Annoying Neighbor

'Should I just kill him and throw his body into the ocean?' Emma contemplated. She was irked by his obvious question.

"Mind your own business," Emma said displeased by his laugh.

"I'm just offering some help to my next-door neighbor" He tried to cover his smile but the corners of his lips remained upturned.

"Well, that next-door neighbor didn't ask for help." Emma snapped.

"I can call reception for you from my room and get them to bring your keys for you while you wait inside the cabin or you can go by yourself to the reception desk and get the keys. But I can't guarantee you won't get lost or even scammed on your way there. The choice is yours." He said and opened the door of his cabin and went inside.

"What, he didn't even wait for a second to hear my reply before closing the door after asking. At least try to act concerned if you wish to be a gentleman." Emma scoffed.

She was resentful. She had been bombarded with problems just as she stepped foot on the cruise.

"I want to cry." Emma sighed as she pondered on what to do.

Asher was washing his face when he heard a light knock on the door. He would not have been able to hear it if he had been in the room which was further away from the door.

He smirked as he already knew who was at the door.

He quickly wiped his face to dry it and made his way to the door.

Opening the door with a wide smile he said, "This humble man is blessed to have the opportunity to host you at his cabin."

"Can you call the front desk?" Emma asked warily. She didn't trust this con man and didn't dare step inside his cabin.

"What will I be getting in return?" Asher was hell-bent on pissing Emma off.

As expected, Emma gnashed her teeth as she said, "Mister, you have taken advantage of me on more than one occasion and you have the nerve to say something like this besides you were the one who proposed to call the reception for me in the first place. Now, I'm just taking your offer. Why do I have to give something in return?"

"I felt like helping a lost child at that time but now I'm not feeling it anymore. So, either you trade something or," Asher left out the obvious statement.

"You know what, go to hell!" Emma yelled as she kicked Asher's foot and went outside, not forgetting to slam the door on her way out.

Asher held his bare foot that was stepped on and looked at the closed door. A smile broke out on his face.

"This trip is going to be fun, Asher Maximillian." He hummed a song as he took his clothes and went to the bathroom.

Emma was standing outside Asher's door, fuming in anger.

"Why did you even ask for his help? Are you a child who doesn't know the way to the reception desk?"

Her mood became even worse as she remembered that the con man had also called her a child.

"You will burn in hell," Emma cursed as she stared daggers at Asher's door.

"Looks like I'll have to go get the keys myself" Emma once again sighed.

"I've sighed more than my grandfather ever since I boarded" Emma became more depressed.

But there was a much bigger problem. She didn't know the way to the reception desk.

She looked around to find any staff member but to her misfortune, there was no one.

"Can this day get any worse than this?" Emma leaned against the wall and sat down.

After a while, she got up, "Let's just go the way where I came from. Then I'll have a better sense of where I am."

She went towards the boarding station in hopes of finding an employee who could guide her.

After walking for 15 minutes, she officially declared that she was lost.

She had no sense of where she was. "I take back what I said. This day can get even worse than this."

Emma decided to go back and beg that con man for help. "I'll deal with him after he gets my keys."

"Young miss, you're here." A voice said in the empty corridor.

Emma was scared witless as she turned around but to her horror, no one was there.

"Do I even have to deal with ghosts now?" Emma said horrified.

Kale came from the stairs on the left of Emma. Emma failed to realize there were stairs and was scared.

She immediately tried to calm her heartbeat but once again a thought struck her like lightning.

'Kale's ticket is with me. How can come on board?' But overcame her surprise as she didn't want to reveal her intentions of standing Kale up and infuriating her Grandpa.

"Have you sworn to scare me to death?" Emma gained some confidence and said angrily.

"I was looking for you." Once again, Kale answered in a single sentence.

"How do you know where I was?" Emma asked confused as she had been going back and forth without a soul in sight. 'How could Kale know where to find me?'

"I looked at the CCTV," Kale said in an uninterested tone.

Emma slapped her forehead as the realization hit her.

'I could have just called the cruise helpline and asked them to guide me' Since the cruise was huge, they had their own helpline on board to direct lost guests back to their cabins.

Emma felt stupid and because of this her bad mood went through the sky.

"Why didn't you find me sooner?" Emma yelled; tears lightly gathered at the end of her eyelids due to anger.

Kale mistook her tears, thought Emma was scared, and said, "No need to be afraid, I will help you."

Kale's statement was the last nail in the coffin.

"You are the scared one. I swear I'm going to beat all of you today." Emma once again yelled.

"I'll guide you to your cabin," Kale lightly said as he took the lead, not caring about Emma's tantrum.

For fear of getting lost again, Emma quietly followed him back.

"Do you have the key to my cabin?" Emma asked as she remembered her purpose.

"Yes," Kale answered as he slowed down his pace to match Emma's.

"How did they give you the key to my cabin?"

"I asked."

"You asked and they gave you. That simple?" Emma was bewildered by the lack of professionalism. You go ask for any person's cabin and they just give the key to you?

"Yes," Kale said as he unlocked Emma's cabin and went inside as if he was the rightful owner.

"They didn't ask you why you need it?"

"No"

Emma was stupefied by his one-word answers. "Can you speak more than one sentence at a time?" Emma asked irritated.

"I told them you were with me." Kale finally gave an answer that was somewhat acceptable to Emma.

"But, first of all, how did you get on board?" Emma asked cautiously.

"I had a soft copy of the ticket." Kale looked around the cabin to find something. Emma wanted to drown herself in the sea.

'You didn't even bother to ask if there was a soft copy. You idiot.'

'That's why the butler casually handed over the ticket to me. He knew I couldn't stop Kale. Where did your brain cells go, Emma?'

Emma put a stop to her thoughts and observed Kale's actions.

"What are you looking for?" Emma couldn't help but notice his movements in the middle of their conversation.

Kale didn't bother to reply, found the emergency kit, and opened it.

"Sit," Kale said which sounded like an order to Emma. She wanted to argue but held back because it would be the same as arguing with a wall.

Hence, she obediently sat down on the bed. Kale pulled the chair next to her and started to unwrap the skin-colored bandage on her hand. Then, he carefully reapplied the bandage after putting medicine.

"Try to keep the bandage dry" Kale instructed as he got up.

"Where are you going?" Emma asked. She could never predict Kale's actions.

"To my cabin," Kale said expressionlessly.

"Where is your cabin?" Emma wanted to know his location in case she needed his assistance.

"Cabin 567"

"Why are you so away from me?" Emma couldn't help but be suspicious of her Grandfather's activities.

'He was so concerned that he sent Kale with me but failed to book him a cabin next to me?'

"It's the cabin above you."

'Forget it, he has taken all precautionary measures to assure my safety. Why did I even bother to ask?' Emma lamented at his reply.

There was an elevator next to Emma's cabin and if Kale's cabin was right above her, that meant Kale could get there in a few minutes.

"Should I stay?" Kale asked as he saw Emma in deep thought after she stopped him.

"Why would you stay in my cabin? Just go. I don't need you to be here 24/7." Emma sounded angered at Kale's suggestion.

"Have a good afternoon." Kale went out after saying this leaving Emma swimming in her sea of thoughts.