Sarah's Journey

by Susan Bella Ikin

  Now that the ice had been broken over our little misunderstanding, I didn’t think I would bring up my other little mishap in the theatre, and thankfully, neither did he. Obviously he realized that we all have our little quirks, and let that one go. The appearance of the waiter made us realize that neither of us had even looked at the menu, so we turned to it and made our choices. I said that I hoped the portions were a reasonable size, as I had been too embarrassed at lunch to eat much, and he laughed again. He really had a nice face when he was laughing. At that thought, I realized that I was sitting at dinner with a man I really didn’t know, who probably had a wife, or at least a girlfriend, and thought I had better clarify things to make my position clear. As lovely as he was to look at, if his intentions were anything other than acting as my knight and saviour, I wanted to be clear that I was not on this cruise to ‘hook up’ as I had heard the younger people in our office describe casual relationships. I wasn’t on this cruise to find a man in any capacity, just to have some fun. So, after thinking about how to phrase things, without making any assumptions, I ventured with a self-deprecating smile:

  “My friend, that you heard me talking about at the buffet, couldn’t be here because she had an accident, otherwise I wouldn’t have been at the table on my own and needed rescuing, which I haven’t thanked you for by the way (he smiled at that). I don’t mean to be nosy, but since you also are alone, did something similar happen to you? Or is your friend not a good sailor, and is back at your stateroom feeling unwell?”

  At this he looked at me briefly, his expression unreadable, before he said quietly:

  “No to both. My ‘friend’ decided not to come on this cruise, but I had been looking forward to the break, so decided to come on my own. I was just thinking that I should have brought something to read to the restaurant, when I saw you looking uncomfortable with people that I took to be strangers, so I thought we could be alone together, you wouldn’t have to sit with people who seemed to be making you uncomfortable, and I would have someone to pass the time with while I ate”.

  I took his response to be a not so subtle hint to me that although he was alone, he was not looking for a hook up, or at least not one with me. That was fine with me, he had still rescued me from an uncomfortable situation, and I was still sitting at a table in a lovely restaurant on a cruise ship with a very handsome man. There was no reason for me not to enjoy this meal, without worrying about what came next, or dreaming about what could come next. If I had learned anything about myself recently, it was that I had been treading water in life for a while, not really making the most of the life I had been given. So tonight, I was just going to enjoy the moment.

  Just then my soup arrived. I love soup. This was a cauliflower and cheese soup, and it was so far above and beyond anything I could have made myself, that I just felt I had been transported to heaven. My rapture must have shown on my face, as I heard a little noise and looked up to see Adam looking at me and laughing.

  “I wish I had ordered it now, if the look on your face is anything to go by, it must be good” he smiled, as he turned to his seafood salad.

  That seemed to have set the tone for the rest of our dinner, as we had an enjoyable meal together. Interestingly though, although our conversation flowed freely, neither of us volunteered any personal details, we just talked in general terms about the cruise, and what we were expecting to see in each port of call. Afterwards, we found we both intended to go to the theatre together to see the show, so naturally enough walked there together, and sat side by side throughout the entertainment. I could get used to this, I thought to myself, intercepting some glances from other women as they saw my handsome escort. They didn’t have to know that we weren’t actually on the ship together, again I decided to just enjoy the moment.

  After the theatre, Adam suggested going to one of the bars for a nightcap, but I found that even though it was still early, the excitement of the day must have gotten to me, as I suddenly felt very tired. Although I really would have liked to spend more time with Adam, I cried off on his invitation, telling him that I didn’t want to offend him by yawning, and making him think that I found him boring.

  Adam smiled again at that and said:

  “Well, we have two sea days before we get to Noumea, so unless you really are bored with me, would you like to meet tomorrow morning? I noticed on the newsletter that I found in my room before dinner that there is a trivia session at 11am tomorrow morning, is that too early for you? I quite like trivia games, and I am sure that there will be teams forming, since neither of us is here with anyone else, should we start our own team?”

  I was very pleased that he seemed to want to spend more time with me, obviously he wasn’t bored with my company, so I agreed, all the time hoping that I would know enough so as not to disappoint him. We made our arrangements, and I headed to my room. As I hadn’t been back to my room since before dinner, I found the newsletter that Adam had mentioned, and also found that my bed had been turned down, and that the stateroom steward had also left an elephant made from towels on my bed. I gently lifted the little creature off onto the desk, vowing to take his photo in the morning, and barely could be bothered getting changed into my nightie. I went into the bathroom, used the facilities and gave my face a quick scrub with the facewasher and cold water, knowing I should put in more effort, but too tired to care. I opened my balcony door so I could hear the sounds of the water slapping against the hull as the ship moved (it almost sounded like waves crashing on a beach which I found very restful), turned out the light, climbed into bed, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  6.

  The next morning, I awoke a bit confused, but very rested. It took me a while to remember where I was, as I knew my unit wasn’t at the beach, so why did I hear waves? Then I realized that I was in my stateroom on a beautiful cruise ship, bound for balmy tropical islands, and that I had a ‘date’ to meet the charming and handsome Adam at 11. Had I overslept? I had forgotten to set the alarm, so I hoped I wouldn’t be late! I twisted to look at the bedside clock, and realized that it was just after 7am. Well, that’s what happened when you go to bed so early! At least I would have plenty of time to get ready and have a leisurely breakfast. I went into the bathroom and let out a little squeak of horror when I saw my face. I really should have cleansed off my makeup last night, now I had mascara smudges under my eyes that made me look like the walking dead. Yuk! Unbidden came the thought that it was lucky that Adam wasn’t going to see me like this, which then made me think of him sleeping in the bed next to me, which in turn made me pause and stare at myself in the mirror. It had been so long since I had thought of a man like that, that I had forgotten the last time. I was going to have to be very careful around Adam not to behave like a giggling schoolgirl, as he had made it plain he wasn’t interested in me that way, and I enjoyed his company too much to scare him off so soon.

  I showered (having the water a bit cooler than I would normally!) and dressed in some casual pedal pushers and a loose top. The weather would be getting warmer as we headed north, and my brief period on the pool deck yesterday had shown me that the open deck got quite warm. I slipped on some sandals and headed to the buffet, grabbing my kindle so that I had something to read while I ate. While I wasn’t uncomfortable striking up a casual conversation with strangers if there was someone friendly nearby, being prepared was a good idea.

  After a light breakfast, and an enjoyable hour or so spent sitting in the sun with my kindle and a cup of coffee, I headed to the bar where I was to meet Adam. I was looking around for him amongst the gathering crowd, when I felt a light touch at my back, which made my skin tingle.

  “Hi”, Adam smiled at me, “Glad to see you weren’t bored with my company after all”.

  Before I could react to the pleasure of his touch, and that he was so obviously pleased to see me, he grabbed my hand and hurried me to a vacant couch, where we ended up sitting side by side. His thigh was brushing against mine as he moved,
and I was suddenly having trouble breathing normally. Luckily, Adam was busy listening to instructions from the staff member who was running the game, so he didn’t notice my odd behavior. Suddenly Adam got up, and went to get the required pencil and answer sheet. I used the few seconds he was gone to compose myself.

  Just then, a woman I didn’t know who was sitting at an adjacent couch turned to me and said in a friendly tone:

  “Would you and your friend like to join my husband and I so that we make a team of four? Neither of us is very good at trivia, so a couple of other brains might help us get a better score than we usually do”.

  As she said this, Adam returned, and turned to me, lifting an eyebrow, I quickly nodded and he turned to the woman and said:

  “We would love to join you. This is Sarah, and I am Adam by the way”.

  The woman then told us that her name was Judy, and her husband’s name was Tom. Despite what Judy had initially said, both she and Tom turned out to be quite good at trivia, and as Adam and I knew a few of the answers as well, we managed to win the game, and walked away with our prizes – each member of our winning team was awarded a squeeze ball emblazoned with the shipping line’s logo. I quipped that I would have to lock my valuable prize up in the safe, happy in the knowledge that I had managed to get my blushes under control due to the concentration required on the game, and was now feeling more comfortable with Adam.

  Somehow, without realizing where we were going, as we were so deep in admiring our valuable prizes and crowing about how clever we were, we found ourselves at the door of the restaurant. As dinner arrangements did not carry over to lunchtimes, the ship had a system where diners who came to the restaurant were seated with other diners on a ‘first come first served’ basis, rather than sitting at the tables which had been assigned to them for dinner. So Adam and I found ourselves seated at a table with three couples, which meant that conversation flowed between everyone at the table, rather than just between ourselves. This became quite interesting, as clearly the other people at the table assumed that Adam and I were a couple, and after a silent glance between us, neither of us contradicted them. I didn’t because I thought it would have made explanations too awkward, explaining how we met, and I assumed that Adam played along for a similar reason. However, it became even more complicated when one of the diners turned to me, and asking what I did for a living and then after discreetly checking out my ring finger, asked what my friend did for a living. I hesitated – what did Adam do for a living? Just as she looked over at Adam, the waiter picked that moment to come over and ask me quite loudly what my order was. Not wanting to be too obvious about listening to Adam’s answer (and making it clear to everyone at the table that I didn’t know) I spoke to the waiter and missed Adam’s answer altogether, just hearing something about a practice. So was he an accountant, a solicitor, a doctor or what? How annoying. I would have to find a time to casually ask later, maybe when there was little chance of an interruption again.

  After lunch, Adam asked what I was doing, and I replied that I was thinking of just taking a book and sitting by the pool, maybe taking a dip if I got hot. We arranged to meet there after both going back to our respective rooms to change, hoping that there would be spare sun loungers.

  7.

  Back in my room, I critically looked at myself in the mirror after I put on my swimsuit. Although no longer a teenager, I didn’t look all that bad. I was still very self conscious about the amount of skin showing. My breasts really weren’t that big were they? I think the bikini top was just squishing them up so they looked like that. I turned and looked at my backside as best as I could and was horrified by how high the bottoms were cut. There was a lot of my bottom on display! Maybe I was worrying over nothing, there were sure to be plenty of other women similarly clothed, and when I was in the water no-one would really be able to see me anyway. I wound the sarong around myself and tucked the end in under my armpit. Oh well, too late to worry now – I had already arranged to meet Adam. I was just going to have to go, take a deep breath, and pretend that I was perfectly comfortable wearing next to nothing in public. I picked up the pool towel, my sunglasses and my room card, and headed to the pool. I must have taken a while changing, as Adam was already laying on one sun lounger, and had placed his towel over a lounger next to him to reserve it for me. He looked up at me as I approached, and stood, taking off his sunglasses and saying:

  “How about a swim before you sit down? I’ve been up here a while now, and it’s getting a bit warm”.

  I said “Ok” and started to take off my sarong. As I unwound it, I glanced up and saw him watching me, his eyes narrowed. All of my doubts about the bikini came crowding back into my mind suddenly, and to cover my confusion I turned and headed to the water, then realized that probably wasn’t my smartest move as now he would have a good view of my scantily clad backside. I stepped into the pool, welcoming the cooling water, and heard Adam stepping in behind me. Before I had a chance to think about what I thought his reaction had been, a little boy laughed and splashed at me. I turned, and splashed him back. This created a splashing war, until we were all laughing so hard no-one could continue. I then headed back to the sun lounge, wrapping the towel around me before I sat down in an attempt to cover up a bit, and shortly after, Adam flopped into his behind me.

  “That was fun”, he said, “I haven’t done that for so long, I can’t remember the last time”.

  I turned my head and looked at him smiling, “Me neither”.

  He caught my eye, and we stared at each other for what seemed a very long time, but was probably only a few seconds, before I looked down and said:

  “I might just shut my eyes and soak up the sun for a while, and then go back in”.

  “Alright”, Adam said quietly, “I might go back in now though” and he did. As he walked back to the pool, I put my sunglasses on, hoping that no-one could see me watching him, and drunk in the sight of his back as he strode to the pool. His black trunks were now wet, and clung to him, outlining a pair of muscular buttocks beneath a well muscled back. How old was he? I wondered to myself. He must work out, he is in really good shape. Really good shape, I thought as I stared at him hungrily.

  We spent the afternoon at the pool, and afterwards, Adam invited me to join him for dinner again, as I hadn’t made any arrangements about changing my table, and he still had a spare seat. I agreed, and headed off to my room early, as I wanted to put more effort into my appearance tonight.

  I hadn’t brought many outfits with me, as I really hadn’t anticipated meeting a handsome man, who might not be as indifferent to me as I thought last night. I wanted to look good, but didn’t want to overdress and make it too obvious that I was trying to impress him. By the time I finished, I had emptied almost my entire wardrobe onto the bed, taking items out, trying them on, and discarding them. Thankfully I had brought a basic black dress, and I dressed it up with a bit of jewellery. I had tried the dress on first, discarded it, then tried it on again after deciding that nothing else would suit. I quickly put everything back on the hangers again, I didn’t want Eduardo to have to clean up after me when he came in to turn down the bed. When I was ready, I went down to the restaurant, and then realized that I didn’t know Adam’s surname, so couldn’t ask for the booth. I had to give my name, and when they found my table on the diagram of the restaurant, I showed them which booth I was talking about.

  Amazingly, considering the amount of time I thought I had taken, I was early, so the waiter seated me in the booth and offered to bring me a drink. While I was sitting there on my own, the people from my old table came in, and seeing me there, gave me an odd look. One of the men muttered loudly to the other:

  “Obviously she thinks she is too good for us”.

  My face flamed at this, I think I was meant to hear the comment, but it made me uncomfortable nevertheless. The second man started to turn, and I held my breath, fearing that he was going to approach me. I steeled myself, ready for a confrontation
that I didn’t think was necessary, but I would not back away from nevertheless, but just then Adam came in. He must have quickly assessed the situation, because so smoothly that it was barely obvious, he turned his shoulder towards the man so that his body was now between me and the other man, and said loudly:

  “Hello Sarah, I am sorry I took so long, I hope you haven’t been waiting for me very long”, then he turned towards the two men, and whatever they saw in his face made them suddenly looked embarrassed, and they sat down quietly. Adam then sat opposite me, took my hand and said quietly:

  “Are you ok, do you want to sit elsewhere? Perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to sit here again, I didn’t even think that they might try to cause trouble. What did they say to you? You are trembling”. He held my hand tighter, an expression of concern on his handsome face, his brown eyes darkening as his brows drew down.

  How could I admit that I was trembling not because of what had just happened with the two men at the other table, but because he was holding my hand? I shook my head as I pulled my hand back and said quietly:

  “It’s fine, they are just horrible people, Don’t give them a second thought”.

  Adam looked at me for a moment, and then said:

  “Ok, but on a different subject, you look a bit pink. I didn’t even think of how the sun reflecting off the deck could have so much bite in it. Next time, you should put lots of sunscreen on”.

  I gulped, the thought coming to mind that I wouldn’t mind Adam rubbing the sunscreen in for me, and not just on my back and those other hard to reach places. Perhaps he could start at the backs of my legs and work his way up to my-

  “Sorry?” I said, “I missed that, what did you say?”

  “I asked if you were planning to go to the show again, if so, we need to get a move on, or there won’t be any decent seats left,” said Adam, a little expression of concern on his face. I hoped he thought I was worried about the people at the next table, so that he wouldn’t wonder why I seemed so preoccupied.