Member-only story
They Met on the Promenade Deck (Part 1)
She was trying to get through the cruise from Hell; he was just trying to read his book
“Sex, romance, or both?”
Ed looked up from his book and peered over his sunglasses. The person who had apparently addressed him, seated sideways on the deck chair next to his, looked to be a woman about his age, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, as was he. Her clothes fit her toned figure, however, whereas his concealed it. He was wearing boat shoes with socks; she was wearing sneakers with glitter, no socks.
“Sorry, what?” he replied, hoping the question was in error.
“Your goal. For the cruise. Sex, romance, or both?” She flipped up her sunglasses to give him a better look. “Or… D, none of the above?” Her expression indicated she found this unlikely.
Ed could see that her name tag showed her name as “Alicia,” along with other codes that he had not bothered to learn. His name tag was back in his cabin; he had been given it as part of the check-in process, but once it dawned on him why people were supposed to wear them, he had decided that refusing to put it on would obviously indicate that he was not playing the stupid game everyone else was. Apparently not.
