What Happened Last Night? - A Humorous Fiction Novel

17

One year later. . .

The SunTan Cruise ship floated in the middle of the ocean. The sun was beaming, and the shining blue waves peacefully sounded off around the ship. There were six levels to the ship, each floor playing different types of music to the muse of the patrons and staff. Several types of restaurants and bars on board, and a playground for basketball, swimming, tennis, and mini-golf on the top floor. It was one o'clock in the afternoon, four hours since the four departed from the port of Orlando, Florida (unfortunately the closest port to drive to), and they felt like they could stay for eternity already.

The top floor held several more bars and food stands. Ocean Blues, their logo prop a smiling crab with its pinchers open and eyes sweet and bubbly, was stationed in one of the corners. Their booth was mainly wooden, brown hay-like straws covering the bar's counter. Behind the two bartenders were shelves of alcohol and mixes. People sat at Ocean Blues in a U-shaped formation. Jaine sipped the remains of her red cocktail through a coconut cup. She held the straw in between her two fingers as she slurped the rest out of her cup as much as possible. Lola, Derrick, and Billy were taking their tropical beverages slow. Very slow. Last year still felt like it happened yesterday. Jaine let out a strong burp, hastily covered her mouth, smiling shyly, then excused herself. She was blushing; considering her attitude, she was probably on her way. Her friends chuckled. She spun around in her silver chair, leaving her empty cup with the bartender.

"Look at this. Absolutely amazing," Jaine said.

Her friends turned in their seats, observing the peaceful and fun vibe the ship and its passengers irradiated. The nice reggae music in the background, the multitude of activities, the divine quality of the cruise, and where they were touring made them feel like they were on an emotional high. Last year's trip sucked, and work had been quite stressful.

"Seven days of this? I can dig it," Derrick said. He took a sip of his cocktail.

Seven days was one of the heftiest options they could pick. Eight thousand dollars each and that's not counting the extra stuff like the restaurants not included in the amenities, gift shops, and who knows what else when they port in the Caribbean. They had Zora by the balls. Might as well go with the priciest option; he offered to pay for their trip no matter what. When they told him what cruise they wanted, he paid for it instantly.

They got up and walked to the silver railing, looking out at the mystery that surrounded them. Lola took out a folded pamphlet from her jean shorts pocket. After unfolding it and flipping over a couple of pages, she folded the right side over the rest of the pages.

"The Blue Men perform in the Main Hall tonight."

"Huh? Really?" Jaine said, face contorted.

"Yep. Trying to go see it?"

"I'll pass."

"What's wrong with the Blue Men?" Billy asked.

"What's wrong with them? Everything! They remind me of clowns." Jaine took a breath. "And I hate clowns."

She could never understand why clowns dressed up the way they did. It made zero sense. Their so-called goofiness was horrifying, especially when they smiled. Did they not know they looked creepy doing that? Scratch that, did they not know they looked creepy in general? It's like her mom always used to tell her as a kid: Never trust a clown.

"You guys can go. Imma get a massage."

"Fair enough," Lola said.

Getting a massage wasn't in harm's way. Their staterooms were luxury quality. Not only were they staying in suites, but they could walk out into the exclusive spa and skip the line whenever they wanted to during the day. True VIP treatment.

"Well." Billy raised his coconut. "Here's to making this the best trip of our lives. There's no Zora. There's no us going off the rails. The only ones that can truly fuck this up is us, and I don't think any of us want that, right?"

They laughed, then said no. God forbid another fuck-up.

"So cheers to having a fantastic trip and nothing more."

"Cheers to that," Derrick said, raising his coconut.

"Cheers," Lola said, raising her drink in the air.

"I drank all of mine already but cheers." Jaine raised her invisible coconut to theirs.

They took another swig of their drinks. Leaning on the rail they fixated on the beauty of the ocean. Messing this cruise up was not on their to-do list - absolutely not. Without a shadow of a doubt, without any stretch of the imagination, they declared right then and there they were not going to screw this cruise up. By no chance were they going to fold. They were going to have fun, stay soberish, and prevail. Jaine called for them to come closer. She took out her phone and put them all in view.

"On the count of three, we all say cheese! Ready? One. Two. Three!"

"CHEEEESE!"

Her phone flashed, capturing the happiness of four souls on a seven day vacation out in the middle of the sea.