s books. The entire floor was bustling with activity as rambunctious kids raced around at full speed. It was, perhaps, even louder there than on the party deck.
Claudia quickly ascended to the next floor. Most of it was off limits to passengers. According to the sign on the wall, the floor housed the laundry facilities, storage, some crew members’ cabins and an assortment of other necessary but unglamorous things.
Continuing on her way, Claudia went up yet another level. Her thighs were beginning to burn from climbing so many stairs and one of her shins was hurting, but she ignored her muscles’ complaints. It was good exercise.
She spotted Ashton in the business center. He was seated at a desk, staring intently at a computer. It didn’t surprise her that he couldn’t unplug even while on a cruise. Maybe he was checking on his cryptocurrency investments, or perhaps he was simply engaging with online friends. He struck Claudia as the type of guy who thrived in the online realm rather than in the real world.
“To each their own, I guess,” she shrugged.
Ashton was a strange, socially awkward guy, but that didn’t mean he was necessarily a bad person. She knew he was going through a lot as he struggled to navigate his place in his family after Chad’s death. She hoped he would find clarity and peace.
“Whoops!” Claudia gasped as she nearly collided with a group of boisterous, drunk vacationers exiting one of the ship’s many bars.
She could smell the delicious aroma of food being prepared somewhere nearby. Soon it would be dinnertime. That meant she needed to hurry up and get a good workout in. She stopped gazing around and picked up her pace.
An event must have recently ended, because tons of people were streaming out of the theater. Many walked aimlessly and without much regard for the flow of traffic. They went every which direction. They clogged up the entire floor, making it impossible to get by. It was chaos. The ship really could have used some traffic lights.
“Forget this,” Claudia muttered, not in the mood to fight her way through a crowd. She spotted a door that led to the deck and slipped outside. It was crowded out there too, but not as bad. She decided the best option to get away from all the people was to climb higher.
She remembered the very top deck of the ship, which seemed to be seldom used. She decided it would be the perfect place to walk without continuously having to dodge people who weren’t watching where they were going.
To Claudia’s delight, the uppermost deck was, in fact, mostly deserted.
She passed a petite, grey-haired woman who was out for a stroll. They said hello to one another and exchanged a few pleasantries. Then, once the woman had left, Claudia found herself alone on the deck.
After doing a few laps, she stopped to admire the view.
She had a gorgeous view at home, too - wide open country with nothing but farmland and sky for miles. There was even a modest lake slightly beyond her backyard. But she certainly didn’t have an ocean to gaze at back home in Prairie Crocus.
A large cruise ship was leaving port. She watched as the local authorities escorted the impressive white ship out of Bahamian waters in a small boat. She wondered how many ships - and tourists - came and went every day.
“I wonder how easy it would be to sneak onto a ship and hide?” Claudia mused. “What if that’s what Chad’s killer did? Maybe he or she isn’t even on this ship at all. Maybe the killer is long gone on another boat...or maybe they’re holed up somewhere in Nassau.”
As she considered the possibilities, she absentmindedly toyed with the beaded bracelet Scott had bought for her. Unfortunately, she must have pulled on it a little too hard. The elastic suddenly broke, sending teal colored beads scattering in every direction.
“Darn it!” Claudia hissed in dismay.
She had hoped to keep the bracelet as a souvenir of not only her first time in Nassau, but also her first vacation with her boyfriend. It was only an inexpensive piece of costume jewelry, but it was from Scott. She was determined to salvage it. If she could collect enough of the beads, she could re-string them and the bracelet would be as good as new.
She got down on her hands and knees and began to search every nook and cranny for beads.
What she found instead made her forget all about her broken bracelet.
