Alison's Magic Cruise

She had a pained and embarrassed look on her face and said, "You are right, Mark, by all logic. But, what can I do to feel better about myself? What, for example, do you do?"

"Well, each must find his or her unique key to that mystery. But, dear Alison, the way I see it is that one's career must be working at the limit of one's ability plus one must be completely in love with one's significant other or spouse - both ways. When both of those love each other as if..."

Mark's phone rang, and he looked at the LCD and said, "Excuse me, Alison, because I must take this call...Hello, Jimmy.."

He listened for a moment and said, "I am in the Paradise Bar on Foster about two blocks away. One of my dance floor guests and I are talking. Come on over."

He continued talking to Alison after closing the circuit and said, "Where were we..., Oh yes I think that is what 'living' is about,' then the emptiness goes away, poof! Just like that."

At this point, Mark had captured her full attention, and she said, "Well, to translate what you said to my case, "I am well paid as a lead programmer and have three coders who answer to me - and I love my work. By process of elimination, then you are saying my love life with my husband needs work, right?"

"It looks that way to me, Alison. Take dancing for example. All the talks you have had with him on the subject are such that you never got his attention. You must make him focus on you by repeating what you just told me about the emptiness you feel. Since you are life and death important to your husband, you will get his attention once he understands that. Then, he will become flexible about going to dance parties, for example, because he will want to rather than just be dragged to the dance floor the way it is now. You will understand that he loves hunting and fishing and encourage and reasonably support him to do that. Then there are countless other things that you two will do, and you both will become so stuck on each other until casual sex with others for either of you becomes impossible."

Alison was struck dumb at what she had just heard, while chills ran over her body as relaxation flooded her psyche. She looked carefully at Mark unable to think of anything to say. Then the door opened, and there was another man who spotted the two talking. He carried two suitcases. When he walked over, Mark stood up, and the two men embraced and kissed each other on the lips like they were married. "Jimmy I have a new-found, very close friend and we danced together many times. Meet Alison, a housewife whose goal is to improve her dancing and love-life with her husband when she gets home. Alison, meet Jimmy. Jimmy and I were married in a small ceremony about a year ago on a beautiful beach in St. Martin. He is an engine room technician on our ship and just got off of work and we will enjoy our 30-day leave together."

Jimmy shook the startled housewife's hand and said, "Of course, any friend of Mark...etcetera. Pleasure to meet you, Alison. You must be someone special, or you wouldn't be in this bar talking with Mark for reasons that are obvious to you by now."

Alison said, "I am astounded, Jimmy, in that I have been trying to attract your partner sexually and he kept saying, 'No.' Imagine my battered image of myself, as men often follow me around trying to seduce me even though I ignore them. Then I followed him off the ship, and he rejected me. Now I understand and have restored my belief that I am still an alive and sexy woman who my husband will grow to love so much. Thank you, Mark." The three shook with laughter at this point and ordered a round for the three.

Later, Jimmy asked, "Did Mark tell you he was a Black Pool Finalist in the smooth division when he was a competitive ballroom dancer as a young man?"

She replied, "No. But I did ask how is it that someone who dances like a Pro works as a paid dance host."

Mark spoke up and said, "Well, I like to dance after I make salads and stay physically fit by dancing every night. And, life is rewarding for me, thanks to Jimmy."

Alison responded, "That explains why you are the best dancer on the ship. Congratulations."

Alison stood up and said, "Well, obviously 'three's a crowd, ' so I will return to the ship and await my sister's return from her island tour. Mark, you have my email address will you promise to write from time to time?"

The dancer hugged her neck, kissed her on the cheek, and said, only, "Yes - and thanks for the compliment."

!!

Walking back to the ship, Alison went over the events of the afternoon. At first, she felt embarrassment and then she said, "No, I should not be embarrassed, in fact, I should feel very lucky. Right now I just want to hold my husband again after the ship visits those next two islands on its itinerary. Then a dark thought struck her, and she said to herself, "You are a whore because had Mark been like the men you know, you would have fucked around on your husband for the first time. Then you would have struggled to live with yourself for a long time." Then she retorted, "No, you are not a whore because you are a simple introvert and attractive to men who are in seduction mode - you are just confused to that extent like all your peers - but no longer. And, I am luckier than most."

Later in her stateroom, the door opened, and her sister Melissa came in breathless and said, "I just had a dream tour of this whole island. We drove by a topless and a nude beach, had a not-so-good lunch and I made a friend who is a stay at home housewife. Her husband stayed on board to care for their children. I hope we can repeat this cruise in one year and next time insist that Harry and George come with us. What do you think?"

"Maybe... I just walked around and window shopped in the nearby tourist area and then had a drink and lunch at a bar and grill. I met with a friend as well, and we spent the day drinking and talking. Then I returned to the ship."

Melissa said, "Well, we have two more islands to visit, and then it's back to Ft. Lauderdale and then home. Damn, I miss Harry in that a couple of the men felt me up on the dance floor last night and I liked it. I damn sure hope that the wild game he his eating will power him up enough to stay in bed with me all day when we get back together without the kids. Ha ha."

Alison said, "You know, Sis, this cruise has given me a new outlook on George and my marriage. I'm cutting back my work hours and we two are going to do some things together we have only done occasionally before - like dance lessons."

"Oh Allie, you know you have to drag George to the dance floor, and he doesn't even try to memorize new patterns."

"Yes, but that is past tense. I have a new 'psychological sauce' I will use on George. This cruise has taught me how to make our once upon a time fiery romance happen again. You just wait and see."

!!

Back in the present the cruise director announced the ship's arrival in Florida the following morning and gave luggage and other disembarkation instructions. Alison and Melissa both were now almost without energy from their sea sickness but were well and excited that both would be home this time tomorrow. Melissa said, "If I know Harry, he will be so horny after they meet us at Logan Express until he will want to get it on even before we pick up the children."

Alison said, "Well, George is very horny after a couple of days of no sex - and a ten-day separation surely has him climbing the walls by now."

!!

After the Logan Express bus had dropped them off where their husbands were waiting, there was a joyous reunion of the two couples. Melissa spoke excitedly and almost non-stop describing their dancing and tours they took on shores when the ship docked at the islands on the cruise's itinerary.

Driving in Central Mass, Alison just sat in the back seat squeezing George's hand who sat beside her while Melissa chatted nonstop about the cruise. She could see that her husband sported a woodie and wondered, "My man is so horny until he will want to drag me to the bed the moment we get in the house, but I must tell him about the changes I have undergone. The children are still at my mother's, and it's now or never that you must confront George directly, Alison!"

Walking into the house, her husband started urging her upstairs towards the bedroom. She stopped him at the foot of the stairs and said, "George, we need to talk."

Since globally those are the words every husband dreads hearing, his face looked as if she had thrown a pitcher of ice water on it. The lines of anxiety were now vividly marked across it. He said, "O.K. if this can not wait. Want to sit down at the kitchen table, and I will bring you a beer?"

After they had been sipping their beers, Alison said, "First off, we must make some changes. I must stop hassling you about your overnight fishing trips and not get on your case when you stay late at a Happy hour to play with your friends in a darts tournament."

He said excitedly, "Really? Oh, thank you, Darling. What fantastic news." He grabbed her hands and started kissing them and then stopped. Continuing, George asked, "Wait! What brought this on?"

Alison said, "George, you and I have discussed my recurring bouts of sadness and emptiness. I had concluded erroneously that those feelings had plagued me because I spent so much time working alone. Well, seeking a solution, I met a man who impressed me so much until I tried unsuccessfully to talk him into taking me to his bed."

George looked at her askance and asked, "What do you mean 'unsuccessfully,' because that couldn't happen with any of the men I know?"

"Well, my attempt to seduce him did happen, and he did refuse to invite me to his bed."

Her husband jumped to his feet and started walking about the room. He felt the pain of male ego shock for the first time in his life. His mouth was dry, and a hammering thud hit him right in the abdomen while his breathing became shallow and beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead.

Alison continued, "I chose to tell you that - when I could have kept silent about my adventure as all the women I know would have done - for a reason. I quietly and desperately love you, George, and try hard to accommodate your doing things with your friends all the time. But I want you to help me by doing some things with me as a couple. For example, I want to go bowling the next time Pricilla and Jerry asks, and I want you to take group dance lessons with me, and let's make friends as a couple with other couples in our dance class."

George said, "Alison, you are asking me to change who I am."

"Dear Husband, our marriage is the most important thing to me. Living is a matter of doing what is important - recall your Mom's counsel that 'there is always time and motivation to do what is important.' Make us important, George! In fact, make us the most critical value in your life outside your career perhaps."

George, who was still standing and pacing the floor and was now sweating profusely, said, "Well, I need time to get my arms around what you told me and make such a change. May we take a walk, Dear?"

During their walk, she told him of all the frustrations and emptiness she felt being in the house alone all day. She then said, "I am tired of feeling hollow, George, and the solution is that we do more things together - but more important, that we want to do things together." In a few blocks, they encountered a beautiful yard with flowers and shrubs and built up mulched beds that were weed-free. The couple watched the man and wife homeowners working together to weed, trim and fertilize their front yard flower garden. George and Alison stopped to watch, holding hands but said nothing. Both were now very red-eyed from forcing back tears of happiness. Alison saw that it dawned on her husband exactly what his wife had been telling him for years. He thought, "I must do this to save our marriage because the next time she just may began fucking around." George then said, "Alison, I get your message loud and clear. You will now have a husband. Thanks for the opportunity to mend my ways."

She looked at him, squeezed his hand smiling and said, "Let's hurry home - you last held me tight 12 days ago. And George, welcome to our world."

The End.

P.S. After a year of exchanging an occasional email with Mark Morley, the paid dance host, an email came to Alison that gave the docking and embarking date and times in Boston Harbor. It read in part, "Jimmy and I are on shore leave that day and have heard that the Italian Restaurants in the Historical section rival those in Italy. Any chance you and your husband could meet us at the ship and give us a tour in exchange for our treating you to lunch?"

On the day Mark Morley's ship docked in the Boston Cruise Port, the quartet sat at a small table in a restaurant near the statute of the 1776 Revolution's Paul Revere on his horse. Both Mark and Alison chatted happily because they were so glad to see each other again. Mark's spouse, Jimmy, and her husband, George, were mostly quiet at first just watching the two friends enjoy this moment of visiting with each other again.

George had never stopped wondering if, in a brief interval when the dance host's male hormones dominated, did he in fact bed his wife. But by now Alison's husband made it a point to be home early on dance nights because he found it quite enjoyable after taking the lessons and getting to know the new friends they made. In fact, he was improving on the dance floor and the more he learned, the more he wanted to pursue dancing.

Once when the four were discussing dancing George asked Morley, "Mark, how does one do an easy-on-the-knees heel-turn in the waltz?"

The dance host smiled and stood up by the table and said, "Carefully watch how I lead this pattern, so my knees are never stressed - the trick is to put all one's weight on the back of the heel so that a tiny surface area touches the floor." After he had sat back down, he continued, "Now you try it, George."

After mastering the technique, George had made a new friend.

Jimmy, watching the interaction between his spouse and Alison relaxed for the first time. He, too, had been concerned that his same-sex husband had bedded the housewife. But he relaxed and said to himself, "It takes both desire and opportunity to copulate, and those two had neither."

They ordered the second bottle of wine and the Engine Room Technician and the Electrical Engineer talked with each other about the physics of powering a giant ocean liner a vast distance. The dance host and the programmer talked about George and Alison's dance experiences in the past year.

She whispered quietly to Mark, "We would not be enjoying this scrumptious Italian lunch if you and I hadn't befriended each other."

He replied, "You are right. Alison, it looks to me like you and George are in love again. That is fantastic news!"

Finally, it was time to take a taxi back to the ship, and the rather large check came, George grabbed it and said, "It's my party. Thanks to both of you for setting up this lunch date with us. It's very nice to meet the person who made it possible for Alison and me to have a whole new outlook on life."

At the cruise terminal, both visitors shook hands with George. Alison embraced the dance host and kissed his cheek. "Please stay in touch, Mark. Thank you so much for being my friend."

The End