Cruise Matched

It was Sunday afternoon and Mariette Simon sat on her suite balcony of the cruise liner looking out at the Port of Miami as they started to set sail to the Caribbean for the next six days. They would arrive at their first destination, Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, on Tuesday. She was so excited. This vacation was long overdue. She had spent the last two years building her business and she had put it extremely long hours and needed rest and relaxation.

She went out to the main deck after she finished unpacking to lay out, grab a drink, and lunch. Once they had been out to sea for about two hours when it started raining. Everyone started rushing inside, Mariette went back to her suite and stated watching a movie on the TV. It wasn’t the first time she had cruised and it had rained. It did put a little damper on things, but it was nothing that would make her change her mind about coming.

Once the movie went off, she got up and got dressed for dinner in the dining room. She couldn’t wait to meet the people that she would be seating with the whole week. One thing she loved was meeting new people while she was on vacation. Through the years, there are some that she had even met that she still keeps in contact with today.

As she thought about meeting new people, she thought back to the first time she ever cruised by herself. Her family kept telling her that she shouldn’t go by herself. They would tell her that it wasn’t safe to travel alone, but she wouldn’t listen and she was glad she hadn’t. It was the best time she ever had. From that day one, she cruised alone about twice a year. There was no stress of wanting to do whatever the group wanted to do, or the other person wanted to do. All she ever had to worry about was doing what she wanted to. On the flip side of that, she did miss the companionship of a male companion.

At dinner there were four women sharing her table. The table next to them there were five men. They all said hello across the tables and introduced themselves. There was one guy at the table that really got her attention. She normally didn’t really pay attention, but he was very good looking. His name was Stuart Victor. Even though both groups had gone back to just talking among their own tables, she kept glancing at him. One time, he caught her and just smiled at her. What a smile that was! Embarrassed she looked away as quick as she could. But she felt him looking at her a few times after that. She had never met a man on a cruise that she wanted to really get to know and she probably wouldn’t with him either, but he sure was nice to look at!

After dinner, the guys got up to leave, but stopped at their table to see what they were going to be doing after dinner. Stuart came and stood at her chair and her body fluttered. She hoped no one noticed, especially him. The women said that they had decided to go to the show in the theatre room and were headed that way now. The guys said they would join them if it was okay and just hang out. The women looked at each other and agreed it was fine.

At the show, somehow she ended up sitting beside Stuart. She couldn’t figure out how that happened. Even though they all talked and laughed as a group, her and Stuart were able to have some small talk. She found out they were both from the same city and he worked three blocks from where she did. How crazy was that she thought.

The more they talked the more she really started to like him. She could see herself maybe having coffee and keeping in touch with him after the cruise. They had a lot in common and could be good friends.

Once the show was over they decided to go down to the club and have a few more drinks and dance. Walking to the club the boat started to rock really hard. They all looked at each other, not realizing the storm that had been going on outside. The wind had picked up. No one was worried, they just weren’t expecting the rocking of the boat to be so wild.

It was 3 am once they all decided to head to their staterooms for the evening. Stuart asked her if he could walk her to her room. She said yes.

The storm was still going on and the boat was still rocking. She couldn’t decided if it was the rocking of the boat or the alcohol that made her fall into his chest when they got to her door.

“Oh my,” she said, “I am sorry. It is really time to go lay down when you cant’t stand on your own two feet!”

“It’s not a problem! I didn’t mind at all,” he replied with a chuckle.

“Well thank you for walking me. If you wouldn’t have been here, I might of fell on my face!” she said laughing as she opened the door to her suite.

He said, “Good night. I hope that this is not the only time we will spend together. I have enjoyed getting to know you and would like to get to know more about you.”

“I enjoyed getting to know you as well and would like to spend more time together,” she replied.

She went to bed that night and couldn’t stop thinking about him. The conversations were amazing. He was so easy to talk to and the way he looked was a bonus. But when she fell into his arms and her head landed on his chest, that did something to her that had never happened before. Her palms got sweaty, her stomach went into knots and an tingling feeling went through her whole body like an electric current. This was going to be an interesting week, she thought.

The next morning she realized that she didn’t have any of the ladies room numbers or Stuarts. So she got up and put on her bathing suit and headed out to the main deck. The sun was shining and it would be a great day to lay out and catch some rays.

At lunch, she went into the buffet area and ran into Claire, one of the ladies from her dinner table. They spent the next hour talking. Claire had actually hooked up with Ted, one of the other guys from last night. Claire told her not to judge. She was on this cruise to enjoy herself and whatever happened out to sea, stayed out to sea! She laughed and told her that she needed that same mindset and courage, because she couldn’t stop thinking about Stuart all night.

At dinner that night, they all said hello. Ted and Claire gave each other a kiss. No one seemed to be shocked at that display. After dinner Ted and Claire said they were going to the casino. Beth, Susie, Jason, Bruce, and Dave all went to play Bingo. Stuart wasn’t a big fan of Bingo so he asked her if she wanted to just take a walk around the ship until the movie started on the deck at 9 pm. She agreed.

For the next five days, they watched movies, ate dinner, laid on the beach in the Dominican Republic, snorkeled in Bimini, and again on the beach in Grand Turk. The last night on the ship was magical. They moved the two lounge chairs together out on her private balcony, grabbed a blanket and watched the stars while listening to the waves. They made out for what seemed like hours. Finally, he got up to leave and she walked with him instead. Instead of saying goodbye, she asked him to stay. She didn’t know if she would ever see him again, but tonight, she wanted to be with him, she wanted him.

When she woke up the next morning, he was getting dressed. He kissed her and said, “My number is on the table. Call me and let’s do lunch or dinner when you get settled back in to your normal routine.”

She smiled as her heart fluttered and she replied, “I will and see you soon. Be safe.”

Once he left, she finished getting ready and picked up the paper off the table with his number on it and put it in her wallet. She walked off the ship that day thinking about what the future my hold, feeling more optimistic about her not traveling on her next cruise alone.