The tannoy announcement that it was morning woke Louise from a deep sleep. Yawning heavily she opened her eyes and struggled to recall where in the hell she was. A gentle rocking movement soon reminded her she was on board a ship and she hesitantly glanced over the edge of her bunk, half expecting to see Sonya and Brigitte curled up together.
Much to her surprise, Sonya was alone in her bunk and Brigitte was in the other bunk beneath. Maybe the whole memory of the two women making love was a product of her over active imagination. God, she really needed to get laid soon if so!
Her bladder reminded her that she had drunk one too many vodka's last night and she reluctantly crawled out from under the thin blanket and climbed down the narrow ladder to dash into the bathroom. When she re-emerged, the other two women had woken up and were chatting quietly.
"What time did you two come back last night?" Louise asked curiously as she stood before the small vanity mirror and gazed with dismay at her dishevelled reflection.
Brigitte yawned heavily. "Late! We got chatting to some Dutch bikers in the bar because Sonya fancied one of them." She giggled and Sonya looked horrified.
"Ha! He fancied ME more like! I'll give him ten out of ten for trying though." She pulled a face and staggered into the bathroom.
"He was quite cute really," whispered Brigitte. "She just doesn't go for men."
Hmm, maybe it wasn't a dream then!
"Nope, me neither," commented Louise sadly.
Brigitte looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah I've had enough of them – they're all wankers."
"Oh I see! You've just had enough temporarily. Can't say I blame you – I was married for a while and I vowed never to go there again." She shuddered.
Sonya reappeared and looked at her watch. "Come on we need to go eat some breakfast."
Louise's stomach agreed. She was starving again and given the long distance they were cycling today, she was going to need lots of fuel. The last thing she wanted was to arrive in Amsterdam too late to go out – that would be truly tragic!
* * *
The sky was clear when they cycled off the ferry and made their way through passport control. In the far distance huge windmills could be seen on the horizon, generating power from the wind blowing off the sea. Louise couldn't help feeling excited about being on foreign soil for the first time in ages and she wasn't the only one.
Everybody was in high spirits again, despite the tiredness and aching muscles from yesterday. It seemed that they were all looking forward to a night out in Amsterdam. Even Alicia had stopped moaning about her sore backside – although Louise couldn't help remarking to Gillian that the woman had ample enough padding.
"Ooh, bitchy!" giggled Gillian with a smirk. "So did you bump into Rick on the deck last night?"
"Why are you asking?" Louise said suspiciously.
Gillian tried to look innocent - and failed miserably. "Oh maybe he saw you leave the bar and asked where you were going..."
"And you told him? Why??"
"Just giving you a helping hand!"
"I don't need help thanks! And I don't need any romantic entanglements either!"
"Who said anything about romance? I was thinking more along the lines of a fuck!"
Louise sighed. She had to admit the idea was attractive in many ways, but she was loath to get involved with anyone she had to spend time with for the next three days. After all, what if he turned out to be a crap lay? How embarrassing would that be? It would be rather difficult to avoid him when they were forced to cycle together for so many miles!
"Nope, as much as he is rather fanciable," she conceded reluctantly, "I can't go there."
Gillian glanced over towards where Rick stood, deep in conversation with Gary. They both saw Alicia sidle over, wiggling her hips and thrusting her boobs out. "You know what?" said Gillian. "I doubt you'd get a look in anyway!"
* * *
By the time the group stopped for lunch around midday, the sun was scorching hot. Gary led them down towards a picturesque lake with a café and picnic area. It was like an oasis in the desert and Louise was more than ready for a break. Her water bottle was virtually empty and she really needed a cold drink with ice cubes in it.
"Okay, ladies, you have one hour before we set off again. Meet back here at one o'clock, please," announced Gary as they began to disperse in search of food, drinks and toilets.
It was rather stuffy inside the main café building when they ventured in. Part of the terrace was covered with a glass roof and this created something of a greenhouse effect. It was certainly not somewhere Louise felt like spending too much time, so they ordered some food and drinks and decided to take them back down to the lake to eat.
On the water's edge, it was much cooler. Louise took her shoes off and trailed her feet in the gently lapping waves. It was heavenly after the heat of the morning and she lay back on the damp sand and closed her eyes against the glare, waiting for Gillian to fetch her lunch.
"Wake up!"
Gillian's voice startled Louise and she realised she must have dozed off momentarily.
"I'd put some sun cream on if I were you," her friend advised sagely, flopping down beside her with a tuna sandwich.
Louise glanced down and saw to her dismay she was beginning to burn. The exposed skin above her vest top had turned hot pink in the short time she'd been lying down. "Oh great," she muttered. "I better go and fetch my factor twenty."
She reluctantly stood up and jogged back over to her locked bike. Pulling the small bottle from her pannier bag, she squeezed some lotion onto her hand and began to rub the thick cream into her skin. She struggled to reach the back of her shoulders and twisted her body in a vain attempt to stretch further.
"Need a hand?" said a familiar voice.
Louise spun round to see Rick smiling at her.
Why was it that every time she turned round he was there? She was beginning to feel like he was stalking her!
"I think I can manage!" she said crossly.
"No, you've missed a bit," he replied, taking the bottle out of her hand. "Here, let me."
Louise felt like a small child as he began to rub sun cream firmly on to the back of her neck and shoulders. Deciding that resistance was futile, she acquiesced with a sigh and let him. His fingers rubbed her sore skin smoothly and she had to admit it felt rather nice.
"Turn round," he ordered. "Your nose is burning too."
