Tyler
When the captain came by with his unfortunate announcement, I can’t say I was too annoyed. Most of the ladies were upset, no doubt looking forward to another day of baking in the glorious sunshine, and a couple of the younger ones, the sultry Latino Bella and D Cash’s slim blonde Britney especially, seemed to be acting like the captain was deliberately being no fun, perhaps creating this bad weather just to upset their plans.
I could tell, though, Harper clearly had years of practice in dealing with petulant one-percenters and was able to calmly pacify them, reassuring everyone present that things would return to normal as soon as possible. His quiet yet firm voice and pleasant demeanor did the trick and he promised the stewards would try extra hard to ensure we all had a great time. As he spoke, the skies darkened noticeably and a distant rumble of thunder added some extra weight to his argument, and he quickly excused himself so he could pilot us to safety.
Only minutes later, the stewards appeared. All three came in full of smiles and energy, joined by the cute little deckhand, Azure, and holding champagne bottles and glasses. I could feel Ada’s eyes on me as Misty came in last, and I was painfully aware that all four girls, this time, wore only white sheets wrapped carefully around their slim and shapely bodies. Wolf whistles filled the air. Each girl had their hair piled and pinned high on top of their heads, were liberally covered in shimmering golden glitter, and had used a kind of gold paint to draw some ancient pagan symbols on their faces.
“Nobly gathered Gods and Goddesses,” announced Misty. She’d never looked more stunning, the gold flecks in her hair and glistening on her skin, the golden lipstick and eyeshadow she had used to highlight her beautiful features. She actually does look like a goddess, just like she did in my dream, I thought. She’d clearly drawn the role of compare in this little skit. “Now our Lord Neptune has departed to shelter us from the storm, allow me to introduce your hostesses for the afternoon.” I could see she was quite at home, playacting like this.
The other girls were bringing in more white, rolled up sheets. “Before you, I stand as Juno, queen and goddess of the sky,” Misty continued, taking a bow. “While this delightful creature is Diana, goddess of the hunt” she pointed at Azure, who produced a small plastic bow and arrow as proof. “To my left is the mythical goddess of love, Aphrodite,” Misty indicated Tanya, who raised up to her full height and mimicked the goddess’s pose on her clamshell, from the famous Botticelli nude. “And last,” Misty introduced Sarah, “Athena, the fearsome goddess of war and wisdom. Try not to piss her off.” Sarah waved a plastic sword fiercely. There was laughter all around.
Some of the other guests were already tying sheets around themselves as togas, while I took the offered champagne. Even Henry and Bella were smiling at each other as she stripped down to a bikini and he helped her cover herself with a sheet. D Cash barely moved, but his eyes widened as more of the girls decided to discard their shirts and tops to wear the togas more comfortably.
Ada confidently and expertly coiled the white material around her shapely body before shimmying out of her sun shorts, cleverly keeping her underwear hidden from view, then laying a long, bare, and beautifully shaped leg across my lap. I smiled up at her but shook my head as she offered a sheet for me to wear.
“The nymphs are prepared?” I heard Misty ask in a regal tone.
“All set,” Sarah called back, as she struggled to pin a tight sheet in place around Ruby’s impressive bust.
“Then we must anoint our gods.” Misty continued. The other three staff produced golden wreaths and stepped toward the male guests. Azure walked solemnly up to Paul and placed her wreath on his head. “Mercury,” said Misty, “the fastest of all the gods.” He beamed a smile around the room, happy with his title.
Tanya approached D Cash. “Vulcan,” called Misty, “god of fire and symbol of male virility.” D Cash threw up a gang sign as Tanya crowned him and quietly acknowledged his fertility symbol status.
“Pluto,” announced Misty, as Sarah placed her golden wreath on Henry’s head, “god of wealth and the underworld. Bella laughed and shoved him, knocking his leafy crown off. I couldn’t help a chuckle as he scrabbled around on the floor looking for it. The staff had clearly put a lot of thought into this party.
“And finally,” I couldn’t help my eyes widening a touch as Misty singled me out and approached. My heart was thumping in my chest as she came, looking me straight in the eye. “My king of the gods with the power of the thunderbolt.” My mouth was dry and my skin felt like it was sizzling. Why did this seem to mean so much? All I had running through my head was the image of her kissing me, last night.
Misty raised her hands to crown me but Ada stopped her. She looked petrified as her gaze jumped to my girlfriend. Ada smiled a polite smile at her, then gently took the wreath and placed it on my head herself. “Jupiter,” Misty finished, looking as though she finally let out the breath she was holding. Incredibly, thunder crashed in the distance, adding some dramatic meaning to my anointment and causing a gentle laugh all around. “That was supposed to happen,” grinned Misty, regaining some composure and getting a bigger laugh. I looked around the room at all the others. I was the only one still wearing a shirt and pants, but I was determined to stay that way.
I tried to catch Misty’s eye again. I just wanted some acknowledgment of the kiss from her but, frustratingly, she seemed always busy. I thought I managed to get a quick smile from her at one point, but it vanished just as fleetingly as Henry asked her for more champagne.
* * *
Aphrodite seemed to be moving along at a brisk pace now, while rain had begun to lash at the windows. Inside the main guest lounge, however, we were being served lunch. The chef had originally prepped an exotic seafood salad, with crab, oysters, shrimp, and lobster but, considering the weather, at the last minute, he paired it with a thick, fish-based soup with plenty of cream, to keep everyone a little warmer. It was so successful, I asked Tarquin to come up personally so everyone could all thank him.
As the afternoon wore on, even once we were moored and sheltering in a secluded bay, Aphrodite was suffering through some choppy waters. The girls kept the party going, but playing twister as the boat lurched from side to side made it a fight for anyone trying to maintain any dignity. Paul and D Cash mainly seemed to be entertaining themselves as spectators, enjoying the view as Veronique, Ruby, Britney, and Bella, only wrapped in short togas, bent over and around each other and left very little to the two guys’ imaginations.
Henry looked pretty green around the gills for most of the afternoon. The poor guy was not enjoying the rough seas. Ada and I sat at the bar again. However, when Ada finally excused herself, I saw Misty hand the spinning pointer over to Tanya and make her way over to refill my glass.
“I’ve been longing to talk to you,” I whispered as she poured more scotch. “It’s been so hard, though.”
She smiled back at me. “It’s okay, we don’t need to talk.”
“What do you mean? You kissed me, Misty!” I hissed, a little too loudly.
Misty looked around the room. Thankfully no one seemed to have heard me. “Please don’t,” she pleaded. “I’ll lose my job.”
“I’m sorry,” I told her. I didn’t want to get her in trouble. I just liked her and I felt like she liked me too. “It’s just… I can’t stop thinking about it…” About you, I was going to say. I opened my mouth to tell her, only there was a sudden and almighty crash right above us, and it felt like the world was ending.
I had no idea what was happening. I heard a colossal bang, followed by a loud shattering of glass. Then screams. I looked over to see guests and staff alike diving for cover as broken glass rained down on the whole lounge.
I had only an instant to react. I didn’t think, I just leaped over the bar, grabbing Misty as I flew through the air and taking us both toward the back wall. I couldn’t stop myself landing prone on her but, at least, I could use my body to keep her shielded from anything that might come down on us. We lay still, silently staring into each other’s eyes as I sensed sparks flashing around us and felt pieces of glass bouncing off my back. It was intense. Neither of us knew if this was about to be our last second alive. I wanted to kiss her again. In that moment, about to die, it was all I could think about.
“Is everyone okay?” I heard Sarah’s strong voice, after what seemed like an eternity. All the commotion had died down. Alarms were going off across the boat and I looked up to see Azure gather up her toga and run to help the other deckhands. Fortunately, it seemed the glass that formed the skylights in the lounge was made of that toughened safety glass and we now seemed to be surrounded by small, ragged, marble-like pieces capable of doing us no more harm than a little light hail so, happily, there were no injuries more serious than a couple of bruises.
I got up and helped Misty, then we stood face to face, brushing each other clean of broken glass. “Are you okay?” I managed to ask. Before Misty could answer, Ada appeared, having returned from the bathroom just after the disaster.
Wind and rain were now whipping their way through the hole in the cabin roof. I looked up and saw the reason the glass had smashed. The top of the main mast had fallen through the ceiling and was now buried in the floor behind the bar, almost exactly where Misty had been standing. There were still a few small flames crackling along the broken, charred shaft, where a bolt of lightning must have hit it. I saw Tanya grab an extinguisher and deal with the small fire, but we could still see the bigger flames on top of the remains of the mast, high above us.
“Everyone into the dining room please,” called Sarah and, keen to get out of the rain that was now lashing down on us, we quickly obeyed.
“I guess you owe him your life again,” said Ada to Misty, not looking at her. She threw her arms around my neck and whispered in my ear, “you’re so sexy when you’re brave. Quite the hero.”
“Yeah, he’s making a habit of it,” said Misty, quietly. “Please, if you’ll both go through.”
Before long, the deckhands had safely dealt with the fire on the mast and Captain Harper was addressing us, reassuring us that all was well. Apart from the mast, he told us, there was no damage to Aphrodite and no further cause for alarm. The boat’s radio was now out of order, but the internet was still working and, in case of dire emergency, there was a satellite phone. “That’s life at sea, folks,” he ended with, cheerfully.
Obviously shaken by the accident, the mood in the dining room was somber. Each couple or, in D Cash’s case, threesome, cuddled together while Sarah, Misty, and Tanya served drinks and tried to remain upbeat.
As the time rolled past three in the afternoon, however, we saw the clouds part and radiant, heavenly sunshine began to scorch the sundeck, steaming away the gathered raindrops with alarming speed. Surprisingly, Ada was first to run back to the light, dragging me with her and discarding her bikini top almost immediately, then demanding I rub oil into her bare shoulders and back. The other girls quickly followed us and soon, with the skies clear and the ocean mirror-flat once again, it was like nothing had happened. The stewards went back to their shifts, two serving drinks while one rested below, while my friends returned to their alcohol, sunshine, and sex-fueled frolics again in the lead up to dinner.