by Melanie Rose
I was supposed to be here. That wasn’t exactly true… It was more like I belonged here!
I love different cultures, their people, their foods, even their customs. I bathed in it and soaked it into me. Learning how other people live their lives, can open and expand your mind to all sorts of new heights and possibilities. I could not wait to get on board and start mingling with all these people, make some new friends, and experience new and exciting things that I’ve been ignorant to my whole life. This amount of eagerness was something I hadn’t felt in a long while and one could only hope that I wasn’t jumping for joy… too badly.
I reserved us one of the biggest cabins available on the ship, a deluxe suite. It had a single king-size bed for us to share, a decent sized bathroom, separate living room, and our own private balcony, overlooking the deep blue sea. It was exceptional, an apartment literally floating on water.
“This must have cost a fortune. You didn’t need to book us a room this big, you know.” Maya told me while unpacking the first of her fifty suitcases. Dang, we’re only on vacation. Not moving in, woman!
“No worries… don’t even think about it. We’re here to relax. So just sit back and enjoy.”
“What’s our first stop again?”
“France. Can you believe it? We’ll get there sometime around dawn. In the meantime, let’s go check out our new home for the next 15 days. Throw your swimsuit on underneath that, just in case.”
“You read my mind. Do you want to make up some fake names first… before we run into any cute guys?”
“I’m not here to meet any cute guys. I’m married, remember?”
“Nope! Not for the next 2 weeks, you’re not. You, my friend are going to let your hair down and have some fun for a change. You’ve been so depressed that a good lay might do your ass some good! Let’s see, I think I’ll call you “Angel” because you’re miss goody two shoes and you can call me “Star” because I’m fabbbbuuloussss,” she said laughing at her own retarded joke.
“Fine! But get it thru your thick skull right now that I have no intentions on sleeping with anyone aboard this ship.”
“Uh huh… and when was the last time you and Diego did the deed? How long has it been this time exactly?”
“Over a year,” I coughed out, embarrassed to even say it aloud.
“I rest my case. Shit girl, you two are just roommates. Not man and wife.”
And she was right.
Again.
We were only married on paper, but that didn’t change the fact that I had vows to uphold.
From the main deck, we watched the ship pull further and further away from the shore until there was nothing left but water surrounding us. As we moved on and explored the ship, we came across a couple of pools, tons of restaurants, shops, lounges, bars, gyms, and even a casino. We played in there a little while, drawing some unwanted attention to ourselves as we played at a blackjack table by some horny, old toads looking to get lucky on this voyage.
Give me a break, fellas.
“Hit me, baby!” I cooed at the dealer.
“21 for the pretty lady.”
“You’re on fire, Angel.” Maya winked at me from the seat next to mine.
“Look who’s talking. What are you up? Two hundred bucks already.”
“Just one of my many talents,” she replied not looking at me, but at the hunky, blackjack dealer named Ramon instead, who couldn’t have been older than twenty-two.
Cougar!
“May we buy you lovely ladies a drink?” said a sexy male accent behind us, pulling our attention away from Ramon for a moment.
We both turned around, curious to see if the package matched the voice. Maya had to literally stop herself from laughing in the poor mans face. He was a short, fat, balding man with a really hairy chest that poked out from his overly bright yellow button down shirt.
Gross!
The only thing this man had going for himself was his voice and his friend, let me tell you… wasn’t much of a looker either.
“Pleezzzzzz, we’re a little busy playing with our new friend here. So, move along little man,” Maya said, shooing him away to blow Ramon a fat juicy kiss.
“Maybe later then,” the man told us before walking away with the strangest look on his chubby face that I couldn’t quite read.
“Uh, Star. I think you hurt his feelings or you just gained a stalker! I haven’t decided which one yet,” I teased her as we resumed our game of blackjack.
After the casino, we headed off to the dining hall. From the looks of it, they had every food imaginable, from every region of the world out for us to consume. My mouth began to salivate just from the smell alone. My stomach on the other hand, grumbled loudly to inform me of the fact that it was indeed, empty and ready to be stuffed. With rows upon rows of food, the selections offered were triple the amount of any buffet I’d ever seen before.
So not the place to be if you were on a diet!
We helped ourselves, loading up our plates with cuisines that we had never tried before or could even pronounce for that matter, and headed off to find us somewhere to sit and dig in.
Enjoying the casual atmosphere and the company of a young couple from Canada that was here on their honeymoon, the same little bald man from the casino and his ugly ass friend, decided to sneak up and ambushed us from behind. “Are these seats taken?” he asked, nodding to the four empty chairs left open at our table.
“Why no… please go right ahead and have a seat. We were just leaving anyways. I’ve suddenly lost my appetite!” I told them as I ripped the fork out from Maya’s unsuspecting hand and pulled her up from the table. “Stalker freak!” I said solely to her as we made our getaway.
Some people just can’t take a hint. What did we have to do… spell it out for them? Draw them a picture? Maybe smoke signals would work.
Determined to not let them bring us down, we headed back to our room to freshen up a bit before changing into our club outfits for the rest of the evening.
I put on a sexy little red number to show off my lean legs with some fabulous shoes that I had found while shopping in Barcelona. The craftsmanship and detail that the designer had put into them was remarkable. Once I picked them up, I couldn’t let them go. So much so, I had three more pairs in various colors stashed under the bed.
Maya was dressed in a silver sequenced mini that really brought out the color of her olive skin. The front of her dress dipped down so low, I thought her boobs might fall out. Talk about a risky. I hope those bad boys are taped down or else someone is more than likely to get flashed tonight. “Let’s go break some hearts,” she proclaimed after applying one last application of shimmery lip-gloss.
The first nightclub we picked was hopping and jam-packed with wall-to-wall people. Heading straight for the bar, we ordered ourselves a couple of drinks to kick-start our night.
“What can I get you lovely ladies?” the bartender asked us.
“What’s your specialty?” I shot right back at him.
“Sex on the beach.”
“Hmmmm, I bet it is, baby. We’ll take two.” Maya purred at him.
“You’re so bad,” I informed her.
“We’re here to have a good time. Loosen up and let your teenage wild side come out, won’t ya?”
“Meowwwwww,” I clawed at her with my fingers just to appease her, knowing full well that I didn’t exactly have a wild side anymore. Shit, who am I kidding, that ship sailed long before I could full appreciate it.
“Hot damn, Jazz… now that’s my girl!”
We had a couple more drinks; we danced, laughed, and drank a hell of a lot more, until I was tipsy with a smooth buzz. I felt good, free even. BOLD would be the word I’m looking for. I could be anyone I wanted to be while on this ship and none would be the wiser. It wasn’t as if Maya was going to tell on me. So I decided to go ahead, play the game with her, and go crazy. For the rest of this little trip… consider me a single sexy bitch, named Angel.
; We were jumping around and dancing the night away with two cute guys from England when that same short, bald guy approached Maya on the dance floor. “May I cut in?” he asked Maya’s dance partner.
“Not you again! Look little man, I am not interested. So fuck off will…” Maya started, but the man grabbed her by the upper arm and shook her, causing her sentence to become lodged in her throat. “Oh no you didn’t. How dare you?” she spat out when the initial shock wore off. She had not expected that and was completely caught off guard because for a small dude, he sure was strong.
But little did this man know, that the one thing Maya and I had in common was the fact that we didn’t appreciate being manhandled. Just when we were about to uncork a bottle of whoop-that-ass, someone stepped in and beat us to the punch.
“You had best remove your hand before I’m forced to remove it for you!” Boomed a husky male voice directly behind me.
I started to turn to see who had come to our defense, but his large hand darted past me, drawing my eyes with it. Grabbing the man by the front of his ugly ass shirt, the newcomer jerked him easily away from Maya and had him practically suspended in midair due to the substantial height difference. “Did your mother never teach you that it’s wrong to put your hands on a lady?” The husky voice added, throwing the man away from him in disgust. I know him, I realized, locking onto his face for the first time as he turned his full attention to Maya, “Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you did he?”
Before Maya could answer him, another male spoke up, bringing our attention over to him. “It’s only the first night and you two are already in trouble. Thank goodness we were here to rescue you.”
OMG… I knew that voice too!
I turned and locked onto the most beautiful, chestnut-colored orbs staring lovingly down at me as if I were the only woman on the ship. “Jay?” I whispered, “But… but… what are you doing here?”
“Me… miss an opportunity to be alone with you… NEVER! Besides, I thought you two might like a male escort just in case you got yourselves into a sticky situation like this one. Jazz, you remember my friend Bobby. Bobby, this is Jasmine’s best bud Maya,” Jay said with his arm draped protectively around me.
I had met Bobby several times before. He was one of Jay’s assistant coaches. Bobby nodded to me in greetings, but grabbed Maya’s hand and planted a kiss on the back of it.
Wow, do guys still do that?
I watched Maya melt as he pulled her away from us to dance. He was exactly her type and she was his. Jay and I had talked about introducing them several times before, so I knew exactly what he was up to and that he had planned this out well. Bobby would keep Maya preoccupied this entire trip while he got to focus solely on me.
The little booger!
“Sorry I’m late, love,” he said checking out my outfit, “Dressed like that, you’re making every girl in here envious.” He spun me around so he could get an eye full… or two.
“Stop playing around, you big goof ball. How did you do it? How did you manage all of this? Oh and by the way, I still deserve half the credit if Maya and Bobby hit it off.”
“Look at them. They’re perfect together,” he said, watching them dirty dance just a few short feet away.
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. I’ll be stuck sleeping in the hallway at this rate!”
“Like I would ever let that happen. You’ll just have to share my bunk. Now stop standing there and put those sexy legs to use.”
Dragging me over to the others before I could refuse… the four of us danced until it hurt.
Jay walked me back to my room alone since Maya and Bobby were nowhere to be found. No surprise there, huh. I cracked the door to my suite open slightly and listened for a moment, but heard nothing. “I think it’s safe,” I told Jay, relieved. “Maybe they’re out strolling in the night air getting to know one another.”
We both started laughing hard, knowing full well that was unlikely. Jay stepped forward, grabbing my hands and held them up against his hard chest. “You’re radiant tonight. I’m so glad you decided to take this trip. I think it was just the thing you needed. All I wanted was to see you smile again.” He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. Then after a minute, he whispered goodnight and left.
I was getting undressed when there was a sudden knock on the door. Foolishly expecting that Maya had just forgotten her room key, I opened the door without even checking first, dressed in only my black lace bra and panties.
“Helllllo there,” Jay said in a low tone with his cheeks full of dimples. “I found the others quite busy in my room. It looks like I’m the one sleeping out in the hallway tonight, unless you know of a place I could rest my poor little head,” he pouted with his lips poked out.
“Get in here already,” I snapped as I drug him into the room before anyone else saw me half-naked.
It was strange that I didn’t feel embarrassed or have the need to cover up and hide my body from him. I believe I was getting just a little too comfortable around him and had better draw a line before we got our wires crossed.
Retrieving a plump, white bathrobe that was hanging behind the bathroom door, I felt a little less exposed as I walked back into the room just to find it empty. I stood and stared, wondering if he had left when I saw the sheer curtains move from the subtle breeze blowing outside.
Jay was sitting out on the small balcony on a comfortable looking sofa that I didn’t even notice we had until just then. The moment I stepped thru the glass, he pulled me onto his lap, wrapped me up tight, and pointed out into the distance before I could make a single peep.
My eyes followed the direction of his long extended finger. The sun in all its splendor was just beginning to rise. We watched in awe as the huge orange fireball peeked its head over the water setting the sky ablaze. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I have watched hundreds of sunrises, but not one of them could remotely compare to this.
As it moved higher and higher into the sky, it turned the ocean into a spectral rainbow of vivid colors that danced playfully on its flat surface… a sight that I never wanted to see end.
I woke up to find that Jay and I had dozed off out on the balcony. The morning air was surprisingly warm and the birds chirped happily, as the ship grew closer to the shore. A huge smile lit up my face as Cannes, France came into view. “Wake up, wake up. Look. We’re here. Wake up, will you?” I squeaked out over excitedly, nudging Jay awake.
“Didn’t we just fall asleep?” Jay groaned grumpily back at me.
“Come on! Who needs sleep? We’re in France. Can you believe it?” I said, untangling myself from him and headed straight for the bathroom.
I had a head full of bubbly, vanilla scented shampoo when Jay stepped into the shower with me.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Is he fucking insane?
The wires have been crossed. I repeat, people. The wires have been crossed… oh my Lord. The freakin’ wires have been completely blown to smithereens!
“Here, let me do that for you,” he said, working his hands thru my wet hair, massaging my scalp lightly. I could feel every sud run down my bare back and down the drain as if it were in slow motion. “There now, doesn’t that feel good?”
Hell yeah, it does. A little too damn good, in fact!
He rotated me around so he could continue lathering me up with soap from head to toe, making sure I was clean.
That every inch of me was squeaky clean.
I was so shell-shocked that I just stood there like a bloody idiot, flabbergasted that we were in the shower together. Butt naked!
Jay ended up having to wash himself off since I had failed to do it for him. Folk’s pleez… I’d lost all normal function of my limbs altogether. Besides, I haven’t even bothered to look up yet because I was terrified to become lost in those gorgeous orbs of his. Like the good girl that I was, I kept my eyes locked on his chest, concentrating super hard to make sure that my eyes didn’t shift downwards… if you know what I mean.
Jay cut off the water, stepped out to wrap me up in one of the ship’s extra thick, fluffy towels and began drying my stiff body off. Only once I was dried to his satisfaction did he start tending to himself.
I still hadn’t moved a muscle yet, when he said, “Love, breathe!” That brought me back to myself and I let out a huge breath of air. “That’s my girl,” he said, pushing me out of the bathroom. “Now go and find something as pretty as you are to put on. France is out there waiting for us, remember.”
I nodded slowly, still in disbelief. I had just taken a shower with another man. A man who wasn’t my husband. So naturally, I was a little horrified. Did I just break any of my wedding vows by being in there?
Shit, Shit, Shit. Well, it’s a little too late now!
Jay threw back on the same stuff that he had worn yesterday since his suitcase was stuck in his own room somewhere on this ship. I dressed myself quickly in a pair of beige capri pants and a white tube top with tennis shoes so I would be comfortable walking around all day. The itinerary read that we would be docked until later tonight; allowing all the passengers a chance to disembark and explore the city if they wanted to, and then we were headed off to Italy.
We stopped by Jay’s room first so that he could get changed which turned out to be right next to mine.
Figures!
Maya and Bobby were sipping on coffee out on the balcony when we entered the room. “There you two are. We were starting to get worried,” Maya said, winking at me.
I knew exactly what she was worried about, but she knew how I felt about cheating spouses so the thought shouldn’t have even crossed her mind.
Don’t mention the little shower situation to her, okay. That will be our little secret.
I observed the other two closely as they laughed and touched each other playfully. It was disgusting! They were in that first stage of puppy love already. That early phase of the relationship when people cannot seem to keep their hands off each other, when the planets align themselves, and the angels sing.