Matt de la Peña - The Living

“Best prepare yourself, young fella. The sea is fittin’ to make itself known tonight.” Shoeshine continued down the hall, his wooden kit dangling from his right hand.

Shy watched him for a few seconds, playing with the crazy wristband in his pocket. Then he turned back to the window and what was coming.

An hour later Shy was standing against the wall near the entrance of the Destiny Dining Room, waiting for Carmen—the ship now swaying underneath his feet. Most of the formally dressed passengers had already been seated for dinner, and the half-dozen hostesses moved from table to table, greeting everyone.

Shy scanned the restaurant, looking for familiar faces. He spotted the Muppet boy from the pool, dressed in a tux. He tried to imagine his nephew dressed like that, but all he could picture was Miguel in one of those hospital gowns, lying in his quarantine bed, alone. He spotted Addison and Cassandra, all done up, sitting with a few men in tuxedos. The gray-haired dude wasn’t one of them. Shy then spotted the oilman sitting next to an empty chair, downing a glass of red wine.

Just when Shy started thinking Carmen was a no-show he heard the ding of the elevator and looked up. The doors slid open and Carmen came walking out in a long black dress and heels and his stomach instantly filled with butterflies.

“Don’t tell me I missed the proposal,” she said.

Shy shook his head. He couldn’t stop staring. She looked more beautiful than ever.

“What?” Carmen asked.

“Nothing.” Shy rubbed the stubble on his chin. “You just look real nice is all.”

Her dress was cut low in front, showing an unfair amount of cleavage. It hugged in tight on her waist, then stretched out over her curvy hips. Carmen had to dress up whenever she emceed karaoke nights, but tonight she’d taken it to a whole other level.

“You’re not allowed to say that,” she told him. “It’s rule number one of our new rules.”

“Seriously? I can’t say you look nice?” Shy pushed off the wall, feeling frustrated. “You know what, then? Maybe rule number two should be you’re not allowed to dress like that around me.”

“Like what?”

“Come on, Carm.” He pointed up and down her sexy dress.

She rolled her eyes with a slight grin. “How you think I pull in all them tips at karaoke? It’s more than how I announce some fool’s song he’s about to do.”

Shy shook his head and looked away. If he didn’t change the subject they were gonna end up in some kind of argument. And he didn’t want to argue with Carmen. Not tonight, when he needed to talk to her about his nephew. “Anyways,” he said, motioning toward the oilman’s table. “Kind of weird his girl isn’t here yet. Seems like they’d have shown up together, right?”

“I bet she’s still in the mirror, trying to do her makeup extra-perfect. Women can sense when something big’s about to happen.”

Shy nodded, wondering if Carmen had sensed anything last night, before they hooked up. And what would it mean if she had and then leaned in on him anyway? Weren’t actions supposed to speak louder than words?

He was startled out of his head when the ship emcee came on over the loudspeaker—which never happened at night: “Attention, ladies and gentlemen. As many of you already know, there’s a major storm in the forecast. As a precaution, all outside decks will be closed for the evening.”

A collective groan passed through the dining room. Shy wondered if this meant he wouldn’t have to work. Maybe he’d be free to keep checking Rodney’s computer for an email from his mom.

“Tomorrow morning they will be reopened, weather permitting, at their regularly scheduled times. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we’d like to assure you that all indoor programming will be running as usual, including the big poker tournament in the Grand Casino. We’ll be issuing free bar tickets to the first fifty passengers who sign up.”

Soon as the emcee’s voice was gone, the hum of conversation picked back up. A hostess named Toni walked toward Shy and Carmen, looking beyond stressed. “You guys,” she said, “I’m kind of freaking out right now. I’ve never been in a storm.”

“Same here,” Shy said.

“You just can’t overthink it,” Carmen said. “Trust me, your mind can build shit up way worse than it really is.”

“I think it’s already happening,” Toni said.

“What I don’t understand,” Shy said, “is how these people can eat with the ship swaying like it is.”

The girls nodded and then Toni held out her arms for Carmen and they hugged. “Love that dress on you,” she said as they separated.

“She hates people telling her that,” Shy said.

Carmen shot Shy a dirty look and turned back to Toni. “Thanks, girl. I borrowed it from your roommate.”

“I know. Meagan stopped by earlier. She also told me the big news. I didn’t know you were getting married.”

“Brand-new.” Carmen gave Shy a little sideways glance. “Still feels weird to say I have an actual fiancé.”

Shy took a baby step back, tried to act like he wasn’t listening. Maybe he should feel more guilty about hooking up with someone who was engaged. ’Cause he didn’t feel guilty at all. Not about that part. Maybe it meant he wasn’t a good person.

“Tell me about it,” Toni said. “I just got engaged, too.”

“Are you serious?” Carmen said. “Congratulations!”

Shy watched as they grabbed each other’s elbows and jumped up and down. When the mini-celebration ended, Carmen said: “Where’d he do it?”

“A steakhouse in Newport Beach. With my parents.”

“Ah, that’s so respectful.”

“You?”

“Brett took me to the boardwalk in Venice. We were walking together, holding hands, watching all the weirdos, and out of nowhere he drops to one knee and takes my hand. I was so shocked I didn’t even give him time to ask. I swiped the ring right out of his hand, shoved it on my finger.”

Shy felt like gagging. He wondered if he should throw on Shoeshine’s homemade wristband-thing to keep from getting sick. He took another baby step back.

Toni laughed. “That’s so like you, Carm.”

“I grabbed Brett’s cell,” Carmen said, “and called Mami. She was like, ‘Oh, mija, it’s so wonderful. My baby’s marrying a lawyer!’ ”

“There’s a mother who’s got her priorities.”

“Believe me,” Carmen said. “She was ten times more excited than me. Like it was her lifelong dream coming true.”

Shy cleared his throat, said: “Is this trip, like, sponsored by Kay Jewelers or some shit? All anybody can talk about is getting married.”

“Don’t be a hater,” Carmen said, trying to act mad.

Shy looked into her big brown eyes. Seemed like ten years ago that he’d held her face in his hands, stared into those eyes from only a couple inches away. He wished he could do it again. Right now. In front of everyone.

Toni was patting Shy on the back, saying: “I’m sure it’s lots of fun hanging out with all your little high school girlfriends. But one day—trust me. You’ll fall in love, too. And you’ll wanna spend the rest of your life with that person.”

“From what I heard, he might’ve already met her.” Carmen winked at Shy. “Frederick from Denmark told me all about you and some skinny blond chick flirting outside the gym.”

“Wait, what?” Toni said. “Shy’s moving in on a passenger?”

Shy was shocked Frederick even knew about that stupid little exchange. “Sounds like you got some bad intel,” he told Carmen. “More like those chicks were capping on me about working at the pool.”