‘Right.’ Isla shrugged. It really shouldn’t matter to her one iota what kind of a reputation Nikhil Dara had. ‘Well, as one of the senior officers, I doubt we’ll see much of him anyway.’
‘Certainly not enough.’ Jordanna pulled a rueful face. ‘Part of his job includes safety and security so he does come down here now and then to do his rounds, but certainly not enough.’
‘We’d all like to see a lot more of him,’ quipped Lisa, her insinuating wink driving home her pun. ‘If you know what I mean.’
‘We know what you mean, Lisa.’ Jordanna rolled her eyes good-naturedly. ‘The whole of Chile probably knows what you mean.’
‘Says the girl who threw herself on him the first night she was ever on board.’
Isla watched, intrigued, as the stunning American flushed slightly.
‘Yes, well, he turned me down without even blinking an eye.’
‘The only guy who ever has.’ Lisa threaded her arm through her friend’s in solidarity, before turning to Isla. ‘Makes me feel better about the fact that he’s never looked twice at me either, though. If he can turn down Miss USA here, then what chance do the rest of us stand? Although you’re pretty striking too, Isla. You both make me feel dowdy by comparison.’
‘You’re beautiful,’ Isla and Jordanna chorused instantly, and both nurses turned to look at her approvingly.
‘Yeah—’ Lisa grinned ‘—you’ll do fine, Doc. Hard worker, knows her medical stuff and nice to boot. We’ll definitely keep you over your condescending predecessor any day.’
‘Thanks—’ she laughed ‘—I think.’
And though she didn’t mention it, she quietly filed away the fact that the previous doctor apparently hadn’t been a good fit for the medical team, and they were glad to have her on board. Somehow, that made the idea of having to face Nikhil that much easier.
Although, with any luck, she wouldn’t have to.
The smells and sounds of the crew bar reached Isla’s senses long before they reached the room itself. Even so, she wasn’t prepared for the sights as she rounded the corner and stepped through the doors.
It felt as if there were hundreds of crew in the place already mingling with raucous laughter, although it couldn’t even be half of those crew on board. And the place was gargantuan. There were TV screens and arcade games, a bank of computers on one wall and a bowling alley on the other. There were even several pool tables, ice-hockey tables and football tables in there. And still there would be room for more.
‘Come on.’ Jordanna grabbed her hand as the three of them weaved through the people to the bar. ‘It’s a bit of a shock to the senses, I know, but Lisa will get the drinks, we’ll get the seats and you’ll soon start to settle.’
Obediently, Isla followed, circling the room twice before Jordanna spotted a small group getting ready to leave a table and pounced.
‘Impressive,’ Isla commented.
‘Yeah, well, in here you have to be faster than a passenger grabbing the last chocolate éclair off the dessert buffet.’
Isla didn’t bother to say that passenger would probably have been her mother.
‘So this is your first cruise?’ Jordanna asked as they shuffled into the seats.
‘Yes, I was supposed to be joining the Jewel of Hestia tomorrow but...’
‘Thank God you’re with us,’ Jordanna cut in. ‘Do a good job and you could probably put in a request to stay here permanently. If you carry on the way you’re going, the rest of us would definitely stand character for you. And Reginald holds a lot of sway.’
‘The previous doctor was that bad?’
‘Worse.’ The nurse squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head. ‘Not with the passengers, of course. He was the epitome of a caring doctor to them. But with the crew, and with us...? No, he was horrid.’
For a moment, Isla hesitated. She was desperate to hear more, but starting the job bad-mouthing a colleague who she’d never met wasn’t her style. Instead, she opted to change the conversation.
‘So what are the patients like?’
That easily, the conversation flipped to medical scenarios, both the routine and the unusual, and when Lisa made her way over with their drinks they indulged in the inexorable
horror scenarios.
It was perhaps a good half hour of free-flowing conversation before the two nurses abruptly fell quiet, leaving Isla to look up from the straw of her drink and see a disapproving Nikhil looming over their table.