For a moment, all Evander could do was stand still.
Ruby's voice had stopped, but her presence filled the room like a thunderstorm: her chest still rising fast, hands clenched, hazel-green eyes burning with disbelief and fury. She didn't shrink back from him. If anything, she looked ready to go another round.
And something in him…fractured.
He had dealt with mutinies on weather-beaten decks, guest tantrums, engine failures mid-ocean but nothing had ever made him feel quite so wrong.
Because now, standing there in the silence he'd forged, he realized what he'd done. Not just the mistake, but the weight of it.
Still, she wasn't done with him.
~ Ruby: "If I wanted to, I could file a formal report. A lawsuit."
Her voice was lower now, calmer, but more dangerous for it.
~ Ruby: "I have witnesses. Two of them. Other guests. They saw exactly what happened. That man put his hands on me. He kissed me without permission. In the real world, that's called harassment. And I could burn this whole 'prestigious' ship down if I wanted to."
Evander's jaw clenched, but he didn't speak.
~ Ruby: "But I won't. Not because I'm afraid. Not because I think I'd lose. But because I actually care about my job. About this ship. About the people who work their asses off down in service corridors with no windows and no thanks."
Her words hit harder than anything he'd said to her.
~ Ruby: "But I guess that doesn't count for much. Not when you've already decided I'm just some... redheaded distraction for the rich."
That stung more than he expected.
Ruby shook her head, her voice cracking with restrained fury.
~ Ruby: "Is that what you think of me? That I dress up and smile just to trap some walking bank account? You think I'm that cheap?"
Evander opened his mouth, but she cut in again, blistering and sharp.
~ Ruby: "Of course you do. I'm just a nobody, right? Not born into this. I don't have a powerful last name or years of maritime nobility or whatever you base your standards on. So the second something looks wrong, even for a second, I'm the problem."
Her next words were quiet. Almost too quiet.
~ Ruby: "You didn't just doubt me, Captain. You dismissed me."
Evander exhaled, slow and deep. Something hollow had begun to ache behind his sternum.
But she wasn't looking for sympathy. Her gaze, still fierce, darted toward the floor, her voice now mixed with something heavier, a betrayal so personal it made him wince.
~ Ruby: "I respected you. Even when you were cold. Even when you ignored me in corridors. I thought you were someone who valued discipline and fairness, not just appearances. And I tried to match your standards. But I never had a chance, did I?"
The Captain's throat tightened. She turned to leave.
Her hand gripped the door handle, but she paused, one last arrow.
~ Ruby: "You were so quick to throw me under the bus, and for what? Because I don't fit the image you built in your head of who belongs here?"
She looked at him again, and this time there was no fire. Only something quieter. Sadder.
~ Ruby: "You made me feel small. When I was the one doing everything right."
She didn't slam the door. She didn't need to.
The silence she left in her wake was louder than anything she could have screamed.
Evander stood alone in the echo of his own misjudgment and for the first time in years, the man who lived by rules, precision, and discipline felt the sting of being ashamed.
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🛳️ 🛳️
🛥️ 🛥️
⛴️ 𝑵𝒐 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒓 ⛴️
🚢 🚢
⛴️ ⛴️
🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️
The second the door to her shared cabin shut behind her, Ruby exploded.
Her tote bag hit the floor with a thud, spilling her water bottle and notepad. She didn't stop. She kicked off her shoes, flung her name tag across the room. Her hands trembled with the force of everything she'd been holding in: the humiliation, the injustice, the rage.
"That arrogant, cold, son of a bitch"
Her eyes were burning. Her chest rose and fell in rapid, uneven bursts. She stormed to the narrow desk and shoved everything off of it: pens, a folded towel, a compact mirror, until the surface was bare. Her reflection in the mirror hit the floor and cracked. It didn't matter.
Nothing mattered except the bile rising in her throat, thick with hatred.
Hatred for his voice, his judgment, his smug self-righteousness. The way he looked at her like she was a stain on his perfect little ship.
She paced, then stopped, then turned again, as if her anger couldn't fit inside the four walls of the cabin. Jada wasn't there, thankfully. She didn't know what she would've done if someone had tried to talk to her right now.
He accused her of trying to seduce a guest. After she pushed that guy away. After she told him no. After she made it clear."
Her fists clenched. Nails dug into her palms.
"He thinks I'm just... what? Some redhead gold digger? A distraction? Is that all I am to him?" she said to herself
The words made her sick.
She had worked so hard to stay professional. To be focused. To prove herself. All of it, every extra shift, every perfectly executed event, every fake smile, every swallowed insult, thrown into the gutter because one rich idiot couldn't take a hint.
And Evander had stood there, towering in that pristine office, judging her like she was a disgrace to his kingdom.
He didn't even ask what happened. Didn't listen. Didn't consider for one second that he misinterpreted the scene. No. He decided. Condemned. Passed judgment like some old-world executioner in a navy uniform.
"He enjoyed it. Enjoyed tearing me down. Like it proved something." she spat to no one.
She kicked her bag again. It slid under the bunk. Good. She didn't want to see it. Didn't want to see anything that reminded her of the ship. Of him. Of those eyes, so icy when they landed on her. So full of contempt.
And worse, so disappointed. The thought made her stomach twist. Why the hell should she care what he thought?
But she did. That was the worst part. She did. And now… now she hated him for it.
She hated that she had tried to meet his standards. That she had once looked up to him. That part of her had stupidly thought, "maybe he's starting to see me."
He never saw her. Not really. And now she wished she could forget he ever existed.
She sank to the floor, still breathing fast, back against the bunk. Her hair a mess, her cheeks flushed with rage.
She didn't cry. She was too angry for tears.
Hatred, hot and electric, was so much easier to hold.
🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️
🛳️ 🛳️
🛥️ 🛥️
⛴️ 𝑵𝒐 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒓 ⛴️
🚢 🚢
⛴️ ⛴️
🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️🌬️
The door creaked open, and light from the hallway spilled into the cabin.
Jada stepped in and stopped dead.
Her breath caught.
Her eyes widened as they swept the room: the overturned chair, the clothes flung across the bunks, the shattered compact on the floor like a broken promise.
Her gaze landed on Ruby, crouched on the carpet, hair disheveled, face flushed and streaked with tears, hands still trembling from rage.
Jada's mouth parted in stunned silence. She looked like she'd just walked into a crime scene.
~ Jada: "Jesus, Ruby… what the hell happened?"
She took a step forward, blinking rapidly as if trying to make sense of the wreckage.
~ Jada: "Are you, are you hurt? Talk to me, what happened?"
Her voice was high with panic now, laced with disbelief and fierce concern. She moved to kneel beside the redhead without waiting for permission, eyes full of alarm.
~ Jada: "Who did this? What happened to you?"
Ruby's eyes flicked up, still blazing, but her mouth pressed shut like she didn't trust it not to scream. She didn't want pity. Didn't want comfort. But she didn't want to be alone either.
~ Ruby: "Evander thinks I kissed a guest."
~ Jada: "...What?"
Jada crouched in front of her. The disbelief on her face cracked something deeper inside Ruby, something tender and raw. She looked down, jaw tight.
~ Ruby: "He said I was unprofessional. That I was trying to seduce someone for money. Called me a gold digger. Said if I want to chase rich men I should do it off his ship."
~ Jada: "He said that to you?"
She nodded. Her voice, when it came, was low and rough.
~ Ruby: "I got kissed without warning. I told the guy no, I pulled away, I made it clear. And somehow I'm the one getting lectured like I brought shame on the company."
Jada let out a slow breath, like she didn't trust herself to speak immediately. She sat down beside her friend on the floor, shoulder to shoulder.
~ Jada: "I'm so sorry."
~ Ruby: "It's not just what he said. It's how he looked at me. Like he was… disgusted. Like I was beneath him. Like I deserved it."
Jada's hand found hers and squeezed.
~ Jada: "You didn't. You hear me? You didn't. That guy crossed a line, and the only mistake you made was being too damn professional about it."
The redhead laughed once, bitter, humorless.
~ Ruby: "I should've slapped him."
~ Jada: "You should've. But you kept your cool. That's strength, Ruby. Even if it feels like it's tearing you apart now."
She let herself lean her head against Jada's shoulder, only for a second. The fury hadn't gone. It still simmered beneath her skin like wildfire. But with Jada here, it wasn't so blinding. It didn't own her.
~ Ruby: "I hate Evander. I hate that he gets to say something like that and walk away like it's gospel. Like I should be grateful he even gave me a chance."
~ Jada: "He doesn't get to define you. He doesn't even know you."
~ Ruby: "I thought maybe... maybe we were past the first impression stage. But I was wrong."
Silence hung between them. Not heavy, just shared. Jada reached for a fallen pen and set it gently on the desk.
~ Jada: "Want me to help clean this up?"
~ Ruby: "Not yet."
Her voice was calmer, steadier now. But something hard remained in it, a new edge.
~ Ruby: "I want to remember what this feels like. So I don't forget."
~ Jada: "Then I'll sit here with you. As long as it takes."