Sail Away [COMPLETED]

Chapter 12 - "That's a one-of-a-kind."

Ty drilled him on all the other requirements for the rest of their meal. It was like pulling teeth and she didn't feel like she had gotten half the information she wanted to by the time they had to pack up and leave.

She peppered him with questions as they walked towards the lobby and as they waited for the rest of the Hamilton party to arrive. The group would be meeting Ty and Hudson along with another of Ty's co-workers for their day's excursion.

Ty was trying to learn more about the last-day t-shirts when she caught Nico walking into the lobby out of the corner of her eye. She managed to keep herself from looking directly at him, but it made her lose her train of thought. She stared at Hudson blankly for a moment before her brain whirled into action.

Her interactions with Hudson had not gone unnoticed by Nico and it was a problem. While she hadn't crossed any forbidden employee/passenger lines yet, she could admit that she was dancing pretty close to them. The last thing she wanted was anyone interested in her interactions with Hudson.

Johnny was too caught up in his betting ring to care, Jules was too focused on Hudson's hot friends, and Anders rarely got involved in any of the silly ship games unless it involved game night.

With Nico, she knew she didn't have to worry about him betraying her to the higher powers, but she also knew he wasn't above using information to his advantage. Especially, when it came to helping him win bets against Johnny.

"Earth to Ty," Hudson said, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Where did you just go?"

"Hudson," she smiled, focusing closely on him while she worked to keep Nico in her peripheral vision.

She could see him leaning against the front desk and could only imagine the smug look on his face as he caught her in the act of the very thing he had just been teasing her about.

"Hudson," she said again.

"Still here."

"I need a favor."

His eyes pulled together at the strange turn in the conversation.

"Okay..." he said hesitantly.

"I need you to pretend to talk to me like you are frustrated about something and then walk to the other side of the lobby like you are really annoyed with me." She tried to keep her face neutral for Nico's sake, hoping Hudson would play along without question.

He looked at her for a moment then shrugged. "You brought me six types of bagels this morning when all I was expecting was coffee," he said.

He kept his voice low so only Ty could hear what he was saying, but began to make large, frustrated gestures with his arms, jabbing them in the air. "I was pleasantly surprised and I want to say thank you for joining me and providing the food. I had fun."

A smile had crept onto his face as he really nailed the dramatic arm movements and while it made him look adorably up to no good, she was grateful he was facing away from Nico.

Next, it was Ty's turn. She dropped her head to the humble and submissive level she had mastered when dealing with upset guests. "I had fun too. And I want to thank you for suggesting it and for showing up in such a classy shirt."

She was glad her head was down because she almost smiled at the annoyed noise Hudson made.

"Watch it, or my annoyed storming off might not be so fake."

"Maybe I'm not sure how good of an actor you are," she taunted.

"You watched me smile through water aerobics class. You know exactly how good I am." He threw his hands up in frustration before he spun and stomped away.