Chapter Four
This isn’t so bad, she thought.
Okay, she admitted to herself, she
was having a good time. She was having a blast.
They had only been sitting down for
a few minutes before he had her laughing at his crazy jokes. And now Lance
was telling her his life story, which she found quite amusing. Their lifestyles
were so different, and she wondered what it would feel like to live a life
like his where you had no worries about money or shelter.
Hannah looked down at her coffee
cup. She hadn’t had much cause it was still full right up to the top. She
looked over at Lance, who was looking across the room at a woman and a man
having a heated argument.
“She looks familiar,” he said.
“Who?”
Hannah looked in the direction he
was looking, and saw a young woman, a little younger than Hannah who had long
blonde hair and dark hazel eyes. She was from first class, no doubt, if her
clothes were any indication. She was wearing a long blue dress with lace
covering the bottom, and white gloves that covered her hands. She was talking
with a man a little taller than her. But the woman was standing her ground,
getting in a curse every so often when the man wouldn’t let her talk.
Lance’s face went cold.
“What is it?” Hannah asked.
Lance didn’t answer her question.
He just continued to stare at the couple across the room. Suddenly, his jaw
dropped and he looked back at the empty mug in front of him.
“Another coffee,” he said to the
waiter. Once the waiter cleared away his cup, the smile was back on Lance’s
face, as if nothing had happened. That left Hannah wondering what on earth
was going on.
She didn’t bother to ask him because
she knew he wouldn’t tell a stranger. Or maybe he was the kind of person
to open up to a stranger, but she didn’t want to impose. She was worried
that he would snap at her or say something that he would regret later.
And she was just starting to like
him. Why risk it to see his temper flare anymore than it already was?
The lounge was pretty crowded for
seven o’clock at night. In the corner, there were three tables that were playing
cards. The tables across the room were filled with people sharing liquor
and conversation. The only empty table was the one the arguing couple had
vacated before going at each other’s throats.
Hannah didn’t know much about rich
people, but she could see they definitely dealt with their problems differently.
“I wonder what could be going on,” she said when the conversation between
the man and woman seemed to get louder. But Hannah still couldn’t hear what
they were saying.
Lance blew on his hot coffee then
took a long sip. “Don’t know, don’t care,” he said in a tone that made Hannah
realize that he must know these people, and didn‘t care to discuss the situation
any further. Or maybe the woman, she thought.
Hannah decided that it was time to
leave. She didn’t like the new expression on his face. It was a little frightening.
She grabbed her shawl and got up from her chair.
Lance looked over at her, realizing
she was getting ready to leave. “Where are you going?”
“Back to my room.”
“Why?” he asked.
Hannah put the shawl around her shoulders.
“It seems to me that you need to be alone.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Why
would you say that?”
“You’ve been staring at that couple
over there the last ten minutes,” Hannah said. “Everytime I tried to start
a conversation with you, there you went. Back to looking at them. And I
know I don’t know you very well….so I don’t want to ask any questions about
it. I just don’t think you want me here right now.”
“That’s not true!” He was getting
desperate, he realized. But it was okay, he thought. He was getting used to
trying new things. “I just…I’m sorry,” he apologized, grabbing her hand. “Please
stay. I won’t look again, I promise.”
Hannah was starting to rethink her
decision, but then she looked at the clock on the side wall. “It is getting
kind of late…”
“At least let me walk you to your
room.” Lance grabbed his coat from the back of his chair and attempted to
put it on with one hand.
“Okay,” she said hesitatingly.
But she noticed that on their way
out, Lance’s eyes were still on the woman in the blue dress.
****
Hannah peaked her head in the door
and found Lisa fast asleep with Johnny in her arms. She turned back to Lance,
who was in his own world, looking up at the ceiling.
She didn’t want to ask who that woman was cause she knew it would just upset
him. But it seemed that he was already. Hannah wondered who that woman was
and why it had affected him like that. One minute he had been laughing and
telling her jokes about a cat and a rabbit, then his green eyes had turned
dark and cold.
Lance fiddled with the key in his
pocket, trying not to think about seeing that woman earlier. But he had eyes;
he knew what he saw and he knew it had been her. And he was just starting
to enjoy himself. He had enjoyed laughing and sharing stories with Hannah.
She was a breath of fresh air. He was so used to talking to uptight and cocky
people who thought the only thing that mattered in life was money and fame.
Hannah was the total opposite. She didn’t seem to even care that he was
rich…She didn’t even seem to care that she wasn’t.
“So I think I’ll just jump off the
back of the ship and swim to shore.”
That caught his attention. “Huh?
Are you crazy? You’ll get killed!”
Hannah laughed. “I wasn’t serious.
Just trying to get you to look at me. Are you alright? You seem really shaken.”
“I’m fine.” He stuffed his hands
in his back pockets and looked back at her. “I just had a glimpse from my
past.”
“Ah.” She understood now. That woman
must have been part of his past in Florida. Or wherever he was from. “So
she was distracting you. It’s not just me seeing things.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. It’s
really rude of me to act this way since I invited you for coffee.”
“Don’t worry about it. I understand.”
He wondered how she did that. How
was she able to look past everything and just accept for the good in every
situation? He knew he could never be like that…He got paranoid off the smallest
things.
“Why are you so uncomplicated?” he
asked, amazed that after all she’d been through in her life, she still managed
to make the best out of things.
“Why are you complicated?” Hannah
asked with a twinkle in her eye. “Look, I may have had a lot of disadvantages
in my life. But that only makes me stronger. I’ve learned that you just have
to accept things for the way they are.”
“Meaning you can accept me for being
an ignorant pompous jerk?”
That made her laugh. “You’re not
a jerk.”
He almost smiled. “Thanks, I think.”
“But,” she said seriously, “if you
ever need someone to talk to, I’m a good listener.”
Lance knew she was implying that
he could tell her about his past, but he wasn’t quite ready to tell her
about that woman in the lounge. It had been at a point in his life where
he felt at his lowest. He didn’t want to go back there again.
“And by the way.” She smiled slowly,
her teeth setting into a grin. “You’re forgiven for completely ignoring
me.”
He leaned against the doorframe and
grinned back at her. “Good. Just hit me if I ever do it again. Then I’ll
get the picture.”
“Assuming I ever see you again,”
she said quietly.
He folded his arms over his chest,
challenging her statement. “Why wouldn’t you?”
Hannah shrugged her shoulders. She
had just assumed since they were both in different classes and on different
ends of the ship, they would never see each other again. Let alone giving
him another chance to ignore her.
“I’m kinda getting used to you,”
he admitted. “I was sensing that we were getting to be friends.”
Hannah swallowed. She didn’t trust
herself enough to make friends. Other than Lisa, of course.
Lance waited for her to say something,
but when she didn’t, he took a step forward. They were close enough that
their shoulders were almost touching. He could smell her scent, a flowery
one, nearly causing him to step back. He was NOT supposed to be feeling this.
He wasn’t supposed to be falling for her. No, no. He shook his head. This
was not happening.
The fluttering in his stomach was
making him feel a little uneasy. “Maybe I should go,” he said, wrapping a
lock of her hair around his finger.
“Maybe.” She watched the action of
his fingers in her hair. She was starting to lose her footing, but thankfully
Lance was holding her up with his other hand on her back.
“Why don’t you come and have breakfast
with me and my friends tomorrow? Bring your friend along. The guys are dying
to meet the woman who once said no to a walk on the deck with me.” He grinned
slowly.
She pretended to think about it a
while. “Oh, I guess so.”
He stepped back, letting go of her.
“Don’t make it sound like I’m forcing you to or anything,” he said, rolling
his eyes.
Hannah realized she liked it when
he smiled.
“I’m sure Lisa would love to. What
time do they serve breakfast?”
“It starts at 7, but breakfast is
served till 10. What do you say we meet in the lounge for say…8?” he suggested.
“Sounds good. We’ll be there.”
“Great.” He turned to leave, but
stopped and turned. “Again, sorry for tonight. I’ll make it up to you.”
He was gone before she could even
say anything. She stood there in silence, looking down at her feet. Damn,
that man was really starting to get to her.