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.
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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.
