The Nose Knows

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Exotic Cruise leads to an erotic mistake.
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The Nose Knows. One whiff of the pillow said it all

My name is Thomas Divine and I was born with a unique gift. Ever since I was a young boy I could smell odors far in advance of other people. Sometimes it was a blessing, like being able to detect the delicate scent of a flower without leaning down and putting my nose to it. Other times it was a curse, I could smell a fart at fifty paces. Once when I was about ten I smelled my mother's cooking oil scorching in the frying pan even though I was in my room and my mom was right there in the kitchen but distracted by a phone call. I know immediately when I enter a house if there is a pet living there even though others seem oblivious to it. A couple of years later after I had gone to bed and my parents were watching TV I smelled something burning. I left my room and told my parents that something was burning and despite their sticking their noses in the air and sniffing furiously, they detected nothing. However, by this time they had gained respect for my unusual ability and upon further investigation my dad discovered that he had left a soldering iron on and it had rolled off its resting place and was burning the wooden work bench. It hadn't ignited but was fairly close to several cans of combustible solvents.

During a routine doctors visit my mother had mentioned my hypersensitivity to smells, not out of concern but rather out of curiosity. The doctor admitted that although unusual it was not unheard of. He explained:

"Just like some people have far better than 20/20 vision or a blind person may have tremendously better hearing than most, Tom's ole factory sense is beyond the normal."

The ability is just part of life and like I said it can sometimes be a curse. It is especially annoying when working close with someone who has a touch of body odor or a tinge of bad breath. On the flip side I enjoy the aroma of cooking food and whereas most would be able to distinguish the fact that meat was roasting or sauce being prepared I can usually detect the spices being used in the preparation.

"What has this peculiarity of mine have to do with anything?" A lot, unfortunately!"

My wife, Jennifer, and I have been married for fourteen years, have two daughters, Ashley is thirteen and Lois, eleven. After years of only having family vacations and some three day weekends with the kids, We found ourselves in the financial position to take a long talked about cruise. Money being scarce when we wed we were not able to go on a honeymoon so this would be our chance to get away and rekindle the romance. Not that we didn't enjoy a satisfying sex life but with raising kids, jobs and household chores, it was sometimes difficult to find the time when we weren't too exhausted or too busy.

Jen and I had been sweethearts since high school and she and I had given one another our virginity several days after Jen's eighteenth birthday. A constant during our courtship was her best friend Carol Fuller. Jen and Carol had been best friends since elementary school and we often double dated with who ever her current flame was. Where Jennifer was quiet and reserved, Carol was loud and exuberant. As opposed to Jen's slight frame and small breasts, Carol was curvaceous, even as a teen. I liked Carol, she was funny, forthright and exhibited an almost manic zest for life. She had a lot of boys in her life but no 'boy friends'. I wouldn't exactly describe her as promiscuous but lets just say that the boys never sampled her 'wares', she sampled theirs.

I didn't hate school, nor did I love it, therefore college didn't interest me. So, in that fall after graduation Carol went off to a four year college with no particular academic goal in mind, rather just to experience life without parental supervision. Jen started business classes at the local community college and I, through the efforts of my uncle, got a job as a maintenance technician (aka, janitor) at one of the schools in our district.

We were both just twenty one when Jen and I married and by that time I realized that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life mopping floors and changing fluorescent bulbs so as my new wife was getting her Associates Degree, I started night classes at the same community college.

During Jennifer's college years she worked part time for her Uncle Bruce who owned the local plumbing supply house. Bruce and his wife had not been able to have children so he was like Jen's second dad. After college she worked full time for him as his bookkeeper and after each of our girls were born she went back to work and basically made her own hours.

After three years with the school district I advanced to Head Custodian of the school and with a total of eight years with the district and my business degree I was offered the job Director of Engineering for the whole district, which consists of five schools in four buildings.

Carol married Ted Tolliver in her senior year of college and about five years ago moved back into our area because her husband's job had transferred him nearby. Jen and Carol had kept in touch over the years but once back in town their close friendship had picked up where it had left off.

Although we didn't have a lot in common, I liked Ted well enough and we do have a few things in common such as politics and football. He is small guy, at least next to my 6'2' two hundred ten pounds. He is only about 5'9" and a hundred fifty pounds. What he lacks in stature he makes up with looks. Ted has black wavy hair, bright blue eyes and although he is certainly not effeminate he has an almost pretty face. Ted's job as a pharmaceutical rep forces him to travel occasionally, sometimes overnight and since he and Carol don't have children she spends a lot of the times that her husband is away, at our house. She loves our daughters and they refer to her as Aunt Carol.

=============

So after fourteen years we were finally going to get to go on a vacation without the kids. When Jen mentioned our plans to Carol she asked what we thought of her and Ted going along. I certainly had no problem with it when Jen mentioned it. I love my daughters dearly but as long as we weren't going to be saddled with the kids I thought having another couple to share the fun with was a great idea. Jen asked where I'd like to go and I told her that as long as it didn't involve a tent or a theme park, she could make the decision.

After putting their heads together she and Carol decided on a seven night cruise out of Miami to the Western Caribbean. None of us had ever been on a cruise and Jen was acting like our daughters did a few years ago when we told them we were taking them to Disney World, she was beside herself with excitement. She and Carol spent the weekends before our trip buying out the mall, evening wear, casual wear, bathing suits, sandals and a pair if four inch, red, CFM shoes that I particularly liked with her new red cocktail dress.

Dutiful husband that I am I was forced to go to our bedroom after every purchase to give my opinion on every article of new clothing down to the her pink flip flops. Actually, I didn't really mind since I got to see her naked ass and tits, a pleasure not normally afforded me.

For some unfathomable reason my wife was never happy with her body. No matter how many times that I told her she had a fantastic figure she would complain about her breasts being too small or her butt being too big or her feet being too big. As a result of her insecurities she always wore something to cover her when we got into bed. On the nights we made love she would disrobe under the sheets after the light was out but miraculously the shirt or nightgown would be back on at morning light.

Since Jen and I and the girls were driving down to Florida to drop Ashley and Lois off with my parents we decided to spend a couple of nights with them before driving the rest of the way to Miami. Carol and Ted were flying down so the plan was that we would meet them on the ship.

At first the girls were disappointed that they would not be sailing with us but knowing that their grandparents had a pool and would, no doubt, spoil them rotten while they were there, they soon got over their pouting.

After getting to Miami and getting through all of the requisite paperwork in the terminal we headed to the glass covered gangway. That was the first time Jen saw the ship in other than a brochure. To say that she was impressed and excited would not do the English language justice, she was giddy with anticipation.

The girls had memorized the deck plans like it was a survival map and we had agreed to meet our traveling companions at the Champagne bar after the life boat drill. We each had balcony rooms ours on deck six and theirs on deck seven.

Carol and Ten were seated at the bar when we arrived and had already ordered a bottle of champagne to toast our departure. Personally I think that champagne tastes like effervescent vinegar so after an obligatory sip to toast our adventure I ordered a scotch. Apparently Ted was of the same opinion because he quickly ordered a beer. Jen and Carol had no problem killing the bottle within a half hour.

We had previously made reservations for two evening dinners at the ships specialty Italian restaurants but tonight we would dine at one of the main dining rooms that offered open seating rather than designated meal times. After leaving the champagne bar we took a little tour so the girls could show us the casino, which was not yet open, one of the pools and, believe it or not, the ice skating rink.

At seven o'clock we met our friends for dinner and before we ordered the girls had a tropical rum drink which I suspected was mostly fruit juice. Ted stuck with beer and I had a white wine. The girls followed up with a second umbrella embellished cocktail before ordering dinner.

The ladies looked spectacular. My wife was wearing a black cocktail dress with wedged shoes and had her chestnut hair done in a French bun. The dress had a vee neck and, not being overly endowed, showed just a hint of cleavage. Carol on the other hand was dressed to kill and by the surreptitious looks she got from some of the males in the room, she had achieved her goal. She wore a white, scoop necked, silk blouse that left very little to the imagination and a short black skirt with four inch pumps.

Due to my hypersensitive sense of smell, Jennifer wore very little, if any, perfume but as usual Ted had doused himself with his trademark cologne. I'm sure the cologne was expensive and at first blush it was a pleasant fragrance but after awhile it could become overbearing, at least to me.

I had no doubt that due to her larger size and he four years at a party college that Carol could handle her booze but my wife rarely drank hard liquor and usually limited herself to two, maybe three glasses of wine. I could tell Jen was getting a little tipsy as the conversation evolved into the nude beaches on some of the exotic ports we would be visiting. Carol was trying to goad Jen into going topless at one of the beaches but Jen just giggled and shook her head.

"Come on Jen, don't be such a prude, she laughed. When in Rome, do as the Romans. This is our getaway, we're supposed to let our hair down. You will never see any of those people on the beach again. We're going to exotic islands, get your freak on."

Surprisingly, the woman who wouldn't get into bed nude with her own husband, said:

"Okay, I'll think about it."

By the time we left the dinning room to check out the casino the girls were feeling no pain. None of us being experienced seafarers we did not think that the pitching of the ship was anything unusual but in fact we had to negotiate the corridors by putting our arms out to touch the walls in order not to stumble. Carol and Ted wanted to play roulette but Jen and I just made our obligatory fifty dollar donation to the slots and then headed to our cabin for what I hoped would be some hot ocean going sex.

As we 'wall-banged' our way down to our room I overheard a cabin steward explaining to a passenger that the unusually rough seas were due to a topical storm that had preceded us by a day.

By the time Jen had changed into her sexy new negligee I was already lying naked on the bed. ' 'as visions of sugar plums danced in my head', well maybe not sugar plums. I could see by her expression and her pallor that Jen was not firing on all eight cylinders She tried her best to ignore her growing discomfort and get into the mood but I could tell by her bodies reaction, or rather lack thereof, that as far as getting laid, tonight would be a bust.

The next day was a day at sea and in the morning the ship was still rolling but not as bad as the previous evening. Jen begged off breakfast and stayed in bed when I went to meet Ted and Carol. After eating and discussing some plans for our next day's arrival in San Juan I went back to the cabin to find Jen still in bed but now wearing panties and a football jersey. She hadn't vomited but was still too nauseous to join us for a buffet lunch. I felt terrible for her. She had been so excited for so many weeks and now she's too ill to enjoy it. I was able to procure some medicine that I was told would help ease the nausea.

The medicine worked to some degree and that night Jen was able to join us for a light meal. When we awoke the next morning the ship had silently slipped into it's dock on Puerto Rico. Both Carol and Ted had been here before. Carol on a "drunk and debauched' spring break, as she described it.

P.R. has a couple of pharmaceutical production facilities on the island and Ted had combined business with pleasure and took some vacation while he was here. So Carol had scheduled a day at the spa and Ted was just going to "lounge around the pool and suck up some sun and some daiquiris,". My wife and I had paid for a guided tour into the Old City but Jen still didn't feel up to it but insisted that I go when I volunteered to keep her company. She was feeling better but just wanted to rest for the day so that she'd be one hundred percent for the remainder of the cruise.

################

The tour of the city was fun and informative and I sort of hooked up with three people from my home state. Bill Morrisey and his wife Beth and Beth's sister Fran, who was a widow. Fran was at least ten years older than me but was one of those women who aged with grace. She didn't color the grey in her hair and despite using very little makeup she had a beautiful face. Beth was probably a few pounds overweight but still had large firm breasts and shapely legs protruding from her shorts. I didn't ask how old her husband had been when he passed or what had caused his demise but she did volunteer that she had been a widow for two years and was just now starting to 'live life again'. That last statement was made in a overtly flirtatious manner.

Beth was fun, had a quick wit and bubbly personality. We sat together on the bus and walked together when touring on foot. She remained teasingly flirtatious throughout the day but knew that I was married and was probably just practicing her seduction skills in a safe environment. I had no doubt that she would have no trouble attracting a new mate, if she so desired.

It had been hot and humid most of the day and I was looking forward to a shower and a change of clothes as I re-boarded the ship. Since it was only three thirty in the afternoon I expected that Jen would be out and about. As I approached the cabin I saw the steward had his cart in the corridor who was about to enter my room. I explained to him that I just returned from a shore excursion and needed to freshen up. He was oriental but his English was pretty good and he explained that "the lady" had just recently left and asked that he make up the cabin. He put a door hanger on the handle and asked me to remove it when I left and he would attend to the room. Before selecting a change of clothes and jumping in the shower I laid down on the bed to rest for a few minutes since my feet and legs were tired from so much walking during the tour.

The first thing I noticed as my head hit the pillow was the fragrance. It was Ted's cologne. I pulled the pillow from under my head and pulled it to my face further confirming my suspicion. I laid there for a minute trying to think of why Ted's cologne would be on my pillow. I pulled the other pillow over my face and sniffing deeply smelled soap and shampoo. I was sure there was an innocent explanation but despite my trust in my wife's fidelity it still bothered my that he had been lying on my bed even if Carol had been with him. There are certain things I consider inappropriate and lying on someone else's unmade bed is one of them.

"What if Carol hadn't been with him", I thought. "Why would he be in my cabin, presumably with my wife."

I had been lying on top of the coverlet and top sheet which had apparently been pulled up over the bottom sheet but I was now sitting on the edge of the bed, a suspicious paranoia beginning to surface.

Standing, I pulled the top covers down to expose the bottom sheet and there towards the middle of the bed was something that scared the shit our of me. It was a wet spot about the size of a coffee can. My hyper-sensitive nose didn't have to get very close to confirm that it was the smell of sex and lightly touching it confirmed my worst fear.

After finally calming my heart rate and trying to force the ridiculous image of Jennifer having sex with Ted in our bed I concluded that for some reason Carol and Ted had either used our room while theirs was being attended to or, -------"or what?" I couldn't think of another reasonable scenario but I knew there must be.

The only way to find out was to ask but before wandering around a ship with over two thousand passengers I needed to take a shower and change clothes. I figured Jen would be back soon to change into her dinner clothes, anyhow since we had planned to meet Carol and Ted in the lounge for, pre dinner, cocktails.

I had dried off and was changing into my dinner clothes when I was startled to see Jen sitting on the balcony her small frame mostly obscured by the chair. The ship had long since departed and the skyline of San Juan was fading into the horizon. Jen either didn't hear me, even though the balcony door was open, or she was mesmerized by the diminishing backdrop because she didn't turn her head when I stepped out and sat in the other chair.

The expression on her face and the slouch of her posture did not bode well for the conversation to come.

I sat there looking at the side of her head with a renewed dread coursing through my brain. Questions were swirling through my mind but a comprehensive sentence had not yet emerged from my lips. Before I could speak she turned her face toward me and the tears in her eyes were eclipsed by the pain etched on her face.

"I'm so sorry, Tom. I'm so sorry, she repeated in a whisper as she rose from her chair and stepped back inside. The covers were still pulled down and the vile evidence of her infidelity glared up at me, mocking my long years of marriage.

"Sorry! Sorry, doesn't cut it, Jen. I yelled. Sorry what? Sorry you fucked him? Sorry I wasn't enough man for you. Sorry that you couldn't get the seamen soaked sheets changed in time?

"Did you at least wait till I got off the ship before he slipped his cock in between your legs or into your mouth or wherever you started your betrayal".

I was no longer yelling but the tenor of my voice and the accompanying sarcasm could not be misinterpreted for anything other than what it was, rage.

Jennifer's arms were hanging between her legs and her torso was bent forward as she softly sobbed at my tirade. A tirade that was designed to inflict maximum pain and which had apparently found its mark.