The jangling of my phone interrupted the steady beat of my hand on my cock as I picked it up and answered the call, simultaneously pressing pause on the porn video running on my TV, the moment of penetration of an improbably large cock into a shaven pussy frozen on the screen. A little annoyed at the interruption by what was probably a sales call from abroad I answered, "Hello?"
"You don't sound happy, have I interrupted anything important?" came my sister's voice from the speaker.
"No, nothing I can't get back to later," I replied, my hand returning to my cock to resume my stroking although not with quite the same vigour. "How are you?" We didn't see as much of each other as either of us would have wished, it wasn't that we lived too far apart, or that either of us were too busy, it was just inertia, the knowledge that either of us would drop everything in a trice should the need arise to help out with something, meaning that we didn't need to live in each other's pockets.
We were both divorced, in our forties and comfortably well off in good jobs, in my case as a self-employed consultant. It suited me being able to pick and choose my work to a certain extent, I had enough opportunities to earn a lot more, but I wanted to be able to enjoy my work, not to be a slave to it.
We chatted about inconsequentialities for a while, caught up on each other's children, or rather grown-up offspring, before Jenny finally got round to the purpose of the call. "Are you free during the second week of July?" I checked my diary and confirmed that I could be with a little manoeuvring, "Only I wondered if you'd like to come on a Mediterranean cruise with me?" That had to be the thing the furthest from my thoughts when it came to the purpose of the call and for a moment I found myself completely speechless. "From your silence I guess the answer is no."
"No, absolutely not." Then it hit me that my answer could be taken completely the wrong way, "No, I mean yes. Oh shit, you know what I mean."
"But I don't David." I heard laughter down the phone, "It would be completely free, all paid for by my delightful employers, I seem to have been awarded Employee of the Year and the prize is a week's cruise for two, only I haven't actually got anyone to go with."
"Surely you must have someone better than me, some boyfriend or lover who'd keep you nice and warm at night."
"Sadly no, those who would be acceptable are already married or partnered up, and those who aren't would definitely not be acceptable. So I've scraped the bottom of the barrel and have come up with you! So will you come and keep a lonely old maid happy?"
"Well if you put it like that, as an act of charity, then I could possibly manage." A thought suddenly occurred to me, "Would we have to share a cabin?"
There was silence for a second or two. "Would that cause a problem? We used to share a room one upon a time."
"Yes Jen, when we were ten, then you started growing bumps on your chest and our parents separated us. But no it wouldn't worry me if you're happy with it, I'm sure there'll be plenty of room for us to have our own space."
"Then you'll come?"
"I'll be delighted!"
The rest of the call settled a few outstanding details and then we hung up and I resumed the video, but my mind kept wandering to the thought of sharing a cabin with my sister for a week, and when I came it was not the porn actors that my mind saw, but an imagined version of my sister, naked and spread across a sumptuous bed.
We met up a couple of times in the months prior to departure, each time my sister asking if I'd changed my mind. Surprisingly I actually found myself looking forward to it more and more. I'd never been on a cruise, my ex-wife got sea-sick looking at a picture of a boat so we'd never been, but I quite liked the idea of waking up in a different port each morning and by the time we were sitting on the plane at Gatwick waiting for take-off, I was positively itching to get on with it.
Of course the faff of actually getting on the boat was almost enough to put me off for life, first the airport immigration formalities, then the coach ride, then the port formalities and registration, but finally we opened the door onto our cabin. I don't know who said, "Oh!" first, both of us registering with some dismay the size, or rather lack of size of the cabin. The photographs had clearly been taken with the same camera that took photos of the interior of houses for sale, and the wide open spaces were in fact narrow gaps between items of furniture.
On the plus side it was all very neat and clean and well appointed, just small, and the bathroom was more of a cupboard. "Well it was free," I put a brave face on it, "and we'll be outside for most of the time, or asleep." That was the other thing, some of the pictures had shown twin beds, but clearly there was only one in the cabin, and not exactly double king sized at that.
"Just as well I brought some pyjamas," said Jenny, looking at the bed.
"Erm..." I replied, then seeing the look on her face, added, "Course I did!" I had in fact been out and bought some specifically, as I didn't normally wear anything to bed at all. "We can get changed in the bathroom, and if we need a bit of space there's always the balcony." We did in fact have a balcony with two plastic chairs squeezed on it, so at least we had a sea view rather than an inside cabin.
We unpacked and found room for the empty cases under the bed which did at least give us a bit more space. It was getting on for dinner time and for the first night there was no formal dinner sitting, the ship operated a flexible policy, you could either book for a formal setting, or opt for a more casual buffet style, something that suited both of us. "I'll go and have a shower," said Jenny, "all that travelling makes me feel so grimy." She headed for the bathroom and closed the door while I settled onto the bed and picked up the cruise ship brochure and guide and began leafing through it.
It was pretty comprehensive and I was trying to absorb all the information and barely registered the noises coming from the bathroom until the door opened and a flustered looking Jenny stepped out, a towel wrapped tightly round her body. "You can't swing a dead cat in there, we'll have to dress out here or everything will get wet." I looked up at her wondering if she was indeed naked under the towel.
