How I Became a Cheerleader Ch. 09

I stood in the door in shock, staring at Trent and he looked back at me just as stunned.

"What are you...?"

The bedroom door opened and a man in a white uniform came out.

"Oh good, you have arrived." He said looking back and forth between Trent and me. "My name is Paul and I am your concierge. I am at the disposal of you and your wife during your voyage. Your luggage has been delivered and I have taken the liberty of unpacking. Mr. McKabe, your clothing is in the right hand side of the bureau and Ms. Holcombe, yours is in the left. Your toiletries are sorted in the bathroom; your formal wear is hanging in the closet. There is a pillow menu on each night stand. The champagne is chilling and I can open it as soon as the Captain clears us from the lifeboat drill. It starts in about 5 minutes so I suggest that you get your lifejackets on, they are in the closet on the top shelf. I will be back in a few minutes when the lifeboat drill starts. Excuse me." He stepped out and closed the door softly behind himself.

I stood still, staring at Trent, I barely heard what the guy said as he was leaving, but I caught wife.

"What is going on?" I asked softly.

"What are you doing here?" Trent demanded.

"This is my cabin."

"No, this is my cabin." He replied heatedly. "Mom and Dad are across the hall."

"So are Mom and Susan." I said the light dawning. "We have been set up."

"No, you have. I am not having you in my cabin. Get out." He turned his back to me and looked out the window.

I turned and left the room. I stormed across the hall and pounded on Mom's door.

"Yes, oh Janie, come in dear." It was Heather McKabe. "Your mom is changing and will be out in a moment. Shouldn't you be getting ready for the lifeboat drill? We can't undock until it is complete."

I went right past her without a word and into the bedroom.

"Mom, why is Trent in my cabin? I demanded.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, you and he are using the tickets you got for Christmas. Heather and Jason could not get their money back, so we talked about it and decided that you two should still go on the cruise rather than waste the money. We decided that we would join you to help keep the peace."

"I can't sleep in the same cabin with him." I shouted. "We broke up and he hates me."

"There is a pull out bed in the living room. You can sleep there." Mom said opening the bedroom door and stepping out into the other room where Heather was waiting.

"Oh Karen I forgot to tell you." Heather said, hearing Mom's comment. "We got a message as we boarded, they had to remove them from these cabins, some problem with the mattresses."

"You mean I have to sleep with him." I screamed. "Isn't there another cabin I could use?"

"Janie, the ship is fully booked for March break." Mom said. "Plus that would be far too expensive. You will have to make do with the cabin you have."

"But they think we are married."

"Oh, that was our fault." Heather said. "When we booked the cruise, our travel agent booked you as a married couple for a better rate. By the time we found out, it was too late to change the tickets. Now I will go and speak to Trent, Janie come with me."

"But...but." I sputtered. Mom pushed me out of the door and across the cabin. Heather already had the door open as was talking to Trent. She gave him the same story she gave me, and put him in his place.

"I will sleep in your cabin." Trent finally said.

"No, there is no place for you." Heather said. "Plus the manifest states that you are a couple. The concierge would be very curious should you not be sleeping together. Questions would be asked. Now get your lifejackets on, that was the horn meaning lifeboat drill."

Sure enough, the loud horn was followed by the Captain's voice over the p.a. system. We were told to get our lifejackets and proceed to our muster stations. Ours was on the resort deck, right by the elevator. From there we were moved down to the Entertainment deck and stationed by our lifeboat. Once there we waited for about fifteen minutes while the ship was checked and a headcount done. Once the captain and the port authorities and the coast guard and the President for all I know, were satisfied, we were dismissed and told to go back to our cabins, put away our lifejackets and proceed to the upper decks for the cast off party. Trent ignored me the entire time.

We dropped off our jackets and I went into the bedroom to change. Trent grabbed his shorts, shirt and shoes, dressed in the living room and was out the door before I could blink. I was still hurt he was treating me this way, but I would have an entire week to work on him. He would have to speak to me sooner or later. I decided to look around the suite before heading out. I changed into my swimsuit, a black string bikini, and high heel sandals, put on a beach-wrap and started to wander.

The room was much larger than I thought possible. There was a dining room table beside the living room area. The living room had a full sofa and a love seat. There was a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall between the bedroom and living room, with a mini-bar beneath it and a menu for room service on top. There was a queen size bed in a separate bedroom, a powder room right behind the main door, a full bathroom off the bedroom. The bathroom had a full tub and shower stall. I wandered out on to the veranda thru the sliding glass doors; there was a whirlpool out there with two lounge chairs for tanning. We were on the left side of the ship, whatever nautical term that is, and I could see the beach from the veranda. I never had to leave the suite if I didn't want to. I had everything here.

I made my way up to the resort deck and wandered around. The party was in full swing and I could feel the ship starting to move. I looked out the window and saw the party on the beach; everyone was waving at the ship. I went up one more deck and leaned on the railing, not that they could see me, but I waved back. As much as I was enjoying the idea of the cruise, at that moment, I would have given almost anything to be on the beach partying and waving goodbye to Trent and everyone else. A hand brushed my back and I turned to see Jason standing behind me.

"Hello beautiful, fool around on the first date?" He asked me smiling.

"Hey handsome, only if the guy is as cute as you are," I replied.

"How are you doing Janie?"

"Terrible Jason, how are you?"

"I will be better once that dumb son of mine gets his act together and realizes that you are the best person he could possibly hope to ever meet."

"It is not his fault, it's mine. I'm the one who lied to him."

"Yes, but you had a good reason, and he does not need to hold onto a grudge until it dies of old age," Jason said sternly. "He gets that trait from his mother I am afraid. I am much more easy going."

"Yeah, sure," I said. "I have seen all the articles in the press about your sweet gentle forgiving nature."

He actually blushed. "You can't believe everything you read." He said lamely.

"Jason, I know you could not have built such a strong successful company by being a pushover."

"See, I knew that you were brilliant as well as beautiful. You want a job?"

I laughed at him. "I think I need to finish school before I start work."

"I meant for the summer." He said laughing with me. He turned and started to walk, I followed him. "Some real live business experience would look good on your resume when you graduate. Plus I like having people around me who aren't afraid to tell the truth and face the consequences."

"I will let you know." I told him and let the matter drop. Jason steered me over to the bar. He ordered a scotch and I had a soda.

"You can drink you know." He told me. "On board ship the drinking age is eighteen."

"I know, but I don't drink much. Not enough body to hold it and I think getting tanked and puking on the deck the first ten minutes of the cruise would not be a good idea."

"Good thinking." He smiled at me.

"Are you trying to pick up my husband you little hussy." Heather approached with a big smile on her face and an even bigger drink.

"Actually," I responded, "he is trying to hire me for his business." I slipped off my stool and hugged her. "Thanks again for the trip and I'm sorry for how I acted earlier."

"Don't worry about it sweetie. I understand. If Trent had spoken to me like that I would have tanned his hide. Now, come and get some sun." She dragged me away from the bar but before we could sit down on the lounge chairs, Mom and Susan came up and pulled me into the crowd of dancing people. The rest of the day was spent dancing and partying with the rest of the passengers. Heather taught me the secret of avoiding sea sickness; keep something solid in your stomach. Anytime I stated to feel a little queasy, rather than take a pill, or fool with wrist bands, I went to the buffet and had a small slice of bread, a small roll, some fruit or a slice of pizza, anything that was solid to give my stomach something to work on. At around six I excused myself and headed back to our cabin.

I went in and found an open bottle of white wine chilling in an ice bucket with a note beside it and a plate of hors d'oeuvres. The note was addressed to Trent from Paul:

Mr. McKabe:

We are unable to accommodate your request to separate the bed into twins. That is not possible in these suites. Also, your information is correct about the sleeper sofa, it has been temporarily replaced due to a problem with the mattresses. Please accept this bottle of wine as a token of our regrets.

Paul.

I was furious. He had tried to have the bed separated without even talking to me. Granted I did not want to sleep with him at that time anyway, but he could have at least discussed it with me first. I checked the rest of the suite to make sure that I was alone and quickly stripped off my clothes. I removed my vagina and poured myself a half glass of wine. I topped it off with club soda from the mini bar and walked naked out to the veranda and climbed into the whirlpool.

I soaked and watched the ocean glide past the ship, leaving the tub only to refill my glass. I took it easy on the wine, dinking mostly the soda, but I did kill the hors d'oeuvres It felt so good to be free for a change. This was the first time I had been out of my vagina for any length of time. I preferred it on to help with the hang of my clothes, but it felt good to let my clit go free. I lost track of time when I heard the door open and footsteps in the cabin.

"Who's there?" I called out, suddenly feeling afraid that Paul was in the suite.

"Me," Trent grunted, "your roommate."

Fine, if that is how he wanted to play it.

"Well roomie, Paul left you a note, they can't separate the bed, and the sleeper sofa was removed. He did leave a nice bottle of wine to say sorry."

Trent stepped out on to the balcony, and tossed my clothes and vagina at me. "Put these on."

"Excuse me?"

"Put that fake pussy on and get dressed. I don't want to see you naked or without that on. At least appear to be a female if you can."

Now I was really mad.

"Oh really," I said standing up. "Just who the hell do you think you are ordering me about? You don't think I look enough like a woman? You did not seem to mind at the movies, or the dances, or all the times I sucked your cock, or you fucked my ass." I was standing in the whirlpool naked as ever and I noticed that his eyes still drifted down my body. He glanced at my clit and then stared at it. "Like it?"

"You disgust me." He said turning to leave.

"I disgust you," I snarled, "at least I am not afraid to admit what I am." He actually paused at that comment and then left the veranda. I heard the front door to our cabin slam and sat down to cry again. I had had the perfect opportunity to fix things between us and I had let it get away. I don't know how long I sat there sobbing but when I looked up Susan was sitting in one of the lounge chairs.

"Feel better?" She asked softly.

"No."

"Well you should."

"Why?"

"I was there when Trent told his parents about your little fight, and if what he said is true then you should be proud for standing up to him. Now clean up. Dinner is in thirty minutes and I'll be damned if he keeps you away from that because he is being a jerk."

Susan pulled me out of the tub and led me into the bathroom. She just pushed me into the shower and left me there. I stood still for a bit, thinking, and then it came to me. I was wasting my time. I was on a beautiful cruise ship on a wonderful vacation. If Trent didn't want me, then I didn't want him, for the rest of the cruise it was just as he said, we were roommates. I gave myself a complete cleaning, inside and out and then stepped out into the bedroom. Susan had laid out my clothes for dinner. Our first night was semi-formal; the two formal nights were the only two days were fully at sea with no port calls. The dress was an above the knee length, cross back knit tank dress with a v neck and cross back straps in royal blue. For underwear she left me a baby rib thong in blue. My shoes were strappy sandal in black with a 4 inch stiletto heel. Obviously Susan was trying to make a statement.

We had the late seating for dinner, eight o'clock. I made my way down to the main dining room. The rest of families were waiting by the closed door. They were still cleaning up from the first seating. Trent was in a nice suit as was Jason. Heather wore a Viscose long scoop black dress with a deep V back and happy bow peep toe sling four inch heels. Mom was in a thigh length knit pencil dress in light pink and matching two inch heels. Susan wore a striped cotton spandex jersey scoop back mini dress. The five inch black kutie knot platform pumps completed her outfit.

The doors were still closed as the dinning room staff cleared up from the early sitting. We milled around and talked, Jason made sure that I was included in the conversation, Trent stayed on the other side of the corridor, shooting me dirty looks. The doors opened after about five minutes and the staff started seating the large crowd.

Our table sat ten people and we took one side and both ends. Jason sat at the head, Heather on his right, then Mom, me, Susan and then Trent at the foot, he refused to be seated next to me. We sat and talked quietly for a while until a family of four was led over to the table. The father introduced himself and the rest of the family.

"Hello everyone, I'm Kevin Bailey, this is my wife Jennifer, and our twins, Adam and Anna." Kevin was a tall man, blonde haired and blue eyed, as was his wife and both children. Jennifer was about forty or forty five, about five foot six and well proportioned. Anna was a younger looking version of her mother, the same heart shaped face, same height and the same dimples in her smile. Adam was about six foot two, broad and looked to be in excellent condition. One could see the family resemblance between them.

Kevin seated Jennifer and then took the seat next to Jason. Adam sat Anna across from Susan and beside Trent and then took the seat directly across from me. He reached over and took my hand and introduced himself to me personally.

"Hi, I'm Adam Bailey, very pleased to meet you."

"I'm Janie Holcomb. The pleasure is all mine. This is my sister Susan, and my mother Karen." I replied indicating my family. Adam nodded politely at each of them and then looked back at me.

"This is quite a ship. Have you had a chance to take a look around yet?"

"No, we spent most of the day on the resort deck with the departure party. Have you seen the ship?"

"Yes, I wandered around a little right after we cast off. I would love to show you around after dinner."

I was about to say no when I felt a kick under the table, two actually, one on each side of me. I got the hint.

"I would love to." I smiled at him.

"Perfect," Adam replied. "Have you had a chance to look over the menu yet?"

"No, we just sat down." I picked up the menu and hid behind it trying to regain my composure. For some reason, Adam made me feel a little light headed. I read over the board of fare and decided on a light salad and small piece of fish, from the looks of the menu on board, this cruise was going to go straight to my hips.

Dinner was wonderful. The grown-ups sat at their end of the table and talked business and world events, us kids talked schools and movies. Trent only had eyes for Anna and ignored everyone else. Anna just lapped it up. Adam, when he noticed that Susan was effectively being shut out of the conversation immediately turned to her and brought her into our discussion. The looks he shot Trent went completely unnoticed, but every time Anna tried to talk to Susan, Trent would pull her attention back to himself.

After dinner, Adam stood and offered me his hand. I stood and looked questioningly at Susan and when Adam offered his other hand to her, she politely declined. Saying that she had already made plans to meet a guy she had met earlier, Susan excused herself and headed directly to Promenade deck to the night club. Adam and I left, me holding his left arm, ever the gentleman, at the door I looked back and saw Trent glaring at me, I blew him a kiss. Adam led me around the ship, pointing out different areas, clubs, the theatre, casino, bars, restaurants, shops and salons. I realized that I could spend the rest of my life on this ship and never have to leave. It held anything anyone could ever want or need. He showed me the safety features, extra life rafts, safety doors, smoke detectors, everything to make me feel more secure. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I felt perfectly safe already, he seemed so happy to show me how safe and modern the ship was.

We ended up in the small club on the Entertainment deck called Michael's. They played soft jazz and had a very intimate atmosphere. We talked about everything and nothing. I told him all about me and Trent, not a good move on the first date, but I wanted him to know what was going on. Adam assured me that he was not looking for a shipboard romance, he wanted to have some fun and laughs, but would not take it any further. I relaxed at this, but could not help feeling a little disappointed.

Finally the bar closed and they kicked us out. We wandered a little more about the ship, noting that almost everything was closed; I was shocked to see that it was two in the morning. Adam escorted me back to my cabin and stopped short at the door.

"We have to find you someplace else to stay tonight." He said darkly.

"What is it?"

"The tie on the door handle, standard sign that I guy does not want his roommate coming in. I would say that Trent has a girl in there and does not want to be interrupted."

I looked down and sure enough, Trent's tie hung on the door handle. I was instantly furious, not jealous, at least not much, but furious that he would do that and lock me out. I tried my key card but Trent had bolted the door from the inside and I couldn't get in.

"I think he is in there with Anna." Adam said sadly. "If he hurts her I'll..."

"He won't hurt her, he is not like that." I assured him.

"He hurt you." Adam said with finality. "Come on, you can sleep in my cabin. We have the two Penthouse suites next door." Adam led me down the corridor and across to another cabin, opened it with his card key and we stepped inside. It was huge, right down to the baby grand piano. Adam pointed me to the bedroom and pushed me in the small of my back.

"Go, you crash in the bedroom; I will sleep on the sofa."

"I can't do that, this is your room, plus I will fit on the sofa better than you."

"No, the lady gets the bedroom." Adam said firmly.

"Well, we could share the bed, if you promise to behave yourself." I said softly.

"No you can't, I am not sharing my bed with my brother," came a voice from the bedroom door. We both turned to see Anna standing in the doorway, dressed in a shorty nightie rubbing her eyes. "What are the two of you doing here?"