More of Us to the West (The Adrift Series Book 1), page 8
“I don’t think it’d hurt this much if we were dead.” Kyle offered.
“Oh honey,” Anna unwrapped herself from the sweater and moved to sit beside him, “Is it bothering you? I think we can give you another pain killer now if you need it.”
Kyle nodded.
“Jim,” Lilly said innocently, still looking up at the sky as Anna fumbled with the pill bottle beside her. “I have a question I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
“Fire away, darlin.’”
“Well…” she hesitated, “I don’t mean for this to sound rude, but… what were you doing in first class? Doesn’t seem like your style...”
Phil laughed haughtily, forcing himself into their conversation. “Don’t mean it to be rude?! What else could you have meant by that? Of course it’s rude!”
“No,” she stuttered, “I meant —”
“You meant he didn’t belong there.” Phil snapped, “You’re stuck up and judgmental and that’s a very rude thing to ask someone.”
“I didn’t mean it like that…” her voice raised as she tried to explain herself, “I just meant that he… well, he doesn’t seem like… oh forget it.”
“Oh, no ya don’t,” Phil continued his barrage. I didn’t like his tone, but I didn’t entirely disagree with him. “You finish what you started.”
“He just…” her voice quieted, “doesn’t strike me as a person who would pay extra for a first-class ticket is all… I’m sorry, Jim.”
“How’s your head?” Jack whispered in my ear, his shoulder touching mine as he leaned in.
“What?” I whispered back, feeling unnerved by his sudden interest in my well-being. He’d remained relatively to himself, opting to stay quiet while the rest of us attempted small-talk to pass the time through the evening. “It’s fine… I’m fine...”
Phil laughed loudly. “You can’t follow up a judgmental statement like that with ‘I’m sorry.’” His condescending tone grew louder and more animated. “Oh, hey guy I just met, you don’t seem like you belong in first class… oh but I’m sorry for saying so. It’s so petty!”
“And your ribs?” Jack’s breath was warm against my ear. “Are they still bothering you?”
I shook my head slowly, “Not as much as they were.”
“I SAID I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!” Lilly screeched defensively.
“Didn’t you?!” Phil snapped back.
I could see the silhouette of Phil’s head across from us, and although I couldn’t see them, I could sense his eyes on us - on me. Looking for... my approval? I swallowed, whispering back, “I’ll be alright. What’s with the nice-guy act?”
Jack tilted his head to one side. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well,” I turned to face him, “You don’t say much and when you do, you’re not very friendly.”
“Lilly honey,” Bud offered smoothly, “It was a rude question.”
Jack cleared his throat and leaned closer. “I didn’t realize one was supposed to be friendly after their plane crashed out of the sky and left them stranded on the ocean.”
“This has been hard for all of us.” I let my eyes meet his. “You could at least pretend to be interested in the small talk here and there and stop dismissing anyone who shows an interest in you.”
“OK FINE!” Lilly’s voice quivered as she broke into tears. “I TAKE IT BACK! I DIDN’T MEAN IT, OK? ARE YOU SATISFIED? I’M A TERRIBLE PERSON FOR ASKING IT!!”
“When have I ever dismissed you?” He hissed a little loudly.
I smirked. “You dismissed me almost instantly when I tried to converse with you on the plane. And then today, you nearly bit Lilly’s head off when she asked you about Olivia Bishop.”
“It’s difficult for me to talk to people I don’t know,” he whispered too close.
“You?” I scoffed, “Jack Volmer?! Shy?! I don’t buy that for one second.”
“Not shy… just cautious I guess.” He struggled with a cough that tried to escape him but contained it and continued gruffly. “People have never been exactly genuine in wanting to get to know me. Trust doesn’t come easy for me.”
“Lilly,” Bertie’s voice soothed, “don’t get so worked up, dear. Sometimes you say things you don’t realize are hurtful.”
I narrowed my eyes at Jack. “Trust has got nothing to do with being friendly. You don’t have to trust us, but you could at least be civil. Who knows how long we’ll be stuck together.”
“Jim,” Lilly sobbed, “I’m sorry.”
Jim smirked. “Oh, it’s alright. Ye’ ain’t exactly wrong, sweetheart.”
There was a long silence then. The only sounds between us were the sniffles of Lilly and the water brushing against the edges of the bobbing raft as Anna returned to her seat beside her.
Jack sighed and cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow toward me as he announced loudly, “Olivia Bishop had the most rotten breath I’ve ever smelled.”
“GROSS!” Kyle shouted, laughing noisily.
We all laughed out loud and Lilly perked up, forgetting her exchange with Phil; excited at the opportunity to gossip. “Really? Is that why you broke up?”
He smiled. “No, but it should’ve been. We actually had to cut before any kissing scenes so she could rinse with mouthwash first. She smoked like a chimney and drank coffee all day and night to keep herself from overeating. She was a lunatic about her weight… come to think of it, she was a lunatic about most things.”
Lilly giggled, “So… why did you break up?”
Jack blew out, “Well, she got cast in this independent film and she left for about a month to shoot in Edinburgh while we were in between filming seasons five and six. I got a call from her about six days after she left saying she’d met someone else.”
Lilly gasped, “What a hussy!”
Jack laughed. “I figured out later that the woman’s got a nasty habit of sleeping with her co-stars. She was madly in love with the guy in the film… until they were done filming, that is. Since then, she’s dated five other co-stars throughout her career. Even tried to get back together with me when we resumed filming. Made for a very interesting season six.”
“Does that happen often?” Kyle asked, “Actors and actresses thinking they’re in love or whatever?”
Jack’s shoulders rose and fell. “I couldn’t say for certain kid, but it sure worked on me.”
“Aww,” Lilly shook her head at him, “I’m sorry.”
“Was it like... a shit smell?” Jim tilted his head to one side. “Or a sour smell?”
Jack laughed heartily, “Mix both together and you’ve got Olivia.”
Lilly sighed, “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch a movie again without thinking about their breath.” She cuddled into Anna beneath the sweater as the wind picked up. “I think you just ruined Roman Holiday for me.”
“What’s Roman Holiday?” Kyle asked snarkily.
Lilly scoffed, “Just the greatest movie ever made.”
“Pfft, that ain’t the greatest movie ever made darlin’.” Jim shivered. “True Grit, John Wayne. Now that’s a great movie.”
“You’re so weird.” She opened the sweater and motioned him over. He inched closer and let them cover him with the fabric. “What about you, Jack?” Her teeth chattered between words. “Got a favorite?”
He smiled, shaking a little against the cold himself. “Hands down, the Godfather.”
“Ooh, that’s a good one.” Bud nodded, “One of my favorites.”
Lilly giggled. “But not the favorite. Their favorite was always Casablanca.” She beamed at him. “What about you, Magna?”
Magna wrapped a t-shirt around Isobel and pulled her closer as the wind blew even stronger, the waves gaining strength and rocking the raft, “Gone with the Wind.”
“UGH.” Kyle groaned. “Chicks always say that movie. I don’t get it.”
Lilly rolled her eyes at him. “Ok fine, what’s your idea of the perfect movie, Kyle?”
He tilted his head for a moment as he considered. “I don’t know. I don’t really watch a lot of movies.”
“Bullshit.” Phil snapped, holding the raft’s rope with a death grip as the waves rocked us more steadily. “You watched Indiana Jones on repeat until you were fourteen.”
Anna laughed. “Liam recently discovered Indiana Jones. He’s obsessed. It’s a great movie. I mean… it’s no Star Wars, but its nothing to be ashamed of!”
“And Liam would be…?” I asked.
“Oh, I have a son.” She said proudly, “Liam. He’s five.” She paused and looked out at the water, then quickly shifted the conversation back away from her. “What about you, Alaina? What’s your favorite?”
I pulled the dress tighter around my shoulders and shivered. “Jurassic Park.”
“Really?” Jack smirked beside me.
“Yes really. It’s a great movie.”
“Hmmf.” Phil adjusted his grip on the rope and laid awkwardly on his side. “Took you for more of a Notebook type girl.”
“Oh, the Notebook!” Lilly swooned, “Oh.. the breath…” She laid her head against Jim’s shoulder, “They’re all ruined now.”
As Bud and Jack hobbled around the raft, reattaching the canopy, conversation died down, and gradually everyone around us lowered themselves to lie on the floor of the raft.
Lilly and Anna made a play out of creating a “Jim Sandwich,” lying on each side of him and pulling the sweater over the top of them, all three of them giggling wildly as they adjusted their positions. Bud and Bertie curled up together in the far end of the raft, Magna and Isobel at their backs. Phil and Kyle laid at the head of the raft while Bruce and the pilot took up the center.
Jack took his seat propped against the raft a few inches from me. I could feel his body shudder every few minutes against the cold. Despite the canopy blocking the wind, it was still chilly. I slid the few inches to come shoulder to shoulder with him and adjusted the dress to cover both his arms and mine.
“I’m sorry about your husband,” he whispered against the top of my head.
I nodded, closing my eyes. “I’m sorry about nine seasons of bad breath.”
He gasped, “You watched it?”
I tucked my hands under my cheek and let my head rest against his bulky shoulder. “Oh yes. I waited for each episode with... bated breath.”
“Oh ha ha,” He coughed softly, “So you knew who I was the whole time?”
I opened one eye. “I knew what you did for a living, Jack. I do not presume to know who you are.”
He adjusted the dress over my shoulders. “Few people can differentiate between the two. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors though. Is that why you recoiled when I touched you?”
I sighed, “No. I didn’t mean to recoil.”
“Because I’m not that guy.” He murmured, lowering his head to rest against the top of mine as we floated quietly on the water.
Intrigued, I poked further. He was notorious for his dubious love life and had always come across as someone who was too proud to care about being judged for it. “You’re Jack Volmer. Why would you care what I think of you, anyway?”
He shifted a little beneath my head, sighing. “Despite popular opinion, I happen to care a great deal about what everyone thinks of me.”
“You know,” I whispered after a few minutes, “you’re not so bad when you’re civil. You should try it more often.”
I felt him chuckle before he stifled a cough. “I’m sorry if I was a jerk on the plane. I didn’t mean to be.”
I nodded, inching my body closer against his for warmth as the wind blew in through the zipper. I felt my eyelids grow heavy as he slid an arm around me, and my body relaxed for the first time in days. “I’m sorry if I was uncivil to you today. I just…”
“I know,” he whispered. “You don’t have to explain it. I know this must be hard for you.”
I adjusted my head against his shoulder. The human side of him had completely surprised me. He wasn’t arrogant, but guarded, and I’d been too quick to judge him. In fact, where I’d accused him of being cold and unfriendly, it was I that had been cold with him while he’d been caring and thoughtful toward me.
“Just so we’re clear.” Jim said into the darkness, pulling me from the edge of sleep, “I ain’t the type of man to buy a first-class ticket.”
Lilly giggled, her face nuzzled in his side. “So why did you?”
“Funny ye’ should ask… I won the lottery.” He closed his eyes, grinning widely.
“YOU —” she began to shriek in disbelief, but he quickly silenced her.
“Night y’all.”
Chapter Nine
The next morning, I woke up very much aware of the raft bobbing up and down under my soaked back. At some point I had slid down to the floor of the raft and my ribs ached for it. The sun had started to rise, I could feel it on my eyelids, and the sound of sliding skin on wet rubber near my face told me the raft’s inhabitants were awake and removing the canopy.
There was a definitive smell coming off us now. Not just the sweat and blood, but something more stagnant - more rotten. I could taste it on my tongue. I opened my eyes and painstakingly pushed myself upright.
Anna was sitting at the pilot’s side, a look of horror on her face.
He was still breathing, but it came as a gurgle, more than a breath - forced and strangled in his throat.
Her eyes met mine, and she shook her head. He wasn’t going to make it.
His skin was pale, clammy and had turned an almost grey color. Jim sat across from me and had managed to work his t-shirt up to rest over his nose and mouth.
The ocean was still, calm, and windless. The sky reflected on the water, and it was hard to tell where one began and the other ended.
We endured the heat as the sun rose higher, not wanting to contain the smell of impending death, and we didn’t speak, just sat quietly listening to each of the man’s struggling breaths, holding our own in between as we waited for the next.
When the sun was at its highest, Jack reached for the bags of water, handing them out to each of us quietly. As he passed her, Lilly made her way over to sit next to me.
“Do you think…” she looked at the pilot then out at the water, “Do you think we’ll die out here too?”
“No honey,” I lied, taking a small sip of the water and holding it in my mouth, pleading with my stomach to let the water be enough to erase the hunger that had taken over me. “I think we’re going to be alright. Someone will find us.” It’d been days since we’d crashed with no signs of rescue. We hadn’t even seen a plane far up in the sky. We were completely removed from the world.
“I’m scared. And I wanna go home.” her eyes welled with tears. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
‘Me neither.’ I took her hand in mine and squeezed. “Someone will find us. Now, on a much more serious note,” I leaned in, “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when they find us?”
“Ugh,” she breathed, sniffling and blinking the remnants of her tears away. “I’m going to take a very long, very hot shower.”
I smiled as she changed her tune, whispering close to my ear, “No… First I’m going to drink a glass of very very cold water… with ice. Then I’m going to eat a giant cheeseburger…. Then I’m going to take a very long hot shower.”
She laid her head on my shoulder, then sat back up and returned to my ear, whispering quietly, “Do you think Jack’s single?”
There was a hint of possession that swept temporarily over me. I noticed it and immediately suppressed it. He’d been kind to me and had held me through the night, but it wasn’t flirtatious. It was necessary. Crashing together had made us more familiar, secure enough with each other to seek comfort in each other’s body heat, and that was all there was to it. I belonged to Chris and had no reason to feel possessive of any other man.
I dismissed the notion, whispering casually back, “Only way to know for sure is to ask him.”
She smiled over at him, leaning her hot head heavily against my already hot shoulder. But the impression returned. There was something about her sudden interest in him that had me unsettled, and despite my attempts to dismiss the thought, I couldn’t shake it. I didn’t like that she promptly began flirting the moment she found out who he was; creating ways to innocently graze his shoulder with hers when she’d move around the raft, or leave her hand over his slightly too long when he handed out the water.
I’d witnessed the more human side of Jack the night before. I’d met the man who was self-conscious about the tabloids, who, likely as a result, had a hard time trusting the authenticity of the people around him. ‘No wonder,’ I thought, ‘if all women were always so quick to throw themselves at him because of his fame.’ Perhaps I wasn’t being possessive but protective and this was an emotion I could own; this feeling didn’t conflict with my love for Chris.
Jack didn’t acknowledge her flirtations. I assumed he’d recognized them, but was so used to ignoring women like her, it came natural to him to overlook it. She was gorgeous, undoubtedly so, and in a way that was more than the typical upper-class, well maintained young woman that she was; she had a natural beauty about her that most men would drool over. Where Jack appeared not to notice, Kyle definitely had. He’d stare at her for hours some days. He laughed at all her jokes and was as desperate for her attention as she was for Jack’s.
Next to him, Phil had taken a similar interest in staring at me. Where Lilly and Kyle were playfully passing their time with fantasy, Phil’s demeanor was far less flirtatious and much more flagrant. There was a deviousness about the way he looked at me that made me feel exposed and uncomfortable, so much so that I put a great deal of effort into carefully avoided eye contact with him.
Suddenly, the pilot let out one long rattling breath, forcing everything to pause and the raft’s inhabitants to become quiet. Another did not follow, and we all waited quietly as Anna felt around for a pulse that would not come.
We all sat staring at him. We’d known it was coming, but now he was gone and none of us could find the words or the actions that needed to follow. We just stared at his lifeless body until Jack finally moved on his knees toward him. “We’ll have to put him in the water, it’s not going to be easy, but we can’t keep him here.”
