Clark of the Future Sea

8. Benzo

Clark's stomach lurched as the yacht rocked over another wave. The small staff cabin intensified every movement, making the tiniest of waves feel like the entire boat was going to tip.

The light on the ceiling flickered back on again as Henry played with the fuse box in the room down the hall. He had told her to expect nothing special, but Clark hadn't realized what that meant at the time. It was plain compared to the rest of the ship. The only thing that tied the two together was the white carpet on the floor.

The lights flicked off again and Clark sighed in the darkness. Her thoughts drifted back to her parents and friends. Hopefully, by now they had noticed she was missing. Maybe they would send out a search party for her. Clark's beacon of hope faded. Little good that would do, no one knew where she was. Heck, she had no idea where she was, all you can see is ocean for miles.

The light flickered until it came back on. She shifted her head towards the built-in shelf beside her bed, where a bag of rice that contained her phone sat. Clark was beyond frustrated. She had spent a lot of money on that phone and when she needed it most it was waterlogged.

Her eyes drifted over the tiny space once again to see if this time she would find anything interesting. A fresh coat of white paint, but she wasn't able to find a single hook on the walls. The cabin barely fit the two bunks, allowing just enough room to walk between. It was a miracle at all that the door could swing past them. She couldn't imagine living in here with three other people.

The lights flipped off again. 'This is so boring.'

Clark nearly jumped out of her own skin when she heard a knock at the door. She looked in the knock's direction, trying to picture the outline of the door in the dark.

The light flickered back on again. 'God damn it, Henry.'

She should have done it herself. Clark let out a deep sigh before she slipped off the lower bunk and took the three steps needed to reach the door. Clark turned the tiny stainless steel knob and gasped as the door swung open.

Sebastian shoved past her. He set his battery-operated lantern down on the floor before he plopped down on top of the bed she had just bed sitting on.

"Hey." He smiled at her as he tipped his sunglasses so he could look her in the eye.

The lights flipped off again but the lantern on the floor kept the room lit this time.

Her back straightened under his observation. The light on the floor cast dark shadows across his face, hiding the bits uncovered by his sunglasses. Clark tried to make herself appear smaller than usual, by drawing her arms around herself and bending slightly at the knee.

The lights flickered back on once again.

She quickly came to the conclusion that he must have been a poker player. She knew a few in the dorms and you always knew when they were going somewhere to play because they always had on sunglasses.

'You can't trust someone who is wearing sunglass inside, for obvious reasons.'

Unable to speak or move Clark stood in the doorway watching him. Her body shook as multiple scenarios popped into her head, all of which didn't end well. She nearly screamed as a loud pop filled the tiny cabin and champagne squirted out of the bottle in his hand.

Clark watched dumb-struck as Sebastian filled the two flutes in his other hand. Yet another carpet ruined by champagne.

"I think we got off to a rough start," he offered her one of the flutes.

Sebastian smiled at her, but it was only his mouth. She could tell it was fake. The lines on his forehead gave him away.

"Come on, this is some good shit. You can't waste it." He pressed the glass in her hand.