Page 129 of Love Overboard
SEASON 4
LEAH BROOKS: THIRD STEWARDESS
PRODUCER
Looking back now, did you know, walking into charter eight, that it was going to be a disaster?
LEAH
I didn’t know for sure, but I felt it. We all did. It was like the wind picking up or the smell of rain before a storm moves in. After what happened, everyone was just… raw. Wound up. Looking for fights rather than solutions.
PRODUCER
Do you blame Finn and Ember for the way the season ended?
LEAH
They weren’t the only guilty ones.
Finn was at my side as I rapped my knuckles on the door frame leading to the bridge. He’d been there as soon as I opened my cabin door, but he hadn’t pushed me to talk, hadn’t invaded my space. He’d simply handed me my mic to strap back on, his presence letting me know without words that he was there.
He knew what I needed right now, and I’d never been more thankful for that.
My ears were still ringing, heart still pounding like a jackhammer in my throat. The whole morning felt like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from, and yet it was all right on the heels of a dream I wished I could relive again and again.
It didn’t make sense to me, how so many emotions could exist inside me at one time. How could I feel devastated for hurting our crew, guilty for betraying Eli and Leah and Gisella, but also elated from my reunion with Finn? My soul was on fire, body begging for me to seek comfort in his arms, and yet I felt sick at the thought of giving in to those desires.
It was too much to hold at once, and I wondered if Captain Gary could see the teetering tower of fragile dishes I was struggling to balance as he waved us into the bridge.
“Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to the bench along the back of the bridge. A beautiful Mediterranean day sprawled out behind him, the water shockingly blue and little white puffs of clouds floating in the sky. It was such a contrast to the storm wrecking me inside.
Captain leaned a hip against the helm, folding his arms and staring at the floor for a moment before he lifted his gaze to meet mine and then Finn’s.
There was no warmth in his eyes.
Captain Gary had always been firm, but fair. Blunt, but with a side of humor. But this… this wasn’t the man who gave nicknames or winked when we nailed service. This wasn’t theman who cheered on a cheeky dance during crew night out or tossed out jokes mid-docking to cut the tension.
This was the captain of a fifty-five-meter vessel.
And he looked ready to sink us both.
“I’m not gonna waste time sugarcoating it,” he started, his voice low and clipped. “What happened this morning was a disaster. You know that. The crew knows that. The cameras sure as hell know that.”
He paused, letting the weight of those words hang in the air, and I swore I could hear my heartbeat echoing inside the silence that followed. Said cameras were aimed right at us, capturing our lashing for everyone to see.
I didn’t have the ability to be embarrassed anymore, not after this morning. I’d already sealed my fate with the viewing public. Now, all I could think about was my career and how the hell I could save it.
Okay, so that wasn’t entirely true.
I was thinking of my career, yes, but I was also thinking of Finn, of the words we whispered to one another in the dark last night, the promises made, the confessions kissed against skin.
I chanced a glance at him, and though he didn’t reach out for my hand or meet my stare, his hand twitched in his lap — a subtle sign that he was still with me.
But could we be together?
My heart crashed into my stomach at the thought that we couldn’t, that there was no way for us to weather this without splitting. The right thing would be for us to stay apart, to do our jobs — if we even still had them anymore — and try to earn back the trust of the people we hurt.
But I couldn’t stand the thought of losing him again after knowing what it felt like to have him back.
