Disclaimer: Still don't own it, although my birthday is coming up…sigh I'm not making any money out of writing this, so please refrain from suing a poor Canadian girl who's down on her luck….Anyway, here's the next chapter…
Chapter 2
She was almost there. The hatch to the interior of the ship was in sight, as was the uniformed crewmember smiling and checking peoples' tickets before welcoming them cheerfully aboard.
Ashe absentmindedly fiddled with her hair, which was pulled into a knot at the back of her head and held in place with chopsticks. Her appearance had changed since her high school days. Her hair no longer resembled a dead beaver lounging on her head, and instead fell to her below her shoulder blades in thick, dark brown waves. Her features were delicate and faintly pretty, her blue-gray eyes lined and shadowed with green powder, her lips painted a rosy pink. Her body was thin, and had finally achieved the gorgeous curves it had been striving for since she was fourteen, and she had long, slender legs. She wore a body-hugging deep green halter top and a short denim skirt, showing off her early summer tan, and strappy, height enhancing sandals that helped to boost her mere five foot three inches to a more acceptable height. She was actually very pretty, but to her own mind, she looked like a fat, scantily dressed old cow.
With a sigh of resignation, she reached the head of the line, and handed her ticket and papers over to the smiling crewman.
"Hello there, miss..." he checked her ticket, "Garner." He flashed her another smile. "Beautiful day, huh? A perfect day for the start of a voyage!" Ashe gave him a half smile in return and willed him to hurry up. She wanted to be on her own for a while after being around all these people for so long.
Apparently taking her hint, the man quickly rifled through her papers and then handed them back, along with a white key card.
"Everything seems to be in order," he said, his cheery smile never faltering, "Cabin number two twenty-eight's yours. Enjoy your stay on the 'Arctic Pearl', Miss Garner."
With a mumbled "Thanks", Ashe proceeded through the door onto the ship, stuffing her papers back into her purse.
A long corridor stretched to either side of her, with a stairwell right in front of her. A sign declared that the stairs leading up would take her to the first passenger deck, the stairs leading down would take her to cabins #1-300, and the floor she was on now held cabins 301-500, as well as a restaurant/bar called 'The Blue Oyster'.
Taking the descending stairs, Ashe followed the bronze signs posted along the corridors until she reached a door whose plaque proclaimed it to be 'Cabin 228'. She fumbled through her purse until she found her key card, and inserted it into the slot. The green light flashed at her, and she opened the door and stepped in, still dragging her suitcase behind her.
There was a short hall leading up to the bedroom area, with a door on each side. The door on the right was a closet with twenty or so hangers on the rod and a few shelves. The other door proved to be a bathroom, with the floor and walls all done in the same dark blue tile. There was a sink on one wall, with a mirrored cabinet over it. Behind a blue and green patterned shower curtain was a deep bathtub complete with a detachable shower nozzle. A toilet adorned the opposite wall, with a small round porthole above it. Standing on her tiptoes, she could see out of it to the docks.
Exiting the bathroom, Ashe wandered into the bedroom. The bed was against one wall, made of plain brass and covered with a red print bedspread. There was a small, dark wood bedside table sporting a red-shaded lamp and a digital clock radio. Its one drawer contained only an unused looking Bible. The walls were papered in a warm red and brown design, and a rather cheap looking fake chandelier hung from the ceiling. There was a dark wood desk on the opposite wall from the bed, on which rested a phone, another red-shaded lamp, and various lists of available room services. The desk's single drawer contained a notepad and pen, and a few brochures for the many restaurants and shops onboard. Below the drawer was a cabinet that held a combination safe and a well-stocked mini-bar. An upholstered chair was pulled up to the desk, and a matching loveseat adorned the wall between the desk and the bed. The silver frame above the loveseat held a picture of an old ship Ashe recognized as the Titanic.
'To make their passengers feel secure, I suppose,' Ashe thought with a snort of amusement.
She spent some time unpacking, then shook out her hair and prepared to go explore the three main passenger decks. Tucking her key card into her purse and slinging that over her shoulder, she resolved not to look as self-conscious as she felt. Striving for a confident air, she tilted up her chin and took a deep breath before opening the door of her cabin and stepping out. She turned to close it behind her and make sure it was locked. Taking another calming breath, she spun around and took a confident step forward – and slammed right into a fellow passenger.
The man let out a startled "Oof!" as he crashed against the opposite wall. Ashe was thrown back against her door, the handle digging painfully into her lower back. The man's two suitcases fell at her feet, knocking her right foot off its high heel. She went sprawling to the floor with a loud thud, her ankle throbbing with pain.
Flustered and blushing furiously she stood up, ignoring the pain, and started apologizing profusely, avoiding the man's eyes. He probably thought she was such a klutz! So much for confident, she thought as she blinked back embarrassed tears. She was such a loser! She braced herself for the man to start yelling at her, or even worse, laughing at her. She should have just stayed in her cabin alone!
She started when she felt something touch her shoulder. She jumped back, realizing that the man had grabbed her to help steady her. She backed against her door again. She didn't like men being this close to her.
He was studying her with an odd expression. He was tall, she noticed, and very good looking. He wore jeans and a plain blue tee-shirt that showed off his lean build. His hair was almost the same color as hers, cropped short but not too short. He had a sharp, aristocratic-looking face, and his mouth was curled into a gently enquiring smile which didn't quite reach his eyes. His eyes were the most prominent feature of his face, a startlingly bright blue-green whose gaze was sharp and penetrating. Ashe suddenly found herself locked in that gaze, as if it were pinning her down so that he could examine the deepest depths of her soul at his leisure.
Wrenching her ayes away from his, Ashe realized he was speaking to her.
"It's alright," he assured her in response to her apologies, "No harm done."
He noticed her wobbling on her hurt ankle. "Are you alright? Haven't got your sea legs yet, eh?" he said sympathetically, "It usually takes me a few days to get my own." He smiled understandingly.
'Great,' thought Ashe, 'now he thinks I'm some sissy girl who doesn't even know how to walk on a boat.' She mentally chided herself, 'Or walk in heels on one.'
"I-I'm fine," she stammered, still feeling uncomfortable from the presence of a male in such close quarters, "I'm really sorry-"
"Its fine," he said, cutting her off. "What's your name, by the way?"
She balked for a moment at giving her name out to a stranger, but she knew that the reason she came on this cruise was to learn to open up and get to know people.
"Ashe Garner," she said quietly.
"Jack Ferriman," he replied, holding out his hand in greeting. After another short moment of trepidation, Ashe took it. As she did so, she felt again that queer feeling of being examined, or searched for something, like she was one of the biology experiments she had done in high school. She retracted her hand, and risked looking up at him again. Thankfully, his eyes had lost their piercing quality and were now unreadable, though Ashe thought she saw a tiny hint of triumph in them. At what, she couldn't imagine. He was also smiling, a charming smile that included his whole face, lighting it up.
"See you around then, Ashe," he said, and, picking up his bags, he continued down the corridor. Ashe watched him until he turned a corner and disappeared.