Charlie did it because he thought the men expected it of the second mate.Īnnoying his father was just an added bonus.Ĭharlie drew on the cheroot again and watched the smoke curl through the air as he exhaled. Bringing women back to his cabin, even if they only talked, was an attempt to show some sort of normalcy. He was not allowed to socialize with his friends in the crew and although he spent time with his father on Sundays, it was not enough to fill his need for social interaction.
It had been three years since he became second mate and he found himself in a no man’s land between the crew and the senior officers. It was all an act, he thought, as the calluses on his fingers snagged the silk. Absently, Charlie stroked the lapel of his burgundy dressing robe, feeling the cool flawless plane of the silk beneath his calloused fingers. At twenty-two any man should have loved this life. From the outside looking in, this was the epitome of his life: the woman, the brandy, the cigar, and the second mate’s quarters. He took a draw on his cigar as he eyed the woman sprawled drunkenly in his bunk. Pressing back into the leather wing chair, Charlie propped his booted feet on the desk built into the corner of his quarters.
0 kommentar(er)
