Chapter 1

Day One - Saturday - Departure

It was a warm winter day in Miami. The sun was shining. A light breeze whispered through the nearby palm trees creating a soothing rustle. The soothing rustle was being periodically drowned out, however, by the sounds of large forklifts carrying crates full of luggage, cab drivers laying on their horns and tour buses spilling their contents out onto the tarmac.

David Larson looked out the window of his cab at the large white ship that towered in front of the terminal. The ship was loaded with windows and balconies and lifeboats and all things nautical. Stenciled towards the top he made out the words "Carnival Triumph" in red. Dave got out of the cab and then the cabbie got out and started unloading his bags. Dave unconsciously went into his wallet and handed fifty dollars to the cab driver and another five dollars to the man loading his luggage into one of the giant crates that the forklifts were moving around.

"Go inside over there, sir," said the man taking his bags. He had a thick Latin accent. He pointed to a small door at the end of the terminal.

"Thank you," said Dave absently. He headed into the air-conditioned building only to start waiting in a myriad of lines to get on the ship. He wondered why he even came on the cruise. Every single person checking him in wondered why Lisa wasn't there to check in as well. It had all come down to the money he spent on the cruise. He couldn't let it all go to waste. He even tried talking some of his friends into taking the cruise but none could get away from their children or work schedules.

Dave walked up the gangplank and felt a wave of sorrow wash over him. This was going to be a very special vacation for Lisa and him. It was going to be their tenth wedding anniversary. Nine would be all they would ever have.

He looked up at the atrium as he entered the ship. Several people around him were standing and gawking at the beautifully lit atrium. It was a wonder they could fit something so ornate on a boat. Dave didn't care though. He merely headed to the elevators so he could go to his room. He waited an eternity before he could catch an elevator. Once he was on the elevator they stopped at every floor so Dave had to wait even longer. Dave's room was on the tenth level, the Panorama deck.

Dave quickly found his room, especially since it was the first room off the elevator. When he got in he dropped his bags on the floor and then collapsed on the bed. Thoughts of Lisa ran through his head. She was gone forever. She wasn't on this cruise that they had planned for years. She had a few too many drinks at an office party about nine months ago. It was the day after they had finally booked the cruise. As she was driving home she lost control of her car and ran into a telephone pole at fifty miles per hour. She was killed instantly. A wave of emotion swept over Dave. He sobbed uncontrollably over his lost wife until fatigue won out and he slipped into a sound sleep.

"I can't wait to lie out and get some good tanning in," said Amber Quinn as she walked up the gangway to the Carnival Triumph. Her best friend Britney Hammond was right behind her looking up at the side of the ship in awe. Amber had been on many cruises but the sizes of the ships never ceased to amaze her.

"I'm sure most of the ship can't wait until you lie out to get some sun," Britney quipped. Amber and Britney were both models. The difference was that Amber was very thin and waiflike as most models tended to be. Britney, on the other hand, wasn't thin. She wasn't overly fat, but she definitely wasn't thin. Britney did plus-size modeling. She had once been as thin as Amber when she was doing teen modeling but her metabolism eventually caught up with her.

Amber and Britney had modeled together as teenagers and became instant friends. Their careers had taken different paths into adulthood but they still kept in touch and tried to get together as much as humanly possible.

"It's so beautiful," said Amber as she gazed up at the atrium in the center of the ship. There were lights lining every floor going up to a glass dome at the spa level of the ship. Brilliantly lit glass elevators moved up and down carrying the new arrivals to their rooms.

"I can't wait to get out and explore the ship," said Britney with a smile. "There is so much to do here."

"I plan on working on my tan," reiterated Amber. "I need some color for my next few shoots."

The two girls went to the elevators and waited patiently for an elevator going up. They took the elevator up to the spa deck and found their way to their suite towards the back of the ship.

The girls entered their room and dropped their stuff on the bed. They would have to share a king sized bed but that wasn't a problem for either of them. Amber started disrobing immediately and once she was completely naked she started fishing for her swimming suit out of her carry on bag.

Amber immediately felt her best friend's eyes on her body. She looked over and saw Britney staring at her breasts.

"You okay, Britney?" asked Amber.

"Huh?"

"You were staring at me," said Amber with a friendly smile.

"I just forgot how beautiful you are," said Britney nervously.

"Thank you," said Amber. "You aren't so bad looking yourself."

"I'm fat, remember?"

"And still very pretty," said Amber.

It wasn't a lie, either. Amber found Britney very attractive, despite her weight gain since they were teens. She often felt bad for Britney because she never felt beautiful, even though she was. Society's standard was for women to be waif-like, much like Amber was, but Amber felt that there was many things about Britney that were beautiful, even her body. The problem was, because Britney felt the way she did about herself, she attracted the worst type of man, and readily accepted them into her life. On more than one occasion Amber had to bail Britney out of an abusive relationship and offer her shelter until she could get back on her feet.

Amber found her suit and put it on. The tiny red suit didn't cover that much. The guys walking through the Lido deck were in for a treat.

"You gonna come with me?" asked Amber.

"No, I think I want to check out the ship," said Britney.

"Shall we meet up at dinner then?"

"Sure," said Britney. "We are the 8:30 sitting in the London dining room. I will see you there."

Amber sighed and then smiled as the door shut after Britney left. She was looking forward to a whole week with her best friend in the world. It had been some time since they had last spent a decent amount of time together. She just hoped that things wouldn't go in the direction she thought they might go. She put those bad thoughts out of her mind and grabbed her towel, some sunscreen and a book. It was time for her to go find herself some action.

Dave was awoken when they started announcing the lifeboat drills. He grabbed his life preserver from under the bed and headed down to his lifeboat station. The life boat drill was miserable. He was forced to wear the uncomfortable life preserver while being stuffed in like a sardine with hundreds of other people in front of the lifeboat on the tiny deck. He suddenly felt a stab of pain in his foot and he looked for the offending foot that stepped on him.

"I'm sorry, sir," said a young, attractive, albeit heavier woman, standing next to him.

"I'm okay," said Dave, forcing a smile at the young woman.

David appraised the young woman. She was not small, but she wore her extra weight well, still making her quite attractive. She was wearing a light-green sundress that left little of her grapefruit sized breasts to the imagination. When he looked up at her face, however, it caused him to gasp. Her long, curly, red hair; her high cheekbones; her catlike, emerald-green eyes; her small, tight, but drawn lips with a hint of lipstick; all combined to remind him of a ghost of his past. She looked exactly like Lisa

"Something wrong?" asked the girl.

David shook his head, but didn't say anything.

"You sure?" asked the girl politely.

"Yeah."

"My name is Britney," she said offering her hand.

"David. David Larson," said David. "You can call me Dave though. Everyone else does."

"Where are you from?" asked Britney as she made small talk.

"Wisconsin."

"Really? I grew up in Wisconsin. What part?"

"Waukesha."

"I grew up in Ashipun," said Britney with excitement in her voice

"That's nice," said the David nonchalantly.

"That's a nice tan for someone who lives in Wisconsin," said Britney.

"I tan at my health club," said Dave.

"Does your wife get tan like that too?" asked Britney trying to ease back out of the conversation.

"My wife?" said Dave automatically.

"Yeah, you're married right?"

"Oh, the ring," said Dave. Then his expression deepened. "She's been dead nine months now."

"Oh God," exclaimed Britney. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," said Dave with a sunken expression. "You couldn't have known. You married?"

"No," said Britney. "I'm here with a friend of mine. We haven't seen each other in over six months so we thought a cruise would be a good chance to reconnect."

"What do you do for a living?" asked Dave, coming out of his shell.

"I'm a model," said Britney.

"I should have guessed," said Dave. "You're very pretty."

"You think so?" gushed Britney.

Dave nodded and then became lost in her familiar eyes.

"Lisa," he whispered.

"Excuse me?" asked Britney with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, my God," whispered Dave.

"The lifeboat drill is now complete. You may now return to your cabins," said one of the crew members running the lifeboat drill.

"Is something wrong?" asked Britney.

Dave didn't answer. Instead he head out as quickly as he could. He couldn't believe that he had called her Lisa. As he bolted through the crowd for his room, he wondered if he was going crazy. He wondered if he belonged in a loony bin. It was nine months since Lisa passed. He wondered when the pain was going to go away.

Amber Quinn still hadn't lost her touch. While she was on the Lido deck she managed to snag herself a man. The muscular twenty-year-old just happened to end up at the same lifeboat station as well, so they spent the entire lifeboat drill flirting with one another.

Amber had plans for him right after the lifeboat drill. As they headed off the lifeboat deck, she struggled to remember the man's name. Was it Tom or Todd? Her thoughts were interrupted by a man who rudely pushed her out of the way. Tom or Todd tried to grab the man but he was quickly lost in the crowd.

"Why don't we go up to your cabin and see if we can get some privacy," said Amber seductively.

Tom or Todd nodded enthusiastically. Unfortunately when they got to the room, they found his roommate plowing into a young college coed.

"Can we try your room instead?" asked Tom or Todd.

"Sure Tom," said Amber with a smile.

"Todd," said the boy.

"Yeah, Todd."

The two headed up to the Spa Deck and Amber opened the door to see if Britney was in the room. She found Britney lying in the middle of the bed crying. Her hormones took a back seat as she saw her friend in distress.

"What's wrong Britney?" asked Amber softly.

"Men!" screamed Britney.

Amber turned to Todd. "Um, Tom, I think I will catch you later? Maybe on the Lido deck again?"

"That's Todd," said the boy, who was a little miffed at not getting any action with such a fine babe. "I guess I'll see ya."

Amber closed the door behind Todd and walked over to the bed. She sat down next too Britney's head and stroked her long fiery-red hair gently.

"I've always admired your hair Britney. Guys love red heads and you're a natural. You're hair is so easy to care for. I spend two hours making my hair look nice. You take fifteen minutes tops. You're so lucky."

"Why don't men like me?" sobbed Britney.

Amber couldn't figure that out herself. Britney might have been a little heavy but she was extremely pretty. She was one of the top models in the plus sized market. Her fiery red hair and fiery Irish personality made her easy for photographers to work with.

"What happened sweetie?" asked Amber.

"I met this really handsome man during the lifeboat drill. We were having a nice little conversation. Everything was going great. Then he looked into my eyes, muttered something and then bolted away. He was knocking people over to get away from me."

Even Amber with her limited brain power could put two and two together. She realized it was the same man that almost knocked her on her ass earlier.