“I’m so sorry. We’ll make sure he doesn’t get near you for the rest of the cruise.”
“He’s probably relatively harmless,” Gianna said, although inside she was shaking. Dealing with these people took a lot out of her, which was one reason she almost never left her estate without hired security guards and had all her communications screened. “But I certainly don’t want him shadowing me for the rest of the cruise, trying to talk my ear off and asking inane questions.”
Walking fast, Trevor arrived. “Maeve called me and told me what happened. Are you okay?”
She noticed he was wearing his stunner and appreciated the precaution, although she was content with how she’d handled things. Of course she’d been standing in the crowded concourse, with the cruise director so nothing bad was likely to happen. “He’s not the most unbalanced conspiracy theorist I’ve ever met, let me put it that way. Verlaine was close to biting him and then I’d have been in trouble with the captain. And the jerk would have sued me no doubt.” Gianna sighed, all pleasure in the excursion gone.
“I’ll take over now,” Trevor told Juli. “Thanks for being there.”
“Again, my apologies,” Juli said to Gianna. “The captain will be sending him a stiffly worded warning once I make my report.”
“I only want him and any others like him to leave me alone,” Gianna said, giving Juli a smile because she understood the other woman was genuinely upset on her behalf.
“Oh we can definitely arrange that.” Trevor sounded grim and she imagined the lieutenant carting Mr. Lanloring off to the brig. Surely the ship had a brig? “I’m not leaving you alone again, although I’m puzzled why you didn’t call me if you wanted to go out. The damn reports can wait. The queues of administrative work have waited weeks already. I was only tackling them to fill in my shift while you were supposed to be resting in your cabin.”
“I’ll let the two of you discuss the issue by yourselves,” Juli said as they reached the entry to the passenger area. “Maeve says the captain wants to talk to me so I’m off. See you at dinner tomorrow, if not before.” She gave a wave and headed for a gravlift.
“I wanted to window shop and I didn’t want to bore you,” Gianna said as they proceeded toward her cabin. She raised the cream-and-blue shopping bag to show him. “There was an item I wanted to see at one of the shops we passed earlier today. Really, it was all fine. Verlaine enjoyed the outing, we had a nice chat with Juli, I spent lots of credits and had fun.”
He opened the suite portal for her and allowed her to walk past him. As he entered the room and saw the stack of shoe boxes which the ship’s robos must have delivered earlier, he whistled and raised one eyebrow. “I guess you did have fun.”
“I’ll be fine in my cabin now,” she said, setting the bag with the two dresses inside on the couch. “I’m going to take a shower and paint for a while but I’ll be ready to go when you come to take me out for the evening.”
Brow furrowed, he seemed dubious but she had no intention of letting him see her new dress before their date. He might be assigned to be her escort on this voyage but there was an attraction growing between the two of them. There was nothing wrong with pursuing the friendship at least. Trevor was good looking and kind and efficient as a bodyguard. And Verlaine liked him. And I enjoy his company probably more than I should. “Maeve will tell me when you arrive and I won’t open the door for anyone else, I promise.”
“I’ll be happy to screen all visitors,” the AI said.
Obviously reluctant, he finally let her push him out but even Trevor couldn’t argue that Mr. Lanloring wasn’t going to be a threat as long as she didn’t open the door.
Dissatisfied with every aspect of how the afternoon had gone, from the intrusion on Gianna’s personal space by the overenthusiastic passenger, to her having gone out alone, Trevor couldn’t settle down to desk work for the remainder of his shift. Jake finally told him to knock off early. Returning to his own cabin, he took a shower to unwind, allowing the hot water to pummel him and ease the tension. Then he made himself a cup of synthcaff and sat on his couch contemplating the painting Gianna had given him. The art dominated his small officer’s cabin, as he’d known it would but he found the flowing colors comforting and easy on the eyes. The relaxed way the central figure co-existed with his shadows soothed his own troubled soul.
Trevor wondered where he was going with this attraction to Gianna. She was more than an assignment to him already and the trip had barely begun. Once she disembarked at Xcelon Four for her brother’s wedding, he’d never see her again unless he took proactive steps to do so. His train of thought shattered at that point, every time. With his background and PTSD issues, how exactly did he see himself fitting into her world? It was clear to him she wouldn’t fit into his life as it was presently configured, nor could he ask her to try. A Sectors-renowned artist with her own PTSD issues had no place on an interstellar cruise liner, not on a permanent basis. Even if the CLC Line could be persuaded to make her an artist in residence for a cruise or two, she had a life on her own planet.
Head spinning, a headache beginning to pound over his left eye, Trevor swore and rose to pace the tiny cabin, which sometimes helped his anxiety when his mind veered into dark places.
“You asked me to remind you at half an hour before your time to arrive at Ms. Nadenoft’s suite,” Maeve said.
Grateful for the interruption, he thanked the Ship and went to get ready. He’d confirmed with Jake he didn’t need to wear a dress uniform tonight, as he and Gianna were making this a social occasion and he’d be technically off duty. Maeve had taken it upon herself to generate an upscale suit, not too flashy but certainly in the current style and have her robos bring it to his suite, complete with a coordinating shirt, shoes and socks. Trevor had protested her generosity and tried to get her to dock his accumulated salary for the expense but she refused.
“I take care of my crew,” she said. “And you might need a suit to wear for other occasions.”
“Doubtful but thank you.” He knew when to stop arguing with Maeve, who had a strong personality for an AI, but of course she’d had quite a life span already and didn’t take much nonsense from anyone. Trevor didn’t like to be indebted to others but in this case, he had to accept the favor.
He dressed with care, using a sparing amount of the high end aftershave he’d purchased at the crew’s store, which offered many of the same items available to the passengers but at special prices. Feeling a bit like a schoolkid, he rode the gravlift in his spiffy new suit, ignoring the comments from a few of his fellow officers who happened to be descending while he was ascending and stepped off on Level A.
“Women like flowers,” Maeve said in his ear on the senior officers’ channel.
“Yes, mom,” he said sarcastically but he was grateful for the reminder. Stars and comets, he was out of practice on dating, if he had to be reminded of a thing like flowers. Now he wished he’d asked the Ship’s chief florist for a special bouquet but it was too late so he swung by the flower shop and purchased the most colorful bouquet available.