The woman didn’t take offense to it, if anything she found it both endearing and amusing. She then took the liberty of reminding Rachel of who she was and where they met, university second year and like a surge of cold water, it hit Rachel, this was Lori!
Now she felt even more guilty, how could she forget Lori and why had they lost touch after university?
Fully aware of whom she was talking to now, the two reminisced on days past and caught up on more recent developments. A great deal had happened to the both of them in the time since they had last spoken. What a small world it was, it was certainly more than a coincidence that they two should stumble across each other again at a party and great that they had been granted the opportunity to rekindle their relationship.
It wasn't until weeks later during a tipsy heart to heart did Rachel reveal that she was gay and explain in more detail why she had come to live in Brighton. She wasn't entirely sure what reaction to expect from Lori; disgust, acceptance, maybe even no reaction whatsoever and to be honest, she didn’t care, she was done hiding herself from people.
At least she thought she didn’t care, but when relief was Lori’s reaction to hearing that news, Rachel couldn’t help but be surprised. As it turned out, Lori had always been gay, she simply wasn't an outgoing type, so it wouldn't have been immediately obvious and if that wasn't already a surprise, she had liked Rachel during university, but chose against involving herself in Rachel’s romantic dramas and uncertainty. Those words were brutal, but true, she was a mess in university.
Rachel revealed her entire journey from delusions to self discovery, a story which prompted plenty of curious questions from Lori as they drank and snacked on into the night.
Much of the conversation of that night was a blur now and probably for good reason, because for what it was worth, the night got more interesting than that, concluding in the hottest sex Rachel had ever had and whatever the case may have been, fate had certainly played its part, because here she was at the ship dining table opposite her parents, her grandmother and next to her beautiful girlfriend, Lori Hempstead.
She shot Lori a smile before their waiter, a nicely dressed, rather friendly looking man approached the table.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Lakshman and I'll be your waiter for the extent of this journey. Now how can I make your experience more heavenly?”
CHAPTER 9 - LORI & MARTHA
9:56am - 4 Days until outbreak
. . .
. . .
To use the word awkward to describe that evening’s dinner was an injustice to the word itself. Lori had never been in such a tense situation in all her life, any thicker and it would have been considered foggy.
It was not as though Lori wasn’t prepared for a tense encounter, on the contrary, she was more than prepared, but really and truly, no amount of pre-psyching herself up could have prepared her for that. Honestly, she had never been so relieved and thankful to have a waiter make attempts to entertain her and the people of the table.
The worst part is that Rachel didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the frosty reception, if anything she was quite content sitting there firing off snarky comments every now and again whenever her parents tried to make general conversation. It was becoming clearer that she wanted next to nothing to do with them and simply wanted the cruising experience, but if she wasn’t going to make any real effort, what was the point of them being here with her family? It felt as though they were needlessly torturing themselves. They could have just as well booked a different awkward-less cruise, they had paid for their own tickets after all, refusing the offer Rachel’s mother had made to pay for her because it didn’t include Lori, unless the purpose of this trip was for her to show her parents just how much she didn’t care for them.
Lori could have counted the number of times Rachel’s mother - and it was always Rachel’s mother, because her father appeared aloof throughout the night and her grandmother’s silent burning gaze was still imprinted on her mind - asked questions about her life, ambitions, family, education and more.
Honestly, the entire dinner was one small room, a one way mirror and an angry police officer away from a full on interrogation. Rachel had assured her not to be intimidated by her mother, but that was easier said than done, it was one thing being introduced to the parents of your partner and worrying that they might not like you, it was a whole different thing being introduced to parents you already knew hated your guts.
She groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. Never had she been so stressed, her stomach in a knot and her mind abuzz with thoughts.
“Stupid, stupid”, she muttered to herself, tapping her forehead with the palm of her hand, why had she let Christine get to her? Why had she allowed herself to feel threatened and inferior?
Rachel herself had been standoffish that entire night, demanding of Lori not to answer her, not to entertain her bigotry, but Lori wasn't used to this nature of sheer hostility between people, not people she knew anyway, so of course she wouldn't have had the slightest idea of how to handle it, it was like standing
