Day One

After being holed up for too many months-on-end by the world’s terrible virus, my escape mechanism finally kicked into gear, and I signed up for a singles cruise to the Caribbean. I caught an early flight into Miami, where the cruise ship was docked, and made it to the harbor in plenty of time before departure.

I boarded the ship and stayed on the main deck while we put out to sea. It was quite a site to see the number of people waving goodbye to loved ones. Nobody was there for me, which was okay, because I never told anyone I was going anywhere. It was kind of a last-minute decision on my part to go on the cruise.

Once we were out of the harbor, I made my way to the bow. Looking out over the calm waters, I hung onto the railing and closed my eyes as the breeze swept across my face, and the salty smell of the ocean permeated my nostrils. A pod of dolphins could be seen racing alongside the ship.

I made my way up to the Prominade Deck and searched for my cabin. I should have known, when I was assigned cabin number thirteen, that something would be amiss. I swiped my room key, and the first thing I noticed when I entered the room, was a suitcase on the bed. I double checked the cabin and key numbers, they matched. No one at the booking agency said anything to me about sharing a room.

That’s when HE came out of the bathroom. Now, I’m not going to bore you by describing his physical attributes, but let’s just say that my eyes were extremely pleased, and as if I needed further confirmation, I experienced a slight little twinge within the confines of my Victoria Secret thong.

The room had indeed been assigned to each of us. The excuse was, that they had overbooked the cruise, and they didn’t have any no-shows. There wasn’t a single room available for one of us to move to.

He nervously fidgeted with something he had in his hand, while his eyes were scoping me out. “This is kind of awkward,” he mumbled. “I suppose I should be the gentleman and offer to sleep on deck or something.”

I thought that was a nice gesture on his part, but I’m not a strong supporter of the old standards that society has impaled upon us. I am perfectly capable of opening a door, ordering my own food, and standing up for myself.

“Or” I offered, “we could share the room. Think about it for a minute, if we were both women, or both guys, it wouldn’t be an issue to discuss that as an option. So, given the circumstance that we now face, is it so unreasonable to think about you and I sharing this space?”

“Interesting,” he said. “You have noticed that there is only one bed, right? And my other concern, is about you having any privacy.”

“Thanks, but the same goes for you. As far as the bed goes, we’ll each just have to stay on our own side and behave ourselves.”

“I’m not so worried about that. I just don’t want you to feel threatened if you happen to see me getting dressed, or if I accidently touch you during the night.”

“Again, the same goes for you. This is a singles cruise, is it not? Aren’t we all here for the same reason?”

“Good point,” he said, “I guess I’m okay with the idea, if you are.”

“Fine. Let’s agree that this room is for sleeping only, no guests.”

“Agreed.”

“So, now that we are officially roommates,” I reached out to shake his hand, “hello, my name is Marsha.”

“Alrighty then. I guess you’ll have to call me something,” he said as he took my hand in his, “how about we try, oh, I don’t know, how about, Jim?”

I took a moment to reflect on what he said. “Okay then, you just want me to call you Jim, or is that really your name?”

“Does it matter?” he asked, still holding my hand, and gazing at me with his gorgeous eyes.

“I guess not. Alright, Jim it is.”

We settled into our room just fine. Each of us seemed to go out of our way to be accommodating to the other. I spent the afternoon exploring the ship, and then I ate dinner with the group later that evening. There was ‘get acquainted’ time scheduled for after dinner. As I scanned the room, most of the crowd looked like they were seeking out their prey. I was pretty tired from the travel, and the day’s activities, and after spending over an hour on deck gazing at the stars, I went back to the room.

I was surprised to see Jim there already when I returned. He said that he too had an exhausting day and was turning in early. I expressed an interest in having a shower, and he said he preferred to take his in the morning, so the bathroom was all mine.

Our cabin room wasn’t any bigger than a typical guest room in your house, and the bathroom was the size of a closet. I had seen larger bathrooms in RV’s, which made it difficult to get dressed in there, but I made do.

Jim was propped up in bed reading when I came out of the bathroom. His eyes were instantly drawn to my sleepwear. I didn’t anticipate the room sharing, or I would have brought old fashioned flannels to wear. Instead, I threw on an oversized ‘wife-beater’, that showed a bit of side-boob, and a pair of pink terrycloth shorts.

“Sorry about the outfit, but it’s all I got. Please tell me that you at least have something on under the covers before I get into bed.”

“Don’t worry, I’m completely covered.” He pulled the covers back on my side and patted the mattress. “C’mon, I promise I don’t bite.”