Page 2 of Cruising for Christmas
Norah nodded. “That’s great! I hope you have a wonderful trip.”
Cal stood up. “Thank you very much.” He walked to the door and paused. “And Norah?”
“Yes?”
“Take the rest of the month off and come back after New Year’s. I’ll have Steven keep an eye on the staff. The interviews have to wait until after Christmas anyway. Why don’t you go enjoy yourself? You work so hard and deserve to take a vacation.”
Norah stared dumbfounded at him before quickly recovering. “Thank you, sir. That’s very kind of you.”
“You deserve it. Merry Christmas, Norah.”
“Merry Christmas, Cal.”
Norah tapped her pen on the desk as she stared after him, half expecting him to pop back in and say he had a lapse in judgment and needed her to work. When several minutes passed and he still hadn’t, Norah picked up her phone. She could call her mom and let her know she would head home early, but did she really want to do that?
As if she had summoned the woman herself, the phone vibrated in her hand with an incoming call from her. Norah fixed a smile on her face and answered.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, Darling. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing well. Just finishing up the workday. How are you?” Norah leaned back in her chair, expecting her mom to give her a list of things she needed to bring for the holiday as she always had.
“I’m good. Listen, I hate to do this to you, but your dad’s company has surprised us with a last-minute trip to Bali.”
Norah blinked. “Wait. What?”
“We’re going to Bali. Which works out great because your brother and sister both wanted to spend the holidays with their in-laws this year. You know, to take turns with each other’s families. I just feel bad that we are leaving you all alone. Is there a chance you can spend it with your boyfriend’s family? I’d hate for you to be alone on Christmas.”
“No! That’s great. You guys have fun.”
“Really? You won’t be upset?”
“Of course not. You deserve a vacation.”
Her mom breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, that makes me feel better. I’ve been stressing about this and didn’t want to upset you.”
“Not at all. Enjoy yourselves.”
“You too, honey. We love you! Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas!” Norah ended the call and tapped her pen on the desk faster. How did this happen? She went from dreading Christmas and needing to stress about traveling home and back to work, but now she had absolutely no plans for two weeks?
Norah immediately typed out a text to Shay.
Change of plans. Think there’s still room on that cruise for one more?
Shay’s reply was immediate.Hell yes!
2
Norah didn’t know whether she should strangle Shay or exact some sort of slow revenge during this week-long cruise. She stood in the narrow corridor of the cruise ship, holding the key card to her room, while Shay stood next to her, looking sheepish.
“You’re joking, right?” Norah asked again, expecting Shay to burst out laughing and tell her she was yanking her chain and hadn’t withheld the truth from the moment Shay said Norah’s room was booked. And hadn’t continued to withhold the truth on their flight all the way to Florida, only to continue to withhold the truth until this very moment when they were aboard the ship and seeing their staterooms for the first time.
Staterooms. As in two. And they had roommates, only Norah’s roommate wasn’t Shay, as she was led to believe.
Ryan pointed toward the elevator. “I’m going to go get a drink. I’ll catch up with you in a bit.” He practically ran down the hallway, which Norah couldn’t blame him for.
