Page 140 of Love Overboard
It was indistinguishable at first, but my head whipped toward the sound just in time to see Russell flip the tray of drinks Leah had in her hands. It clattered to the deck.
Glass shattered everywhere.
“How many fucking times do I have to tell you to shake my goddamn martini?!”
Maria backed away from Russell just as Tammy came rushing over. “What in God’s name is going on?”
“This genius can’t make a cocktail to save her life, which is sad, considering it’s the whole fucking point of her job.”
I rushed over, trying to calmly, but firmly, contain the situation. I gently squeezed Leah’s shoulder when I realized she was trembling. But the second I touched her, she shrugged away, dropping to the deck to put her focus on picking up glass.
“If I could have all of you step over here away from the glass, that would be best for safety reasons,” I said, trying to usher the group toward the table. “Dinner will be ready soon, and—”
“Shit!”
We all turned toward Leah, who was sitting back on her heels now, her hand held up as she inspected it.
Blood dripped from a nasty cut on her middle finger.
“Serves her right,” Russell muttered.
That did it for me.
“Sir, I understand you’re upset about your drink. Bernard will rectify that immediately.” Bernard jumped into action as I said the words, dashing inside to make a new martini. “But I need you to know that we will not tolerate any abuse toward our crew, verbal or otherwise.”
“Abuse?” He laughed. “You Gen-Z kids are so fucking sensitive.”
“Russ,” Tammy chastised, yanking him toward the railing. “You will not ruin this trip for me.” She smiled back at me over her shoulder, mouthing,“I got him.”
I gave her a weary look that I wasn’t so sure, but there was no time to dwell on it. Instead, I raced for the first-aid kit just inside the sliding glass doors and then right back to Leah.
“Let me see,” I said, digging through the kit for tweezers.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’mfine,” she shot at me again, and then I felt a hand squeezing my shoulder. I looked up to find Eli with asympathetic, but strained, smile. He bent down to join us, then nodded his head toward the waiting guests.
It was my cue to leave.
Reluctantly, I stood, backing up when Palmer swept in to finish cleaning up the mess. I had a dinner service to prepare for, so I was thankful for everyone’s help.
But it didn’t make the judgment in their eyes any easier to stomach.
I checked in on Russell and the other guests, making sure no one had caught a rogue glass shard. By some miraculous feat, Bernard had Russell laughing by the time we sat them at the table, and Leah didn’t need stitches.
I thought we’d made it out unscathed.
The guests’ asses had barely hit the chairs when Finn’s voice cut in over the crew radio.
“Ember, Ember, Finn. Can you come to the galley as soon as possible?” His voice had an edge to it that made the hair on my arms raise.
“Copy, on my way.”
I bolted for the galley with a short instruction for Bernard to get wine service started, and when I slid into Finn’s domain, I paled.
The galley was filled with smoke.
