This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination
. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All characters are over the age of 18.
Hello again. This story is another young man/ older woman romance story, á la the Love Boat. For the lovers of big beautiful women like me, this one's for you. I hope you enjoy it.
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Ray stepped into the cruise terminal, feeling on top of the world. The feeling seemed to be shared by everyone in the terminal. What could be more exciting than a Caribbean vacation, right? If everything went to plan, this trip would culminate in a memory that he would treasure for the rest of his life.
The young man stopped near the entrance to the check-in line and looked around. "Missy should already be here. She's always super early for this sort of thing." He thought. The five times they'd flown together, she would be at the airport three hours early. He didn't see her.
"Ray!"
He turned and saw Dina coming towards him through the crowd. Dina, Missy's best friend, and her boyfriend Lars were coming as well. They'd all been looking forward to it. But Dina wasn't dressed for a cruise, Ray noted. He frowned when he saw that she didn't have a bag with her either. Ray knew, that the plan was already knocked into a cocked hat.
Dina walked up to Ray but didn't look up at him.
"What the heck is going on?"
"I, ah ... she's not ... coming." Dina held up a pale blue envelope.
His shoulders fell. "She's breaking up with me? Now?" Ray sighed. They'd been dating for almost three years. "At least she didn't do it with a text," Ray's voice dripped with bitterness. Dina flinched like she'd been poked.
Finally, Dina gathered the nerve and looked up at him. Ray was a good-looking guy, trim, twenty-eight years old, educated, and well-employed. He kept himself well-groomed with dark hair and eyes. "I think she figured out your plan for this trip and freaked. I'm so sorry, Ray. She's such a stupid bitch." Dina reached out and grabbed Ray's forearm. "Lars sends his best."
Ray nodded. Dina kissed him softly on the cheek and walked out of the terminal.
He pocketed the envelope. "Well, old pal, looks like you are oh for two," he whispered to no one in particular. Ray picked up his backpack, slung it over the handle of his wheeled duffel bag, and proceeded to the check-in counter.
The pretty blonde ticket agent smiled sweetly at him as she handled his passport. "Is the rest of your party here?"
Ray didn't return the smile. "There is no party. Just me."
The agent's face fell. "Well let me look at ... oh." The agent saw the nature of the reservation and knew there was nothing further to be done. The agent handed him his boarding pass and itinerary. "I'm sorry."
Ray smiled wanly, "Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus."
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At 3 p.m. Ray boarded the Atlantic Star, the flagship of Pinnacle Cruise Lines. She was over a thousand feet long and had twenty decks. A bright blue and gold banner hung over the gangway. PINNACLE CRUISE LINES WELCOMES THE DAVIDSON HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1997!
He kind of perked up seeing that. Maybe there could be a silver lining in this rain cloud. A twenty-five-year reunion meant there could be some unsupervised soccer moms, running about. "That could be interesting for a newly unattached fella." Ray thought.
Ray hung about on deck, like a lot of the passengers, to enjoy the moment the ship pulled away from the pier. It was a gorgeous day in Port Canaveral. He pulled the envelope from his pocket and opened it. A folded letter was inside.
Ray's eyes rolled, and he made a frustrated sound when he finished reading it. If you can imagine the archetypical breakup letter, this was it.
Ray,
I'm so sorry but ... blah blah blah, you're such a great guy, blah blah blah, I'm just not in the same place, blah blah blah, I know you'll find someone great someday, blah blah blah, we can still be friends, blah blah blah. Missy
That "we can still be friends" part stung the worst. It always had. Ray refolded the note, jammed it, and the envelope back into the pocket of his jeans for later disposal.
"Why the fuck do I always seem to be the
interim
boyfriend? The one who's good enough to be with, but not good enough to keep forever? Almost three years and this again." Ray fumed. Tears of frustration welled up but he wiped them away angrily.
Ray stood on the rail with the other passengers as the Atlantic Star got underway, sounding two long blasts on the ship's horn as the last mooring line was brought aboard. There was lots of cheering from everyone, folks waving to loved ones on the pier. He wished he could echo the sentiment.
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The stateroom was spacious. It had a central living area, with a balcony, and two bedrooms with their own baths. He'd reserved a family suite for the four of them, plenty of room. Now it was going to be a sad reminder for five fun-filled days. Ray unpacked and decided to wander the ship for a while, as the ship left Port Canaveral. Eventually, he ended up in one of the themed dining areas for a bite to eat.
On his way back to his stateroom, Ray passed the ship's comedy theater and noticed it was letting folks in for an evening show. Realizing it was nearly impossible to be miserable in a comedy show unless Pauly Shore was the headliner, he altered course and filed in with the rest. The first smile of the voyage finally made its way to his face.
Ninety minutes of comedy and two drinks later, Ray felt a lot better. Laughter and good beer just seem to have that effect on him as a whole.
Taking a roundabout route, Ray got to his deck having made a mental list of all the shit about Missy, he was better off without. The list was far longer than he'd have thought. Ray decided that such a list should be done sooner in any future relationships. "Because I'll be damned if I'll be a three-time loser." He thought glumly.
The guide maps on the bulkheads were terrific and he navigated toward his passageway without difficulty. Ray heard before he saw the couple arguing around the corner.
"So, you brought me on your reunion cruise, just to hook up with your old high school fuck-slut on the very first night, huh?" A highly agitated female voice yelled.
"Uh oh," Ray thought as he turned the corner. Three doors down on the right, a tall couple stood. Ray was five foot, eight inches, and had never been overly concerned with his height. He was taller than ninety-five percent of the world's female population and that had suited him just fine. The man was six feet, two or better, with a beer gut hanging over the edge of the towel around his waist. The woman, however, was an absolute attention grabber.
"Now that is a whole lot of gorgeous," Ray thought admiringly. The blonde woman was at least six feet tall in her flat sandals. Dressed in a form-hugging sun dress, the woman had a Rubenesque frame, busty and hippy with an hourglass figure. He caught his breath and with difficulty, diverted his eyes from the pair.
The man in the towel replied with a snicker. "Hey, it's not my fault you came back early. Stacy here was just leaving."
The woman pushed her way past the toweled man, into the stateroom. "Fuck you and fuck Stacy too, I'm out of here."
Any further conversation was muted as the door closed. Ray passed on by, letting himself into his room, two doors down on the left. He sat down on the sofa and turned on the ship's television system. The entertainment options were mostly movies like you'd find on a long transatlantic flight and Ray wasn't interested in any of it. Flipping to the ship's live attractions, Ray spotted something that had grabbed his attention when he was booking the trip. The Atlantic Star had a jazz club called the Blue Note. Inspired by an old Paris jazz club, it went along with the ship's themed areas, showcasing different countries, their art, entertainment, and cuisine. At the Blue Note, there was live music every night the ship wasn't in a port.
It was nearly nine p.m. "Yeah. That's gonna make my night." Ray knew that if he was going to enjoy this trip at all, keeping busy was the way to do it.
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Ray changed his shirt to something more appropriate for an evening and headed out. As he got near the elevators, he heard raised voices again.
"Ma'am, I'm very sorry for your circumstance but there's nothing I can do, the ship is full to capacity. It is peak season. There are no open rooms."
Ray turned the corner to find the stunning blonde woman from earlier towering over a Pinnacle crew member in his white uniform. She was clearly upset, standing there with her two bags.
"But where am I going to sleep?" She said with a worried expression.
The clerk gave her a sympathetic look. "Ma'am you would not be the first, nor the last, to live out of a gym locker and sleep on a chaise lounge at one of the pools. There are blankets available if needed. This happens at least once a trip in my experience. Cruises seem to bring out the best in some people and the worst in others."
Ray had walked past them and was already in the moving elevator when a thought occurred to him. When the elevator got to his chosen deck, he punched the button to go back up to his own. When the elevator doors opened, he saw that the blonde had moved to sit down in a corner chair, her face in her hands. The ship's clerk was gone. Ray approached the woman.
Before he'd gotten too close, she sat up and looked at him, clearly annoyed at being disturbed. "I assure you fella, I'm not looking for any company right now." She said with a frown.
Ray looked at his hands. "I'm sorry to disturb you but I think I can help."
Clearly thinking he was an asshole looking for a score, she laughed brutally. "I rather doubt that."
Ray looked up and met her eyes. They were ice blue. "Just hear me out. My companions decided at the last minute they couldn't make it for this cruise. So, I'm stuck with a two-bedroom stateroom, all by myself. So, I'm happy to offer you one. No strings, no expectations, and no charge."
The woman stared at Ray dubiously, not saying a word.
Shrugging, Ray held out his extra door card. "I'm going down to the Blue Note for drinks and some jazz. Why don't you check out the room, verify there's nothing nefarious going on, and maybe I'll see you later."
