PART 1

The sun began its slow descent, suspended in the summer sky while brilliant shades of magenta, fuchsia, lavender, orange, and yellow completed the dream. Below a luxury ocean liner drifted lazily. The Poseidon, a twenty-story grand luxury ocean liner was more then 1100 feet long and carried 4000 crew and guests on a transatlantic crossing.

Jennifer Ramsey, a passenger, stood on her cabin's balcony where she had a perfect view of the sunset. Shifting her weight and leaning against the cold steel balustrade she gazed up at the sky, closing her eyes briefly to listen to the sounds around her.

The ocean lapping at the sides of the ship, the light breeze caressing her ears, stroking the soft brown tresses that hung around her face... everything seemed different now. It was all better then it had been before. Her world was a better place now.

A hand touched her arm and she turned around, reopening her eyes, coming face to face with Christian. A smile played on his lips. "What are you doing?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders. Jennifer shook her head, matching his smile. "Nothing." Christian shrugged. "Well come back inside. It's getting chilly out here." She nodded trailing after him, taking one last look at the sunset as he disappeared inside.

Upon entering the cabin, Chris was already seated on the couch, patting the seat beside him motioning for Jen to join him. Draping her body over the furniture and swinging her legs over Chris's she took his hands. They were silent for a moment looking into each others eyes.

"When?" he asked slowly as if putting great effort into the word. Jen sighed. "Today..." "Yeah, when today?" She winced at the seriousness of his tone. "Please." She begged, squeezing his hand gently. "I'll tell him." Lifting her free hand she brushed her fingers over his face. His skin was soft and smooth and she loved the way her fingers tingled after she touched him.

The door clicked open and she snatched her hand away, tearing her legs free from Christian's grasp. They both moved apart as Robert Ramsey, Jennifer's father, ex-mayor of New York City and former fire chief, entered the room, setting down his newspaper on the kitchen counter. "Hey, kids. How we doing?" He asked, noticing their nervous movements. His expression grew dark. "Hey, I didn't mean to surprise you."

Jennifer smiled. "We weren't really surprised, sir." Christian said folding his arms across his chest. This time it was Robert's turn to smile. "Christian, please stop calling me sir. It makes me feel old." But his cheery voice turned cold quickly. "It's just that I thought we had an agreement here."

"Dad, we're just sitting. People sit." Jennifer said defensively, frowning. Robert meanwhile seemed to be at loss for words, racking his brain for a response. "Look, I'm not trying to give you a tough time. But we've discussed this. Technically you're still under my roof-"

Jennifer cut him off. "Stop. Have you seen the size of this boat? Don't you think we could find about a million places to do that thing you think we want to?" Robert snorted in disapproval while Christian visibly went red in the face. "Look Jen, I am simply saying-"

"No. I am over your patronizing tone. I'm really over it." With that the girl jumped up from the couch, pushing past her father and stalked up the staircase. The bedroom door slammed behind her. Robert seemed unfazed. Instead he turned to Christian. "Is she like this with you?" Chris shrugged, shaking his head. "I'll go talk with her, sir."

Robert opened his mouth in response but closed it, leaning against the kitchen counter. For the first time in a long while he looked weary.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christian stood outside the bedroom door. Lifting his hand, he knocked gently on the door. "It's me." He said softly to the closed door. The door opened a crack. Jennifer peaked out. "Is he gone?" she asked glancing down into the living area, her voice in a whisper.

"Yeah, he went upstairs." Jen nodded and waved her hand dismissively. She opened the door to its full extent allowing Chris to enter. She flopped backwards onto the bed, Chris sitting beside her. "Jen, he's only trying to protect you. Don't be so angry with him. He loves you a lot." She sighed loudly. "I know... but he should know I can take of myself now. I don't need him to hold my hand and lead me. That's exactly what does. He pretends that we're equals until it's not convenient for him. I'm sick of it."

Chris leaned back and propped his head up with his hand, his elbow resting on the bedcover. He decided to change the subject entirely. "Why don't you get ready? Get dressed and we'll head down to the club downstairs." Jennifer shook her head. "No, let's just stay here. We'll celebrate here…" Wrapping her arms around his body, she pulled him down onto his back.

But he pushed her off, not hard enough to make her angry but enough so she would know that he was serious. "No, we ca- I mean.. no. We're going down to the club tonight." "I guess you're right. All right baby, I'll tell you what. I'll get changed into something better and we'll go down. We'll dance and drink the night away!" Chris laughed and so did she. He kissed her, his lips pressing up against hers and the moment lasted forever.