Laid 2 Rest Two Halves of a Whole (18 page)

First class of course!

Upon landing, we checked ourselves into a ritzy hotel close to the ship’s port for the night since we were scheduled to board the craft at 8:00am sharp the next following morning. That left us the rest of the day to explore this awesome foreign city.

Barcelona was surreal, breathtaking, and the people were warm and friendly to us. The city breathed much-needed life back into me. I felt right at home, so much so, that I eagerly anticipated getting started on this brand new chapter of my life… and never look back.

“You want to check out the beach or walk around town?” I asked her because I couldn’t decide where I wanted to begin.

“Let’s scope out the city and find something to eat.”

We hopped into a taxi that reeked of cigars and instructed the grouchy looking driver to deliver us wherever the tourists loved to go. He knew exactly where to take us and dropped us off at a festive place called
Passeig de Gracia
known for its prime shopping.

We spent most of the day there. They had everything under the sun from jewelry, to books, to wine. With restaurants, museums, and nightclubs weaved throughout, people could happily lose themselves here and escape from the harsh reality of their lives.

We partook in some of the local foods that could only be described as small bites of heaven; everything tasted so fresh that it sent my taste buds into hyper-drive. Most people even spoke English to my surprise, which worked out to my advantage because I couldn’t speak a lick of Spanish to save my life.

When the sun traded places with the moon, the streets of the city became alive and looked like one humongous block party. People danced and enjoyed themselves openly, freely, without fear of being judged by others. I did not know what to do with myself. Normally, I’m pretty reserved, but my spirit went soaring as it followed the glorious rhythm of music that surrounded us.

Wow, this is the life!

Maya and I joined in the festivities until late in the evening and by the time we made it back to our hotel room, we were completely exhausted. Dead to the world as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

“Hurry up, will you. I don’t want to miss the boat!” I yelled at Maya thru the bathroom door the next morning.

“Almost finished,” she yelled back.

She finally emerged,
fifteen minutes later
, dressed in a pretty, purple flowered sundress and matching sandals. With her braids pulled back and sunglasses resting on top of her head it was obvious that she was ready for a day in the sun.

“Hey, that’s cute. Now let’s go.”

Half dragging her slow behind out the door, we headed downstairs to check out of the hotel and then hopped into an awaiting cab to take us over to the ship’s port.

People were scattered everywhere, anxiously waiting to board. A sea of many different cultures stood before me, all about to partake on this adventure with us. I became consumed with a warm fuzzy feeling, instantly assuring me that my decision to come was a good one.

I was supposed to be here. That wasn’t exactly true… It was more like
I belonged here!

I love different cultures, their people, their foods, even their customs. I bathed in it and soaked it into me. Learning how other people live their lives, can open and expand your mind to all sorts of new heights and possibilities. I could not wait to get on board and start mingling with all these people, make some new friends, and experience new and exciting things that I’ve been ignorant to my whole life. This amount of eagerness was something I hadn’t felt in a long while and one could only hope that I wasn’t jumping for joy…
too badly
.

I reserved us one of the biggest cabins available on the ship, a deluxe suite. It had a single king-size bed for us to share, a decent sized bathroom, separate living room, and our own private balcony, overlooking the deep blue sea. It was exceptional, an apartment literally floating on water.

“This must have cost a fortune. You didn’t need to book us a room this big, you know.” Maya told me while unpacking the first of her fifty suitcases. Dang, we’re only on vacation. Not moving in, woman!

“No worries… don’t even think about it. We’re here to relax. So just sit back and enjoy.”

“What’s our first stop again?”

“France. Can you believe it? We’ll get there sometime around dawn. In the meantime, let’s go check out our new home for the next 15 days. Throw your swimsuit on underneath that, just in case.”

“You read my mind. Do you want to make up some fake names first… before we run into any cute guys?”

“I’m not here to meet any cute guys.
I’m married,
remember?”

“Nope! Not for the next 2 weeks, you’re not. You, my friend are going to let your hair down and have some fun for a change. You’ve been so depressed that a good lay might do your ass some good! Let’s see, I think I’ll call you “Angel” because you’re miss goody two shoes and you can call me “Star” because
I’m fabbbbuuloussss,
” she said laughing at her own retarded joke.

“
Fine!
But get it thru your thick skull right now that I have no intentions on sleeping with anyone aboard this ship.”

“Uh huh… and when was the last time you and Diego did the deed? How long has it been
this
time exactly?”

“Over a year,” I coughed out, embarrassed to even say it aloud.

“I rest my case. Shit girl, you two are just roommates. Not man and wife.”

And she was right.

Again
.

We were only married on paper, but that didn’t change the fact that I had vows to uphold.

From the main deck, we watched the ship pull further and further away from the shore until there was nothing left but water surrounding us. As we moved on and explored the ship, we came across a couple of pools, tons of restaurants, shops, lounges, bars, gyms, and even a casino. We played in there a little while, drawing some unwanted attention to ourselves as we played at a blackjack table by some horny, old toads looking to get lucky on this voyage.

Give me a break, fellas.

“Hit me, baby!” I cooed at the dealer.

“21 for the pretty lady.”

“You’re on fire, Angel.” Maya winked at me from the seat next to mine.

“Look who’s talking. What are you up? Two hundred bucks already.”

“Just one of my many talents,” she replied not looking at me, but at the hunky, blackjack dealer named Ramon instead, who couldn’t have been older than twenty-two.

Cougar!

“May we buy you lovely ladies a drink?” said a sexy male accent behind us, pulling our attention away from Ramon for a moment.

We both turned around, curious to see if the package matched the voice. Maya had to literally stop herself from laughing in the poor mans face. He was a short, fat, balding man with a really hairy chest that poked out from his overly bright yellow button down shirt.

Gross!

The only thing this man had going for himself was
his voice
and his friend, let me tell you…
wasn’t much of a looker either
.

“
Pleezzzzzz
, we’re a little busy playing with our new friend here. So, move along little man,” Maya said, shooing him away to blow Ramon a fat juicy kiss.

“Maybe later then,” the man told us before walking away with the strangest look on his chubby face that I couldn’t quite read.

“Uh, Star. I think you hurt his feelings or you just gained a stalker! I haven’t decided which one yet,” I teased her as we resumed our game of blackjack.

After the casino, we headed off to the dining hall. From the looks of it, they had every food imaginable, from every region of the world out for us to consume. My mouth began to salivate just from the smell alone. My stomach on the other hand, grumbled loudly to inform me of the fact that it was indeed, empty and ready to be stuffed. With rows upon rows of food, the selections offered were triple the amount of any buffet I’d ever seen before.

So not the place to be if you were on a diet!

We helped ourselves, loading up our plates with cuisines that we had never tried before or could even pronounce for that matter, and headed off to find us somewhere to sit and dig in.

Enjoying the casual atmosphere and the company of a young couple from Canada that was here on their honeymoon, the same little bald man from the casino and his ugly ass friend, decided to sneak up and ambushed us from behind. “Are these seats taken?” he asked, nodding to the four empty chairs left open at our table.

“Why no… please go right ahead and have a seat. We were just leaving anyways. I’ve suddenly lost my appetite!” I told them as I ripped the fork out from Maya’s unsuspecting hand and pulled her up from the table. “
Stalker freak!
” I said solely to her as we made our getaway.

Some people just can’t take a hint. What did we have to do…
spell it out for them? Draw them a picture? Maybe smoke signals would work.

Determined to not let them bring us down, we headed back to our room to freshen up a bit before changing into our club outfits for the rest of the evening.

I put on a sexy little red number to show off my lean legs with some fabulous shoes that I had found while shopping in Barcelona. The craftsmanship and detail that the designer had put into them was remarkable. Once I picked them up, I couldn’t let them go. So much so, I had three more pairs in various colors stashed under the bed.

Maya was dressed in a silver sequenced mini that really brought out the color of her olive skin. The front of her dress dipped down so low, I thought her boobs might fall out. Talk about a risky.
I hope those bad boys are taped down
or else someone is more than likely to get flashed tonight. “Let’s go break some hearts,” she proclaimed after applying one last application of shimmery lip-gloss.

The first nightclub we picked was hopping and jam-packed with wall-to-wall people. Heading straight for the bar, we ordered ourselves a couple of drinks to kick-start our night.

“What can I get you lovely ladies?” the bartender asked us.

“What’s your specialty?” I shot right back at him.

“Sex on the beach.”

“Hmmmm, I bet it is, baby. We’ll take two.” Maya purred at him.

“You’re so bad,” I informed her.

“We’re here to have a good time. Loosen up and let your teenage wild side come out, won’t ya?”

“Meowwwwww,” I clawed at her with my fingers just to appease her, knowing full well that I didn’t exactly have a wild side anymore.
Shit, who am I kidding, that ship sailed long before I could full appreciate it.

“Hot damn, Jazz… now that’s my girl!”

We had a couple more drinks; we danced, laughed, and drank a hell of a lot more, until I was tipsy with a smooth buzz. I felt good, free even. BOLD would be the word I’m looking for. I could be anyone I wanted to be while on this ship and none would be the wiser. It wasn’t as if Maya was going to tell on me. So I decided to go ahead, play the game with her, and go crazy. For the rest of this little trip… consider me
a single sexy bitch,
named Angel.

We were jumping around and dancing the night away with two cute guys from England when that same short, bald guy approached Maya on the dance floor. “May I cut in?” he asked Maya’s dance partner.

“Not you again! Look little man, I am not interested. So fuck off will…” Maya started, but the man grabbed her by the upper arm and shook her, causing her sentence to become lodged in her throat. “Oh no you didn’t. How dare you?” she spat out when the initial shock wore off. She had not expected that and was completely caught off guard because for a small dude, he sure was strong.

But little did this man know, that the one thing Maya and I had in common was the fact that we didn’t appreciate being manhandled. Just when we were about to uncork a bottle of whoop-that-ass, someone stepped in and beat us to the punch.

“You had best remove your hand before I’m forced to remove it for you!” Boomed a husky male voice directly behind me.

I started to turn to see who had come to our defense, but his large hand darted past me, drawing my eyes with it. Grabbing the man by the front of his ugly ass shirt, the newcomer jerked him easily away from Maya and had him practically suspended in midair due to the substantial height difference. “Did your mother never teach you that it’s wrong to put your hands on a lady?” The husky voice added, throwing the man away from him in disgust. I know him, I realized, locking onto his face for the first time as he turned his full attention to Maya, “Are you alright? He didn’t hurt you did he?”