Ben turned his head and Naomi was standing at the edge of the net with a smile on her face. He looked at her in confusion.
“Hello! Don’t be like that Rochelle. I was invited.” Naomi said sweetly. She made her way over to the empty space left on the net for her next to Brooklyn.
Trish was livid. “Who the FUCK invited the press?” she said loudly.
Ben took her hand and shook his head. “It’s fine. Let’s just enjoy the day.”
Killah sat up and looked at Naomi. “You’re with the press?”
She nodded. “Naomi Klassen. Culture Couture Critic,” she said with an extended hand and a smile.
The big man ignored her and looked instead to Brooklyn who was doing her best to appear oblivious to the drama unfolding. Then he looked at La’Shia who wouldn’t look at him but her expression was beginning to look defensive.
“Well… shit. That’s disappointing. I’m out,” the man said and picked up his stuff.
“Baby?-” Brooklyn began.
“No. Not anymore,” he said sadly. Then he moved over to the other side. “Ben? I’m sorry they did this. It’s a shitty thing to do to a friend.”
Ben looked up at Killah and gave the man a nod. He couldn’t say anything because he heard Brooklyn crying. The sound twisted his guts and he looked over towards the woman.
“Ben, take a walk to the back,” Rochelle suggested, seeing the discomfort plain on his face.
He nodded and got up to follow.
Once the two men were out of earshot Rochelle crawled over to the other side of the netting. She looked at Brooklyn, La’Shia and Naomi whose smile was very stiff by this point.
“What was your price?” she asked La’Shia.
The woman’s head whipped towards her and she glared at Rochelle but she couldn’t maintain it. She turned away but Millionz and his date were looking at her in surprise.
“A video of Ben’s dancing! His moves are unique. We need them for our show!” she finally cracked.
Brooklyn’s crying got louder.
“Stop that!” Rochelle barked in the woman’s face and Brooklyn jumped. The crying woman blinked at the angry look on Rochelle’s face. “Ben doesn’t need to hear your tears. Spare him that.”
“Why does Ben have a problem with a woman’s tears?” Naomi asked, surreptitiously pointing the opening of her bag in Rochelle’s direction.
Trish caught the motion. “Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?” she bellowed as she came over the center hull after the reporter. Rain leapt after her and managed to catch hold of her before she reached Naomi who jumped to the other side of the net to get away from Trish. Her bag hit the springy surface and bounced, tossing its contents out onto the net.
They watched in shock as Naomi’s large camera with a boom mic attachment bounced clear of the net and tumbled over the edge of the boat into the waters below with a big splash.
Her cell phone was sliding towards the wider gaps in the net to follow the camera into the dark waters below the catamaran. She grabbed it just before it disappeared and snatched up her wallet and sunglasses case as well.
“NO! STOP THE BOAT! STOP!” Naomi shrieked and waved at the driver in the cabin.
“You brought the camera on the boat? Tell me you left the memory card with the dance video in your hotel room!” La’Shia screamed.
“No! It was in the camera! I was recording!” Naomi wailed, stuffing her phone, wallet and glasses into the bag. She struggled to get off the net to rush to the driver’s cabin.
Rain let go of Trish as they watched the shrieking woman rush away.
La’Shia was glaring at the horizon. This trip had turned sour for her and she just wanted to go home.
Brooklyn looked destroyed. Silent tears ran down her cheeks. Tilisha crossed over to hold her friend and let her cry quietly on her shoulder.
Rochelle went back to Thomas’ side. She took his hand as he looked upset too.
Trish and Rain settled back on the net and cast worried glances to the back of the ship where Ben had retreated.
Ben was sitting on a bench next to Killah watching him try to come to terms with what the woman he’d fallen in love with just did. The man turned his eyes to Ben.
“Why aren’t you mad? They betrayed you!” he growled. The other members of the group were sitting with them and looked to Ben to see his response.
Ben thought about it and couldn’t find it in himself to be angry. He was annoyed that Naomi was here for sure and he was disappointed that La’Shia and Brooklyn had arranged to have her join them. He was more curious to know why they’d done it.
He looked back at the big rapper. What Ben was more concerned about was the pain the man was in. He seemed like a really decent man and he’d seen the love in his eyes when he looked at Brooklyn. Ben couldn’t let that die.
“Am I happy Naomi is here? No. Am I disappointed that they conspired to sneak her on board? Hell yes!” There was a buzz of agreement from the group around them. “But here’s the thing. People make mistakes. They make bad decisions. They even go against their better judgement, blinded by some perceived good. But if they see that, if they can admit it, I think they deserve another chance. That’s especially true for people you love.”
“What about your fucking self-respect and pride?” Killah snapped.
Ben knew the man wasn’t angry with him so he let the harsh words roll off. “How has their action caused my self-respect any harm? Should I feel less proud about who I am and how I behave towards others? I haven’t done anything wrong. I haven’t behaved badly towards anyone. I feel pretty good about myself. I think their own self-esteem was damaged far more greatly. Their integrity took a major blow. I’m not hurt by that in any way.”
He saw the man was listening. “It’s too easy to lash out and punish people who we believe have done us wrong. It’s harder but far more rewarding to put that initial anger aside, find out why they acted like they did, find out if they understand what they did was wrong, and once they do, to forgive them. They need to rebuild their own self-esteem and integrity. Helping them do that earns its own rewards.”
He locked eyes with Killah. “Taking the high road means taking the hard road. It’s especially worth the effort if it’s for love.”
They heard shrieking and Naomi rushed around the side of the boat and entered the cabin. They heard shouting between her and the captain. It sounded like Naomi wanted them to turn the ship around to get something that fell overboard. Ben exchanged glances with the others. When the shouting concluded Naomi stalked out of the cabin with a look of frustration and barely contained rage on her face. Her eyes locked on Ben and she marched over.
“That redhead bitch cost me over five thousand dollars when she made me drop my camera overboard! What are you going to do about it?”
“She’s not a bitch. Did she hit you? I don’t see any cuts or bruising. If she hit you there would definitely be injuries.” Ben said.
Naomi opened and closed her mouth. Then glared at him. “She attacked me! I had to jump away. If the midget hadn’t caught her she would have hit me!”
“But she didn’t.”
The glare grew hotter.
“She’s responsible-”
“No, I think you are for bringing something so valuable on a boat which is a hazardous environment. You weren’t careful enough.”
She stood trembling, staring at Ben. “WHY WON’T YOU GIVE ME YOUR STORY?” she screamed, her temper finally slipping free of her control.
“You, and the public, don’t deserve it. It’s personal. It’s for family only… and a very select group of friends. I’m not a celebrity. My notoriety was completely accidental and unintended. I have no desire to become a public personality and that’s my last word. Good day.”
With a roar of frustration she spun and went back into the cabin.
The people sitting around him had amused grins on their faces, except for Killah. He was thinking. Hard. He looked to Ben and opened his mouth then closed it.
“Give me a second,” Ben said and stood. He made his way back to the front of the boat. He saw Tilisha comforting Brooklyn. He made his way to their side and knelt.
“Brooklyn? Could I speak with you?” he said gently.
The woman started then looked up at him cautiously. When she saw he didn’t look angry she started to well up once more.
“Please, don’t cry. I just want to talk with you,” he begged.
Ben saw her clamp down on her tears and Tilisha released her so she could stand. Ben took her hand and guided her towards the back of the boat. Before they reached the back Ben turned to her and she looked up into his eyes.
“I’m not mad. I’m disappointed but not mad. Could you tell me why you and La’Shia did it?” he asked.
“N-Naomi has- had a rec-recording of the- the dancing from la-last night,” she stuttered out, sniffling.
Ben’s eyebrows went up. “And…”
She looked confused. “We needed t- to study the dance steps for- for La’Shia’s show.”
He was still confused. “Dance steps? What was so special about the dancing?”
She blinked at him. “It was beautiful! We’ve never seen those moves! I don’t know who taught you to dance but they must have been a master professional!”
Ben shook off the buzzing in his head and forced his thoughts back to the present. “Why didn’t you just ask if I could dance for you again?” The woman’s eyes went wide as she realized her horrible mistake.
Brooklyn burst into new tears and Ben pulled her into a hug. He guided her to the back of the boat and they saw the group sitting on the benches, Killah in the far corner trying to look stern.
“Do you think they could have a little privacy?” Ben said to the others as he brought Brooklyn to her lover.
They stood and left Killah and Brooklyn sitting together on the bench. Ben made his way back to the front. He was greeted with smiles from the people sitting up there, except for La’Shia who still had an angry, defensive expression on her face. He sat down next to her and she crossed her arms and looked away.