Choices had to be made before the cruise ended
This is just a bit of light work. No BtBs and no descriptive sex scenes, so if you are looking for that, then you might want to skip this one.
I'd like to thank sbrooks103x for reading and editing this work. His comments during the editing of this story made it better as well as the many, many grammatical corrections. Thank you. Any remaining errors are my own.
The itinerary on the website advertised that it would be a wonderful cruise; romantic, relaxing, divine food, interesting stops and amazing beaches along the way. Monica Blake had hoped it would rekindle their love and settle John's concern that she loved her work more than him. John had hoped she could and would prioritize their marriage for this short vacation which they so desperately needed.
Nine days on a luxury cruise ship in the western Caribbean, visiting Mexico, Belize and Honduras. John paid to upgrade the cabin to a large suite, at least large by cruise ship standards. The suite had two separate rooms: a nice bedroom and also a nice sitting room with a large flat-screen TV in each. It was very much like a nice hotel room, which on a cruise ship is rare, indeed. It even had a balcony large enough for a small table, two chairs and two chaise lounge chairs. The ship was amazing, as were the destinations. They were both eagerly anticipating the trip.
At just thirty years old, Monica had rocketed up the corporate ladder. She was in investment banking and was now helping companies bring their bonds to market. Her manager, Linda, worked Monica, and others, hard, but as Linda was promoted, Monica would get promoted into Linda's vacated position. That had worked well for the tandem, with three promotions in the last four years each, but more hours at work meant fewer hours with her husband. Seventy-hour weeks for Monica were no longer uncommon.
While Monica and John lived and worked in San Antonio, Texas, John worked in data science for a large consulting firm based in Austin, where he was raised and went to college. His firm didn't really care where he lived, as long as he had internet access and could travel several days each month.
The past several months had seen him increase his travel to several days each week, occasionally not returning home until Saturday. When Monica complained, John's response was, "Why should I try to rush home if you aren't going to be here? Are you suggesting that I should hang around on the off chance that you 'might' be available?"
"But how can we spend time together if you aren't here?" she replied.
John's response was, "I don't want to get into a fight, because we've had this discussion many times before. When you can answer that question yourself, then come ask me again."
That conversation was a couple of months ago before John left for a work trip, which would keep him out of town for a full week.
John felt like this upcoming vacation was their last chance to save what they had. His complaining about her work had obviously fallen on deaf ears. Monica realized she needed the vacation as much as John did. She felt like she was losing her husband and hoped to re-establish some of their connection and intimacy that had been lost. Unfortunately, Linda wasn't helping Monica in her quest to keep her marriage together.
Two days prior to their vacation, Monica was dreading the upcoming conversation, but in her mind, it couldn't be avoided. She told him, "John, I need to take my laptop with me, just in case. I hope I don't need it, but they may need me to look at a few things while we're at sea. If they do need me, having my laptop should get me finished quicker than when I only had my phone last time." She prayed he wouldn't blow up over this.
On their last get-away vacation, to St. Maarten, Linda had called her over some crisis, and she spent several hours for a couple of days on her phone. John was seething and Monica felt terrible, but she didn't confront Linda. She simply did her best to try to make it up to her justifiably upset husband.
With this new revelation concerning her laptop, John had to bite his tongue. The whole point of this trip was for them to spend time away from work because for the last three years, all Monica did was work. She was rarely home before seven on weeknights and many nights and some weekends it was even later. Hence his reason for traveling more for work.
With both of them approaching thirty, John had been trying to bring up their having children, but Monica, who had been for it, had been putting him off the last few years. They were always supposed to start after the next promotion, but after each of the last three, she kept working even harder.
He said, "I thought we agreed to focus on us this trip and take a break from work. What happened to that?"
"We are going to be gone nine days, and you know that I have that huge client meeting as soon as we get back. I can't be disconnected from the firm for that long."
John fumed, "Do they know or care how much they are hurting our marriage? Do you?"
Monica snapped back, "Comments like that hurt our marriage even more."
"This vacation was supposed to be for us."
She replied, "It is for us, or I wouldn't be going."
John simply shook his head. He had hoped the cruise would give them a chance to close the gap that was growing wider and wider between them. He had already had serious doubts, but now? It was time for him to take some precautionary action. He decided not to say anymore. He didn't want to get into an argument that could spill over into their vacation. They needed this vacation to turn out well.
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On the first day of the vacation, the early flight to Miami was uneventful and put them there in plenty of time to get on their ship and settle in before it departed. They had their clothes hung and dressed for dinner and some dancing.
They were assigned seats with an older couple from Dallas, Mark and Jessie Sutton, who had brought their recently divorced daughter Andrea with them to try and cheer her up. Monica and John had an enjoyable dinner speaking with all of them. Andrea, who was several years older than Monica and John, struck up a good conversation with Monica about many things, including overbearing bosses. John wisely did not join that conversation, otherwise, he would likely have started an argument.
Later, while Monica and John were dancing, Monica saw Andrea dancing with her dad. Without asking, Monica eased her and John, over towards the other couple and then said, "John, would you mind dancing a few dances with Andrea. I think it would be nice for her to dance with someone besides her father."
It wasn't really what John wanted, because quality time spent with his wife was a rarity recently. He wanted to monopolize all of his wife's time, but he didn't think a few dances could hurt.
Andrea seemed to enjoy herself, and they danced comfortably together. After the fourth song, John saw Monica sitting and talking to Andrea's parents and they decided to sit for a few minutes also.
Monica was smiling as he returned to the table. As he approached, she smiled at the Sutton's, thanked them for a nice evening, and took John's arm to escort him outside. They walked the decks until late, and when they returned to their cabin, they made love, quietly, into the wee hours of the morning, on their truly private balcony.
Before curling up together in their bed Monica told her husband, "Thank you, John. This was just what I needed."
