Chapter 11

After yesterday's tiring day, It was a pleasant surprise for me when I woke up feeling rested and refreshed. I looked around the room, Brielle was sleeping on the next bed, and I remembered where we were. The light was dim, and I couldn't tell if dawn was breaking or not. I decided to get dressed and go out to check on the situation. After dressing up, I washed my face with water from the flask.

I made a mental note to ask Jimena how they bathe and clean their faces in the morning. I really needed a bath.

I left the room quietly, leaving Brielle to continue her sleep blissfully.

It had begun to dawn.

Male voices reached my ears from the deck, but I ignored them and headed straight to the kitchen this time. The door was open, and I saw the fire burning intense in the stone hearth.

"Good morning, Serena. Come in. Just on time." Jimena's voice surprised me. From the door's opening where I was standing, she was not visible.

I entered. "Good morning, Jimena. How is Alma today?" I asked her.

"She is still asleep, the medicines that doctor gave her helped her to have some sleep." she replied.

"I am glad for that. So, what should I do? "

She wiped her hands on her apron and looked at me. "I can understand that it will be not exactly the trip you imagined and I am sorry about that. But I also need help. I wouldn't manage everything alone."

I looked at her thoughtfully. "The truth is that I hadn't imagined what the trip would be like, so I don't have to be disappointed in anything," I told her, and the woman smiled.

"Good then. The Captain was at the helm all night. He will soon leave it to Ian, and he will go to his cabin. We serve him breakfast, and then he sleeps for a few hours to rest.

I looked at her in surprise. "Where does the Captain sleep? When I went to his cabin by mistake, I didn't notice to be a bed in there."

Jimena laughed softly. "You are right. His bed is somewhere else so we can clean his cabin during the few hours he sleeps."

"I understand," I said.

"Captain's breakfast is almost ready. Until yesterday, Alma was doing it for him, and since from today you take over her duties, until she is healed, you will do it for him. Okay?"

I swallowed hard and replied, "Okay."

I stood in the corner waiting for Jimena to finish breakfast. Just thinking that I would see the Captain again, my heart began to pound.

Nothing was going as I would have liked. I had decided to avoid the Captain as much as possible until we reached our destination, and now I had to face him every day.

I have held a tray once in my life. It's been a few years since then. I was afraid that they would soon realize our lie. And then what?

Was it possible to throw us into the sea? Or even worse, to take me and Brielle back to the Red Valley?

I didn't rule out the first, although I heard good words about the Captain. But who likes to be deceived. He will be angry, and he will be absolutely right.

And for the second possible solution, I didn't find it logical to return just for that. There was a commodity that had to be delivered. And Captain had to pay it on time because otherwise, he would lose the customer's trust.

"Okay, Serena. Time has come. You can get the tray," she told me, holding it. I approached her and took it in my hands, feeling its weight, and held it tighter. I turned around and left the kitchen.

I walked to the Captain's cabin. I felt my hands tremble and tighten my grip even more.

When I arrived at the cabin, the door was open. I looked inside and saw the Captain sitting behind his desk, writing something in a thick notebook.

He seemed absorbed in what he was writing and hadn't seen me yet.

I cleared my throat. "Your breakfast, Captain," I announced to him while I was still standing in the doorway with my head down.

"Yes, come in. You can lean it on that small table there because the office is covered by maps."

"Yes, of course," I replied, but because I wasn't looking at him, I didn't see if it made any nod to me which table and where it was. Did he do it on purpose, not telling me?

I had to raise my head as much as I needed to find the table. There were two small tables, and I didn't know where he wanted me to leave the tray. Asking him was out of the question, so I had no choice but to pick one at random and go and leave the tray there.

"Do you need something else, Captain?" I asked him, looking forward to leaving.

"Yes, I want," he replied, emphasizing the words.

"Tell me and I will bring it to you immediately." I told him willingly.

"Close the door, come closer and I will tell you."

I obeyed. I closed the door and went and stood in front of his desk without looking at him.

"I want to look at me when you speak to me. I have told you that again. Have you forgotten it?" he asked in a calm voice. His hoarse voice caressed my ears, sending a shiver down my spine. I never expected my body to react in this way to the voice of a man.

"No, I haven't forgotten, but…" escaped from my lips before I managed to hold it back, and I stopped talking. I felt my face burning, and I wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt.

"But?" he urged me to continue in the same calm voice.

"But… I don't want to," I said in a voice that was just heard and swallowed the knot that had climbed into my throat.

For a while, his fingers beat rhythmically on the desk, and then his chair rubbed as he moved it backward. I heard his footsteps hitting slowly on the wooden floor. He was approaching me. My heart hadn't stopped beating loudly since I entered the cabin, now I could feel it beating in my throat, and its beats echoed in my head. I didn't want that to happen every time I met him, but it was something I couldn't control.

He arrived next to me. I felt the aura of his body, and a smell of saltiness enveloped my senses.

"Hold still," he ordered me in a soft voice.

My heart lost a beat when I felt his fingers gently touch the pulsating vein in my neck, and I forgot to breathe.

The vein began to beat harder, hitting hard against his fingers. His touch was gentle. He dragged his fingers along the vein and then ran the line of my jaw until it reached my chin. With a gentle movement, he raised my head until our eyes met.

He looked at me intensely, riveting, and I once again, I got lost in the blue ocean of his eyes. The white of his eye had a red tinge because he had been awake all night at the helm.

"I went astray and became unjust to you."

"I agree," I told him, and he smiled.

"So, I take the opportunity to apologize to you, Serena," he added almost in a whisper.

His hand, which was still under my chin, prevented my mouth from opening in surprise.

"What?" he asked, frowning.

"You? A captain do you apologize to me? To a simple maid?" I replied.

"For me, the titles don't matter. When I'm wrong I admit it. Is that so bad? "

"No, not at all. I am just surprised. I didn't expecting it."

"Well?" he asked me.

I looked at him in astonishment.

"Do you accept my apology?" he clarified to me.

"Yes," I replied in a trembling voice.

"Very good." He said and smiled.

He stroked my chin with his thumb and then removed his hand, walking back to his desk.

"I don't want to see you again with your head down," he told me and sat down in his chair, dragging it forward.

"Yes, captain."

He smirked playfully. "Because if you looked at me as you should, you wouldn't make a mistake about on which table you should leave the tray. I had shown you to leave the tray on the other table."

I must get reddish on the face from shame. "Oh, forgive me, Captain. I will move it to the correct table right away."

"No, no. Don't bother. It is okay. I just used it as an example. To emphasize that I don't want to see you again with your head bowed. I will tell you something and I want you never forget it. On Captain Carter's ship nobody bows his head."