Kensies treasures, p.4
Kensie's Treasures, page 4
He’s so damned pompous! “I understand. That’s not what this is about. Honestly, I’m just super-frustrated with the whole thing, and this is a chance to get it out of my head for a while. Really, that’s it.”
Another pause, but this one was shorter. “OK, that’s fine. Put the request in and I’ll approve it. We’ll meet up when you get back and see if there’s a new tack you can take with your research.”
“Great. Thanks, dean. I’ll put the request in now.”
Kensie smiled to herself. Doing this without the sponsorship of the department or the NAS meant she, and not the university, would have the primary salvage rights to the treasure. Not only would her stature in the archeological community grow to the point that she could give the entire NAS board a wedgie and be thanked for doing so, but international salvage law would apply. That meant she could expect to receive the standard 10% finder’s fee from the original owner –Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. It wasn’t about the money, but that certainly didn’t hurt. She would donate a big chunk of that to a worthy scientific cause, or maybe create an endowment fund to further underwater archeology.
She took a moment to fantasize about meeting the Queen in Buckingham Palace for a formal “thank-you” tea, about how she would be able to write her ticket academically anywhere in the world, and how she could fly from interesting site to interesting site first-class without a financial care in the world.
Catrina could try and show her off to every guy on the ship, but it wasn’t going to matter one bit. She had work to do.
Chapter 2 – Life at Sea
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Cruise Ship Pier 11, January 3
Enormous.
That single word summed up Kensie’s reaction as the shuttle bus from the airport rounded the corner to expose Amore of the Seas sitting placidly in the harbor. She wondered if people had thought the same thing upon seeing the Titanic over a century ago. If they did, the historian in her longed to go back in time and tell them that they hadn’t seen anything yet. Amore was 300 feet longer, 100 feet wider, and five times heavier than the legendary ship which had been the largest moving object ever built by man at the time.
Kensie and Catrina got off first, followed by Nancy and Liv. The latter were acquaintances of Catrina’s, recruited to join her on the cruise when Kensie initially chose not to go. She knew them casually and had become more familiar with them on the flight down. They seemed nice enough, but Kensie was glad she would be sharing her cabin only with Catrina.
“Wow,” Catrina said. “That thing is huge!” She smiled at Kensie. “With all the guys they can fit on that ship, one of them is sure to be right for you!”
“I told you,” Kensie protested for what seemed like the thousandth time, “I’m not going to spend all my time scoping out horny jerks.”
“You won’t have to scope them out, honey,” Nancy told her. “We’re gonna bring them to you! You just throw back the ones you don’t like!” Catrina had spent a lot of time on the flight explaining why Kensie was joining them (her version of it), and her friends had bought into the idea.
“Yeah,” Liv chimed in. “Remember, I’m in sales. Catrina said we have to make you the hottest commodity on the ship. When we’re done, the best ones will be chasing you from the back all the way to the stern.”
“Geeze, thanks guys,” Kensie responded sarcastically. “I’ve got my troupe of pimps to tell the entire ship that I’m available. And, Liv,” she said with exasperation, “the back is the stern. It’s either the back to the front, or the stern to the bow.”
“Whatever, captain,” she responded, not dissuaded it the least. “This is a girl’s week, and you’re the top girl.” They reached the short line that led into the building for processing passengers.
Kensie turned and addressed her companions. “Look. I know you mean well, but I’m not here to meet guys. I’ve got a few things I have to do.”
“And that,” Catrina said while looking skyward, “means you’re somehow going to make this trip about work instead of fun.”
“No, I’m not.”
Catrina stared at her with pursed lips and put her hand on her hip. Nancy and Liv watched the unfolding drama.
“Well, not entirely,” Kensie hedged after a second.
The piercing glare continued.
“Fine. I have a work angle. But trust me – it’s important. It will really help my career.” The line she balanced on, the one between bullshit and reality, was so thin Kensie feared she might fall off it.
Catrina looked at her like a parent who knew her kid skipped class while lying to her face. “This isn’t about that thing last month in Boston, is it?”
“No,” Kensie lied. “There’s nothing I can do about that now anyway. The ships are leaving Woods Hole today.”
“What d’ya think?” Catrina asked the other two. “Should we leave her nerd-professor ass here on the shore?” They looked at each other silently, as if deciding whether they would allow the archeologist to board with them. Finally, Kensie sighed in surrender.
“Fine. I’ll let you show me off to all the guys. But only on days when we’re at sea. The days we’re docked at St. Vincent’s and Grenada, that’s my time.”
Catrina turned back and silently mouthed a kiss to her – which was her way of thanking Kensie for allowing herself to be convinced to do something she didn’t really want to do. Kensie gave her the wry grin that said there were no hard feelings.
“Now you’re talking,” Nancy said. “Just spruce you up a bit, and no one is going to believe you’re a college professor.”
“Oh, they’ll know. I’m sure of it.”
“Not when I’m done. Your skin is so lovely, just a little bit of pampering is going to make you stand out like a diamond in a coal mine.”
“Great.” Kensie’s voice carried all the enthusiasm of someone who had just agreed to purchase term-life insurance.
“It will be,” Catrina said with a wink. “I promise. Now, let’s get on board.”
***
Ninety minutes later, Kensie thanked the steward who delivered their suitcases to her cabin door. She heaved the bags onto their respective beds.
“OK,” Catrina said as she clicked to the cruise information channel on their cabin television. “We have a mandatory muster at five, and we depart at six. The restaurant opens then. So what do you say we get all prettied-up before muster so we’re ready for dinner right afterwards?”
“We have to dress for dinner?” Kensie protested. “I thought this was a vacation.”
“It is. But that doesn’t mean you can’t look good – the dress code said ‘casual and up’. Let’s start the trip with a little va va voom, if you know what I mean. Liv and Nancy are going to do it, and so am I.”
“Fine. But let’s get ready after muster.”
“No, before. That way we’ll get right in for a table while everyone else goes back to their cabin to change.”
“You’ve got it all worked out, don’t you?” Kensie said, impressed with Catrina’s well-reasoned approach. Her normal procedure was more spur-of-the-moment to the point of low-grade chaos.
She smiled brightly. “You may have signed on three weeks ago, but I’ve been thinking about this since September. Having the first day planned out is the least I could do, isn’t it? Now, either you pick out something sexy to wear or I will – and you know how that’ll end up!”
She most certainly did. Catrina was a master of designing outfits that skirted the line between elegantly sexy and revealingly slutty. Unlike Catrina, Kensie lacked the self-confidence to pull that off. Not wanting to come anywhere near either side of that border, she held up her hands in surrender.
“OK, OK, I’ll do it.” She went through the outfits she’d brought – very few, especially compared to Catrina, who’s suitcase seemed to contain half of Bergdorf Goodman’s fall line. She finally settled on a pale pink sleeveless bandage dress. It barely reached the top of her knees, and a small diamond-shaped opening in the front revealed just the right amount of cleavage. She chose a pair of open-toe shoes with a two-inch heel and ankle straps, completing her look with a small rose gold pendant on a necklace. She stepped into the center of the cabin to model it for Catrina.
“You look really good, Kensie. Really good.”
Kensie smiled self-consciously. “Thanks. Not as good as you, though.” She was attired in a dark red sheath dress that hugged her curves like a Porsche hugs the road. Her dark hair hung over her shoulders in loose curls, framing her full lips and big, blue eyes.
“We both look good,” Catrina said with a sly grin. “We’re going to blow the guys away.” She frowned. “But I somehow managed to forget to pack deodorant, so I have to go to the ship’s store before muster. Why don’t you get your makeup finished and meet Liv and Nancy up there. I’ll join you as soon as I’m done.”
“OK, sure.” Catrina breezed out of the room and Kensie sat down at the small desk with her rarely-used makeup kit. She took a long look in the mirror. Kensie honestly thought she was of average looks, and felt downright plain next to Catrina and her friends, who not only had physical features she lacked, but also took the time for eyeliner and lipstick and to work on their hair. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about her appearance, but she was a scientist whose job was to learn and understand the truth, and somehow spending so much time using makeup to present herself as someone she wasn’t seemed counterintuitive.
But was there any harm in cleaning up a little? She applied a touch of color to her eyelids and cheeks, finishing with a pastel lip gloss that she felt suited her light-skinned complexion and green eyes. After she brushed out her hair, Kensie paused to take a second look at the entire package and was not unhappy with what she saw. She wasn’t on par with her traveling companions, but she did present nicely. Can’t ask for much more than that. Flashing a bright smile to herself, she grabbed her room key, put it in her clutch, and headed to the muster meeting.
Liv and Nancy were waiting outside the meeting room, and Catrina was walking towards them from a different direction. Kensie caught her friend winking at the two women but ignored the gesture, figuring there had been some sort of side wager about Catrina being able to make her look presentable, and she was quietly bragging. She chose not to call her friend out during her moment of celebration.
The muster was predictably boring even though Kensie understood the necessity of it. It reminded her of the safety speech at the beginning of a flight, and people paid it about the same amount of attention. She memorized where she had to be in the unlikely event of an emergency while everyone else chatted or played on their phones. That’s fine. I’ll be floating away on a lifeboat while you all walk around in circles on the ship as it sinks. She reasoned they had a much better chance of surviving a sinking ship as opposed to flying into a mountain at 400 miles an hour, making it worth her time. The crew members giving their spiel seemed about as delighted to present the information as the passengers were to receive it, but they dutifully did their job and then encouraged everyone to “get outta here and have some fun!”
As everyone filed out of the room, a man and a woman wearing shirts with Security printed across the front in big letters headed in their direction. Kensie didn’t give it a thought until they made a beeline for her group and locked their eyes right on her.
“Miss Kensington Prescott?” She grimaced. It was the full name on her birth certificate, but no one called her ‘Kensington.’ She hated it. It was odd and overly-formal and made her feel like she had been groomed from birth for royalty.
“I’m Kensie Prescott.”
“Will you come with us, please?”
“Why? What’s the problem?”
The woman smiled apologetically. “There was some kind of mix up with your credit card and your booking. The purser’s office just needs to ask you some questions to make sure we don’t bill you incorrectly. It will only take a minute.”
That sounded reasonable to Kensie; she’d paid for her cabin at the last minute, so it was possible there was an issue. “OK, sure.” She turned to her friends. “Let me take care of this and I’ll meet you at dinner.”
Nancy took a defensive posture. “You sure? We can come with you.”
Kensie shook her head, but the other security guard answered. “It’s going to be super-quick. There’s no trouble or anything, we just have to make sure we have her booking set up right. It will literally be about two minutes of her time.”
“See? No issue. I’ll meet you guys at the dinner table.”
“OK.” The trio nodded in agreement and headed off. Kensie followed the guards in the other direction.
The path to wherever the purser’s office was felt awfully roundabout to Kensie. She hadn’t had time to scout the ship and learn the layout, but it seemed they walked forward, then down a couple of decks, then to an elevator that took forever to come, and then towards the stern to a set of big double doors.
“Here we are,” the guard said. Kensie was about to remark that this was a really odd place for the ship’s business offices to be and, when they pulled them open, she saw why she was right.
About 50 or 60 younger men and women were milling about in the room that was far too large to be any kind of office. A banner – “Singles Meet & Greet” – hung from the ceiling, and Catrina, Nancy, and Liv were waiting under it. “Surprise!”
Kensie gave her friends a look. “I should have known.” The security guards nodded and headed out while her friends gathered around their victim.
“Did we fool you?” Catrina asked.
“Yeah, you did. This really isn’t necessary.”
“Come on,” Nancy said. “What’s the harm in talking to a few guys? Do you have something better to do right now?”
She looked at the faces of her friends. They appeared proud of having pulled off their little scheme and, aside from dinner and maybe exploring the ship, she really didn’t have any reason to be anywhere else. “OK, I’ll hang for a little while.”
“That’s the spirit!” Nancy said. Catrina grabbed her hand and led her to the line for the finger-food buffet, with Liv and Nancy close behind. As the more outgoing duo, they started chatting excitedly about every man that passed in front of them, apparently not caring whether anyone heard them or not. Catrina joined in for a second, making a few fairly vulgar comments of her own, before separating slightly to stand with Kensie.
“You know,” she said quietly to Catrina as they shuffled along, “I’m not real good in these situations, right? I feel awkward approaching strange guys.”
“You don’t have to do anything, sweetie. Just let the guys come to you.” They reached the table and they started collecting a couple of the better-looking appetizers.
Kensie grimaced. “Guys don’t come to me, Cat. You seem to be forgetting our undergraduate days.” A brief image of pretty much every college party flashed through her head, where she stood against a wall with a Solo cup in hand, ignored by half-drunk guys in favor of prettier girls who knew how to flirt and twirl their hair just right. The only time she got any attention from the opposite sex was when she engaged in the obligatory dialog with the wingman of whoever was interested in Catrina, or towards the end of the party when the pickings were slim. Of course, that meant her pickings were just as slim, which was why she’d never hooked up such situations.
“We are a long way from frat parties, Kensie. You are an accomplished professional and, if I do say so myself, you look very good.” Kensie looked away, a bit embarrassed by the complement. “Someone will come by before long. Just relax and enjoy yourself.”
“Fine,” Kensie replied, neither convinced nor sharing her friend’s optimism. They got their drinks and stepped out of line to wait for Liv and Nancy, but a couple of guys started chatting them up in the buffet line.
“Son of a bitch,” Kensie said, shaking her head in amazement. “That didn’t take long, did it?”
“That’s their gift.”
“Yeah, well why didn’t Santa ever bring me that gift?” Kensie lamented.
“Because you’d rather find things under the sea then sit on the beach and show yourself off.”
Kensie paused while trying to come up with an appropriate retort, but before she could craft a clever response, two men approached. The taller one had intense blue eyes locked right on her, while the other seemed more overwhelmed and intimidated as he sized up Catrina. She felt the tiny burst of mini-panic that always flared to life upon the approach of a cute guy and looked down instinctively for a second. When she checked him out again, his gaze had not wavered. He certainly wasn’t bad to look at, with close-cropped blond hair and an easy grin that showed off strong, high cheekbones. Normally she would be attracted to such a face, but something felt… off about him. What?
“Hi,” he said confidently. “My name is Van, and this is Brian. How are you?” He switched his drink to the other hand and extended it towards Kensie in a greeting.
She smiled self-consciously at the attention of this rather handsome young man before taking his hand. “Hello,” she said pleasantly, “I’m Kensie, and this is my friend Catrina.”
He looked in Catrina’s direction and gave her a perfunctory nod before turning his attention back to Kensie. Brian, however, smiled awkwardly. “Catrina. I like that name.”
“Thanks,” Catrina replied. Far less intimidated by guys, she frowned at Brian’s somewhat hackneyed come-on line.
Van ignored their side conversation. “The pleasure is mine,” he replied smoothly before gesturing at one of the small pub tables. “Would you like to chat for a moment?”
A little surprised, Kensie hesitated. “Um, OK. Sure.” She turned towards Catrina. “Would, uh, you guys excuse us?” Catrina’s face indicated that she wasn’t exactly thrilled with what appeared to be the lesser of the two, but that she was willing to take one for the team.
