Fifth Anniversary Honeymoon Cruise Ch. 02

The final crushing blow that night was when at bedtime Mark announced that he would start sleeping in the guest room. Julie sorrowfully protested but he simply replied, "The separation that we both knew was coming is here. You have your plans which don't include me and I don't need to be reminded of that as you prepare to leave. I might as well get used to sleeping alone." As he turned to leave the room, he made one last comment, one that really hit her, "I'm really glad that you decided to stay on the pill!"

As might be expected, Julie didn't sleep well that night. Her mind ran in circles, starting and ending with "How the hell did I get myself in this situation? I love Mark more than anyone in the world but I've hurt and humiliated him horribly. It just seemed to happen. Henry went from a thoughtful, helpful boss to almost a lover without me ever making a decision. Why didn't I have the courage to stop Vice President Devon when I knew it conflicted with our fifth anniversary honeymoon cruise? I shouldn't have listened to Henry. And these things I've been doing with Henry - one thing just led to another and...and. damn it, I sucked on his cock yesterday! Now I'm going to sleep...no, I'm going to have to fuck with him for the whole cruise! Gods, I'm trapped! It's too late to back out and I'm afraid that Mark will leave me. Oh, please god, don't let that happen! How the hell did I get myself into this situation?"

Still, she survived and seeing Henry in his office the last day restored her enthusiasm for a romantic, sinful cruise. Unfortunately, when she left work, after sucking Henry's cock and swallowing his cum, reality set in again and that enthusiasm vanished in a torrent of guilt and regret. Jerry's comment, about a bride just before her wedding who know that she is making a mistake but doesn't know how to get out of it, really fit Julie's situation exactly. She packed Friday night and Saturday and her beautiful clothes enthused her as she folded and packed them. However that enthusiasm was washed away when she recalled picking them out with Mark for their honeymoon cruise. The same thing with her new lingerie - pleasure when she thought about how sexy she would look but depressed that Mark wouldn't see her in them. She couldn't win!

In any case, the packing was finally done, the suitcase closed and locked and the cruise line label, with its bar code room identification, looped onto the handle. The last, very hard, step was to ask Mark to carry it down the stairs. It was like asking a condemned man to tie the noose that would hang him, but he gracefully, and silently, complied. They had pizza delivered, ate separately and it's doubtful that twenty words were exchanged that entire evening, not even "good night."

Mark had been involved in packing on Friday also, but he had spent time all week in getting ready, including shopping for things for Julie. On Wednesday, for example, he had shopped at Walmart. There he had bought two packages, ten pair, of plain, full coverage white cotton panties - as unsexy as you could find! In addition, he purchased two matronly bras and seven pair of opaque pantyhose. No garter belts or stockings. After a search he found a nice one-piece bathing suit with an attached skirt - very erotic!

These things plus older items from her own closet went into a suitcase which was identical to the one Julie was going to pack. The clothes were perfectly adequate but they in no way were the lovely fashionable things that she and Mark had bought for their fifth anniversary honeymoon cruise. There was one cocktail dress and one long gown but the gown had been worn to a college prom years ago. There were skirts, shorts, blouses, etc. which would do their job to cover her body, but that was all they would do. Add a nice, very modest, pair of pajamas plus several pairs of shoes and the suitcase was full. There was none of the glamour or sexiness that Julie would carefully pack for herself on Saturday! With an identical cruise line label looped over the handle, the suitcase switch was ready

Mark, of course, packed a suitcase for himself on Friday, but he had little concern for anything but utility. Pants, shirts, socks, underwear and incidentals plus shoes - that was it. He, of course, had his carryon with his camera, iPad, printer, razor, etc. However, he also had a couple of other items to ensure his anonymity. He had gone to a theatrical supply store and purchased several items - a mustache, dark rimmed plain glass glasses and some tattoos. As mentioned before, Mark had worked on some shows before and knew how to make a mustache look real. The tattoos were waterproof but could be removed with alcohol. The three items plus parting his hair in the middle should be a good disguise.

So, everything was set up. Mark hid the two cases and his carryon in his office closet and was ready for Sunday. Saturday night he carried the suitcase that Julie had packed downstairs and left it by the door. Later after she was asleep he made the switch leaving him with one thing he wanted to do Sunday morning.

He had set his alarm to wake up before she did and he got up, dressed, made up his bed and quietly went down into the basement and hid. He heard her stirring around before she started to look for him. He really felt bad when he heard her crying in the kitchen. He hadn't touched her in four days and now he had, as far as she knew, left the house without saying goodbye. She was crushed!

He listened until he heard her go upstairs and then he came back into the kitchen. When he heard the shower come on in the bathroom, he quickly went up to the bedroom for one last task. When they had been married for two years, Julie, as she always had, took her rings off and placed them on a ledge above the sink while she washed. Somehow she had brushed them off; they fell into the sink and down the drain. Mark had, in desperation, removed the sink trap and, fortunately found them. Since then, Julie always removed her rings and placed the on a pretty ring holder on her dressing table before washing in the bathroom or on a similar one in the kitchen.

Hearing her in the shower, Mark quickly ducked into the bedroom, took the rings and placed the holder on its side on the floor as if it had fallen, making it appear that the rings had rolled away. It was a cruel thing to do because she loved those rings, but he just couldn't accept her wearing them when with another man. He saw it as just one more punishment for her betrayal. He went back down into the basement until he heard a commotion when her suitcase was picked up and the door was shut behind her on her way to her adulterous cruise. That closing door was almost as hurtful for Mark as his absence had been for Julie.

Mark got his luggage ready, checked over the house and put household things into a cupboard for the movers. About a half-hour later a black car drove up. He hurried out and got in with Jerry. "Ok, Mark, everything is on schedule. Our men are in place to handle the suitcases so that's taken care of. I met with our contact on the ship and gave him the cameras and laptop. They're getting the old passengers disembarked now and cleaning the rooms. He'll make the installation while that's going on. He will put the laptop in your stateroom during the lifeboat drill, so you won't even see him. You'll take it from there. He'll collect the cameras after they leave the room on departure and return them to us. Here's his number to call if something doesn't work. Any questions?"

"No, I think that you've covered everything. I really appreciate this, Jerry! You guys are unbelievable!"

"Ok then, they should be out of the way now, so let's get you to Cape Liberty and the ship."

Julie and Henry arrived at the port and, as she looked up, she thought, "That thing can't really float - it's an apartment building! Their luggage was taken from the limo by a man dressed as a baggage handler as was routine. They entered the cruise terminal and went through the tiresome step-by-step process of security checks, registration, picture taking, etc., and they emerged with two plastic cards which would serve as identification, charge cards and room keys. They climbed the gangway, made their way to the bank of elevators, got off on deck 10, found stateroom 1640 and entered the room which they would share for the next seven nights.

Henry made a quick trip to the bathroom while Julie stared with delight at the balcony. She turned back to the stateroom itself which was nicely furnished and her eyes focused on the queen-sized bed which she would be sleeping on and, unexpectedly, a flood of sadness washed over her, wiping out the excitement that had filled her. "Oh my god, my first cruise and Mark isn't here! I'm going to be sleeping with another man instead of my loving husband! We were going to share this on out fifth anniversary and he's not here - and it's my fault!"

Tears almost started flowing, but just then Henry reappeared and she hurried into the bathroom to, as women say, "freshen up." By the time she came out, her makeup repaired, she had recovered and a hug and kiss from Henry restored much of her enthusiasm. He let go of her and said, "Let's go up to the Windjammer buffet on Deck 11 and get some lunch and walk around awhile until we have the lifeboat drill. Then we can watch the departure from our balcony at 4:00."

It was fun going through the ship and it didn't take long for Julie's spirits to recover. They watched the departure until land was no longer in sight and went out again. As they started out, Julie exiting first, said, "Oh look, there's an envelope taped to the door." Pulling it loose and opening it she gasped as she handed it to Henry. "What on earth is this? Do you know about it?"

Henry was equally startled as he read:

"THE EB & T BULLETIN WILL FOLLOW, WITH ENVY, THE ACTIVITIES OF MRS. JULIE SCHAFER AND MS MABLE SYNTHRON AT THE EXPLORER OF THE SEAS BANKING CONFERENCE. WE'RE SURE THAT THEY WILL REPRESENT US WELL!"

The harassing of Julie Schafer and Henry Johnstone at the Eastern Bank and Trust Conference Cruise had begun!