The Love Boat

After lunch, we took a leisurely stroll back to the security room. There was no one there. Tim was still out to lunch with Emma. And the night shift guy hadn't reported in yet. On a ship of this size the rest of the security crew was busy watching the rest of the ship.

"I've had a wonderful day," said Sky. "But..."

"But you need to go out and see some of the ship yourself," I said. "I totally understand. I appreciate the time you've spent with me so far. You've gone above and beyond the call of duty. You've spent more time with me than that thing I married has. Thank..."

"You're just going to keep sticking your foot further and further into your mouth aren't you?" she asked smiling. "Can I finish my thought or are you having too much fun finishing it for me?"

I smiled and pretended that I was zipping my lips closed.

"I was going to say that I've had a wonderful day and I was looking forward to spending the evening with you too, but I wanted to go back to my cabin and change out of my running shorts and top," she said. "You know, your night security guy seems nice too. He might let us go out for dinner and a walk on the deck. I don't think we'll be sitting at the Captain's table, but there are so many places to eat here."

I just looked at her, smiling. She smiled back.

"Well are you going to say anything?" she asked. In the past roughly ten hours since she'd showed up this morning, I'd spent more of my time smiling than I ever remembered in my entire life.

"Oh, I can talk now?" I asked.

"Yep, jump right in whenever you feel like it," she said. Before I had a chance to leap in with any of my witty repartee, the night security man stepped into the room.

"Did you know the doors are all open," he asked.

"Yep," Sky and I said at the same time.

"Oh, okay," he said. "I guess there really isn't anywhere for you to go."

Sky just looked at me and I got the impression that she was expecting something. After a couple of minutes of really strange awkwardness, she turned and left, vowing to quickly return. The security guy stood there looking at me too.

"She's a cutie," he said. "I saw the two of you eating lunch a while ago."

"I escaped while the other security guy wasn't looking," I said.

"You mean while he was having lunch with that woman that visited you yesterday?" he asked. "Good excuse. If you decided to go out later and someone else catches you, tell them that about me too."

I just looked puzzled at him. He went back into the outer room to watch TV. I realized that I'd been so busy with Sky for most of the day that I hadn't checked my email. I logged onto my email account and found a couple of different messages from my attorney. He was sure that I could get the annulment. He'd have papers waiting to serve Danielle as soon as we docked. My assistant was taking care of the things I'd asked for her to handle. The locks on my condo had been changed. And all of Danielle's belongings that had been moved into my condo had been placed in storage. We'd paid for a month in the storage facility for her after which her property would be sold.

I was in the middle of writing another message when the security guy came back in. "You've got a visitor," he said. I could tell from the look on his face that I wasn't going to like it. "It's her," he said.

"Tell her that I don't want to see her and send her away," I told him. He nodded and went back into the outer room. I heard a lot of yelling and screaming and a couple of thumps.

"God damn it, Cal. This is not going to fix things between us," she screamed from the other room. "You fucked up. I got mad. I fucked up too, but we have a problem."

He stuck his head back in the room and looked at me. I shook my head. He smiled and the next thing I heard was more screaming from Danielle. "I'm going to the Captain," she spat. "This is an emergency. I have the right to speak to my own husband."

A few minutes later, he stuck his head back in. "What a piece of work," he said. "So what actually happened between the two of you? When you first got here, you were a typical lovey dovey pair of newlyweds."

"Yes, I'd like to hear that as well," said the Captain, from behind him. "Right now we have more than one problem and I think they all involve you."

I gave them the short version of my relationship with Danielle. I quickly went over the conversation I'd overheard between her and Emma. Then I explained to them what had happened at the dinner to cause my reaction. The Captain nodded his head.

"We reviewed the security tapes and spoke to a lot of the passengers that you've come into contact with," he said. "A great many of them think that I should let you go. But a small, but vocal few think you should stay locked up."

"Captain, are there any available cabins on the ship?" I asked.

"No, but you and your wife are already booked in one of the best cabins we have," he said.

"Then we don't really have a problem," I said. "I have no problem staying here. There's no way I want to share a cabin with Danielle. I'd appreciate it if someone could get the rest of my clothes out of that cabin though."

"I'll have someone bring them down to you while your wife is out," he said. "She wants to have a meeting with me. I'm heading up to my office now. I'll keep her there for as long as I can. But I need to ask you a favor too."

"What can I do?" I asked.

"You could call off your friends," he said. "Apparently your lawyer called in a few favors from some friends of his, they called in a favor as well and I got to have a long conversation about you with the director of the entire cruise line. Apparently some very important people like you, so I'm supposed to tread very carefully where you're concerned."

"I'll see what I can do," I said.

About ten minutes after the Captain left. The security guy came back into the room. "Jeezus, I'm starting to feel more like I'm your receptionist or something," he said. "You do know that the captain told us you're free to go," he said.

"Well it's something like that," I told him. "I'm supposed to keep a low profile to avoid angering any of the few people who think I'm an axe murderer."

"You have another visitor," he said. "I think I'd better stay in the room for this one."

"I already told you I don't want to see her," I said.

"It's not her," he smirked. "I need you to stay calm. It's the asshole."

"Why the hell would he want to see me?" I asked.

"The easiest way for you to find out would probably be to ask him," he said.

I nodded and he waved the man in. As soon as I looked at the bastard standing there smugly, I wanted to kill him.

"We need privacy for what we're about to talk about," he said to the security man.

"No we don't," I snapped. "He's here for your protection. You know, just in case I decided to finish what your friends prevented me from doing last night." He gulped and paled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "And I have no friends aboard the ship. Are you referring to those two men you had the fight with last night? If you are speaking of them, I don't know them. I came here to discuss a business proposition that is of a very personal nature. Your wife has run up a tab with me that you and I should discuss."

"My wife's bills are of no interest to me," I said. "When she texted me earlier, I ignored it. When she tried to visit me earlier today I refused to see her. Whatever is going on between the two of you is of no concern to me." I pulled out my iPhone and pretended to show him the text. As I was doing it I took a picture of him.

"I would suggest that you speak to your wife," he said. "I'll come back to visit you tomorrow at this time. It would be better for everyone concerned for us to resolve this matter before it becomes ugly." Then he turned and left the room.

I emailed the picture of him to my attorney. I told him that he was guy that Danielle went out clubbing with. I figured that the guy might prove important if I needed a divorce instead of the annulment.

A couple of crewmen arrived then with my suitcases and the rest of my belongings. I stowed things away as efficiently as I could in the small security room. I picked out an outfit to wear for the evening and went into the other room to get ready. The bathroom I'd been using simply wouldn't do. There was no tub or shower. I got the security man to show me to one of the locker rooms that the crew used. I took a nice hot shower and dressed. When I went back to the security room, Emma was waiting there for me.

"Cal, wow, you look good," she said.

"Thanks Emma, did you enjoy your lunch?" She turned red immediately.

"Oh boy, Emma," I laughed. "You'd better slow down girl. You know that sailors have a reputation. Make him wait for a while before you give up the goods." She got even redder in the face.

"Cal, we're not here to talk about my love life," she said. "Danielle is in your cabin crying her eyes out. None of this is working out the way she intended and she has a really big problem. You're probably the only person who can help her with it."

"Then she's fucked," I said. Emma looked around the room and noticed all of my suitcases.

"Cal, I only brought you some clothes and underwear. Where did the rest of this stuff come from?" she asked. "Forget about it. Won't you please just go and talk to her?"

"Why should I?" I asked. "She embarrassed me in front of the whole God damned ship by acting like a slut less than forty-eight hours after our wedding. I ended up getting thrown in here and spent the fucking night in jail while she was off spending my money with the bastard she let feel her up. Besides that, Emma, I know."

"You know what?" Emma asked. My brain kicked in and I realized that it would be far better for me not to let Emma or Danielle know that I'd heard their conversation. Danielle wasn't totally stupid. If she knew I was going after an annulment or a divorce she'd try to block it. I'd rather just have her served as soon as she stepped foot back on land."

"I know that Danielle didn't go back to our cabin the whole fucking night," I said.

"It wasn't her fault," said Emma. "You really do need to go and talk to her."

"Nope, I really don't," I said. "If this type of childish behavior is what I can expect from her. I'm better off without her."

Sky picked that moment to show back up. "Where are our security people?" she smiled.

"Oh they're around here somewhere," I said. "We may have to fire them. They let just about anybody in."

Sky had on a white blouse with a lacey front. She wore a very tight black leather skirt that molded itself to her curves leaving no aspect of her ass to the imagination. Her legs were bare and she tucked her feet into very tiny high heeled boots. Her hair was arranged so the blue highlights blended in with the black and just added tone to her hair. She looked really great.

"So your wife is back in your cabin sinking into a depression and you're going out on a date?" asked Emma.

"Works for me," I said. Emma looked shocked. "Emma, again I spent last night in jail while she went out dancing and drinking and I paid for it. I'm not doing anything that she didn't do first." "But Cal, you're a better person than she is," said Emma.

"Alright Emma," I said. "I'm doing this for you, not for her. Tell her I'll meet with her after breakfast tomorrow."

"Thanks Cal," said Emma smiling. And she turned to leave. She looked at Sky again.

"Emma," I said just as she got to the door. "Stay away from those sailors." She turned red all over again.

"So, ya got a lot of stuff in here now," said Sky.

"Ya think?" I replied.

"I have ways of making you talk," she said right back to me. "But for now, I'm starving. Feed me. Get one of the security guys to go and get us food. I could go if they're not coming back soon enough."

I took her hand. "Or we could just go ourselves," I said. "I'm sprung."

She looked down at the front of my pants. "Not yet," she said. "But the night is young."

It turned out to be the best night of the cruise so far. More than that, it was the best night of my life so far. We grabbed a bite at a restaurant that was a bit more upscale than any we'd been to before then. There were several people looking at us as we ate. A large number of them gave me the thumbs up sign, but there were one or two who just hid behind their menus and stared.

After that we just waked around the ship and I know this sounds really hokey but when Sky grabbed my hand while we walked, it was the most erotic thing I'd ever felt in my life.

"God damn it," I said.

"What now?" she smirked.

"My timing sucks," I said.

"Nope it goes beyond that," she said. "It's like serendipity. We just fell into this. Think about it. I met an asshole. I put up with him for four years. I bought him beer and paid for his stupid car and got engaged to him. I did all of that so I could run off and leave him at the altar and come on this cruise alone to meet you. You met and dated a gold digger for two years just so you could marry her and come on this cruise, so you could meet me. You're from California, I'm from Arkansas. If it hadn't been for a very strange set of circumstances, we'd never have met."

For the rest of the evening everything was perfect. We strolled along the decks and stopped in at few smaller, quieter clubs. For the first time in my life, I knew what all of the bullshit was about. I felt closer to Sky than I had to any other human being I'd ever known.

We ended the night in deck chairs staring at the nighttime stars and talking about our hopes and dreams. I walked her to her cabin and as I turned to go, she grabbed my arm and pulled me in for my first ever real kiss.

Kissing Sky made everything I'd ever done with anyone else feel like a waste of time. This was far more special than just rubbing my lips against some woman's mouth. It was like fire, like electricity, like everything I needed to survive all rolled into one action.

The only thing I could think of to say was, "Jimi fucking Hendricks."

"Huh?" said Sky. "Wait a minute, you told me you hated Jimi Hendricks."

"Not anymore," I said. "He sings my theme song."

"Okay, what's your theme song?" she laughed.

"Scuse me while I kiss this Sky," I said.

"That's not the name of the song," she said. "It's called P..."

I interrupted her by pressing my mouth against hers again. This time the kiss was longer and even hotter.

"I love that song," she said when we came up for air.

I floated back to the security office. The guy at the desk looked up when I came in. "You look like you had a good time," he said.

"Oh yeah," I said. I told my iPhone to wake me up at 5:45 and went to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt great. Even though I'd had less than six hours of sleep, I felt like I was ready to take on the world. I did notice a little stiffness in my back. The bed I'd slept on wasn't anywhere near comfortable. I guess that was to be expected since it was just a cot in the security office and not a real bed.

I searched through my suitcases and found my running shoes, shorts and a singlet. I ran out into the hallway and then back into the room. I'd forgotten socks and my iPod.

I jogged my way up a few decks until I got to the track. I looked around and didn't see Sky anywhere. I thought about it and realized that we'd gotten less than six hours of sleep. Yesterday had also been an emotional roller coaster for us. I had begun the day at my lowest emotional point ever. I was locked up in a security room. My wife had apparently been out clubbing with another guy while I was there. And that was on top of finding out the previous day that she was only after me for financial security.

By the end of that day, however, I was sure that I was in love for real, for the first time. So maybe I felt like I could fly, but that didn't mean that Sky did. She was probably still asleep in her bed.

I clipped my iPod to the waistband of my shorts and inserted the ear buds into my ears. I was just about to start running when I felt something tap me on the shoulder.

I looked into Sky's beaming face.

Seeing her again floored me. "So you weren't going to wait for me at all, huh?" she asked smiling.

"I didn't think you'd want to wake up this early," I said.

"I didn't," she said. "But, um rll wned cyu," she mumbled.

"Huh?" I said. "I didn't get that last part." I was having trouble looking at her. She really was beautiful. And the thing about it that was weird was that it was six a.m. and she was already this pretty. She had just rolled out of bed and thrown on some clothes and was already this pretty. Danielle needed at least an hour to make her face and hair presentable. Sky was very low maintenance.

"Can we just run?" she asked.

"Nope," I smiled. "What did you say? I have ways of making you talk too."

"Like what?" she asked. I held my hands up menacingly towards her.

"I could tickle you into telling me," I said.

"That would of course require you to be able to catch me," she said.

"Are you assuming that I can't," I asked.

"Yep," she said. "I am. I get a one minute head start. You can't change direction and we swap iPods. You have to listen to my music and I have to listen to yours."

"Are you sure about this?" I asked. "I mean listening to each other's music is a big step. It's almost like you know going together or something."

She laughed and held out her hand. I gave her my iPod shuffle and she gave me her iPod Nano.

"I'll be watching you to make sure you don't start early," she smirked.

"Wait a minute," I said. "If I win you have to tell me what you said. What do you get if you win?"

"You have to kiss me like you did last night again and whenever I ask you," she said. Then she took off running. As I watched her run away from me, I seriously considered losing on purpose.

After about a minute I started after her. At first I thought that I could just sprint around the track and catch up to her. But by the time I got close she started running faster too and I wasn't a sprinter, so I was tiring faster than I was catching her. I backed off on my pace and she relaxed too. I did think that I caught a glimpse of her smiling as she ran. I started to slowly reel her in. Every time I got closer to her she upped her pace though. After about four laps I was only about twenty feet behind her. But every time I started to sprint, she did too. We seemed to be evenly matched. Another lap and I was only ten feet behind her. I checked my watch, we'd done about six laps and we were at close to seven minutes so I knew that we'd run about a mile. That let me know that the track we were on was a bit smaller than the average high school track. My usual daily run was about 5 miles but we had a lot of adrenalin going through us.

Sky seemed to be running a bit slower. I think the sprints that we'd done earlier had gassed her. I was so busy thinking and trying to calculate how long it would take me to catch her that I ran into her.

She had simply stopped running. I plowed into her and we went down together in a tangle of arms and legs. "Sorry, "I said. I rolled off of her. She just smiled and looked at me. Both of us lying down on the rubberized surface as the sun came up.

"Kiss me," she said. Without hesitating, I complied. The connection was instantly back. Like two magnets we pulled towards each other and locked in. Sky's lips tasted like strawberries and fresh peaches. She pulled me in insistently. I truly believe that we'd still be there locked in that embrace if some fat guy hadn't come huffing and puffing around the track.

"How many laps do I have to do to get that?" he asked. "Does she kiss everyone who knocks her down?" Then he walked on but he turned back to look at us.