Mystery Prize Ch. 01

Mystery Prize

Chapter 1: Winning the Prize

Note: This is a prologue to a multi-part story that will set the stage for the future chapters. It is one of my first submissions here, and I would very much appreciate any input and feedback you can give me. I hope you enjoy it! :)

Many, many, many thanks to Favorites Goddess who's editing and input was fantastic!

At 3:00pm I always walk the door and pick up the mail. Today was no different, I brought the mail into the house and began sorting through it.

"Bill...Bill...Bank statement...What's this one, hon?" I asked, showing her an envelope with blue borders on either side and sealed with a wax impression.

"I don't know, let me open it," Lucy said taking it from me.

I sorted through the rest of the mail while she opened the mystery letter and read over it. There wasn't anything that important in the rest of the mail unless you count the new editions of Game Informer, Mac|Life, Wired and her copy of US Weekly. Lucy skimmed the letter and reread it over a second time. She got a quizzical look and further examined the document from front to back.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, Cal," she replied. "Do you happen to remember signing up for a contest lately?"

I scratched my stubble and thought for a moment. "I don't remember specifically signing up, but I could have online or filled out a contest pamphlet in the mall or out of a magazine or something. Why? What's up?"

"Oh, well, I guess it might be legit, here take a look." She handed me the letter and I looked it over quickly. "It sounds like we won the 1st place prize! We've won a free 10-night cruise anywhere in the world. We just have to go to their website, go to their contest page, enter our confirmation code and select which cruise we want to take!"

"Oh, awesome!" I exclaimed, grabbing my laptop. "I didn't think anybody ever won those contests. I was just hoping I'd get a video game or free magazine subscription or something, you know?"

I didn't wait for her to reply before typing in the cruise's website into the browser.

< < Welcome to Pleasure Cruises! We hope you will enjoy every aspect of your free 10-night cruise! Please enter your confirmation code below and we will begin planning your trip of a lifetime! > >

We entered our confirmation code and were soon on the next screen.

< < Thank you, you are indeed a winner, Mr. and Mrs. Hobbes. Please select your destination from the list below. Airfare will be provided to any location you prefer! All shipboard expenses will be paid with the exceptions of alcoholic beverages, anything in the casino, special events requiring a deposit or our many fine onboard souvenirs.

-Mexican Riviera

-Round trip from San Diego to Hawaii

-Vancouver, British Colombia to Los Angeles, California

-Japan

-British Isles

-Caribbean island hopping

-Bahamas

-Australia and New Zealand > >

After discussing our options for a few moments we decided to click on Australia and New Zealand, since we would never be able to afford to go to that part of the world otherwise. Just the airfare alone would have bankrupted us, and we had always wanted to travel somewhere exotic. We learned the ship we would be sailing on was named "Helios' Golden Lantern", a reference to The Sun in Grecian mythology.

When we to the departure port, a crewmember was happy to take our luggage and showed us where to go to finish the registration process. We learned that our room keys would be linked to our credit cards, so carrying anything except the room keys onboard would not be necessary.

Our luggage was taken by crewmembers and we joined lots of couples who were already chatting with one another, eagerly waiting to get on board. We took our seats by another couple around our age who were not talking with anybody else. By this time, it was already around 11:30, and I was getting hungry; my stomach let out a loud growl.

The couple next to us laughed, in addition to a few others nearby; apparently, being hungry was the best way to break the ice before boarding.

"Wow, someone's ready for the cruise!" an older woman around 65 said, sitting down next to Lucy. "Listen, hon, my husband and I have taken this cruise a number of times, and the only thing better than the food are the onboard activities!"

I smiled, and introduced ourselves to the older woman. "Glad to hear it," I said, "We had heard that the best reason to cruise is the food, I can't wait. I'm Cal, and this is my wife Lucy. We're the Hobbes'."

"I'm Sheila," the woman said, shaking my hand and then giving Lucy a friendly hug. "My husband and I took this exact same cruise two years ago. This year, I'm taking it by myself, its what Jack would have wanted, God rest his soul."

Lucy and I frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that," Lucy said to Sheila, though neither of us knew what to say after.

Sheila changed the topic before Lucy flooded the waiting area. "Anyways, where are you kids from? I'm from Palm Springs, California!"

"Really?!" burst Lucy. "We're from Palm Desert, just a few miles away from each other!"

"That's wonderful, sweetie! How do you kids like it in the desert?"

"We love it!" I interjected. "3 months of hellish and 9 months of heavenly weather! It's amazing!"

Lucy continued next, "And way more affordable than Los Angeles!"

"And how!" Sheila said happily. "Here's my card, it has my phone and email on it. If you kids ever need something out there, you call me any time! Day or night!"

We thanked Sheila, put the card in my pocket and I gave her one of my cards too.

"Oh, it looks like they're letting people through," I observed they had begun boarding the ship. My stomach let out another gurgle.

At this point, Sheila gave her ticket, and made her way onto the boat. "I hope I'll see you kids later!"

We smiled and waved to her, and then presented our tickets to enter the ship.

"Oh, so you're Mr. and Mrs. Hobbes!" the crewmember exclaimed when he took our tickets. He called over a supervisor who came to our sides immediately.

"So, this is the lucky couple!" he said in a thick Australian accent. "I'm Ian, the cruise director!"

We shook hands and I whispered to Lucy, "See! I told you! Everybody named Ian is Australian!" She jabbed me in the ribs playfully and we followed Ian onboard.

Ian showed us around the ship, making sure we knew where the various restaurants were as well as the pool deck, dance halls, both theaters, bars, clubs and the main dining room. After our private tour, he took us to our room. When we booked our room online, we figured we'd get a nice room but not one of the four VIP rooms available onboard. The room had a king-size bed, a sitting area, a large balcony, a bathroom with both a shower and a bathtub and the many amenities you'd find in a luxury hotel room. The Jacuzzi tub was a nice touch, the rest of the bathroom had fragrant potpourri that filled the air with a pleasurable smell. The room itself smelled of fresh laundry, clean without having the overbearing scent of cleaning solutions.

"This is nicer than our house!" I blurted out, and got another jab in the ribs from my wife.

Ian laughed and said he'd heard that before, and that I shouldn't be embarrassed by saying so. "The ship will be leaving in the next couple hours, so make yourselves at home, explore the boat some more, go up to the buffet and get to know some of the passengers. Prior to our embarkation, there would be an informational seminar that passengers new to Pleasure Cruises should attend." He made sure to stress the fact we should attend the meeting, then continued before heading off for the rest of his duties. "That's a gift from all of the crew aboard The Golden Lantern," he said, pointing out a tray with a bottle of wine and many smaller bottles next to it.

We thanked Ian, and Lucy went to look at the crew's gift. "They're bottles of massage oils!" she exclaimed.

"That was nice of them," I said and began unpacking what we brought in our carry-ons. The rest of our luggage would arrive later this afternoon.

We went to the elevators and found the buffet was being served on the "Lido Deck," the same deck as the gym and pool. Everything set out for the buffet looked amazing; it was difficult to decide what we should take. Soon we found a table and began to eat, the food tasted even better than it looked.

"Is anyone sitting there?" asked a familiar sounding voice. It was the young lady from the couple we sat nearby before boarding the boat.

"Mmmgfff," I said with a mouth full of delicious spaghetti and meatballs.

"Cal! Don't talk with your mouthful!" Lucy teased. "No, come join us! We're Cal and Lucy!"

I hadn't noticed before but they were both incredibly tall -- which was a far cry different from Lucy and myself. We knew we were on the shorter side, but the couple standing over us looked like giants.

"Thanks!" she said, putting her tray down next to mine. Her companion put his next to Lucy's. "We're Stacie and Hank," she said introducing themselves. "Have you ever seen anything like this buffet?"

This time I swallowed my mouthful before speaking, "No way, I mean in my undergraduate college our dining hall always had buffets but it can't compare to the selection here! Have you tried the chocolate lava cake?"

"Mmm, no, but that sounds delicious," Stacie said.

"I'm not a chocolate person, but I'm sure Stacie would love it," Hank said. "How about the pulled pork? Amazing!"

"Have you been on one of these cruises before?" Lucy asked the other couple.

"No we haven't," Hank said. "We've gone on other cruise lines, this one sounded like it would be a lot more fun and exciting. On our first cruise, we made the mistake of booking one during spring break to The Caribbean. The only thing worse than the hundreds of kids aboard, were the frat boys and sorority girls who were constantly drunk and requesting the worst music. I'll tell you one thing, I don't know who let the dogs out, but if I catch that mother fucker it will be justifiable homicide."

His timing could not have been better; I inhaled my soda because I was laughing so hard. "That was hilarious," I said, catching my breath. "I hate that song too. Anyway, you said this one would be more exciting?"

Stacie and Hank exchanged quick glances at each other. Stacie was the first to break the short silence, "Well, we've just heard that this cruise line tends to cater to a more mature clientele. I don't think we'll be seeing many 19 year olds with the word 'COLLEGE' written on their shirts. Or anybody wearing Pokémon swimsuits." Luckily, my board shorts had the Green Lantern symbol on them...

We continued chatting and every so often someone would get up to get something else to eat or drink. Finally, an announcement came over the PA system informing us that all the passengers were on board. We also learned the safety drill would be beginning in a half hour so the buffet would be closing down until after the boat had left the port. A crewmember came by and cleared our table. We thanked Hank and Stacie for the nice conversation and hoped we'd meet up with them in the future. Now, it was time to head back to the room to prepare for the drill.

*****

Once we gathered our life vests, we made our way to where we were supposed to meet for the drill. There, we learned what we should do in case of emergencies. Judging from everyone around us, Hank and Stacie were right. Not a single college hoodie or crying toddler was in sight. Instead, the rest of the guests gathered at our safety station were young to mature adults. If I had to guess, Lucy and I in our early 30's could have been in the youngest age group of the boat. "I'm pretty sure nobody here gives a shit who let the dogs out," I muttered beneath my breath. Lucy giggled softly.

The safety drill concluded, we went back to the room and put the life vests away. Afterward, we decided to head to Deck 16, the pool deck, to watch our embarkation. When we got in the elevator, we made some small talk with the other guests who were equally excited for their 10-night trip as well. The elevators doors opened on Deck 16 and we were totally taken by surprise.

Two women, a brunette and redhead, were on the other side of the doors making out. Living in southern California, Lucy and I were not sheltered when it came to same-sex public displays of affection. This was not the typical kiss on the cheek or hand holding we were used to. The brunette had her hands on either side of the redhead's face, pulling her close so she couldn't pull away even if she wanted to. The redhead had one hand around the brunette's waist, while her other cupped one of her breasts gently caressing her through her blouse.

The brunette finally pushed the redhead away, "That's my elevator, sweetie," she said.

"Aw, it was just getting interesting," the redhead said, twisting a curl of hair in her hands.

The rest of us got out of the elevator, making room for the brunette. She blew the redhead a kiss and winked at her. "Unless you're planning on going down with me, I'm Jennifer and am in room 789. Maybe you'll drop by sometime!"

"I just might!" the redhead replied, 'catching' the kiss Jennifer blew to her. "I'm Caitlin and am in room 608!"

"Dude! You're our neighbor!" I exclaimed as the doors to the elevator slid shut. "We're in 610!" Apparently, everybody else had picked up on the fact that these two women were just introducing themselves to each other. I was oblivious for now.

I got another elbow from my wife, but I'm pretty used to that. "Oh my God, Cal! Don't you have any filter?"

"No..." I replied sheepishly, everybody around laughed including the redhead Caitlin. The rest of the crowd dispersed leaving Lucy, Caitlin and myself. "I mean, sometimes I don't say the first thing that pops into my head..."

"That's adorable! Is he for real?" Caitlin asked Lucy.

"Unfortunately." She rolled her eyes. "And I'm stuck with him for life. Or until he has enough money to make divorce worthwhile." It was obvious she was joking but made sure to squeeze my hand and kiss my cheek reassuringly nonetheless.

"That's funny, so you really don't have much impulse control do you?"

"No, not really," I answered. "I've already put my foot in my mouth at least half a dozen times today."

"Baker's dozen," noted Lucy. Both girls laugh at my expense, but I didn't mind too much. "So, I'm going to pull a Cal here," Lucy continued, "Because I'm curious and he's clueless. You and she...you didn't know each other's names?"

"Oh," laughed Caitlin, "No, that's what these Pleasure Cruises are all about you know? I guess you could say I'm impulsive like your husband. I see what I want, and I go for it. Come, sit with me, we'll get to know each other as we wait for the ship to leave."

The three of us found a nice place to sit and watch the longshoremen finish loading everything onto the boat. We introduced ourselves and learned that Caitlin preferred to be called Cait. "This is your first cruise here, huh?" Cait asked.

"It's obvious, huh?" I answered.

"I've been on seven Pleasure Cruises, a couple Royal Caribbean cruises, a Princes cruise and a Carnival cruise. And I can tell you without a doubt that Pleasure Cruises are the most fun and exciting! They really go balls out to make these cruises more romantic, exciting and sexy than the others." She laughed to herself, "There's nothing quite like getting blue balls or purple pussy while enjoying somebody's company due to the rambunctious behavior of kids or idiots on board, you know? Pleasure Cruises goes well out of their way to ensure their guests are more mature than some of the other cruise lines."

"That makes sense," Lucy said. "We already heard from another couple that we won't have to worry about spring breakers aboard this ship, which is nice."

"That's true...not that naïve college students don't have their place." The conversation would have continued, but the blasts from the ship's horn told us we were making our leave from the docks. It was really awesome; our free vacation was finally underway!

What many other people on the boat did next was even more shocking than what we saw coming off the elevator. A number of women had taken off their shirts, exposing their breasts to all around them. Lucy and I did not know what to make of it, and our puzzled expressions were easily visible.

"Remember, Pleasure Cruises caters to mature clientele!" reminded Caitlin, who began to remove her shirt, but stopped when Lucy interrupted her.

"So, they don't mind if people show off their bodies?" asked Lucy blushingly. "Like going topless is fine?"

"Sure, honey, and more! Come on, I can tell my Cal's face, he wants you to show off for the ship! Isn't that right?"

I nodded, doing my best to hide the fact I wanted Lucy to join in, so she could show off her beautiful body and breasts as well. "Here, let me help, babe."

Lucy bit her lip nervously, she'd never done anything like this before. "Okay, Cal. Just for you!" She turned around, and I pulled up her shirt and tried unlatched her bra. "Uh-uh, not yet!" she teased, turning around to face me. She put her arms around me, burring her face into the part of my chest where my shoulders meet my neck, just above the clavicle. She kissed my neck softly and said, "Now you can do it."

I unlatched her bra as she moved away from me, letting it slide off her chest and onto the deck chair. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Cait smile seductively at Lucy and myself. "Don't stop it there, sweetie!"

"So, nobody would mind if I were to do this?" asked Lucy, turning around placing both of my hands on her breasts. She pulled her hands from mine and grabbed my messy hair, pulling me closer to her. This was an entirely new Lucy than I had ever experienced. She pulled me close and our lips touched, we kissed for what seemed like an eternity.

"I liked that," I told her, turning her around, so she was facing me again. "That was really hot!" The scientist in me could have sworn the ship must have been pumping in something to lower our inhibitions. They weren't and it sure felt great to shake off some of the societal norms we've grown to accept -- just seeing Lucy topless in front of a crowd was a huge turn on!

"Yeah it was," Cait chimed in, we had momentarily forgotten about her and everyone else. For that brief moment, nobody else was onboard the ship, just me and my beautiful wife. Finally our embrace ended, Lucy blushed a deep red, and tried to cover herself up, embarrassed about what just happened.

"Awww!" a small crowd around us murmured sadly.

"Oh shush," Cait said, playfully scolding them. "This is their first time on a Pleasure Cruise!"

With that, we were outted. "Don't worry, it gets easier!", "Keep it up, you'll fit in in no time!" and other supportive phrases were aimed our way.

"See?" asked Cait. "That's what these Pleasure Cruises are all about! By the way, you two are great kissers. And Lucy, you have the perkiest tits I've ever seen. And honey, I've seen a lot!"

Lucy blushed more, but the three of us had a laugh. "You can put your shirt back on if you want, bunny," I told Lucy. Surprisingly, she decided to stay topless.

"It's funny," she told me. "I just feel like I'm comfortable like this, look around, I'd stick out like a sore thumb if I wasn't topless!"

I took her advice and scanned the pool deck. She was right, there was hardly a woman still on the deck who was wearing her top. Most of the people who wanted to watch the embarkation had since left the pool deck since it was getting chilly, but seeing that Lucy was not the only one who decided to push her boundaries was interesting to observe. In fact, by now Cait was topless as well, she and Lucy had similarly colored pale skin. Their breasts were quite different from one another's, however. Where Lucy's were huge for her small frame, Cait's were quite small comparably. Lucy was probably a hair under 5'3" and had plenty of curves in all the right places. Cait, on the other hand, was tall and slim. She still had a great body, freckles dotted her arms and even her breasts. Lucy's skin had almost no blemishes or beauty marks to speak of.