The Cruise

Melanie hesitated momentarily as she considered how much to reveal.

"My fiancé was killed in a car accident six months ago." She waited for the normal response people revert to when confronted with news of the demise of someone they never knew and whose death they had nothing to do with. "I'm so sorry.....blah blah.."

"If that's the shit you are sorting out, are you ok?" Karen's reply took her by surprise. She looked up to find Karen's emerald eyes staring at her intently.

They sat in silence for what seemed like minutes but was really a few seconds. It was long enough for each to realise something had just happened. Karen's question was asked with genuine concern. Melanie was taken aback by that concern from a woman she hadn't known this morning. She felt her eyes begin to water as she looked into Karen's unblinking orbs. Karen was also shocked by her own unexpected compassion for this stranger.

"I'm getting there." Said Melanie as she regained control of her emotions.

The moment was gone.

Karen suddenly realised that Melanie could not possibly be the Melissa she was here to meet. Wrong hair colour, too young, not married.....

"I'm guessing Mel is not short for Melissa?"

"Melanie actually. I was wondering when we would get to this! I was somewhat intrigued why an attractive middle aged married woman would be asking after 'Mel' in a quiet bar on a cruise ship in the middle of a sunny day."

Karen felt trapped. She felt the colour flood her neck and her cheeks. Could she run? Not likely now!

"What are you drinking? I think if I'm going to answer that question with even just a small modicum of truth, I'm going to need a drink."

"It's actually a Pinot Gris from The Clare Valley. How about we share a bottle?" With that Melanie signalled the barman who arrived seconds later.

"A bottle of this lovely drop for my friend and I, on my tab please."

"You don't have to buy me drinks." Karen offered.

"You can get the next one then!"

When the wine arrived, the waiter brought two fresh glasses and poured two moderate amounts and returned Melanie's cruise card.

"How much do you want to know?" Asked Karen, hoping for a reprieve.

"Only what you want to tell."

Karen took her glass in slightly shaky hands and sat back in the lounge chair facing Melanie. She took a deep breath and started her story.

"John, that's my husband, and I were sweethearts in senior high school. John played football and had a certain amount of talent but never entertained the notion of making a career of it. He loved working with his hands and was very talented at woodwork. This led him into a carpentry apprenticeship and he now runs a pretty good building business although he still only does renos. I help out on the business side and do his books for him.

After I finished school I got into uni and enrolled in a Marketing degree and followed it up with a Masters in Business which I did part time after we were married.

We have two children, one born during my masters studies and the second the year after I graduated."

"That's quite impressive. How young were you when you got married?"

"Twenty three........I'm not sure why I'm telling you all this."

Melanie allowed Karen some time. She took a drink, sat looking at the wine in the glass and in her mind, decided not to go into any more detail. Her mouth had other ideas.

"Our love life has always been good, still is. Quite early in our marriage, John started talking about lesbian sex during our lovemaking sessions, you know just pillowtalk. Just occasionally at first but more and more until for many years now it's every time."

Melanie interrupted, "And let me guess, you're making it with the lesbian."

Karen nodded.

"Classic lesbian by proxy." Melanie said with a smirk on her face. "So that's what today was, a set up?"

"I'm so sorry. "

"Don't be! I'm not at all offended, quite flattered actually."

"At first it was just pillow talk but then he started pointing out women, often butch looking, and asking what I thought. I told him I didn't really like the butch look. He took that to mean I prefer femme woman. So he started to point them out. I never let on but the more he pointed them out, the more I actually took notice.

One night he asked if I'd ever thought about going to a swingers club. That led to a bit of a fight until he explained it wasn't that he wanted to swing but it might be a place I could be more likely to meet a like minded woman."

"But were you looking for a like minded woman?"

"No!"

"It took about six months but he finally wore me down. I agreed to go but on the condition that at any point I wanted to leave, he would leave immediately."

"So how was it?"

"This particular club in the city hosts a newbies Friday night session for an hour before the club actually opens. We went along to one of those nights. We were shown around the club by a young lady in a classy dress and short practical heels. I was expecting less classy, more slutty. She gave us both white wristbands and explained they will tell everyone else in the club you are newbies tonight and they will treat you accordingly.

"There are three other bands." She told us. "Pink means you are looking for a woman, black for a man and a rainbow band if you are ok with both or either. You can change bands anytime you want at the bar!"

She explained what went on on each of the levels and then introduced us to two other couples also on their first night. She left us with drinks so we could chat and went off to prepare for opening.

That night I saw pretty much everything you can imagine two, or more, consenting people could do together. Neither of us did anything more than watch.

We didn't stay late but when we got home we went at it like horny rabbits. John started talking and I told him to shut up. That was the first of three visits over the next twelve months and after that we never went back. I told John I didn't want to keep going.

I also never told John that after we stopped, I had occasionally fantasised about a particular woman I watched on our last visit. She was reclining on her back being serviced orally by another woman but she was staring straight at me with unadulterated lust, and I was looking back. It really scared me and I asked John to take me home."

"That first realisation can be very upsetting."

"Well anyway, John was not to be put off. He is very persistent. Months later he confessed one night that he had found a discreet adult dating site.

That set off a repeating process where he would seek out a suitable match for me and tell me about it, we'd have a fight, I'd cave in and agree to meet the new woman. I've met only three!"

"Or four, if you count today."

"Well, yes." Karen took a mouthful of her wine and sat the glass back on the table.

"Quite the story, and quite the confession! So where does that leave you now?"

"I've never gone further with anyone I've met fyi! I'm nowhere near ready to change my orientation. I'm straight, not gay and not bi."

Just then a few patrons arrived in the, up until now, deserted bar.

"My goodness, look at the time." Said Karen. "We've been here for over two and a half hours. I probably should go find John and start getting ready for dinner."

"Yes me too, but not the John part."

Both girls laughed.

"It's been really nice talking with you Karen. It's going to be a long cruise and I'd like to get to know you more, and besides, you owe me a bottle of wine. I hope we can do this again?"

"Yes, that would be nice. I'm all out of confessions though, your turn next!"

"Whatever!" Said Melanie as the two exchanged a parting hug and a peck on the cheek.

....

Karen was surprised to find John still at the pool after checking the cabin and noticing he had not returned. What she also found however was that he had not applied any sunscreen and had fallen asleep on a deck chair. He was now sitting in a chair in the shade being attended to by a couple of crew members. He had a wet towel over his head and was drinking water.

One of the crew explained to Karen that he had several beers after lunch and had fallen asleep in the sun. A crew member from the afternoon shift had noticed him and woke him but he just went back to sleep. He moved one of the marquee umbrellas over to him to give him shade. Unfortunately most of the damage was already done. He seemed a bit disoriented. At first we thought it was the beers but then we called the medical team and they have just left. He's been told to stay out of the sun for two to three days and stay hydrated. He will almost certainly have some blisters and under no circumstances are they to be touched or burst. If they burst he is to seek attention from the medical crew on board. He should take paracetamol for the pain and cold showers as often as possible to keep the skin cool.

And absolutely no alcohol for 48 hours!

"Would you like some assistance to return to your cabin?"

"Yes please."

...

"It's 5:30. I'm guessing you are not going to be able to go up for dinner?" Karen asked.

"I think I'd be best just getting some room service, something light, and just lay here in the air con.

Fuck this is sore already!

What have I done?

Fucking stuffed the holiday, that's what! I'm so sorry honey." John was close to tears, not the least from the pain.

Karen decided to go up to the pizza bar and get John his favourite supreme pizza and take it back to the room.

When she returned, John asked how her meeting had gone.

"It was OK." She didn't have the heart to tell him right now about the no show from Melissa. That would come, probably tomorrow.

...

Melanie returned to her room in a much better mood than when she left earlier in the day. She had really enjoyed accidentally meeting and chatting with Karen and it had little to do with the topic. She just had an easy going feeling about her. She was intelligent and quite an attractive lady. She hoped they would meet again but now she realised she had no way of contacting her.

That night Melanie's sleep was not disturbed by the recurring nightmare that often plagued her. Every once in a while she would wake up in a profuse sweat and usually a muffled scream. Tonight she woke up wet and sweaty but this time it was from the memory of the evening she spent with Valentina.

The gentle motion of the ship and the warmth coming from her core brought her to slowly run her hands over her naked breasts, pausing to massage her hardening nipples, then down across her stomach to come to rest on the once trimmed expanse of pubic hair. She hadn't been in the mood to attend to the regular trimming of late and she could now feel the result. Slowly she pressed a little further and eased one finger in between her pussy lips, gathered a little of her juice and brought the finger up to rub slow and soft circles around her clitoris.

She sighed as she pressed her head back into the pillow and allowed her mind to conjure up the features of Valentina. But the image of her face started to blur and soon it was replaced with Karen's. It didn't take much time for her to roll into a low but rumbling orgasm. She almost immediately drifted back off to a deep and restful sleep.

When she woke in the morning she lay in contemplation of the thoughts that had come unbidden during the night.

That was her first orgasm since Nick had died. Indeed the first time she had any interest in stimulation of any kind

She was curious that Karen had been a part of her arousal. She wondered what that meant.

She needed to do something about her pubes.

...

John had a miserable night. The pain from the sunburn kept throbbing and the heat was unbearable. Twice he went out onto the balcony in just his undies to bathe in the cool night air. He would gently sponge water onto his burnt torso and the tops of his feet and ankles. As a tradie he was out in the sun all the time but wearing shorts, and polo shirts as well as his safety boots. When he lay down at the pool his lily white covered bits were exposed fully to the intense tropical sunshine.

Next morning his upper body was covered in small raised blisters. His feet were worse.

Unable to put anything on his feet, and knowing the ship did not allow bare feet anywhere on board where there was carpet, he realised, for a few days at least, he was pretty much confined to the cabin. If he were to go out, it would be in a wheelchair.

Karen had left the cabin early that morning to go to the onboard gym and run around the deck a few times.

"What do you want to do about breakfast?" She asked when she emerged from the shower.

"I guess I'll need to get something. Would you be able to get me something and bring it back here?" He asked, knowing his stupidity was coming home to roost.

Karen was perusing the breakfast buffet offerings wondering what might be suitable to carry back to the room for John. She was intent on having her own breakfast here in the buffet, not in the room. She decided on an omelette and placed her order.

"Well hello." She turned to find Melanie standing right beside her.

"Hi." Karen squeaked, her voice suddenly failing her.

"Are you having the omelette too? I'm about to order. Would you like to join me at my table?"

"Sure." Just then her meal was ready and as she collected it Melanie pointed out where she was sitting. Karen said "I need a coffee, can I get you one?"

"Sure. Skinny Cappuccino would be lovely, no sugar."

"Sweet enough?" Karen said and turned away.

As they ate their breakfast, Karen took the opportunity to ask.

"So yesterday I laid myself bare. I'm sure you must have a story!"

"What makes you say that?"

"Ok, so you said you lost your fiancé recently but here you are on a cruise doing .....?" She felt straight away that she had gone too far.

Melanie stopped for a moment and stared into Karen's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Karen said. "It's none of my busi..."

"No, you're fine. Only fair, I put you on the spot yesterday. Granted, I wasn't expecting the confession you made but it was most interesting!" She winked.

"Not really too much to tell. As I said yesterday I'm just here to sort my shit out. Anyway what happened when you told, ..."

"John, my husband is John"

"Right, told John about your meeting and is he around? I'd love to meet him!" She said with a laugh.

Karen then went through the sorry tale of her barbecued husband. By the end of the story both girls were almost rolling around in fits of laughter, drawing looks from many fellow passengers.

"I'm taking an omelette in a little cardboard box back to the cabin. I'll get him a coffee as well.

What are you doing today then? Karen asked.

Playing nursemaid?" Melanie was hoping to see more of her new found friend Karen. She hadn't had anyone in her life that she found so easy to talk to.

"Not f'ing likely! This cruise wasn't my idea but now I'm here I'm going to enjoy myself."

"I thought about going up to the pool after breakfast if you'd like to join me?" Melanie asked.

Karen liked the idea of an early morning swim and they agreed to meet as soon as she got John settled with his breakfast and she got ready.

When Karen arrived at the pool she stood for a while firstly looking for a spot with a couple of sun lounges and then searching to see if Karen had arrived first. Soon enough she saw a hand waving around and saw that Karen had indeed secured two spots in a great position right near the pool bar. This was the adults pool so all the noisy kids were not here splashing and causing mischief.

"Hey, great seats, how did you get these?"

"Haha, pulled some strings!" With a wink.

"Want to tell me what you do when you're not lounging around onboard a luxury ocean liner in the South Pacific?" Melanie was aware that their conversations could be overheard so wanted a suitable topic.

"I wasn't aware this was a luxury liner!" Karen paused for effect.

Melanie shrugged.

"I'm the senior marketing manager at a fair sized pharmaceutical company in Sydney. I was recruited out of the targeted graduate program at UTS when I was doing my undergraduate degree. I've been there ever since. They supported me to do my MBA and now I'm on their emerging leaders program."

"That sounds pretty special. I guess are good at your job, you must like it?"

"Yeah I have up until recently."

"Oh, what's changed?" Melanie sat up a little straighter as Karen went on.

"Not so much changed as just more of the same stupidity that shows no sign of changing any time soon. The marketing director is a dinosaur with prehistoric views on everything. His direction for the company and the products we own remains the same as it was in the 1970's. He's also a raging misogynistic pick!" Karen realised she was getting worked up again.

"Sorry, I get worked up when I think about how much better we could do if he was gone. I'm sure the shareholders would get a much better return if we just had a better approach to our marketing policies and practices."

"Can you kill him and dispose of the body?" Melanie had a look that Karen thought was serious, but then she laughed.

Karen laughed along and realised she needed to get off the "Malcolm" subject.

"Ok little miss mysterious, I've told you soooo much about me and I know fuck all about you! Spill!"

"Everything, or just the clean bits?" Melanie laughed as she enquired.

"Up to you I guess but we are in public." It was Karen's turn to wink.

"Just the clean bits then.

I'm the Regional HR Director for an Australian owned, international company that I won't tell you about. That's a bit confidential. Suffice to say we engage in various markets to maximise 'across the board' outcomes for stakeholders, be that employees, community, shareholders and sometimes government."

Karen was dumbfounded. She was quiet for a few seconds.

"You're quiet. Thoughts?" Melanie ventured.

"No nothing.... That must be pretty exciting at times."

Karen had not expected that the woman she had found to be so easy to talk to would be in such a professional position.

"How did you get into that?" She asked.

"Well, there were two major drivers I guess. My mother was a psychologist and she taught me the importance of understanding human behaviour. To question what was happening and to seek out why. Then when I went to university I had a tutor who was probably the most systemic thinker I have ever met. He challenged me in so many ways. Always pushing me to understand all the various drivers that cause people to behave the way they do. He introduced me to a colleague of his who was starting up his own business. I went to work for him before I finished my degree and I'm still there."

"So you like it!" Karen asked.

"Love it!"

"So why the sabbatical?"

"I fear that's a discussion for another time. Would you like a cocktail or a coffee?"

They agreed on a cocktail but decided they would not stay at the pool, and laughed about not getting sunburnt.

Melanie wasn't sure if this was the right thing at the moment but the words came out before her brain had a chance to intervene.

"Would you like to come up to my cabin, I can organise a cocktail and we can continue our discussions?"

"Are you sure? It's not much fun in mine at the moment. Can I bring something?"

"No. Let's go."

They both pulled on a cover wrap as they left the pool area.

Karen was wearing her new one piece cozzie and a cotton wrap around skirt that tied at the waist and a thin summer shawl that she pulled over her shoulders.

Melanie covered her strappy bikini with a full length sheer beach cover that wrapped around and tied at the back.

Together they walked out of the pool. There were not a small number of heads that turned as the two women left.

"What the serious fuck?" Was all that Karen could say when they stepped out of the elevator into Melanie's suite and stood motionless while she took in her surroundings.