KILTED DESIRE 3 - New Blood

by McKINLEY, A. B.

  “Are yer okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I’m good. I’m just not in as good a shape as I thought I was,” Jake replied still gasping for air.

  “Take yer time, get a drink. I’ll come talk tae yer in a wee bit,” Scott said as he moved away and made his way over to Tiffany. She stood up as he approached her, and he gave her a hug and kiss.

  “Sorry fer getting yer all sweaty, Tiff.”

  “Oh, you can get me all sweaty anytime,” she replied looking at him with that wicked smile of hers.

  “It’s over now, nae more fights or anything like this until after we’re married. I did enjoy it though.”

  “I know you did, I could tell. I think you should be the one doing the training here!”

  “Och I dinnae have time fer that, I’ll help them oot though, if they want me tae. I’m going tae go and talk tae them all in a wee bit after Jake gets his breath back.”

  A few minutes later as Scott and Tiffany were walking out of the gym, they stopped to talk to the guys.

  “Hey Scott, you set me up didn’t you? I think you’ve done more than just kickboxing! Haven’t you?” Jake said smiling at Scott and shaking his hand again.

  “Aye, I’ve got experience in a few different fighting styles,” Scott replied.

  “Come on then, tell me.”

  “I have done kickboxing in the past, and Thai-boxing. Plus when I was in the military I was trained in Jeet-Kune-Do, Krav-Maga, Sayoc-Kali and a few others. Also, we did some training in Apache Indian knife fighting. I do have quite a few different skills when it comes tae this kind of thing.”

  “I knew there had to be something. You didn’t seem like just a kick-boxer. I guess I need to learn to do more research before taking a fight on,” Jake said shaking his head.

  “Aye, yer should always try and find oot as much as yer can aboot yer opponent, if possible.”

  “Okay, Scott. So all the guys want to know if you’ll come and help us train? Teach us all a few things!” Jake asked.

  “Yeah Scott, we need you down here. You can teach us so much!” Kyle added.

  “Aye, I told yer I would. I’m just nae going tae have time tae do it very often with my job and the baby on the way. After the wedding we’ll work something oot though.”

  “Thanks Scott,” Kyle said.

  “All of yer have tae remember though, yer cannae succeed in a sport like MMA with just one style. Even yer too Jake, yer going tae have tae expand on what kind of things yer teach.”

  “Yeah, you’re right Scott. I was relying too heavily on the wrestling. I think that was made pretty evident by what they all just witnessed out there. It turned out to be an example of what not to do, rather than of what to do.”

  “At least you lasted a while, I was done in 10 seconds,” Kyle said, making the others laugh.

  “I thought it was more like eight,” Scott teased.

  “Yeah, I think we all learned a good lesson tonight, we’ve got to put a lot more work in if you guys want to start fighting properly,” Jake added.

  “Tae be honest, I would nae even worry aboot that. Yer have a really nice place here and it can be very successful for you guys that have a share in it. Enjoy it fer what it is. It’s a great place in a great area, and I dinnae mean this as an insult so please dinnae take it that way. But most of yer here now, and probably most of the people who yer get coming here wanting tae train, are guys from mid tae upper class families. They’ve all got guid jobs and they’re here tae get fit and learn a wee bit. If yer get in tae fighting properly, yer could come up against guys who are totally opposite. I’m talking aboot people who have nothing, people who were brought up in poverty. People like that are looking tae get in tae this kind of sport as a way oot. Tae get a better life fer themselves. They’ll have a determination that none of yer here could match. I’m just saying, yer have tae be careful. Yer all relatively new tae this, take yer time and see how it goes. And, if at some time in the future, any of yer are guid enough, and hungry enough tae want tae take it tae the next level, then fine,” Scott said trying not to sound condescending but wanting to get his point across.

  “Okay Scott, I understand,” Kyle said.

  “Me too, don’t worry Scott. You’ve taught us all something tonight and we look forward to having you come help train us,” Dan added.

  “Yeah, that goes for me too, Scott. I’d love to have you down here working with the guys,” Jake chimed in.

  “Okay, sounds guid guys. I’ll see most of yer in a few weeks after I get married tae this pretty lass,” he said before kissing Tiffany on the cheek. She blushed.

  “Okay, bye Scott and thanks again,” said Jake.

  “Bye Kyle, I’ll see yer at yer parents next Sunday, and dinnae forget we may need some help soon when we move to the new house. Are yer going tae volunteer yer services?”

  “Of course, bye Scott, see you later Sis.”

  Chapter 15

  It was late Thursday night, in the middle of June, just a couple of days before they were due to head off on the cruise. Moving into the new house had gone smoothly and they were pretty much settled in. There were still a few boxes lying around the floor waiting to be unpacked but on the whole, it had gone well. The sale of Tiffany’s house in Santa Monica had gone through too, just a few days after the move. Once again, everything was working out perfectly. They planned to head up to San Francisco on the Friday evening and stay the night with Katy and Josh, before they had to board the ship on Saturday.

  Tiffany was asleep, Scott wasn’t. He was in bed but was frantically trying to find out some information online. He sat tapping on the laptop as she slept beside him. He was very frustrated. He’d ordered a special custom-made engagement ring for her from an independent specialist jewelry store in Las Vegas, when he was there on business. The only problem was that it hadn’t been delivered earlier that day, when they’d promised it would be. Scott was busy sending emails to the store trying to find out what was going on. He knew it was too late to get a reply but hopefully someone would contact him first thing in the morning. He was running out of time, they had to leave for San Francisco the following afternoon and he had to have it before they left. He wasn’t happy, and was extremely restless, but nevertheless, he knew there was nothing he could do. So, he tried to put it out of his mind and get some sleep.

  As soon as Scott awoke, he checked the computer, but there was no reply. It was still early though so he decided to have a shower and fix some breakfast before he’d try to call them. Tiffany was still asleep. He didn’t want to wake her. It was just after 8:00 a.m. when Scott made his way downstairs. The store wasn’t supposed to open for another hour, so he fixed breakfast for them both and returned back up to the bedroom. Tiffany was just waking up.

  “Morning Scott, awww you made me breakfast in bed again,”

  “Morning gorgeous, aye, anything fer yer,” he replied as he put the tray down and leant over to kiss her.

  “What time do you want to leave today?” she asked.

  “Late afternoon should be fine. Do yer have much still tae do?”

  “Just a few more things to pack, but I’m virtually done. I packed two suits for you and your kilt for the evenings on board.”

  “Do yer have tae dress up every evening?”

  “I don’t think you have to, but most people do, at least a few times anyway. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

  “Okay, I dinnae mind doing it occasionally but I’m really a jeans and T-shirt kinda guy.”

  “I know, but I’m determined to get you in suits more often, you look good in them,” she responded with a smile on her face.

  Scott had never been on a cruise before so was a little unsure of what to expect, especially when it came to the evenings on board. He didn’t mind dressing up occasionally but didn’t like to feel like he had to, all of the time. Tiffany had been on many cruises, both with her parents and alone, so she wasn’t worried. Although she hadn’t been on this particular ship before,
she imagined it would be quite similar to most of the others that she’d sailed on.

  A little later while she was in the shower, Scott went back downstairs and made his call. It turned out they had made a mistake and failed to get it sent out. They offered their apologies and even reduced the price of the ring, but it wasn’t much use to Scott. He understood that mistakes happened, but this was just really bad timing. There was no other option, he’d have to drive to Vegas and collect it. He knew he could do it in about three and half hours, maybe a little quicker if he really put his foot down, but he’d have to leave straight away. So after quickly going upstairs and explaining to Tiffany that he had to go out for a few hours to do something urgently for work, he left. He didn’t really have anything to do at home, plus she liked to do all the packing anyway, so it wasn’t a problem.

  The trip to Vegas went smoothly, Scott made good time. He collected the ring from the apologetic store owner and returned to his car. He tried to call Tiffany at home, to let her know an approximate time that he’d be back, but there was no answer. He thought she must have gone out for a while. He tried her cell. Again there was no answer, so he left a quick message to say he was on his way home. He was a little worried that he hadn’t been able to get hold of her, but convinced himself that she was fine. A couple of hours into his return journey he received a call from Tiffany to say she was fine, she’d just had to go out to the store to get something for their trip and hadn’t heard her cell phone ring. Scott was relieved, the call made the last part of his journey more relaxing. He arrived back at their house just after 5:00 p.m. Tiffany had everything ready for them to leave. He just needed to get changed and have a quick bite to eat before they set off. Within half an hour, they were on their way up I-5 towards San Francisco. It was an uneventful five hour-plus drive and by the time they arrived at Katy and Josh’s house, Scott was pretty tired. He’d been driving that day for over 13 hours. Still, he had 10 days of relaxing onboard a luxury cruise ship to look forward to, so he wasn’t complaining.

  After a good night’s sleep and a morning of hanging out with Katy and Josh, it was time to head off to board the ship. Katy drove them to the port and dropped them off a few hours before the ship was due to set sail. As Scott got out of the car he was amazed at the ship’s size. At over 1200 feet long and weighing a little more than 230,000 tons, it was indeed an impressive sight. Before long, they were on board. Scott thought it would take much longer to actually get on, but the company had staggered most people’s boarding times to reduce lines at check-in. Within half an hour of arriving at the port, they had their cabin/ID cards, and were making their way through the ship’s stunning interior towards their cabin. It was on deck 10, on the starboard side, near the front of the ship.

  Scott was in awe. He’d never done anything like this before, or seen quite so much luxury. Tiffany, on the other hand, had been around this kind of lifestyle for most of her life. It was quite normal for her, but she couldn’t help but smile at Scott’s boyish excitement. The cabin was impressive. The modern décor made it look very luxurious. It was large too. There was an area with a couch and a flat screen TV. The first thing Scott did however was go out onto the balcony and look around. The view was impressive, aside from the sheer size of the ship, the backdrop of San Francisco harbor was a sight to behold. She joined him on the balcony. He stood behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her as they admired the view.

  Their luggage arrived around half an hour later. Tiffany started to unpack and encouraged Scott to go for a walk around the ship. She knew that it took a while for people to get their bearings on a ship that size, and she was happy to let him work out where everything was. So, he went for a walk. He quickly discovered that most of the public rooms were on the lower decks, from 1-4, while the passenger decks started at 5 and went to 13. He made his way upwards. The top deck was completely open and had two swimming pools, and a few bars. It looked like that was the area for games on board too. He noticed there were markings on the deck that indicated they were for some form of activity. Eventually working out it was for shuffleboard.

  Scott was enjoying exploring the ship, and there were still a couple of hours before the ship was due to sail. On deck 12, he found the viewing area for the bridge. It was actually closed while they were in port, but a sign on the door said it would open on the morning of their first sea day. Then it would be open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day. Scott was looking forward to seeing the bridge. He was very interested to see the ship being controlled.

  As he continued to look around, he passed many people, who all seemed very friendly and said ‘hello’. The majority of the passengers seemed to be American, although a lot of the crew members, especially the cleaning staff or room attendants, seemed to be of Asian descent. They were all extremely polite, saying ‘good afternoon’ and calling him ‘sir’. They all looked very smart too in their matching uniforms. Scott returned to the lower levels and tried to familiarize himself with the restaurants and bars. There was a cinema on board too, and various stages and large rooms with huge dance floors, plus a casino and a nightclub. It was going to take a while to remember where everything was onboard, but he was happy that he had a basic idea. So, as time was ticking on, he returned to the room to see if Tiffany was finished with the unpacking.

  When he walked back into the room, she was just finishing up. There was a complimentary bottle of champagne that had been left in the room for them but as Tiffany couldn’t drink, Scott didn’t want to open it. Instead they just lay down on the bed for a while. They didn’t have long as they had to attend a safety briefing an hour before sailing time. Tiffany explained to Scott that this was pretty standard on most cruises. You just had to go to a specific meeting point, or muster station, wearing the life jacket that was in your cabin. A crew member would then explain the emergency procedures to you, just like they do on an aircraft. Then they’d tick off your cabin number on their list to say that you’d attended. Apparently it was maritime law and had to be done. Scott didn’t mind, it seemed to be a pretty normal thing to do.

  Tiffany was feeling a little tired so she rested while Scott read through the itinerary for their voyage. It was going to take just over two days to get up to Alaska, there’d be a full day there seeing the sights from the ship, then it would take four days to sail down the coast and enter the port of Mazatlan in Mexico. They’d have a full day there to explore. Then it was another two days to sail back up the coast to San Francisco. Scott couldn’t wait to get started. Alaska was going to be his favorite part, but after seeing the ship and exploring it, he knew he was going to enjoy the whole voyage.

  Later that afternoon, after the safety briefing, the ship started to move. It was 5:00 p.m. and was departing exactly at the scheduled time. Scott and Tiffany made their way up to the top deck where there was a ‘Sail Away’ party underway. Most guests were dressed casually although there were a few who were dressed up in tuxedos and evening dresses. Scott was just wearing his jeans and a polo shirt, while Tiffany was in a pretty, multi-colored, floral summer dress. The champagne was flowing for most people and there was a live jazz band playing beside the larger swimming pool. It was a fun time and they met lots of people.

  Scott was enjoying meeting the other passengers, but most of all he was enjoying the view. As the Golden Gate Bridge drew closer, Scott was enthralled. He was looking forward to passing underneath it, there was only supposed to be a few feet of clearance. He watched excitedly as the ship approached, then sailed underneath the mammoth bridge. It was a great sight, and it did appear there wasn’t much room to spare as the giant ship crept underneath the famous structure. As the ‘Pacific Dragon’ sailed on towards the open ocean, the party started to wind down. Most of the guests were getting ready for dinner, so Scott and Tiffany returned to their cabin to change.

  Being as though it was the first night on board, Tiffany insisted that he wear one of his nice suits to dinner. He had a black designer suit that she’d bou
ght him for work. Even though he wasn’t a big fan of dressing up, he did like that one. He wore it with a dark grey shirt and black shiny tie. Tiffany loved to see him dress up, it didn’t happen very often so she made the most of it when he did, and ogled him as he stood waiting for her to finish slipping into her black evening gown. Dinner was a glitzy glamorous affair in the restaurant. It took over two hours to complete as there were seven courses served. There were lots of gourmet choices on offer, but the portions seemed small. Scott was out of his element, but was trying his best to fit in and enjoy it. He wasn’t thrilled about having to wait two hours to finish a meal though. He liked his food, and when he ate, he wanted all of his food at once, not a little piece every 20 minutes or so. This was something he was pretty sure he wouldn’t get used to. There were other restaurants on the ship though, so maybe the next day they could try a different one he thought.