Sea Sick: A Horror Novel(6)
The lad tilted his head towards Jack suspiciously. “How you doing, mate?”
“Good,” Jack replied, ignoring the macho attitude being fronted at him. “I was just chatting to your friend….?”
“Claire,” the girl on the sun lounger replied. She sounded a little nervous.
“She’s my bird, not my friend.” The lad extended his hand out to Jack. “My name’s Conner. Who the hell are you?”
Jack took Conner’s hand and the two of them shook more firmly than either of them needed to. “I’m Jack.”
“Jack was just telling me he’s a police officer,” Claire explained.
Conner pulled his hand away and took a step back. He impolitely snorted back a wad of snot and moved his attention to Claire, acting as if Jack had suddenly ceased to exist. “Come on, babes. They’re about to start serving up hotdogs. The lads are already down there.”
“I’m not really hungry.”
Conner clicked his fingers at her. “Get moving.”
Claire got up reluctantly and seemed to flash an awkward glance over at Jack. She reached down and pulled on a long t-shirt that covered her down to the knees. Then she shuffled into a pair of pink, jewelled flip flops and stepped up beside her boyfriend.
Conner sneezed. Then sneezed again.
Claire put the back of her hand against his forehead. “Your cold still getting worse?”
“Yeah,” Conner said. “I’m starting to feel well rough, innit. Steve and Mike have got it too. We haven’t stopped sneezing for the last hour. That’s why I need you to stop lazing your fat ass about, so you can look after me.” He went in for a kiss but Claire dodged it.
“Well, don’t give it to me, babe!” She instead planted a kiss on his forehead and wrapped her arms around him. “I’ll look after you, honey. Let’s go get some hotdogs inside of you.”
“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.
They both glanced down at Jack as they walked away; Claire with a warm smile on her face, Conner with an aggressive scowl on his. Jack kept his own expression plain – it wasn’t his place to cause a confrontation – if the lad wanted to treat his girlfriend like shit then that was his business. She’ll dump his sorry ass eventually.
Jack lay back and closed his eyes for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. Then the smell of cooking sausage meat wafted up onto the upper deck and he was powerless to resist his growling appetite. He closed the book he had not yet started and hoisted himself up off the lounger.
I’m so hungry I think I could eat a whole pig. Let’s hope there’s plenty to go around.
Heading down the steps to the Lido Deck, Jack couldn’t help but notice something a little bit odd. It appeared that Conner and his mates weren’t the only ones with colds. There were several other passengers who were sneezing and coughing. Obviously there was a nasty bug going around.
Hope I don’t catch it, Jack thought to himself as he joined the queue for hotdogs.
***
The hotdogs had been good and plentiful. Once Jack had filled his belly with three or four, he decided to explore the ship, surprised to find that there was a Sports Deck and a casino. His initial plan was to find somewhere peaceful to read his book, but somehow he’d found himself unable to settle anywhere in particular. He visited the ship’s five bars, speaking briefly to Joma at the Voyager’s Lounge and ordering a double bourbon whisky at an American-style pub called Columbia.
He’d eventually ended up at a place called High Spirits and that was where he was now. The barroom was immediately next to the Sun DeckSun Deck where he had briefly sunbathed, but it was also, more importantly, right above the Lido RestaurantLido Restaurant where they served a twenty-four hour buffet. It would not be long before Jack wanted to eat again, and when he did all he would have to do was descend a short flight of stairs to find a wide array of snacks waiting for him. Drinks upstairs and food below. Perfect.
Looking at his wristwatch, it was ten-past-eight. Currently there was a comedian who would be performing on the room’s small stage until ten-o-clock. Jack would most likely get a bite to eat after the set was over and then retire to bed with the book he was still eager to finally get started on.
The room’s waitress – another Filipino girl, as a majority of the serving staff seemed to be (apart from the dark-featured poolside waitress that had brought him a beer earlier in the day) – brought over the drink he had ordered: another double bourbon, this time with coke. Jack took the drink and thanked the lady, before settling in to watch the rotund comedian ply his trade on the stage.
“The wife and I were sat having a cup of tea with my mother-in-law the other day when, out of the blue, she says to me, ‘I’ve decided I want to be cremated.’ I said, ‘Alright, get your coat.’ ”
Mother-in-law jokes. How original.
Jack sipped his drink and glanced around the dimly-lit lounge. The attendance was high and nearly all of the seats and tables were occupied by passengers with their various drinks. Nearby, he spotted the family that had boarded just before him: the middle-aged couple and their daughter. Their little girl was not the lively spirit she’d been earlier and was now lying across her mother’s lap, her damp blonde hair matted against her forehead as she clutched her dolly against her chest. At first Jack assumed that the girl was just exhausted from the excitement of being on holiday, but the longer he looked at her the more certain he became that she was unwell.