Chapter 1: Welcome Aboard

Four days earlier, I'd boarded the cruise ship Marvel of the Seas. The weather in Miami was alternating between sunny skies and brief periods of warm rain. The schizophrenic climate matched my mood as I worked my way through the security and registration queues, and eventually onto the ship. I was happy to be away from work for a week, away from friends asking nosy questions.

Still, this wasn't how this trip was meant to be.

Ahead of me in line, happy couples, families, and large groups of friends posed for gangway photos, laughing and smiling and having a ball. It became painfully obvious to me that I was one of the few people boarding the ship on my own, as a single passenger.

We'd booked this cruise together six months ago, Lilly and I. The purpose was twofold -- we would be celebrating both her graduation from college and the two-year anniversary of our first date. The timing worked out perfectly, the cruise departing just a week after her graduation ceremony. I had plenty of vacation time available at work, and we found a decent rate on a balcony cabin and good prices on the airfare from Boston to Miami.

Everything works out, right?

Except ... three weeks before the departure date, I stopped by her apartment on the way home from work to pick up my iPad, which I'd left over there the night before. We'd been spending 4 or 5 nights out of every week together at one of our places, and each had a key to the other's apartment.

I'd snuck out of work after a 2:00 design review meeting, so I was about two hours earlier than normal. I guess that explains why Lilly wasn't expecting me, and why I found her next door neighbor rutting away on top of her, balls deep.

I did get my iPad at least.

A couple of tearful calls later, I found out the truth -- she'd been fucking him for about two weeks, they were in love, she was going to wait after the cruise to tell me. Seriously? Go on a 7-day cruise with me, presumably fucking me the whole time, and then dump me and run off with him?

I still don't get how she (or the new guy!) thought that would be OK, and I told her simply and plainly: I never want to fucking see you again. I called Royal Caribbean and tried to get my money back (Lilly had already paid me her share and she damn sure wasn't getting that back). The cruise agent was sympathetic but unable to help; if I didn't take the trip, I'd lose 75% of the fare, only getting 25% as a refund.

Though I didn't relish the idea of taking a cruise by myself, I hated the idea of pissing all that money away even more. The vacation time was already approved, the airline tickets were even less refundable than the cruise fare, and so I decided to go.

That first afternoon, I started drinking from the moment I got on the ship, even before my luggage had been delivered. Bottle of beer in hand (sometimes one in each hand), I roamed the ship, just aimlessly exploring. As a civil engineer as well as a first-time cruiser, I was fascinated by the overall size of the vessel, and the construction of it. How could this giant city actually float?

I peeked in the dining room, finding my assigned dinner table. I walked through the casino, the showrooms, the glitzy lobby, the pool deck, the shops and the photo studio. I saw all 14 decks that first day, I think.

I'd also like to say I met Riley that first night, and our eyes locked across a crowded dance floor. But I didn't.

Later, I learned that she saw me that night when I walked into the dining room for the 8PM seating. From across the aisle, I could see that my table was filled with four people, all roughly my age -- mid-20s or so. I could also see that it was two couples -- two guys, two girls -- and I'd be the proverbial fifth wheel.

Nope. Fuck that. I made a stop at the lobby bar for a bucket of beer, took it to my room, ordered myself a hamburger from room service, and cried myself to sleep as we sailed off into the Caribbean.