I Left My Heart at Sea

Two men walked a long the lower deck of the ship.

They wore their uniforms, white suits with caps to match.

One of the men was friendly, greeted everyone who passed him; the other grunted, he hardly removed his gaze from the floor.

Once they made it to the lowest deck, where the employes slept, the man who only grunted removed the cap from his head.

Long flowing red hair cascaded down his shoulders, it was in fact a girl, Una McKinnon.

"We did it, Loehmann!" she bobbed up excitedly.

"Shh, Una." Loehmann pressed his finger to his lips.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just so excited!"  

Una's thick Mullingar accent tickled his ears as she whispered.

They walked further down pale colored hallways until they found Loehmann's room.

"Now?" Her eyes sparked with excitement.

Loehmann nodded, Una let out an enthusiastic "Woo hoo!" 

"Loehmann, you're really the best friend any girl could have!" 

She threw herself back on the bed.

"Yeah, that I am." He said.

She hoisted herself on her elbow and turned to face him.

"Loehmann, are you sure you want to do this? We are still docked for another hour, I can go."

"Don't be silly, lovey. It's your birthday! This is my present to you."

"It's also your job on the line."

"They wouldn't be able to kick us out till our next dock, that's not for another three days." 

He kicked off his uncomfortable dress shoes, and laid down next to Una.

"Three days that you can enjoy, so don't worry about it!"

She laughed, the laugh that people often called "loud and obnoxious." but Loehmann was fond of it. 

"Besides, aren't you the care free one? You're being a worry wart."

He grinned, knowing how anyone questioning Una's free spirit irritated her.

"I am! I don't care what they do to me, but I don't want them to do anything to you." 

He knew she meant it as his friend; but her concern made his heart skip just a bit faster.

"When will I get to go out to the deck?"

She asked, laying on her back, eyes dancing across the ceiling.

"As soon as we leave port."

"That's not for another hour." She sighed heavily.

"Well, you wanna get caught and tossed off, Eh?

"No." 

"Aliright, settle down here, I'll be back for you when we set off."

He kissed her cheek and left the unhappy redhead to her lonesome.

He began making his way down the corridors, but not before leaving Una with a word of caution.

"Please, Una.. Stay here until I come get you."

She crossed her fingers, batted her lashes, and flashed that ever so warm smile. 

She promised to stay put.

He grabbed his cap and retreated to make his rounds.

Una grabbed her iPod, and let music take her away.

Una was a singer, or at least she tried to be.

She sang in local pubs around Mullingar, the patrons were typically too drunk to care.

She often dreamed of leaving Mullingar and trying to make it in England, but family kept her rooted.

Her father, Avery McKinnon, was sick with cancer. He needed her, and to some extent she needed him.

Her mother, Maureen McKinnon, left when Avery became stage three.

She couldn't take watching her husband die slowly. Una didn't blame her, she just thought her to be weak.

Una left her father with cousins in Dublin just to have this trip, Loehmann pleaded with her persistently just to get her to leave him.

She recalled what Avery said before she left.

 "Una, lovey, just go. If you don't come back I'll be fine, you have to start your own life."

She of course told him he was insane, and that she would be back in a week.

After all it only took seven days to cross from England to America.

Loehmann brought her to England to sail from one of the largest cruise ships in Europe.

"The Evangeline." was the largest cruise ships to ever call England home.

She thought it sweet that Loehmann wanted to give her this for her nineteenth birthday.

Loehmann had always been this way, since they first met fourteen years ago.

Sweet, kind, and gentle.

He treated Una like she was made of glass, careful as if not to break her. He wished that she would sit still, just take things in. 

Una never could, as much as she cared for Loehmann, she was a restless soul.

Never happy until she felt freedom cruising through her blood.

"I will call you by name, I will share your road." 

Marcus Mumford's voice flooded through the pods in her ears.

She noticed that some twenty minutes had passed since Loehmann left, and though she promised, her legs itched for exploration.

"Oh, this is a big ship filled with tons of people." She spoke to no one but the walls.

She changed into her own clothes, and ran her fingers through her hair. 

As she reached for the knob, the thought of Loehmann coming back to an empty room hit her. 

She thought maybe, if she could make it back before he did, it would be okay.

So off she went, in search of the unknown. 

She reached the main deck in no time, people walked past her as if nothing. 

She found amusement in their lack of attention, to them she was your average passenger. 

When in actuality, she was practically a stow away.

Una thought it a good idea to go to the stern of the ship. 

Once she reached it, she pulled out a cigarette. It was her last one, as she was trying to quit.

The winds were strong, harsh even. It carried her smoke over her shoulder. 

"Ey, do you have another one?" 

She heard an accented voice come from behind her, she glanced over her shoulder. 

"No sorry, mate. This is my last one."

She flicked ash into the ocean, she leaned back against the railing and turned to face the man.

He was tall, his blonde hair was slicked back, his beard was tidy, a set of stunning blue eyes looked back at her.

He was quite fit actually.

"We can share this one." She waved her ciggy in suggestion.

"You don't mind?"  

"Do you have herpes?"

He laughed. "No, not that I'm aware of."

"Alright then, well come here before I finish it."

He took the cigarette from her fingers, and pressed it between his lips.

He extended his other hand. "I'm Rayce."

"Una, Una McKinnon." She shook his hand.

"Irish?" 

"No, American." She rolled her eyes, but couldn't fight a grin.

"I'm from Newcastle." He said.

"I could tell, Rayce."

He passed back the cigarette and said. "So do you normally share cigarette's with strangers?"

"All the time, homeless people, drunk people, French people too." 

She tried to keep a serious front.

Rayce rolled with it. "Homeless people? That's charitable." 

"I try to be, a'lease the homeless know how to appreciate a good ciggy."

"And the French? That's just all around holy."

Una bursts into laughter.

"That's me, regular ol' Jaysus Christ."

"Well, without the beard."

"You seem to have that covered, darlin'."

"You're a firecracker." He shook his head in laughter.

"Burdens of every redhead."

She shrugged her shoulders, and exhaled smoke.

Una looked at her phone, if she was gonna make it to the room before Loehmann; her free time was up.

"Well, this has been fun but I've gotta go."

"Can I see you later?"

"I don't know, maybe?" 

She began walking away. 

"Well maybe we could accidentally run into each other? I'm in suite 1402."

"Isn't that the penthouse?" 

"Yeah."

"Well then, we probably won't be running into each other."

She gave Rayce a sloppy salute, and made her way back to the lower decks. 

Una shook her head, surely she would be tossed off if she ever made her way to the penthouse.

That was the last of Rayce she would see, at least she thought...