Tommy

The ceiling of my cabin was made of metal panels, each held up with four heavy duty bolts and nuts. I only knew this because I had spent a good chunk of the early morning staring up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure if it had been the bright sunlight off the water or the rocking of the boat, but I just couldn't get myself to fall back asleep after I woke up a little after 5 am. I tossed and turned for a bit before giving up, deciding to just stare out the sliding glass doors to the right of my cabin. I had left it open a crack after coming back last night, needing the fresh air after the mess I had found myself in last night.

I still couldn't believe that I had run into Kimberly. Well, more like saved her from a watery grave but still. What were the chances of this happening? Was I going to be struck by lightning next? Sighing, I sat up and leaned against the wall behind my bed. I wasn't upset about having to get locked in the little jail cell for about half an hour. I understood how bad it looked to the outside person and that they needed to sort things out. I was more hung up on the fact that the girl Adam had been smitten by just happened to be traveling with Kimberly. Of all the people in the world, she was the last person I suspected I would bump into on this ship. And I could tell from the look on her face that she felt the same when she saw me. She had looked like she had seen a ghost when we came out into the hallway. Like her, I hadn't been able to find the words of what I wanted to say to her. It was probably for the best after what she went through. I still felt like an idiot though, something that was contributing to my lack of sleep this morning.

Giving up on sleep, I rolled out of bed and decided to hit the gym. Maybe a workout would do me some good and the early morning hour would allow me to have some alone time with the equipment. I had been correct with that guess. There was only one other person in the giant room filled with state of the art exercise equipment, an older woman who was watching the news as she read on a treadmill. I went through the weight circuit, taking it easier than my normal workouts at home but still enough to not be a waste of my time. There was also a track on the outside of the room that was separated from the equipment with plexiglass walls. No one was on it though, give and take an employee sweeping the floor.

While I worked out, I thought about the last time I had seen anything of Kimberly. It might have been in some late night internet research when I was bored and had one too many beers. Jason had passed along the little information that she had a Myspace page and I thought I would check it out. To my surprise, her profile isn't private so I could see everything she had posted. Her profile picture was of her on the beach and the profile song had been a less popular one by The Beastie Boys, a band we had listened to together often when we were in a relationship. She had a lot of friends, posted some statuses about school and finishing up her teaching degree. She looked happy and seemed to be having a great life. It had been a punch to the gut when I had first seen that her relationship status wasn't shown but I noticed the only pictures she had with men were group shots of various people. There didn't seem to be anyone special in her life at the time, something that I had felt guilty being happy about. Her top eight consisted of mostly our friends and a few girls I didn't recognize that I assumed were her friends from school. It was like she had this complete other life from the one she had had in Angel Grove. She had moved on and I had tried to be happy for her.

Denial just isn't a river in Egypt.

Finishing up my workout, I showered quickly in the locker room and headed back to my room. Adam was coming out of his room as I walked up the hallway. He smiled at me, giving me a wave as I pulled my room key from the pocket of my shorts.

"Hey." He said. "You ready for breakfast? I told the girls we'd meet them up on the Lido deck to try out the cafe up there."

"Sorry, man. I think I'm gonna have to take a raincheck." I said, unlocking my room. I stepped in, letting him in as he scoffed.

"Tommy, c'mon! They are waiting for us up there. I can't show up without you." He replied, the door shutting behind me.

"Sure you can. Just tell them I'm feeling under the weather or something. I don't mean to be rude but I'm just not feeling up to it." I tossed the towel that was around my neck on the bed that was now made. "I'll catch up with you for lunch maybe."

"Dude, we both know that it's not because you're not feeling well." He said, leaning against the wardrobe. Sighing, I sat on the edge of the bed and rested my elbows on my knees.

"No shit." I said. "Adam, it's Kim. I can't just go up and make small talk over a specialty coffee like nothing happened between us. Of all the ways I pictured the two of us seeing each other since our break up, this wasn't any of them."

"Well, think of this as an opportunity for you guys to talk and clear the air. We're all adults here and I think this might be what's best for you."

"Oh, and I'm sure it has nothing to do with her friend you've just met." I said, casting him a look. He smirked, shrugging.

"I mean, it's an added hurdle that I will gladly jump for you but I won't hold it against you." I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night so I'm hoping I can get a nap. Why don't you tell them we will have dinner with them some night to make up for it? I don't want to crowd Kim right now and I think she'd agree with me on that. Doesn't she have a concussion or something? I don't think me hanging around will be great for that."

"No. The doctor cleared her." Adam stood up, putting his hands in the pockets of his white Bermuda shorts. "But, I get it. I'll tell them you are feeling some motion sickness or something. Do you want me to bring you something back for breakfast?"

"Nah. I'll just order some room service." I said, nodding towards the menus that were listed on the desk. "Just drop by if you want when you are done and we can find something to do on board. Maybe check out the activities on shore tomorrow so we can buy ahead of time."

"Okay. We'll be up on the Lido deck if you change your mind. We'll save you a seat." With a wave, he walked out. Pushing on my knees, I stood up and walked over to the menus. Gazing at it, I decided on a cold fruit plate, a bagel breakfast sandwich, and a large cup of coffee. I called the order in, the woman on the other end taking my order quickly. She said it would be here in about twenty minutes. Hanging up, I walked over to the dresser and started looking for something to wear. We would be onboard all day, heading towards the Bahamas and docking tomorrow. I was excited about what adventures would be waiting for us there and honestly, just getting off the ship sounded nice about now. I pulled the tank top I was wearing off, putting it with the other dirty clothes I had collected in my suitcase.

"Room service!" A voice called followed by a knock on my door. Walking over, I opened the door and was surprised to not see a person standing there. Instead, there was a tray on the ground with my order on it. Poking my head out, I saw that there was a person way down the other end of the hall pushing a cart. I grabbed my tray and headed back into my room, closing the door. Setting it down on the desk. I pushed the sliding glass door open all the way with my foot. I was met with the sound of the water and a far away cry of a seagull. The sea air smelled amazing in the wind, making me take a deep breath. The wind blew my curtain and I could feel it lifting my spirits. Maybe some time alone on this balcony would be some spiritual healing that I needed.

On the balcony, I saw there was a chair with a small table set up. Walking out, I set the tray on the table and grabbed the styrofoam cup of coffee. Taking a sip, I quickly realized it was too hot since it burned my tongue. I spit it out, doing my best not to spill the lava java down my front. Setting it back down, I went into the room and to the bathroom. I ran the cold water in the sink, sticking my tongue under the stream. The pain vanished and I stood up, looking at it in the mirror. There was no red mark that I saw, telling me that I wasn't at risk of not being able to taste anything the rest of the trip. Grabbing a towel, I wiped the water and the spilled coffee droplets off my bare chest before walking back out into the main room. Maybe I should just crawl back into bed and wait until tomorrow because I was not batting a thousand today. I grabbed a white t-shirt from the top dresser drawer and headed back out onto the balcony.

As I came out, I noticed a pair of feet resting up on the railing of the balcony next to mine that weren't there before. They were smaller feet with manicured toes, white tips on the nail. They connected to a pair of nicely toned and bronzed legs. There was a divider that separated the balconies, one that could be unhooked and moved if desired. Between the bars of it, I saw that it was a person who was laying in one of the deck chairs. They were wearing a pair of grey lounge pants that had slid down from their ankles to their knees due to the feet being propped up. I knew it was Kimberly the moment my eyes landed on her legs. There was no other woman on this planet that could compete with the muscles in her calves and the way the short stature of her body made them probably the sexiest things I had ever seen in my life. I was also well aware of the fact she hadn't noticed me yet, her eyes engrossed in the book in her hands. She had wide lens sun glasses on, the kind that covered pretty much 45% of her face. She also had a white sweater on over a pink tank top, warming her from the chill of the breeze. Her hair was tucked back in a ponytail, fly away pieces blowing in the breeze. She had a cup of coffee in one hand that she sipped from now and then, her eyes never leaving the pages of her book. Wven looking like she had just rolled out of bed, she was still the most beautiful girl I've ever met.

Now, I was left with a decision to make. Do I make myself known or just let her enjoy her quiet morning? She had skipped breakfast also, telling me that she wanted to avoid seeing me. That thought bummed me out but I didn't blame her. I had done the same thing, hoping to avoid this very situation. It was clear she didn't want to see me right now. Perhaps it would be best to let her have this time and allow her not to know I was in the room next door. This was new to me as well but it just made sense with the luck I was having on this damn ship. Perhaps I should start looking out for icebergs next. I moved to head back into my room without making her aware of my presence. As I turned though, I slammed into the table that contained my coffee and breakfast. It fell over, taking everything with it in a loud clattering noise. Behind me, I heard Kimberly gasp and then swear. I looked over at her and saw her jump up out of her chair, her book falling to the ground. I also saw that she now had coffee dripping down the front of her. She looked down at her clothes before raising her head to glare at me.

"Morning." I said sheepishly, giving her a smile. She let out this sputtering sound that reminded me of a car trying to turn over when it runs out of gas. Coffee was everywhere on both her balcony and mine, the remains of the food mixed into a pile in the middle of the wasted liquid.

"Were you trying to scare me to death?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Because you almost succeeded."

"Sorry. I was trying to go back into my room without you noticing but I tripped." I replied. "I'm sorry about your outfit."

"Wait. Your room?" She asked, leaning forward and looking to the right in the direction of my glass doors. "That is your room?"

"Yeah." I replied, gesturing behind me. "I've been in there since we boarded. I didn't realize I was right next to you either until I came out here and saw you. Adam's on the other side of me."

"That seems about right." I heard her mutter under her breath. She looked down at her clothes again, the coffee dripping from the ends of her sweater.

"Like I said, I'm really sorry about your clothes. I'll pay to have them dry cleaned." She shook her head.

"It's fine. I guess some of us figured it would be easier to just not wear any clothing out here. Less of a mess to clean up I suppose." She said, raising her eyebrow at me. I gave her a confused look, not knowing what she was talking about. She gestured a hand at me, causing me to look down. I saw that I was indeed only half dressed in my shorts still. That's when I remembered the shirt I had grabbed but not put on. It was still in my hand, probably the object that had caused me to hit the table to begin with.

"Oh! Sorry about that." Quickly, I pulled the shirt over my head and chest. Kim bent down and picked up her book and now empty cup. It had seemed that the book had been lucky enough to avoid any damage from the coffee spill, no signs of the brown liquid coming from the bags. It was the only thing that had managed that more than likely, forgo the coffee cup itself. "At least let me order you another cup of coffee from room service. It's the least I can do for scaring you like this and ruining your quiet time. I feel awful."

"As you should." She signed, tossing the book on the chair. "Aren't you supposed to be at breakfast with Andrea and Adam?" I noticed annoyance in her voice. I understood her being upset with the coffee accident but was she just annoyed with my general presence around her? I hadn't done anything to warrant that. If I recall correctly, I had just saved her life the night before. If anything, you'd think she would be a bit nicer to be at the moment. Of course, I've seen people react differently over my course of time being a Ranger who saved people for a living. However, since I've saved Kim numerous times, this was the first time that she's acted like this afterwards.

"I could ask you the same thing." I replied, putting my hands on the railing between us and gazing down at her. "I was trying to give you some space after what happened last night. I know the doctor said it might be a good thing for you."

"Right. Space. This is definitely that." She said, letting out a chuckle that was dripping in sarcasm. "Just stop doing me any favors, alright, Tommy?" She turned, heading into her room.

"You're welcome by the way." I called out. She came back out of her room, looking at me.

"For what? For scalding me with coffee at 8 am in the morning?" She asked. I suddenly recalled a conversation I had with our friend Jason when we were kids about how Kim had all the makings of being a Valley Girl if she wanted to. I had never seen her act out like one before, knowing she didn't have it in her to be mean and nasty to anyone. Clearly, I was mistaken in that opinion since I was getting my ass chewed out for breathing now. Had she turned into such a bitchy person since the last time I had seen her? She wasn't like this when we had seen each other at the fundraising tournament for the orphanage. We didn't talk much, knowing we didn't want to talk about what had happened and the lack of time preventing that. Right now, she seemed like a different person.

"How about for saving you last night? Or were you planning on using the stick that's shoved up your ass to save you?" She glared at me, taking her glasses off before taking two steps towards me. I could see anger flaring in her eyes as they narrowed at me. This was a side of Kim I remembered. Though rarely directed at me, I've seen her square up like this when we were set for a battle. I can see why some of the henchmen were terrified of her as she glared at me with a heated gaze. For a brief second, I was a little scared she'd pull out her Power Bow and use it on me.

"I didn't ask you to save me. That was something you decided to do on your own. Once a ranger, always a ranger I suppose, huh? Don't act like that means I owe you anything though."

"So what? I was supposed to just let you drown up there? Like I could live with that on my conscience after everything we've been through. I thought we were friends, Kim. At least, that's what we were the last time I saw you. I'm not quite sure why you are being this way to me. Is this about what happened between us when we were kids? Last time I checked, I'm not the one who ended things between us if I recall correctly." She scoffed, shaking her head.

"Good to see things never change. How long are you going to hold that over my head? Jason and Billy told me everything you said about me since the letter happened. We were kids. Time to move on, Tommy."

"Says the one acting like…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. She smiled and shook her head again, heading back to her door. She stopped in the doorway and sighed, looking over her shoulder at me.

"I've been called much worse than a bitch, Tommy. And I'm sure it won't be the last time either. It's a big ship. It might be best if we just avoid each other for the rest of the week."

"My thoughts exactly." I said. With that, she disappeared into her room and shut the door.