Chapter 2: Reunion

It seemed late when we finished dinner. There was a Welcome Aboard talk in the ship’s theater and after that we did a bit more exploring. There were all sorts of stuff on the boat, including a shopping center with incredibly overpriced stuff, a casino, and a bunch more bars, restaurants, and lounges. We walked around the deck and then went back to our cabin, where we discovered it had been made up, the bed turned down, and an odd animal formed out of some folded towels. Kelly decided she wanted to fool around some more but fell asleep before I got out of the bathroom. So much for romance.

Romance revived in the morning, which seemed an excellent way to wake up. After that we cleaned up and got dressed and then went to one of the innumerable restaurants on the boat. Breakfast was served in both the main dining room, which had menus and waiters, or the café, which was a buffet. We decided on the buffet; the dining room we could do another day.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” asked Kelly.

I smiled and shrugged. “Goof off, I suppose. It’s not like we’re going anywhere today. We spend the entire day sailing.”

She nodded. “True enough. Probably ought to walk around a bit after breakfast, work off some of this.” She pointed at our plates. “Oh, and I want to get our phones and computers hooked up. We need to set up the WiFi on them. I want to call home and check on the kids.”

I gave Kelly a horrified look. “Why in the world do you want to call them? We came here to get away from them, remember?”

She smiled and said, “Grim, you’re an awful father!”

“I’m not even sure they’ll have noticed we’ve left! They’re probably having more fun with our parents than we are!” I continued.

“Grim!” Kelly just kept laughing at me.

We settled on a walk around the deck and then back to the room to connect our gear to the WiFi system. Then Kelly said, “The weather is perfect. Time to go swimming!”

“Oh?”

“Don’t you want to see me in my new swimsuits? I got several.”

“Any of them family-friendly?” I asked. There were a number of young children sailing with us. They belonged to parents not smart enough to leave them behind.

“Maybe.” She pulled open the dresser drawer and started searching. I rolled my eyes and headed for the bathroom.

When I came out, Kelly was pulling the straps up on a sheer black one-piece suit. I admired her from behind. Almost all of her back and sides were on display and the legs were cut quite high as well. Like she did before any of our trips, my wife had spent some time at a spa getting a spray-on tan. She is a classic Irish redhead, with fair skin and some freckles. The tan kept her from burning and got rid of any tan lines she might have. I whistled as she turned to face me. “Nice!”

Kelly smiled. “I thought you might like it.” She sat down and grabbed a pair of high-heeled sandals. “Grab the swim bag, please.”

I looked around and found something that looked like an oversized carry bag. She nodded and I passed it to her. Then I stripped off my shorts and pulled on my swim trunks. I stepped into some shoes and Kelly sorted through the swim bag to make sure we had some suntan lotion. Then she grabbed something that looked like a piece of black cloth that matched her suit and tied it around her waist like a sarong. If the swimsuit was made of the same stuff, it must be almost transparent! That sounded very interesting!

More than a few heads turned as Kelly sauntered her way to the pool. I whispered to her at one point, “Didn’t your mother teach you not to show off?”

She smiled and said, “I must have been out when she gave that lesson. I was probably up at the lake with my boyfriend. He liked it when I wore this kind of suit.”

“He probably liked taking it off you.”

Kelly giggled and stuck her tongue out at me, then led me towards the pool area. There were several pools, along with a couple of hot tubs and some wading pools for the kiddies. I grabbed a couple of towels along the way and spread them out on a pair of lounge chairs. Then it was time for some lotion and sun. After a bit we got into the pool and floated around for a bit. The suit became almost transparent when wet; certainly, Kelly’s jewelry was noticeable through it. We played grab-ass for a few minutes and then got out and dried off. I was sent to bring back some refreshing alcoholic beverages.

I looked around for the bar. It wasn’t even 1100 but the bar was packed. Well, I’m sure it was five o’clock somewhere. I ordered two of the day’s special and carried them back to my wife. She was surrounded by teenaged and college age guys trying to chat her up. She saw me coming and smiled, rolling her eyes, and said, “Sorry guys, but like I said before, I was just waiting for somebody to bring me a drink.”

“I offered to bring you one,” whined one of the younger ones. He didn’t look old enough to drink more than soft drinks.

“Sorry, darling. You snooze, you lose.” She smiled radiantly at me. “Thank you, honey. Gentlemen, my husband.”

I handed her a drink and looked at the others. “Nice meeting you guys but I think I can handle it from here.”

The others got the message and took off, though most of them kept watching her from a distance.

“Thank you, Grim. I swear, I warned them.”

“I’d say something, but you’d probably send me away for drinks again, and I’m not sure I trust your audience.”

Kelly laughed and sipped her drink, which was blue and frozen. “I’m not the only one here in an extreme suit, Grim.”

“Oh?”

“Just check out over there.” She waggled a finger in the direction across the pool, but I couldn’t see who she was referring to.

“Care to be a bit more specific?” I asked.

“The short fellow over there.” I looked away from a group of pretty though conservatively dressed mothers with small children towards the man Kelly was pointing to. He was about five-foot-six, had to weigh at least three-hundred pounds, needed to get a lot more sun - and was wearing a Speedo! I blanched. Then she added, “I packed your Speedo, too, Grim.”

I gulped and looked away. “Oh? I hadn’t noticed hell freezing over.”

Kelly laughed. “You’d look better in it than he does.”

“Again, babe, ice skating in hell first.”

“Get me another drink.”

“And leave you to face the wolf pack on your own? Let’s both get drinks and some lunch at the same time.”

“You’re just no fun,” she laughed. Still, Kelly stood up and wrapped her sarong around her waist and handed me my shirt. We cleaned up our gear and headed to the Windjammer Café for the lunch buffet and another drink.

After lunch we headed back towards the pool area, but I noticed something and stopped. “Check up there,” I said.

“Where?”

“Up there.” She looked where I was pointing. It was a small deck towards the bow that overlooked the pool area, but it seemed to be isolated and behind a chain. Only couples were being allowed beyond the chain. “I think it’s a more adult section.”

“How adult?” she asked.

“Only one way to find out.” I led the way to the stairs that led up to the higher deck level.

We were greeted by a female attendant at the top of the stairs. “This is a private couples-only section for ladies wearing, shall we say, more extreme suits.”

I smiled. “Sounds about right.”

Kelly undid her sarong and the attendant smiled and nodded. “Your SeaPass cards?”

There was probably a minimum charge or something. I passed our cards over and we were allowed in. I looked around and found several young women in thongs. A bar attendant came over and asked if we wanted a drink and we ordered another round, passing her our cards.

Kelly commented to me afterwards, “I think this is the place to hide from the nitwits down below. You could wear your Speedo up here and not be bothered by all the women chasing you.”

I pointed up at the clouds. “Oh, look, pigs flying!” Kelly just laughed and we oiled up and settled in.

Mid-afternoon Kelly and I were getting a little sun-broiled, so we grabbed our stuff and headed back to our cabin for a nap. Well, eventually we took a nap. That swimsuit of hers was very, very interesting, and it looked even better when it was on the floor. We stirred awake around five or so. “What’s the plan?” I asked Kelly.

She snuggled up against me and answered, “I could go for some more of the same.”

I laughed. “And after that.”

“We’re on a honeymoon. Remember our first honeymoon? I don’t remember you asking me such silly questions then.”

“Complaints, complaints, complaints!” I rolled towards her and allowed her to have her wicked way with me, but that was it for the afternoon. Afterwards I rolled out of bed and took a shower. Kelly cleaned up after me and we decided to dress for dinner.

“Tonight’s a formal night, right?” she asked, coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around herself.

“That’s what it says.” I waved the Compass at her. “Uh ... formal dress for dinner ... suits and ties, tuxedos, cocktail dresses, or evening gowns,” I read.

“So, flip-flops and tank-tops aren’t going to cut it,” she commented.

“I think that is the general drift.”

“Well, it’s early for dinner. We can always go to one of the lounges for a drink. Might as well get dressed, Grim. It will take you longer than me,” she said with a laugh.

I groaned but nodded in agreement. I pulled the suit I had packed out of the closet along with a dress shirt. As expected, Kelly was dressed long before I was. That was because she pulled on a long halter-topped dress - and nothing else! Most of her back was exposed, along with a fair bit of cleavage, and her legs up to mid-thigh were exposed through a pair of long slits. I was still buttoning my shirt when she asked, “What’s taking you so long?”

I gave her a dry look and grabbed my pants. She sat down and slipped into a pair of ankle-strapped heels. It took me a few minutes before I was finished and ready to go. I grabbed our SeaPass cards and said, “I am guessing that outfit is missing pockets?”

“No pockets, but I have a purse.” She took her card back and sorted a few items from one purse into a smaller formal shoulder bag. Why women needed so many bags and purses was beyond me, but I also knew it was counterproductive to ask. She tossed her card into it and said, “Ready.”

“Looking good, babe. It’s too bad I couldn’t bring my gun. Now I’ll have to just beat up all the guys who will be chasing you.”

“Come on, Dirty Harry, let’s go.”

There were several bars and lounges around the ship, but dressed up, it seemed the place to go was the one all the way at the top of the boat, the Viking Crown Lounge. That was a big round bar with floor to ceiling windows that wrapped around a big central structure at the rear of the ship. It was one of the more formal lounges on the ship and had great visibility. We were probably almost two hundred feet above the water. We took a seat and a waiter came rushing over. I was tired of rum punches, so I ordered a Maker’s Mark neat, and a whiskey sour back, while Kelly ordered a rum and Coke.

“Have I told you yet just how spectacular you look?” I asked.

Kelly blushed and leaned over to give me a quick kiss. “Thank you. You clean up pretty nice, too.”

“I think it’s back to Brooks Brothers for me, babe. If I’m going to be a consultant, I’m going to have to go out and buy some consultant clothes.”

“Did you ever get anything from that police chief in Tennessee?”

“Not yet, but it’s Sunday. He’s probably taking the day off.”

She nodded at that. We chatted as we waited for our drinks to be served. It seemed we weren’t the only ones dressing up for a night out. The lounge was filling up and the seats at the bar were all taken. Another couple came over towards us and the man asked, “Would you mind if we sat down?”

We were at a small table with four armchairs around it. Kelly and I were side-by-side, but the other two chairs were available. I waved them towards the chairs. “Of course not. Please have a seat.”

“Thank you.” He was a trim man about my age dressed much like me, in a light charcoal suit. She on the other hand was a short and bubbly blonde, busty and cute like a high school cheerleader now grown up, wearing a silver minidress with matching heels. She was also wearing a rock on her left hand the size of the Hope Diamond. “Nice to meet you. I’m Clyde and this is my wife, Clarice.”

I reached out and shook his hand. “I’m Graham and this is Kelly.” We all shook hands and said hello. “You must be on the late shift as well.”

“The late shift ... I like that. Yes, we’re on the second seating. You, too?”

“Yes.” I looked out; you could see almost the length of the ship. “This is some kind of boat.”

“I have to agree with you. I think I could fit our whole town inside it.” As he said that he grinned at his wife, who laughed and nodded.

“What town is that, Clyde?” asked Kelly.

“We live in Winchester, Kentucky. We’re a bit east of Lexington.” He smiled and admitted, “Okay, maybe we’re bigger than the ship.”

“Not by much, honey,” said Clarice. “Where are you folks from?”

“We’re from Matucket, Georgia. It’s about an hour west of Atlanta.”

Clyde’s eyes opened wide at that. “Matucket? Georgia?”

“Uh, huh.”

“Matucket County? In between Carroll County and Haralson County?”

I returned the odd look. “Yes, Matucket County. Why? You know Matucket?”