An Unexpected Cruise Trip -- 1st full day on board
In general I am a totally different type of holiday maker. I love mountain hiking, best with a small group of friends. Alternatively I love to take my bicycle together with my bike club friends and to tackle original stages of grand tours, for example the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia. These trips are typically organized in mixed groups, so my wife is as excited of this kind of active holiday as I am. Neither my wife nor I would have had ever the idea to make holiday on a cruise ship. But now I stood at the rails of this famous cruise ship, MS Europa, and watched how the silhouette of Genova harbour got smaller and smaller in the late afternoon sun.
The invitation to this late summer cruise trip through the Mediterranean Sea has reached me very unexpectedly. My aunt and godmother Irene and her husband Karl, the youngest brother of my late father, had been excited cruise tourists for many years. Karl joked always that he is developing the best businesses during such cruises. "European, especially German entrepreneurs travel on board of the MS Europa", was one of his most liked quotes. I thought this quote was rather correct. But I was a lawyer, specialized in family and divorce law and had no reason to make holiday on a pleasure and business trip with German entrepreneurs. Unfortunately my uncle Karl died very surprisingly three months ago. My aunt was grieving very deeply about her loss but she didn't want to cancel this cruise trip which had been booked several months before. So she persuaded me to escort her on this cruise trip. "It is in memory of Karl -- kind of last journey. I can't do it on my own." Even my wife supported her persuading attacks. Finally, I accepted her invitation.
The upper deck cabin, which had been booked by my aunt and her late husband, presented itself as a penthouse suite. I was sure, it was rather expensive. My aunt had been able to book a cabin with twin beds which avoided that we had to sleep in one double bed. I preferred this. Aunt Irene was sixty years old but was still a very attractive lady. But she was my favourite aunt. Under this circumstance everybody would evaluate such attraction a little bit different.
During the first official dinner on board it became obvious that I was really the young substitute of my uncle. At our dining table, beautifully decorated for six persons, Irene introduced me to four long-standing friends, all very attractive and excellently dressed but rather unusual. At first, I was welcomed by Mr. Bruno and Mrs. Kati Schwartz, both lawyers and notaries and like my aunt almost sixty years old. They had met my uncle and aunt more than ten years ago on a cruise trip with the same ship and had since then booked the same cruise trips to enjoy the holidays together. The other two persons had been introduced as Angela and Geraldine. Both ladies had lost their husbands, colleagues as senior consultants at the same hospital, some years earlier. They had decided to enjoy their lives as merry widows, had moved together at home and travelled together as much as possible. After ten minutes I was fully accepted in this private society as the 'young man'.
The 4-course menu at the first evening had been excellent. After we finished our group walked the short distance to the ship's casino where our four ladies stormed the roulette table. This kind of entertainment had been always suspected for me, but I loved to play classic Blackjack. I was positively surprised that Bruno preferred this casino entertainment too, so we occupied two chairs opposite an elegant dressed, highly attractive female card dealer. During short brakes between our games we watched our excited ladies at the roulette table who were chatting almost continuously. Blackjack on the other hand is a game which demands a high concentration level, so Bruno and I spoke very little with each other.
Suddenly Bruno placed a curious question "Are you just Irene's grieving escort or are we allowed to admit you into our group as full member?"
I looked at him a little bit confused, clearly not recognizing the full content of his question. "The evening had been wonderful. So if you welcome me in your group, I would be honoured and delighted.
Bruno murmured something I didn't understood. But he and I had a difficult card against the dealer and our short dialogue broke down.
After the casino visit -- all ladies had lost their daily roulette budget, but Bruno and I had both a small cash win as result -- we entered MS Europa's elegant bar for a number of drinks. Cocktails for the ladies and whisky sour for the gents as well as two bottles of champagne as toast of my late uncle. It was already late in the evening when we took the elevator to our deck; I was surprised that all three cabins of our group had been in a row. The Good-Night-ceremony was rather intimate with intensive hugs and lot of kisses, Geraldine for example took my head in both hands and gave me a real stimulating, long-lasting kiss.
"You are a wonderful escort for me", was Aunt Irene's compliment before we entered our beds. "Perfect in this difficult situation for me. Thank you, my love." Then she gave me a long and intimate kiss too, really not an aunty one. But with my high blood alcohol level and the travel stress to reach the harbour and the ship on time I was absolutely tired and fell asleep in an instant.
The first excursion day brought us to the Isle of Elba, Napoleon's first exile, nice viewing and entertainment, but I was already thinking about the evening. Dressing up I prepared my mind for a new episode of 'Groundhog Day' on board, but the evening developed itself different. Instead of gambling at the casino we went to the ship's theatre for an existing, glamorous show. Our group started to heat up and the finishing drinks at the ship's famous bar 'Gatsby's' resulted in a lot of body contact between us. Especially the two doctor's widows had the typical, frivolous humour of medical staff. "Are we allowed to loan your young godson tonight?", was finally Angela's straight forward question to 'Aunt' Irene.
"Ohlala, my dear, you are really horny. Aren't you?" was Irene's surprising answer. I must have looked like an innocent little boy who didn't understand anything, because all ladies suddenly broke into loud laughter, during which I hold suddenly both widows in my arms like an experienced playboy. Main difference, these bunnies hadn't been twenty but fifty plus years old. Angela's question stayed unanswered for a while. Then Irene, who has changed her clothes from black to bright colours for the first time in the morning, took the initiative, positioned herself just in front of me and looked me straight into my eyes. "Dear Christian, I think it is time that I give you some explanations."
