After dinner they found themselves in a bar on deck 4. It was called the ‘Shanghai’ and seemed to be the most ‘down to earth’ bar aboard. It was still very elegant though and featured lots of tables and chairs by picture windows where the view would be great. Only it was dark, so nothing was visible. There was a line of bar stools around the bar and in the corner of the room, was a small area where there were two dartboards. There was a small partition separating the darts area from the rest of the bar. Scott wasn’t expecting anything like this, it seemed like a cool little place and it wasn’t too busy. They found a seat by one of the large windows and Tiffany sat down.
“So what would yer like tae drink Tiff?” Scott asked as he remained standing.
“It’s okay Scott, you can sit down. Someone will come to us and take our order. You don’t have to go to the bar,” she replied smiling.
“Och, okay,” he said as he sat next to her.
“You’re not used to this kind of thing are you?” she said holding his hand.
“Nae, can yer tell?” he quipped.
Soon a waitress arrived at their table and took the drinks order. Tiffany had an orange juice while Scott ordered a bottled beer. Again Scott’s lack of cruise knowledge surfaced when the drinks arrived, as he tried to pay with cash. Tiffany laughed and explained that he just needed to give them the room card and it would all be charged to their account. She wasn’t laughing at him, she was laughing with him, she explained as she snuggled up beside him. In fact she found it quite endearing. As the evening wore on, they were both starting to feel a little tired.
“It’s a shame yer cannae have a drink, but I guess when yer booked this, we did nae know aboot the wee lad,” Scott said as he gently placed his hand on her stomach.
“I know, but I don’t mind. I like a drink occasionally but it’s really not that important. I’m quite happy without alcohol.”
“Yer look a wee bit tired actually, how are yer feeling?”
“I’m starting to feel a little nauseous actually. I don’t normally get affected by seasickness but I guess the baby is changing that.”
“Is there anything I can get fer yer?”
“No it’s fine. I have a tablet in my purse. I brought some just in case but I didn’t think I’d need them,” she said as reached into her purse for the tiny pill and took it with her juice.
“Do yer want tae go back tae the cabin? I’m tired as well. We could both do with a guid night’s sleep.”
“Yeah soon, I’m fine for a while. You can finish your drink,” she replied gripping his hand tightly.
The bar had started to fill up quite a lot. On the next table across from them were a couple of younger guys. Scott was a people watcher and enjoyed checking out what people were doing. He suspected the young men were gay but wasn’t sure. It was confirmed however when they started to hold hands. Suddenly, one of the men sitting at the bar saw them and took exception to what they were doing.
“Hey, cut that out. I didn’t pay all this money to have to watch a couple of fags! You make me sick,” he raged as he drunkenly staggered towards them.
The young men were shocked and embarrassed and immediately let go of each other. They both seemed quiet and shy. Scott was outraged, one thing he didn’t stand for was bullying, of any kind. He stood up and got in between the angry man and the young guys at the table.
“Calm doon, they have nae done anything tae yer. Just leave them alone,” he said authoritatively.
“What’s the matter with you? Do you think that type of thing’s okay?” he said aggressively, pointing his finger in Scott’s face.
By now everyone in the bar was watching, but nobody was doing anything.
“Don’t hit him, Scott,” Tiffany pleaded.
“It’s okay babe dinnae worry!” he replied as he stood his ground in front of the man.
“I ought to punch you right in the face,” the drunk said, once again pointing his finger in the direction of Scott’s face. The smell of alcohol on his breath was overpowering.
“Go ahead, but yer better make it a guid one, as it will be the only yer get!” Scott replied, not flinching at all. He didn’t want to fight the man, he was obviously intoxicated. Plus he must have been nearly 60 years old. He didn’t seem the type at all to cause trouble, dressed in his fancy tuxedo. By now a few people were gathered around telling the man to return to his seat. He stared at Scott for a few more seconds before turning around and walking away. At around that time, a security officer came into the bar. One of the crew behind the bar must have called them. The offender was quickly pointed out and the security officer had a chat with him. Scott didn’t know what was said, he didn’t really care but he’d never been one to ignore bullying. No matter what the odds were, he would always step in. He sat talking to Tiffany for a while as the security officer spoke with a few more people in the bar, including the young men at the next table.
“I’m sorry Tiff, I did nae mean tae upset yer.”
“It’s fine Scott, it wasn’t you. And I’m glad you said something to him, what a jerk!”
Just then, the diminutive Asian security officer came around to their table.
“Could I talk to you please sir?” he asked.
“Sure, sit doon,” Scott replied.
“I just want to say thank you sir. A few people here told me what happened. We don’t allow that kind of behavior on board but I’m afraid there are only 12 of us that do security for the whole ship, so we can’t be everywhere. We rely on people like you, thank you again sir,” he said politely in perfect English.
“Nae problem, Raju,” Scott replied reading his name badge, which stood out against his white shirt.
“There are only 12 security staff for the whole ship!” Tiffany chimed in.
“Yes madam, 12 plus Mr. Chen, the chief security officer, but he doesn’t leave the office.”
“Where are yer fae Raju? Yer English is guid!” Scott asked.
“I’m from Nepal sir.”
“Och that’s cool. So yer speak perfect English and yer working a security job! Does this mean yer have a military background in one of the Gurkha units?”
“Yes sir, I served with the British Army, 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles,” he said proudly.
“I thought so. Well it was guid tae meet yer Raju. I hope tae see yer around the ship and maybe we can share a few stories. I was in the British army too. We have tae go now though, we’re tired,” Scott said as he stood up and took Tiffany’s hand.
“Absolutely sir, I look forward to it. Have a good evening, and once again, thank you,” he said as he nodded his head towards Scott and Tiffany.
As they moved away from the table, the young guys from the next table both got up and thanked Scott for what he’d done. He told them they were welcome and wished them a good vacation. It was getting late. Scott held Tiffany’s hand and walked with her back towards the cabin.
“What’s a Gurkha, Scott?” she asked as they waited for an elevator.
“It just means he’s fae Nepal. They’ve had units in the British Army since the 19th century. It all goes back tae the old British Empire days. They have a great reputation fer being elite fearless fighters.”
“Interesting, I didn’t know that,” she said as the elevator arrived and they stepped inside.
Soon they were back on their deck and were heading along the corridor towards their cabin. It had certainly been an interesting first day on board.
Chapter 16
Tiffany still wasn’t feeling great when she woke up the following morning, so she took another pill. They had room-service deliver breakfast to the room, but she didn’t feel like eating much. The seasickness tablets were making her feel drowsy, and all she wanted to do, was rest. Scott offered to stay with her in the cabin but she didn’t want him to. She insisted that he got out and enjoyed himself around the ship, as she knew she’d just be sleeping for a few more hours. So, reluctantly he left her in the cabin and went to explore. He didn�
��t really want to be having fun without her, and had told her to either text or call him on his phone as soon as she felt better.
The first thing Scott did was head up to the bridge viewing area that he’d spotted the previous day. When he got there, the door was open and he was able to go into a small corridor behind the bridge. Directly behind the initial door was another huge steel security door. That was the access door for the bridge itself. There was a huge sign on it that read ‘For Authorized Personnel Only’. There was only enough room for maybe six or seven people to fit in the small corridor, but it gave you a great view of the ship’s controls, through the windows. It was fascinating for Scott to see all the instruments and radars working. There were four officers in uniform working in there, but the captain wasn’t one of them. Scott spent about half an hour watching the bow of the ship as it cut through the sparkling blue water. He was the only person in the viewing area, which surprised him. He thought more people would want to see something like that. Obviously though, they were more interested in all the good food and organized activities elsewhere on the ship.
Scott’s next stop was right up on the top deck. It was a beautiful warm day, but it seemed to be very windy. There were lots of people sunbathing around the pools and others playing various games, including shuffleboard and quoits. Scott just walked around checking everything out, and people watching, as he liked to do. As he was walking towards the aft of the ship he saw Raju walking towards him.
“Morning Raju, how are yer?” Scott said smiling.
“Good Morning sir,” he replied politely.
“Och yer dinnae have tae bother calling me sir, we’re nae in the military anymore. Just call me Scott.”
“It’s just something we have to do, they’re very insistent on how we address the passengers when we do our training.”
“Okay, nae problem. So how long have yer been on the ship?” Scott asked.
“From the first day the ship set sail back in January. I have a six month rolling contract so I finish next month. I have a couple of months off and then I return to the ship for another six months,” he answered willingly.
Scott walked and talked with Raju for a while. It turned out that he was just finishing his shift. Most of the staff worked 12 hour shifts, and he was just finishing a 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. stint. When they were not working they had rooms on the lower levels of the ship. Apparently there were another four floors below the first deck. Most of the crew slept down there, plus it was where most of the ‘behind the scenes’ things went on, that kept the ship running smoothly. Raju opened up to Scott quite quickly as they chatted about their past military experience and various other things. He was interested to find out details about the ship and Raju was very knowledgeable. Scott learned that the ship was heading north at approximately 45 knots, which was just over 50mph. Apparently, that was very fast for a cruise ship, and it did explain why it seemed to be so windy on the top deck. Also, he learned that the captain was an American, as were most of the officers. A couple of the officers were Chinese, as was the Chief of Security. Raju was second in command of security and he enjoyed his job, although Scott got the feeling he wasn’t a fan of his boss. Scott could have kept asking questions about the ship for hours as he was fascinated by it, but he knew his new friend had to sleep. So, as they made their way towards the elevators, Scott bid him farewell.
It was still quite early as Scott made his way down to the lower decks. He checked his phone to see if Tiffany had texted him, but she hadn’t. So, he decided to have a look around the casino. It was a pretty large room, they had a lot of gaming tables and various slot machines. It was fairly quiet in there, although it was only 10:15 a.m. His next stop was the ‘Shanghai’ bar where he’d been the previous evening. It was fairly quiet in there too, but he noticed there was someone playing darts. As he got closer he noticed the darts player was an attractive young woman, she was playing alone. He stood fairly still, a few feet behind her as she was throwing, and he didn’t want to put her off. She put two darts in the ‘20’ and one in the ‘bulls-eye’.
“Wow, nice throws,” Scott said complimenting her score.
“Thanks, do you want to play?” she said turning around and smiling at Scott. She was a very pretty young lady, who had long dark blonde hair and stunning brown eyes.
“Sure, I’ll give it a go. I have nae played darts fer many years though and even back then, it was nae really my game.”
“That’s okay, I just play for fun. My name’s Lauren,” she said politely extending her hand to Scott.
“Nice tae meet yer Lauren, I’m Scott,” he replied shaking her hand.
“So, do you do a lot of cruising Scott?” she asked as she threw her darts.
“Nae, this is my first one. My girlfriend has been on lots afore though so she’s been telling me all aboot it.”
“Does she have long dark hair?”
“Aye, she does. She’s back in the cabin now though. She was nae feeling too guid today so took a seasickness pill and it made her sleepy,” Scott said as he took his turn throwing the darts.
“I thought so. You were in here last night weren’t you? You were the one who stood up to that jerk!”
“Aye, we were here last night and aye, that was a shame. I think he’d had too much tae drink.”
“Yeah, but still, there’s no need for that. He should have known better at his age!”
“Aye, yer reet. So are yer travelling alone Lauren?”
“No, I’m here with my parents. They’re up on the top deck playing shuffleboard. I could never get into that game!”
“Aye I’ve just come fae up there, I’m nae sure it’s really my kind of thing either,” Scott agreed.
For the next 45 minutes Scott played darts and talked with Lauren. It turned out that she was on summer break from college. She was training to be an elementary school teacher and had one more year to do. Scott found her to be one of the nicest, friendliest people he’d ever met. He was having a good time, although he was getting severely beaten at darts. It was just after 11:00 a.m. when he decided he should go check on Tiffany. Lauren had told him that there was an official darts competition organized by the ship’s entertainment staff later that day. So, he said ‘goodbye’ and told her he’d try and get back later to take part. Scott wasn’t good at darts but it was fun to meet people, plus he was hoping Tiffany would be feeling better by then so she’d be able to go too.
When Scott returned to their cabin, Tiffany was still sleeping soundly. He didn’t want to wake her so quietly left and headed out again. This time he made his way to the library, and sat reading some books about ships for a while before deciding he was hungry. As he was deciding what he wanted to eat, the captain made an announcement over the loud-speaker system. He gave out the ships position and some facts about the area of the ocean that they were in. It was just a short message, but something he said that he would be doing on every day of the voyage. He finished by wishing all the passengers a good day on board.
Scott checked his phone again to make sure Tiffany hadn’t texted and again there was nothing. So, he decided to head down to find some lunch. He didn’t want a big fancy meal, so he tried one the buffet restaurants. Even though it was only lunchtime there was still lots of food on offer. Scott much preferred the buffet and enjoyed choosing and fetching his own food. This way he could pick his own portions too, not like the small amounts he’d received the previous evening. This was more his style, he really enjoyed the buffet. The food was excellent, he could eat at his own pace, and he had a great view of the ocean as he dined. He decided he’d try and persuade Tiffany to come back here for dinner. After he’d finished his rather large lunch, he returned to the room again. Tiffany was stirring a little but wasn’t properly awake. He sat on the bed beside her.
“Hey Tiff, how are yer feeling?” he asked softly as he stroked her forehead.
“Hey baby, I’m okay, I’m still tired though. What time is it?” she asked wearily.
>
“It’s just after one.”
“Ugghhh, I think I need some more sleep,” she mumbled as she rolled over.
“Okay, well hopefully yer’ll feel better later,” Scott whispered as he stroked her hair.
“I’m sorry Scott, I want to come and have fun with you. I’ll be fine later, I just need a little more rest,” she said turning her head towards him.
“It’s fine, I’m going tae head tae the gym soon fer a wee bit.”
“Okay baby, have fun.”
Scott stayed on the bed, stroking her hair. Within a couple of minutes, she was fast asleep again. He remained there with her for a while as it was too soon after his meal to head to the gym. It was an hour or so later when Scott changed into his workout attire and left the room.
Scott made his way down to the fitness center, which was located on Deck 3. It was a large gym with lots of cardio machines and weight stations. There were a few people working out but it wasn’t particularly busy. Scott started out by doing a few stretches before getting on to one of the computerized stationary exercise bikes. After he was warmed up he started on his weights routine. There was another guy in the gym that was doing a similar routine to Scott. He was a friendly guy and introduced himself as Brandon. Both of the men were wearing sleeveless shirts, their upper bodies were similarly built and they each sported tattoo’s. The pair chatted as they worked out.
“So what do yer do fer a job Brandon?” Scott asked.
“I own a construction company, how about you?”
“I’m a security consultant,” Scott said as he sat down on the bench and prepared to start lifting.
“I know you have a Scottish accent, it’s pretty hard not to notice, but do you still live there?”
“Nae, we’ve just moved in tae a new house a few miles north of L.A.”
“Okay, that’s cool. I have Scottish heritage, my last name is McDougal.”
“Really? Have yer ever been tae visit? Scott asked.
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