Chapter One

Vale

"Are you sure you want to do this? It's not too late to back out, you know." My mom pleaded with me for the millionth time, unable to hide her fear of the ocean. And boats. And really water in general. Sometimes it amazed me that she showered. It was justified, though, her fear that was. At least in my eyes and hers, but I'd already signed on, completed the training, and would see this through.

Now, whether my new job as a cabin steward panned out or not would be the true test.

Gods of the sea, give me the strength to not be me.

"Yes, Mom." Good lord, would she ever get over this? I understood her fear, having watched me nearly drown when I was four. But whereas that drove me to become the best swimmer I could be, it only pushed her further back in the healing process. The poor woman was beside herself since I'd made the decision to join the crew of the cruise ship Magdalena, thanks to my best and really only friend, Darcy, who was a chief cabin steward aboard the ship.

Given the fact I'd spent my first few days of training in the infirmary with motion sickness, that only made matters worse in her eyes. But for me, once I got my sea legs it was smooth sailing from then on out.

He-he, smooth sailing. I crack myself up.

"Mom, you deserve a break and I need a job. This is a win-win for both of us." I hoped. Fuck, if I was wrong I'd be totally screwed and stuck in the middle of the ocean with no way out.

"You're my baby boy and I don't need a break from you, nor have I ever considered you a burden. We're a team, you and me. I don't want you to go, especially not where you're off to." She dared not say boat or ship or any water vessel for that matter for fear of cursing the trip. "I do understand you're an adult and make your own decisions, but it doesn't mean I have to like them."

Did she truly understand, though? Hmm, the jury was still deliberating.

She spoke her truth, though. Mom would never give me anything but that. She always said, "We may not have a lot of money or at times any, but we always stay true to our word and earn what we have." The woman was wise beyond her years.

My inability to sleep all night, nor nap, had plagued the poor woman since I came running out of her womb and right into the waiting world. Diagnosed with hyperactivity at the young age of four, then as an adult with ADHD, she'd never had a break. We'd tried every medication known, whether prescription or holistic, and nothing worked but coffee. Even that was minimal at best.

Yes, I've been drinking coffee since I was four. Don't shame me.

For all intents and purposes, I was just…me. Or as Mom preferred to say, I was unique. My own person and her special little man.

Unique, special, with an uncanny knack to drive every human I encountered insane within the first hour of meeting me, except for Darcy. Don't get me wrong, there were times she wanted to choke me, but she was still there for me. Always.

Keep a job? That was near impossible, and my extensive resume spoke to that. Had to remove quite a few failed attempts to make it work without overwhelming potential employers. No one would read a twenty-seven-page resume. Not that mine was that long, but you get the gist of it.

Lack of focus ?

Talk too much ?

Acts on impulse ??

Yeah…

Imagine trying to keep a boyfriend.

Not. Gonna. Happen.

I was doomed to lead a lonely life so I might as well have as much fun as I could, even if it was by myself.

When the one friend I'd somehow managed to keep suggested I join her crew, it was something I had to seriously consider. As much as it pained me to think about, Mom wasn't going to be here forever. Besides, it was time I became a fully functioning adult.

And now here I was, boarding the cruise ship in Seattle at the butt crack of dawn for a just over two week, all gay Pride Cruise.

May the gods of the sea shine brightly upon me.

Or something along those lines…

Either way, it should be interesting. Right?

"Vale! Vale!"

Darcy called out to me, already on board, her arms frantically waving as she struggled to gain my attention. "You nearly missed check-in."

"I know. I forgot to finish packing, then crammed everything into my luggage this morning. Then made the mistake of stopping for coffee and left right after I paid for it so I had to turn around and pick it up." Idiot brain. When it kept focused I did amazing things. Knocked tasks off my lists like a champ. But when my focus was shit, all hell broke loose and the simplest of things slipped through the cracks.

Without any sort of outlet or goals set.

Fucking squirrels.

With the cabin steward job, Darcy had checklists with our daily tasks for us to work from and we had a limited amount of time to spend in each cabin to complete them. Organized chaos was how I best operated and this sounded like the ideal job for me.

She met me at check-in and led me to the room I had been assigned. I hoped my roommate wasn't… "Wait." Darcy opened the door and her silly familiar rainbow teddy bear blankie sat at the foot of one of the beds. Given how many times we'd curled up together under it while watching movies, there was no mistaking it. "How'd you swing this?" To say I was relieved didn't even cover it.

"I have my ways," she winked. "Given your openness in answering the employee questionnaire, I asked if it would be possible to have you as a roommate and Captain Solis agreed."

"Thank the gay gods for that. I was so afraid of a less ADHD-tolerant roommate getting stuck with me."

"That and the fact we're both gay gave him less pause for concern. There are some on the crew that are actual couples and long-time employees, and he allows them to share a room. With us being BFFs it was an easy sell. Come on, let's get you unpacked. We're in this tin can far too long to live out of suitcases."

Darcy and the other chief cabin stewards boarded yesterday to verify the previous team had set all the rooms right. What wasn't done, they fixed and prepared for the newbies to on-board today. Later this afternoon the passengers would join us. Then the chaos would begin.

Thanks to Darcy, my things were put away in record time and we were off to meet the others for a quick crew meeting the captain had called in the conference center before the passengers boarded. Promptly at the top of the hour, Captain Solis's face appeared on the big screen and his booming voice silenced the rowdy crowd.

"Welcome, both new and returning crew members. As we embark upon this sixteen-day voyage to the Hawaiian Islands, I felt it prudent to point out that we will be hosting a sold-out crowd." Claps and cheers erupted. "Yes, yes, we will be busy for sure and with that many bodies aboard, as much as we could hope and pray for smooth sailing, it won't be without hiccups. Therefore, we've increased security presence." Gentle head bobs rolled through the room in a sinuous wave. Mostly by returning staff who must've experienced these types of challenges previously.

"Please turn to the secondary monitor to review our itinerary." Captain Solis read it aloud.

"Day 1, Seattle, set sail at 4pm sharp."

"Days 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 – all at sea."

Whoa, that is a long time…

"Day 7 – Honolulu, Oahu."

"Day 8 – Nawiliwili, Kaui."

"Day 9 – Kahului, Maui."

"Day 10 – Hilo, Hawaii."

"Days 11, 12, 13, 14 – all at sea."

"Day 15 – Victoria, BC."

"Day 16 – Seattle."

Would I be able to survive this?

Suddenly, the length of my contract slapped me upside the head. Four months. In one place. With no escape.

Wasn't this how most horror movies began?

"As you'll note, there are many consecutive days spent at sea and given that this is a themed cruise, the passengers will get restless and it's up to you to redirect their attention when you spot changes in attitude and actions. Mention the casino, the pools, shopping, etc. Since it's a kink cruise, remind them of the dungeon, littles' playroom, or even the pet play area."

Pet play?

I nearly yanked my phone from my pocket to open the map of the ship that I'd saved, which would've reflected poorly on me. This was something I'd surely remember once the meeting ended without being rude. But I wanted to see which room the animals would be in. Pet play. The words rolled around in my head. I planned to spend as much of my free time there as possible. Animals had a calming effect on me, but I didn't know we allowed non-assistance animals on-board.

But puppies?

Yes, please.

After the meeting adjourned, the steward staff returned to their designated areas to await any incoming calls from guests as they settled into their cabins and suites. Extra towels were the most asked for. We were given our list of cabin assignments and when the phones started ringing, we were off and running for sixteen fun-filled days of non-stop work.

Yes, you heard that right. Ten-to-fourteen-hour daily shifts for the duration of the cruise.

Good thing I wasn't a sleeper.

In between calls, we took the time to introduce ourselves to as many of the guests in our assigned areas as possible. Only made sense since we were already on the floor fulfilling their requests, though some had already wandered off and weren't in their rooms when I stopped by.

"Good afternoon, my name is Vale and I'll be your cabin steward for the duration of your journey." One by one I checked in at each cabin in the thirty-five units I was assigned. When I got to the last one my achy feet and I were ready for a break.

The door opened right as I knocked, and the man inside barreled into me. Prepared to land on my ass, imagine my surprise when I didn't.

"I'm so sorry." His arms held me in place. "I'm Vale, your…"

"My what?"

I nearly forgot where I was when he smiled. "Your-your…" Words escaped me just by being in this handsome man's presence.

"Steward?" he replied for me. I managed to nod as he helped me stand.

"Yes. Your steward. Vale. Hello, I'm Steward. I'm Vale." Ridiculous. Way to make a fool of yourself.

"Wonderful to meet you, Vale." Again, with that smile. Had I ever been stunned by a man as I was with him?

The answer was unequivocally no.

"Okay. Bye." I bolted down the hall, right to the stairway, and didn't stop until I reached my cabin.

"Why are you so out of breath?" Darcy asked. She knew better than to panic before I explained whatever mayhem I had gotten into. Having dealt with a mistake or a thousand of mine over the years, she didn't easily rile.

"Man. Fell. Hot." I slid to the floor behind the door, and she handed me a bottle of water.

"Deep breaths." My dear friend had the patience of a saint. "Okay, now start from the beginning."

"I got to my last room, right as I went to knock the door opened and the guy ran into me. Nearly knocked me on my ass but he caught me and just held me there. His cologne was so musky. He was so…" and I chased the squirrel down a path I dare not tread but damn, was it sweet.

"Do. Not. Go. There. Vale. You know the rules."

I did and Darcy went to bat for me with this job. My employment track record was less than stellar but she pushed, and they hired me. "I know." But that smile would be tucked away as a happy place for me.

She took my hand and helped me up. "Come on, let's get dinner."

The day had flown by, and it was later than I thought when we reached the employee dining area. With a staff head count well into the hundreds, the dining hall operated twenty-four hours a day with two shifts. Surprisingly, the café boasted a large menu to choose from and the food wasn't bad.

"Now, the real fun begins," Darcy said as we took a seat. "The one positive on these voyages is that we're never bored and work so hard we pass out as soon as our heads hit the pillows. You might actually sleep, Vale."

"Funny girl." But one could only hope.

"All right, eat up so we can give the remaining members of our team their dinner break."

"Wait, there's more work?" Whining wasn't me but damn, my feet hurt. While sharing a room had many perks, the long hours that would come with it might just do me in.

"Yes, my youngling. There is so much more. The night is young, as are we and the boat is packed. Welcome to the crew."

Part of the crew, part of the team.How those infamous words rattled my brain.

With a quick finger comb to my wavy hair, not much else I could do with it, we were off and running. Literally. Until the overnight crew took over.

"Is it always like this?" Darcy and I had just returned to our room for the night, both well beyond exhausted. Young or not, running like we were had worn out my hyper ass, and that was saying something.

"Pretty much. When the passengers go ashore for island excursions, it's quiet call wise but we're usually cleaning their rooms so we're still busy. But free room and board plus we still get paid. Four months on with a month off. For me, that makes it worth it. I crash at my mom's when I'm home, meanwhile my income sits in the bank earning interest. Until I find my forever person, this is the life for me."

Also, the way Darcy avoided heartbreak. Again.

Wasn't that what it all came down to? Buying into the dream that our forever awaited us somewhere out in the great wide unknown. As humans, we hold onto that dream in the hopes our aching hearts would be healed when the right person came along.

Egging the house of the creator of that nonsense sounds fair, don't you think?

"I'll get changed then the shower's all yours." Darcy words snapped me from the ova poultry bombs I'd envisioned landing on an unsuspecting house as she grabbed her PJs and headed for the bathroom. I gathered my bath stuff and waited my turn. I don't think I'd ever looked more forward to a shower more than I did now.

"We need a foot massage." I blew Darcy air kisses on my way to the bathroom.

"You could sweet talk Trina at the nail salon for one of her infamous pedicures."

The record scratched and I slammed to a halt. "Excuse me?"

"She manages the nail salon on the shopping deck. Every once in a while we bribe her with treats to treat our feet."

"Did you mean for that to come out like a children's limerick?" I'm sure she did, Darcy was quite witty after all.

"You know it, babe. But seriously, I'll hook us up, but make sure to give her a nice tip in the end. You won't regret it, Vale."

When you can't remember when your last mani-pedi was that meant it had been too long. "Um, yes, please. Sign me up."

Darcy laughed as she snuggled under her blankie. "I'm so glad we're on this trip together."

"Me, too, babes. Me, too."