The Orient Express S2 #5

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Hannah’s Point of View

I sat beside Josh at breakfast with a bowl of Bircher muesli and a few strawberries that made me smile at first. Then I laughed.

I pointed at my boyfriend’s breakfast.

“Rice?”

“Nasi lemak. One of the chefs is Malaysian. I saw it being prepared—chef’s food, not on our buffet—so I asked. The egg, coconut rice, peanuts, and crispy anchovies are spectacular. The sambal I can take in small amounts.”

“Too spicy?”

“Too gassy. For me, anyhow, and since we live in a confined space, I figured—”

“Good thinking.”

The science mess held maybe thirty of us at that hour, white tables with fiddle rails, the second morning’s swell leaning the coffee in the cups. Aurelia had found the open Southern Ocean overnight, and my body had already agreed to it. I settled into my breakfast and watched Josh build a forkful—rice, a peanut, a sliver of boiled egg, one anchovy, a dab of sambal.