Lance was still in the same spot he had been in when he had watched Hannah dash to the exit when Joey came outside looking for his friend. Joey could always pinpoint where Lance was. They’d been best friends since they were in school and had always been close. But since Lance’s break up with Janine, he had changed into a totally different person. Someone that Joey wasn’t sure he liked.

        “Hey man,” Joey called, walking up to Lance. “What you doing out here?”

        Lance stopped staring at the door long enough to realize that Joey was standing beside him. “Nothing,” he replied.

        “We’re all heading down to the lounge. There’s some big party there. Justin says there’s lots of hot chicks there,” Joey chuckled at Justin’s use of words a few minutes ago. “You want to come?”

        “I don’t think so.”

        “It’ll be fun,” Joey urged. He really wanted Lance to come. For the last two months, Lance had never gone out and had fun. He always had some excuse to get out of having to hang out with his friends. “You haven’t look at one girl since you’ve got on this ship. You’re usually the one whose all over them.”

        “Not tonight, okay? I just don’t feel like it.”

        Joey rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “She’s really done a number on you, hasn’t she?”

        Lance turned around and finally looked at his friend. “Who’s done a number on me?” He frowned at the use of those words. No one ever did a number on him. Well, except Janine.

        “That Hannah chick,” Joey said. “She’s really got her hooks in you, doesn’t she?”

        “No,” Lance said quickly. “We were just friends.”

        “Were?”

        Lance looked out at the water. “She doesn’t want to be friends anymore. She thinks I’m just feeling sorry for her.”

        “Well, aren’t you?”

        “At first I was. But she’s such an amazing person, Joey. Now I really want to be her friend. But she doesn’t trust me.” Lance picked at the fabric of the scarf around his neck, not meeting Joey’s eyes. “She doesn’t trust me.” And it hurt that she didn’t.

        “She barely knows you,” he said. “You can’t expect her to just trust you overnight.”

        “And why not? I’m trying to help her, but she won’t let me. How can she learn to trust me if she won’t give me a chance?”

        Joey put a hand on his shoulder. “You have to earn her trust, man. Just give it time. If you really want to be her friend, you can wait.”

        “What’s the point?” Lance shrugged his shoulders. “We’ll be docked in New York in four days. I’ll probably never see her again.”

        Joey didn’t know what to say. Joey was never the one to give advice on anything. It had always been Lance the one giving advice. Until now.

        “I don’t know what to tell you, man.”

        “You don’t have to tell me anything. Who am I kidding anyway? She’s from third class. I don’t want to be seen with the likes of her anyway,” Lance said, looking back out at the water, his eyes still showing tear stains after the telegram he had received earlier from Janine.

        Lance, I’m going to meet you in Cherbourg. Can you believe it? We’re going to be together again. Wait for me. Have lots to tell you.

        Janine

        Seeing that his friend was spaced out and it a different world, Joey hit him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t say things like that. So what if she’s from third class? When the hell did that start to matter? You were hooked on her from the start.”

        “I don’t want to be seen with the likes of her,” Lance repeated, and that kept Joey quiet for the rest of their conversation.

        Lance left with Joey after a few minutes of silence, and the two joined the rest of their friends at the party.

        Hannah came out from her hiding spot behind a ladder. “I’m special, huh? Some friend you are.” She wiped the tears that had formed in her eyes as she had listened to Lance talk about her to Joey.

        She ran for the nearest exit, not recognizing that she had dropped her mother’s wedding ring on her way out.

*****
        Lance hadn’t enjoyed himself this much in a long, long time. The last few days on the ship he’d been hanging around Hannah too much, he realized. He had missed out on all the attractive, young, unattached women that were on the ship.

        Who needed someone anyway that didn’t want to be cared about? Not me, Lance thought. No way.

        This was the way his life was supposed to be, Lance knew. No emotional attachments, just meaningless sex with women who would never mean anything to him. Why had he even thought about getting involved with a woman like Hannah, anyway?

        He had just been attracted to her because she was so different from Janine, the only woman who had ever managed to take his heart. And she had broken it several times, cheating on him with various men every chance she got.

        And where had that relationship got him? It had left him with a broken heart, making him believe that every woman in the world was just like Janine. Hannah had been the only one to give him hope that that wasn’t true.

        If Hannah didn’t want his friendship, that was just fine. He could find attention from someone else. He hadn’t had sex in nearly four months, and it felt good to finally be back in the groove of it again.

        He didn’t know her name, but Lance didn’t care. He just knew the sex was good. It wouldn’t have mattered what her name was. She was just there to satisfy his needs. And he was there to satisfy hers.

        He didn’t tell her his name, either.

        A few hours later, without a word spoken or even a note left, Lance slipped out of the young girl’s state room on B deck and headed back down to the lift. He knew Joey would be looking for him. Lance had promised to go down and fence with him.

        Joey had been sure he could beat Lance. But as always, Lance was set to prove his friend wrong.

        But when he got down the staircase, he stopped abruptly. There was Hannah, talking to the purser.

        “I can’t remember,” she was saying. “I had it in the pocket of my jacket. I was outside on the boat deck a little earlier. Maybe I dropped it, I don’t remember!” There were tears running down her cheeks, and she couldn’t look straight at the purser. She looked almost ashamed.

        What had she lost? Lance wondered.

        “It’s okay, calm down.” The purser leaned over and rubbed her arm gently. “Just give me the description and I’ll make sure the guards get on it right away.” His name tag read ‘Bart’ and Lance almost laughed at the way he was flirting with Hannah.

        “Thank you,” Hannah cried and covered her face. “If I lost it, I’d be so devastated. My mother gave it to me before she died. She wanted me to have it so I could remember the love her and my father shared.”

        “We’ll find it,” Bart said, reassuringly. “I’m sure you just dropped it. I bet someone picked it up and dropped it off at the lost and found. I’ll get someone to check for you.”

        “Thank you so much. I really appreciate this.”

        Hannah covered her face again once the purser turned around and went back to work checking on the evening’s schedule for dinner. It was his job to make sure everything was set, so nothing went wrong.

        “What did you lose?” Lance asked.

        Hannah looked up and saw Lance leaning against the poll that was connected to the staircase. “My mother’s ring,” she said quietly. She turned away from him and started walking in the other direction back to the lift.

        “Maybe we could try and find it together,” he offered.

        “That’s not necessary.” In her voice there was a hint of anger, and Lance caught on. He flinched a little, but said nothing more until she reached the lift and waited for the lift attendant.

        Lance walked over to her. “At least let me walk you back to your room.” 

        “Really, it’s not necessary. I can get there by myself. I’m not a child.”

        “I didn’t say you were.”

        She met his gaze. “Why do you keep following me? Didn’t I make myself clear this morning?” Her voice was softer, but he could still sense the hint of anger, but now he could sense that she sounded bitter. But why?

        He nodded. “You made yourself very clear. But I thought…” He trailed off, shrugging his shoulders. “I thought that you’d think about what you said and would realize that I was just trying to be a good friend and that you were sorry for how cruel you were to me.”

        “No, sorry.”

        “You really don’t believe in trusting people, do you?”

        Hannah shook her head. “Not now,” she whispered. “Not after what you said about me.”

        He looked slightly confused….and concerned. Not for himself, but for her. “What I said about you?” Lance repeated.

        She sighed. “Yeah.”

        “I’ve never said anything bad about you,” he told her. “Have I?”

        Hannah took a breath and pulled off her hat. “What you told Joey this morning after I left.”

        “Oh.” He caught his breath. She had heard him? He wasn’t sure what to say now. He hadn’t meant what he had told Joey. He had just been speaking out of anger. “Oh,” Lance said again.

        “Yeah oh.” Hannah searched his eyes. “Besides, I’m sure you’re not that sorry for what you said. Speaking of, how was the party?”

        You didn’t have to be a genius to know that she was upset about him going to that party. Lance wondered if it was already out that his slump was over. That once again he was back in the game. That he wasn’t alone when he went into that girl’s hotel room earlier.

        So Lance just shrugged. “It was okay, I guess. Kind of loud.”

        “I saw you coming out of that girl’s room earlier,” Hannah admitted. “I was holding you back, wasn’t I? You felt so sorry for me that you hung around. I’m sorry I kept you from things like that.”

        He gave her a questioning look. “Kept me from things like what?”

        “It’s obvious that you’re a party guy. You know, have a few drinks then leave with a pretty girl.”

        “That’s not…”

        Hannah’s voice rose a little, but she kept it down not to alert other passengers with their heated conversation. “I don’t understand how you can sleep with a girl you don’t even know. I never thought you were like that. And to be honest, I’m ashamed to say I even know you.”

        Hannah stepped onto the lift without another word. She didn’t even look at him as the lift carried her up back to third class.

        Lance scowled, muttering a few curses. “Damn you,” he muttered and headed back around the corner.

        What right did she have talking to him like that? She didn’t even know him.

        Now Lance knew they were better off staying away from each other.

        He just wished his heart would stop beating so fast when she was around.

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