DISCLAIMER:
This is my first time at writing a story like this and although some of what you read will be fiction, some of what happens in this story actually happened. Names have been changed.
*****
PROLOGUE
"Penny, it's time you started to get out on your own again and move on with your life."
The words were spoken by my best friend, Mandy. It had been a couple of years since Glenn, my husband of twenty-five years, had unexpectedly passed on and the wound had not yet healed. I missed him terribly every day and in the beginning the pain of the loss was disabling. I didn't leave my house for a month after the funeral. I felt that I couldn't face anyone. I would spend days in my dressing gown, either in bed or on the couch. Mandy was a trooper. If it hadn't have been for her, dropping by, spending time with me, sleeping over night in the spare room and feeding me, I may have just curled up and joined Glenn in the "Great Beyond".
I knew Mandy wasn't being malicious or insensitive with her words, she had a point.
She had accompanied me to certain work and family events where the invitation allowed me to bring a friend or relative. She gave me the moral support that I needed. Men had invited me out on dates, but they were only the types that I would see as friends. It was time for me to attempt life on my own.
"I've booked us on a cruise in the Mediterranean," she said. "No need to thank or repay me, it's my treat as it's also your sixtieth birthday."
I was speechless.
"I've also invited Linda and Irene."
Linda was her daughter, who even at the age of twenty-two, Mandy treated her as a princess and spoiled her rotten. Irene was another close friend and my former boss.
"We're going to have some have adventures," Mandy said, with a wink in her eye.
DAY 1.
We arrived at Rome airport and Mandy had organised a limousine to take us to the port, which was only a 40 minute drive.
The original plan was to spend the night in a hotel in Rome, but as the airline cancelled our flight and re-booked us on a later one, that plan went out the window.
After we had checked in our luggage at the port, we checked ourselves in and after signing all the necessary paperwork, we collected our stateroom keys and made our way to the ship.
Something I must tell you about Mandy is that technically she is still married to Linda's father, Jim. She moved out of the family home about a two months before she booked us on the cruise and moved in with a guy called Ben, who lived further down the street. According to her, Jim wasn't satisfying her needs. If you read between the lines, she wasn't getting as much sex as she wanted. Jim was a hard working man. He needed to be to keep up with both Mandy's and Linda's expensive tastes and demands. It was hardly surprising that when he came home from work, he didn't have the energy to give Mandy the attention she craved. But that didn't excuse her from what she did. But I suspected that while on this cruise, she had a hidden agenda.
Mandy was sharing with Linda and I with Irene, which was fine as Irene was a really easy going and a "no stress" type of woman.
Our stateroom came complete with a balcony and two single beds, which apparently could be moved together to make a large double bed, if required. Our bathroom was spacious and had a nice shower in it.
Mandy and Linda lived in a similar stateroom, one deck above us.
Our cabin phone rang and it was Mandy informing us that lunch was waiting in the buffet restaurant. So we agreed to meet there after unpacking.
Later that day, we wandered around the ship and ended up in the piano bar.
"Oooo!" exclaimed Mandy. "I wonder who the entertainer is."
Linda replied, "With any luck Mum, it'll be a woman."
Her words tinged a little irritation at her Mum's transparency.
Mandy stuck her tongue out at her daughter and in an infantile voice replied,
"You're just jealous because I've still got it at my age and you're still looking for it!"
Linda scowled at her Mum. I knew that she still hadn't forgiven her for walking out on her Dad and I could sense the conversation was heading for an argument. Irene had already left the bar in search of the library. I decided to follow her. I did not want to mediate another "Mother-Daughter Argument".
Sometimes it was like living in a reality TV show.
We agreed to meet outside the main restaurant at seven thirty p.m. as our table was booked for seven forty-five.
I was dressed in knee length skirt and chiffon top. Irene dressed in a conservative white sweater and matching pants. Linda wore a figure hugging cotton dress that finished just below her bottom and kept riding up, occasionally displaying the thong she was wearing. Mandy was furious with her, calling her "cheap" and "dressing like a prostitute." While I thought Mandy could have toned down her language, I quietly agreed that Linda should have dressed a little more appropriately for dinner.
However, Mandy's dress code wasn't much better. She was dressed was a knee length, knitted dress a which was just a little too see-through for my liking. It was easy to make out her bra and panties beneath.
Dinner was eaten in relative silence, except for the moments when both Linda and Mandy were trying their hardest to gain more than the usual amount of attention from our waiter. The poor man was embarrassed beyond belief and I really felt for him.
Mercifully, Linda didn't join us after dinner. Complaining of a headache, she said she would get an early night.
"That's a lie," said Mandy, as we headed into the piano bar.
"She'll head for the night club. But I couldn't care less. I'm beginning to question why I even brought her on this...Hello!"
The surprise in her voice prompted me to look away from her and in the direction she was looking. I caught my breath as I saw, seated behind the piano, the most beautiful looking man I had seen in a long time. He was tanned and his "salt and pepper" hair accentuated that. When he looked over in our direction, he smiled and greeted us with, "Hi there ladies. Come on in and enjoy the show!"
He looked straight at me and smiled. I felt like I had been shot in the chest and my legs went to jelly.
Mandy was all smiles.
"Hubba hubba! He's all mine," she announced.
We found a table and all three of us sat down and ordered drinks from the waiter.
The room was buzzing and everyone was enjoying the show. The piano player introduced himself as Adam. He told bad jokes that seemed to raise a laugh or two, but when he sang, he melted my heart. His voice was crystal clear and in tune.
He played songs that we knew and could sing too and songs that we didn't know but were great all the same. His love songs tugged at your heart-strings and his rock n roll songs made you tap your feet and clap your hands.
For reasons I am not clear about, the three of us suddenly uprooted and replanted ourselves around the piano. I now had a clearer view of this beautiful looking man. His smile took my breath away and I felt something that I hadn't felt since Glenn had passed. My heart raced a little. I felt giddy, like a schoolgirl on prom night.
Mandy was trying her best to get his attention, but he seemed to focus on me.
I couldn't tell if he was being sincere or just trying to ignore Mandy.
