Boarding the cruise

At last, the day of Emma's departure had arrived. She was thrilled. She asked her family butler to get her luggage from her room.

She had packed her bags last night. Kale arrived in the morning and was waiting in the lounge.

She was dressed in white silk knee-length dress with white sneakers. She had styled her hair in a light tussle.

Her Dad had already said goodbye to her in the morning before going to the office.

At the moment, only her mom and grandfather were sitting in the lounge.

William was giving last-minute instructions to Kale who was listening heartedly and noting them in his small diary.

"Make sure to tend to the wound on her hand twice a day. And if possible, get an X-ray once a week to check the progress of bone reduction," Emma heard her grandpa's voice as soon as she entered the lounge.

"Grandpa, it's not like they don't have a pharmacist on board. And if any complication occurs, we can simply go to the hospital when we dock," Emma said sarcastically sitting across from her Grandpa.

"Emma, do you know how difficult it is for us to let you go on this tour alone? You should listen to me or else I don't mind canceling your trip," Emma was horrified at his words.

"My handsome grandpa, I was just kidding. You can ignore my previous comments," Emma said flatteringly putting on a huge fake smile.

"That's what I thought too. How can my obedient grandchild not listen to my nagging? It looks like there was a misunderstanding on my end," William laughed heartily at this.

Because both of them knew that obedient was a word that could never be used for Emma Woods.

Emma just smiled at the obvious sarcasm in his words.

'I don't want to argue with him while he still holds the key to my freedom,' She thought.

"Emma, you need to be extra careful during the tour. You must tell Kale whenever your hand hurts or if you feel nauseous. I have given him medicine; he'll give it to you. And you must listen to him. If I ever get a single complaint from him, you're going to come back that moment, without any arguments. Are we clear?" Mrs. Woods instructed and threatened Emma in the end.

"I assure you Mom; I'll listen to the Great Kale and pay close attention to my behavior as well. You don't need to worry," Emma said in a know-it-all voice which caused Mrs. Woods to shake her head.

'She doesn't need to know about my plan to ditch Kale during the boarding. Even if he does make it on board, I have ways to shake him off.' Emma thought evilly.

The boarding had started two days ago and today was the last day, but Emma had purposely delayed the boarding because of her plan to leave Kale behind. In that case, he'll not make it to the cruise before it sets on the voyage.

"Here are your tickets," William handed them their tickets, once again reminding them about how they were all-inclusive tickets and they didn't need to pay an extra penny to enjoy the activities.

"Thanks once again, handsome man. I'm sure my Grandma in heaven would be delighted to see you taking care of me in her stead," Emma said cheekily.

"Why do you have to mention her?" William said grumpily. 'She hasn't done anything worth going to heaven for.' William muttered but Emma still heard him.

He hated her guts and Emma knew that. "Remember to call me every day and tell me about your day," William once again reminded them.

"All right, Even if I don't Kale will," Emma carelessly said.

"If we don't leave now, we'll not make it to the port. Goodbye. Take care," Emma ushered Kale out of the lounge after hugging her Grandfather and her Mom.

They said their goodbyes and sat in the car. The driver had taken Adrian to the office so the butler, Mr. Harrison, was driving them to the departure port about 3 hours from home.

It was 11 am now and the Royal Caribbean left at 3 pm so it left them a short window to reach there and get on board.

Emma made small talk with the butler on the way so he doesn't find anything amiss. Otherwise, he'll report her back home and she'll be grounded.

Somewhere in the middle of the drive, Emma fell asleep and woke up after they had reached the port.

Emma asked the butler about Kale and found that he had gone to the luggage station to get their luggage cleared.

Emma looked at the time. It was 2:34 pm, which meant that only 26 minutes were left for boarding.

It was time to act on the plan. She opened my bag and said, "Mr. Harrison, It looks like I forgot to take Kale's ticket with me," Emma showed a distressed expression on my face.

"Oh, I saw it placed on the table and took it with me. Here you go," Mr. Harrison smilingly held the ticket out to Emma who was dumbfounded, not knowing how to react.

She had not expected Mr. Harrison to be so meticulous. "Oh, so it was with you. T-thank you," She stuttered.

"No problem, young miss. Now, go before the boarding is closed." Mr. Harrison said in a calm tone.

"Yes, I-if Kale comes, tell him to meet me at terminal number 8 for me," Emma wanted to quickly get out of here, lest Mr. Harrison notices something amiss with her.

'If Kale doesn't have the ticket, he wouldn't be able to get on board and since I have told him to wait at the wrong terminal, he'll not find me,' She smiled devilishly at her thoughts.

"All right, young miss," Emma was surprised at how easily Mr. Harrison agreed with her.

She put her surprise at the back of her mind and went to terminal number 1, which was for first-class travelers.

To her bad, the line was long.

'Did all travelers wait until the last minute to get on board?' Emma asked herself as she stood at the end of the line.

They had made a shade over the line due to which she was saved from the glaring sun.

She still took out the straw hat from her backpack and wore it along with sunglasses.

The queue was long and at 2:50, 8 more people joined the line behind her.

Before her, there was a middle-aged lady with almost 7 children. 'You're done for Emma. Why do you have such bad luck? By the time your turn comes, I'm afraid the time will have run out.' She lamented.

'Are all of them her own?' Emma let her thoughts wander as she waited.

"Ma'am, since you are with family, kindly come with me along with your boarding passes to avoid delaying other passengers." A beautiful girl wearing a uniform came to the lady before Emma and politely asked.

With her gone, the line visibly shrunk. Emma was happy. She was about to move forward but a rude person cut the line and stood before her.

Emma's anger rose and she lightly tapped the shoulder of the man in front of her.

"Excuse me, you can't rudely cut the line" After she said it, she felt like her sentence made her look like a Karen. She was embarrassed which further fueled her anger.

"Is this your first time on a cruise?" Instead of answering her, the man counter-questioned.

Emma irritatedly asked, "So what if it is?" She was not going to back down.

The man turned fully towards her, looked at her from head to toe, and said, "Where are your parents? Kids aren't allowed here alone." He said pointing at the sign that read, "Take care of your luggage and children. If lost, we'll not be responsible for the damage."

Emma's whole face went red. Not because of embarrassment but because of anger. 'He thinks I'm a child?' Emma scoffed, failing to control her anger issues.

"Mister, just because you are built like a bull doesn't mean that I'm a child," Emma said, gritting her teeth.

The man simply smiled at her response. "Thank you for the compliment. Do you have an elder sister you can introduce me to?"

The audacity and shamelessness of this man went through the roof, possibly reaching the sky.

Anger took over Emma. "Look here Mister, whatever you say, that doesn't change the fact that you broke the queue." She tried to reason but the man wasn't even listening.

"The way you argue further confirms my suspicion that you are an underage child. Want me to tell the front desk that there's a lost child here?" The shameless man continued.

Emma gritted her teeth, wanting to chew him out but was surprised to find that it was his turn to check in. He handed over his passport and ticket and winked at her.

This rude man had just tricked her to delay her from reporting him to the staff, making him board earlier. What a scheming, shameless person he is!

Emma swallowed back her anger and handed over her ticket. She was not letting him get out unscathed. Just wait!