Authors: S. Y. Robins
W
hen Hannah walked
into the common area for breakfast the following morning there was a lot of talk and she could tell that something was going on. Sitting down at a table with a few of the kitchen help, she asked what it was and they seemed surprised she was talking to them.
“Someone died last night. A man, early thirties. His friends went to get him early this morning for a run around the ship and they found him. They’ve called the police to come investigate what happened, but it’s really bad. If this gets out it could hurt bookings for future trips on this ship.”
“That’s awful!” Hannah said in horror. “They have no idea?”
“No. You’d know him,” Sara said. “He was the guy that startled you and caused you to trip, remember him?”
“How could I forget? I knocked into him on my way out too. I wonder what happened, he seemed fine last night.”
“We’ll have to wait for them to figure it out I suppose,” Sara said with a shrug. “From what I heard he looked like he was sleeping, but they know he went to his room with stomach cramps last night so they knew he wasn’t passed out drunk or anything.”
“Does that happen a lot?”
“What? Passing out drunk? Yes, especially on singles cruises though the couple's cruises might be worse. The only ones you don’t get it as much are the family friendly cruises since most people come on those with kids. Breakfast in the main dining room is entertaining because you can tell who has had a rough night,” Sara grinned. “It’s awful to work that shift though, so I’m glad I just have lunch and dinner.”
“I’ve never been on a ship before, let alone a cruise of any kind. I’m kind of excited but I keep causing accidents everywhere I go,” Hannah said with a sigh. “Nick must think me a complete idiot.”
“I doubt it. He’s seen a lot of crappy workers over the years and you’re good at what you do. I had some of your Tiramisu last night and it was amazing. So what if you occasionally spill something or knock into something or someone? It happens to the best of us. When we dock we get a few hours off, you should join us. We know the good places to go pretty much everywhere.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you. I need to get back to the kitchens so I will see all of you later.”
As she walked back to the kitchens, taking a longer way to see some of the ocean, she saw a smaller boat had pulled up next to the ship and quite a few passengers were watching what was happening. Apparently the police had arrived to investigate and they were now taking the body to get autopsied to find out what had happened to the man. He had seemed nice enough to Hannah, but a death that close to her in general had her saddened a bit. Dessert made her much happier though and soon she was back on her way to the kitchens, smiling and nodding at guests as she went. She thought the police were moving fast, but then again they probably didn’t want to cause too much of a disruption. When she got to the kitchens Nick was there waiting for her and he informed the entire kitchen staff that police would be on board until a cause of death was found, and if they had any questions, to help them. They had been given a guest room and would be dining in their restaurants so it would make sense for them to encounter one of the two men at some point.
As soon as Nick was done talking Hannah made her way back to her own kitchen to finish what she needed to do for that day which thankfully wasn’t much. As she was making chocolate pudding, she was adding some sugar when the ladle slipped out of her hand and splashed right into the half-finished mixture, covering her in chocolate. She gasped and almost jumped back before glaring at the offending ladle in question. She had no idea why she had been holding it, as she wouldn’t need it until the pudding was done, but that didn’t matter as she put the sugar she was holding down and reached for the paper towels. She really had to stop causing little accidents like that!
It was later that afternoon during some free time that Hannah finally got to see why a cruise would be so much fun. All the guests were all over either swimming, playing games, hanging out pool side or participating in one of the many activities organized by staff. There was an area you could surf on fake waves, you could play real life chess, summo wrestling which looked like a lot of fun in those suits, and several other things Hannah couldn’t name. As she stood by the summo wrestling one of the guys came over and looked at her. “You should play.”
“I don’t know, I’d probably get hurt. I need these hands to work.”
“Oh come on, there’s a lot of padding and it’s really hard to truly get hurt. Give it a try.”
“Deal but only if I wrestle against you,” Hannah said with a grin. The guy looked to be in his twenties and he certainly wasn’t bad to look at, which made a little bit of flirting infinitely more fun.
“Deal. Come on, let’s go sign up. So where do you work here?”
“Kitchen. I’m the head dessert chef.”
“I had strawberry cheesecake in the main restaurant last night, you made that?”
“I sure did. You liked it?”
“It was amazing. I had some more at lunch. Please tell me you’ll be making that the entire trip?”
“I will be but you should try some of the other desserts as well. You could always get the cheesecake as well if you aren’t sure. If you like cheesecake, there is an Oreo cake that I think you’ll like.”
“I will have to do that and let you know how it is. We are up next. Do you understand what to do?”
“Yes. We get into those suits and then wrestle. By the way, I’m Hannah.”
“Steven. Nice to meet you Hannah. Let’s get into these suits and then let's see if you can do more than make amazing desserts.”
“Try the Tiramisu,” the event helper said with a grin. “It’s what the staff got last night and it’s amazing. I’m jealous that we don’t get to try all of them.”
“You probably will by the end of the trip,” Hannah smiled. “I have a different dessert planned for every day so if you go on enough cruises with me you’ll cycle through them. You will also get to try any of my experimental desserts.”
“Where do I sign up to work on any ship you work on?” Steven joked as they waited for the last couple to finish.
“I’m afraid we are only hiring for deck hands sir,” the worker replied.
“That’s alright, I’ll do any job if it means getting to eat her desserts every day and looking at that cute smile while doing so. Shared rooms I hope?” Steven asked, flirting with Hannah.
“Only if you want to sleep on the floor,” Hannah innocently smiled back.
“Ouch. Well if that’s the way it’s going to be you just wait until we get out there. I’ll show you how much fun a little wrestling can be.”
Before she walked out with Steven her co-worker stopped her. “Be careful. If what you’re doing can be misconstrued as you going after a guest you will be getting a serious talking to from Nick. He does not like anyone breaking that rule.”
“Don’t worry, I have no intention of doing anything of the sort. Thank you though, he does not seem like a man you want to cross, ever.”
“You don’t. Good luck, show that guy some girl power.”
Hannah flashed him a smile before walking out and standing opposite Steven. Walking in the suit was definitely harder than she expected but by the time they started she was mostly used to it. Her clumsiness actually worked in her favor as she tripped over her own feet, barely managing to stay upright while Steven went tumbling down. The point was to get the other on their backside, whoever got to three first won. She now had one point and as he was helped up he smiled at her. “Beginners luck,” Steven said as they faced each other again.
In the end, Hannah won but only barely and they both rolled on the ground laughing. It had definitely been a lot of fun and she knew she would be doing that again at some point. They tried to help each other stand but weren’t able to and in the end they were helped before getting out of their suits. She touched him on the upper arm to thank him for inviting her to play, and it was very innocent, but the look in Nick’s eye indicated he wasn’t pleased with it. She had no idea how he always ended up everywhere she was, but after a quick goodbye to Steven and a promise from him to let her know what he thought of the Oreo cake she walked over to him. “You don’t look happy,” she stated calmly.
“Let’s go somewhere guests can’t overhear,” Nick said, equally calm but with a tone in his voice that made Hannah understand immediately why he so easily had risen to the rank he was at. Once they were alone, in a room that appeared to be storage for a multitude of games, Nick turned to her. “You were flirting with guests Hannah.”
“I was playing a game, and I touched his arm in thanks for asking me.”
“I overheard your flirting beforehand as well. You were crossing a line between friendly and flirting and that is a line that should not be crossed. Do not let me hear it again.”
“I was being friendly and having fun with a guest. He was enjoying himself so what is the problem? It’s not like I’m dating him or sleeping with him. It was innocent flirting, nothing more.”
“Hannah, we are not arguing about this. I just told you that you crossed the line. It might have been barely, but you need to be more careful.”
“Fine. Are we done?” Hannah asked, now irritated. She wanted to know why Nick was everywhere she was, it was a large ship after all, and why he had gotten so worked up over something so innocent but she knew if she said more at that moment she would cross into disrespectful and she was fairly certain Nick would appreciate that even less. Besides that she did not want to know what he would do if she went against him again, especially so soon.
“Yes. I’m not trying to be mean or strict, but it’s my job to ensure rules like this aren’t crossed. I can see you are mad at me, and that wasn’t my intention.”
“If that wasn’t your intention you should have understood I meant nothing by it.”
“We have these rules because we’ve had issues in the past where it was harmless on the staff part but the guest took it differently and left terrible reviews or even wanted their money back, while on two other occasions the man started stalking the staff member in question. It’s for your safety and the guest’s enjoyment of the cruise. If you want to play flirt with anyone, pick a staff member.”
“Fine. Are we done? I have chocolate pudding to finish.”
“Yes, we are done,” Nick said, sounding like his normal self once again. Hannah turned around and left the room before heading to the kitchen. She didn’t have chocolate pudding to finish but she knew Nick likely wouldn’t follow her down to the kitchens and she didn’t want him to say she was lying either. She thought for a moment Nick might be jealous but that idea seemed crazy at the same time and she quickly shook it off.
H
annah avoided
Nick for the next day, not happy that he had reprimanded her the way he had and still feeling like he was stalking her. There was something about him that she really liked but she also had a lot of questions. She was on this cruise to start a new career, not to find a guy and she decided to treat him as a superior and nothing more. When the autopsy results came back the news quickly spread amongst the staff, especially since it meant the police would be staying longer. The man had died of poisoning, which meant someone on board not only had poison, they also had a way to get it in his food. The restaurant and kitchen staff was immediately suspected but Hannah found that unbelievable as she couldn’t imagine any of them poisoning someone else.
It also immediately made everyone suspicious of one another and Hannah was getting some weird looks. Apparently Alaina had made the comment that it must be her as she was the only kitchen staff who was new and now several of the others, especially those who hadn’t talked to her yet, were giving her weird looks. She tried to ignore them but it was hard when the police came into the common area with the announcement that they might be questioning some people. The first to get questioned was the room service staff, as they had delivered him food and something to drink and it was the most logical.
Hannah went about her duties as normal, and that night she noticed that several guests came back a second time for certain desserts which made her feel better. It wasn’t until very late that night that she went to bed, and when she did she had put the murder out of her head completely and focused on the fact that she was successful in her job. She still had little accidents constantly but they were able to laugh it off and nothing major had happened to cause problems.
When there was once again excitement in the common area when Hannah appeared for breakfast, she sighed and immediately knew what was going on. “Who was it this time?” she asked easily as she served herself some breakfast.
“How do you know something happened?” Alaina asked snidely.
“It’s easy to see with the mood around here. Something happened and I’m just drawing conclusions. I’m assuming I’m right?”
“You are but that’s suspicious,” Alaina said back. “And it doesn’t help that it was that guy you were flirting with the other day. Worried you’d get fired?”
“I have nothing to be worried about since I didn’t do anything wrong, though you are quick to point the finger so maybe you are trying to divert attention?”
“Ladies, let’s not fight. The police will question all the kitchen staff followed by the restaurant staff. The Captain wants this resolved as soon as possible, it is causing panic and that’s the last thing we need on a ship,” Nick said from the side where he had quietly been eating. “We need to provide a united front to the guests and none of this bickering and accusing. It doesn’t help and we still need to make sure everyone has a great experience.”
Hannah mumbled something not so flattering about Nick’s scolding before walking out of the room to Nick’s raised eyebrow. She made her way to the restaurant, where the police were already questioning some of the staff who weren’t running around preparing breakfast. She ignored all of them though and walked to her kitchen, where one of the kitchen help was already working on preparing some of the puddings which were easy to make and after the last incident she had sworn them off completely.
“Miss? Do you have a moment to talk to us?” one of the police officers asked her as she was frosting one of her cakes.
“If you give me five minutes, I was getting ready to take a break anyway. I just need to finish this chocolate cake.”
“I will wait. That cake looks really good.”
Hannah smiled. “It is, maybe when we are done you’d like to try a slice?”
“I might take you up on that. I will let you get back to work, I’ll be right over here.”
Hannah returned to finishing her cake, which she hoped really was as good as she’d said. It was the only one of her cakes that used dark chocolate, but the cake hadn’t been as big of a hit as she thought it would be. She had other cakes with milk chocolate, which might be why, and she was already trying to come up with ways to change the cake to make it better liked. She had always preferred dark chocolate herself, but she knew some found it too bitter.
She was also determined to find out who was responsible for these poisonings. She knows it’s not her, as she would never even think of doing that, but that didn’t mean someone else in her kitchen wouldn’t and it also meant that others in the restaurant could have. It was suspicious that it didn’t affect more people, so it had to be something not many ate. Focusing back on her cake she saw that it was done and after cleaning up her workstation she turned to the police officer, slightly nervous despite the fact she knew she was innocent.
“I’m ready, would you like to stay here? There are some stools over there we can pull up to the counter.”
“That’s fine, as long as we have privacy.”
“My help went to lunch already, so we’ll be alone for another twenty minutes or so. Do you mind if I eat something while we talk?”
“No, that’s fine I understand I’m interrupting your lunch. First, I’m assuming you’ve heard the cause of death for both men over the last two days?”
“Yes, I have. Poisoning, right?”
“Yes. Do you have any idea what might have caused the poisoning?”
“No idea. I imagine they didn’t take it voluntarily, but I have no idea how they would have gotten it. Anyone who works in the kitchens or the restaurant would have access to all the food and drink though so that’s quite a few people.”
“True. I have to ask, but did you poison anyone, either purposely or accidentally?” the officer asked, ignoring Hannah’s incredulous look.
Her first thought was to tell him that if she did she wasn’t about to tell him, but then she thought better of it and shook her head. “No, I did not. I would never do that.”
“I see. Do you have any suspicions on who might have done that?”
“No, but I haven’t given it much thought either.”
“What if I told you we suspect this restaurant because both men ate here?”
“I would tell you that I still don’t know. I honestly don’t know anyone here well enough to have any kind of opinion on who might be responsible. I do hope you catch whoever it is though.”
“Where do the ingredients used in the kitchen come from?”
“My ingredients come from the central pantry that is between the kitchens. There is a few shelves that are for my ingredients and then there is a few shelves in the main refrigerator that my supplies come from. The rest is for the main kitchen, and anyone who works in either kitchen has access to it. The other dessert chef uses the same pantry and refrigerator since it’s not far from the kitchen that she uses.”
“This is your first job on a cruise ship, correct?”
“Correct. I’ve worked in other restaurants but this is the first time I’m working on a ship.”
“That’s all the questions I have for now, but if you think of anything or see anything suspicious, please let me know.”
“I will. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open. Would you like some cake?” Hannah asked, determined to find out who did this quickly. It sounded like they thought it was coming from her kitchen and she hated that they did as she had been trying so hard.
“I would love some, thank you,” the officer said with a smile, putting his notepad back in his pocket.
Hannah got up and got a small plate and fork out, before cutting a slice of cake and handing it to the officer. She easily covered the remaining cake back up before putting the remains of her own food away, not particularly hungry anymore. She had gotten into the habit of eating in the kitchen before going to explore the ship, not wanting to deal with Nick or the others now that they were giving her odd stares. She knew it would be better if she was around others to give her an alibi, but she doubted it would make much of a difference as they were determined to find fault.
Once the officer had left and she had put the plate and fork with the rest of the dishes for the dishwasher she started to make her way to the upper decks, wanting to enjoy some of the sunshine while she could. It was a beautiful day out and on the upper decks she had a 360 view of the ocean which she thought was one of the most beautiful things she had seen in a long time. Especially with the sun hitting the water just right, she found it strangely calming.
Standing on the front of the ship, looking forward at the direction the ship was going, she thought about the murders that had happened. Both men had eaten at her restaurant, and both men had had some interaction with her before dying. It almost felt targeted towards her, but she doubted that could be true as she hadn’t done anything to anyone. She started thinking about who could possibly want to target her and her first thoughts were Nick and Alaina. Nick had been everywhere and had access to everything, while Alaina had access to all the kitchens as well. Nobody would look twice if either of them were in a place they shouldn’t be, and Alaina had hated her from the start while Nick had been stalking her and she had no idea why. She wished she could just come out and ask him what his deal was, but she wasn’t sure he would take it right if she did and if he said something about her to her superiors or the captain, she might never get hired on another ship again. Determined to keep a closer eye on both of them, she turned back to looking out over the ocean and clear her mind at least for the time being. She could worry about all of this when she went back down.