The story below is a work of fiction and contains erotic and/or sexually explicit behavior between consenting males. If you find this type of writing offensive, or if you are underage and it is illegal to view it, please do not read further, but exit now. The author reserves all copyright privileges. This work may not be reproduced, except for personal use, without permission of the author, and many not be linked to any pay sites.
Thanks for all the kind emails. This is my first attempt at this so your comments have been very helpful and motivating. Please feel free to send me an email with you thoughts about the story. Dan.
Chapter Four
On the fifth week, Rick came bounding down the gangway with a huge smile on his face. Jason had hoped that Rick was simply happy to see him. But it was more than that. Rick had received a note that he was being moved to another cabin and that he wouldn't have a roommate. He was ecstatic. He didn't know what he did to deserve that but he was very happy. One problem was that he needed to be back onboard at 12pm to move his things so they would have to cut their day in St Thomas short by a couple of hours. Jason said that was OK since he needed to go to the post office anyway, so no probs.
Rick went back to his old cabin, packed up his stuff and smiled as he went to his new cabin. It was great. He had the cabin to himself. And he had his own bathroom which was very rare. He felt happy. What a birthday this was turning out to be. He hadn't told anyone it was his birthday because, besides Jason, he didn't think anybody really cared. He didn't want Jason making a fuss so he kept it to himself.
Jason made it back just in time and his shift went well. When he was off duty at midnight, he didn't make his usual trip to the disco. He had some things to do. Rick kept looking for Jason and was feeling sad that Jason didn't show up. Oh well, Rick couldn't be upset, Jason didn't know it was his 25th birthday.
Rick finished at 2am and went back to his cabin. When he opened the door, something didn't seem right. He turned on the lights to find the cabin filled with balloons and streamers and a sign that said Happy Birthday. Below it said, "How does it feel to be a quarter of a century old." Tears filled his eyes but he couldn't imagine how this happened. He hadn't told anyone. He looked on his bed to find a small box that was wrapped in shiny silver paper. He sat on the bed, tears falling from his eyes, and opened the package. Inside was a beautiful blue box that said Little Switzerland. When he opened it he couldn't believe what he saw. The watch that he admired in St Thomas a few weeks ago. A small card inside said, "may all your dreams come true". Rick knew that only one person could have done this. And he sat. And he cried. Tears of joy. Tears of love? Rick pulled himself together, noticed that he had 3 more letters from Destin. He threw them away, unread, and went to bed.
The next morning was St Maarten and Rick practically ran down to the gangway to meet Jason at 9am. It was a cloudy day and a bit cool so he had on a long sleeve cotton shirt. Jason was there acting like nothing had happened.
So Rick decided he would take the same approach.
They headed into town and decided to just walk around for awhile. It wasn't a good day for a run or the beach. Towards the end of town, long past the tourist areas, was a small pub. They went in and ordered Diet Cokes. They couldn't drink since both of them had to work in a few hours. They talked about Rick's new cabin and other items. Finally Rick pulled his sleeve up, looked at his watch, and said, "I think we better head back, it is almost 1pm". With that he looked at Jason and smiled. Jason beamed. But it wasn't just the smile. It was the look. Jason saw love. Rick saw it coming back at him from Jason. Neither said anything, they slowly walked back to Sojourn. As they were walking, the Captain was coming towards them.
Rick had not met the Captain yet. He was a man in his 50s that looked like a captain. He was from Italy and had dark hair and brown eyes. Captain Cardone stopped and looked at Jason. He got a big smile and extended his hand in a greeting. Rick was so impressed that Jason was so friendly with the Captain. He did think it was strange that Jason didn't seem that happy about seeing the Captain and how Jason greeted the Captain so curtly by saying, "good afternoon sir, Jason North, Assistant Purser". The Captain paused for a moment, and said, "oh yes, nice to see you again." Jason then introduced Rick and the Captain was gracious and asked them what they had been doing and how were things running in their areas. A few minutes of strained small talk and they were on their way again.
Chapter Five
Back at the ship, things were normal. Sojourn set sail at 5pm for Nassau. Rick had 2 more letters which he threw away. Jason was about to go to dinner. Usually Sojourn was cruising at her top speed on this leg of the trip but not tonight. The ship was cruising at about 5 knots. Peter said that the Captain had asked for Jason to report up to his office to discuss the problems. About an hour later, Jason returned and told Peter that one of the Azipods had been damaged and the other one was running hot and they would have to dock in San Juan and discharge the passengers. Sojourn had to go in for repairs.
During the evening show, the guests were advised of the problem and that the cruise would be ending in the morning in San Juan. Compass Cruise Lines was offering full refunds, all of their onboard expenses to date would be waived, a free future cruise, and was chartering planes to get all the guests back to Ft Lauderdale and from there they would make commercial flight arrangements to get guests to their homes. All expenses were to be paid for by Compass. While some were angry, most guests agreed that the cruise line was handling this very well and adopted a c'est la vie attitude about things.
Jason had to work through the night. The logistics were massive. Head office in Ft Lauderdale was also working through the night. Jason also had to have a meeting with the crew. He told them what was going on. The ship would sail from San Juan shortly after all guests were ashore and head for Mobile, Alabama for repairs. The ship would be out of service for at least 2 weeks. The crew would receive full salary, a payment in lieu of gratuities they would have normally received, hotel accommodation during the 2 weeks, and they would also each receive $500 in spending money. He said that they basically would have a 2 week paid vacation. Also, during the 4 days it would take to sail to Mobile at a reduced speed, all areas of Sojourn would be open for the crew to enjoy. Free drinks, all the shows would go ahead, disco would be open, and Compass wanted them to have a good time.
By late afternoon all the passengers were ashore and on their way home, Jason was exhausted. He went to his cabin about 5pm just as Sojourn was setting course for Mobile. He fell into a dead sleep and slept through the night. He was awakened by a knock on his door at 8am. He had morning breath, his hair was a mess, pillow creases lined his face as he staggered to the door. When he opened the door there was a tray waiting on the floor.
Orange Juice, cereal, a bagel, hot tea, and a small vase with a yellow rose was on the tray. A small card said, "Sorry you had to work so hard. Not easy for an old man". No signature. Jason smiled and knew. Fair is fair he thought. Rick was saying thanks.
He ate the breakfast, showered, and decided to take his book and head up towards the pool. He found a deck chair and spread out and fell asleep. He really was exhausted. When he awoke, he saw out of the corner of his eye those strong hairy legs and ripped stomach that had been the core of many of his wanking fantasies.
Rick smiled and said, "it is about time you woke up old man. I thought I was going to have to get the wheelchair and roll your flabby ass back to bed".
"Great bedside manner mate and nice to see you too," was Jason's reply.
Rick wanted to know what was wrong with the ship. Jason explained in excruciating detail how the Azipod propulsion system worked and what was wrong.
"Azipod is the latest type of propulsion used by cruise ships. Rather than the traditional propellers mounted on long drive shafts, Azipods are actually self contained engines which are suspended below the ship. They looked much like a propeller engine on an aircraft - just much larger. The Azipods can be turned a full 360 degrees. This provides tremendous maneuverability enabling the shift to turn quickly and sharply. The fact that the engines are suspended below the water also reduces vibration. An added bonus is that there is not a need for extensive machinery onboard so there is more space available within the ship. Compass had used this space to provide crew members with more spacious accommodation and facilities. The downside of Azipod was that because the engines were fully encased and below the water, repairing them meant that divers had to go below the ship for easy repairs or that the ship would have to be taken out of the water for major repairs."
Jason then went on to explain that Sojourn and the new ship being built in Germany were gas turbine powered ships. This meant less emissions which Compass felt was important. Taking care of the environment was in the corporate mission statement. So Sojourn was actually GTS Sojourn.
Jason really knew his stuff. Rick said he couldn't believe how wonderful Compass was being to the crew - both with the extra space and also how they were taking care of the crew during this difficult time.
"This must be costing them a fortune. Not just what they are paying us but in lost revenue," Rick said.
Jason said, "yes, when all expenses and lost revenue were calculated it would be well over $10 million."
Jason then asked Rick what he was going to be doing during the 2 weeks. Rick commented that it was a stroke of luck that the ship would be going to Mobile which is about a 2 hour drive from Destin. He thought he would go home. He said he had not heard of major ships going to Mobile for repair.
"Don't they usually got to Norfolk or someplace like that"? Rick asked.
Jason smiled, "Yes, guess you are having some good luck!"
Jason told Rick that he had lived in Pensacola for awhile and that he was going to head over there for 10 days. He also asked if Rick wanted a ride to Destin and if he wanted to spend some time together while they were off. Jason knew that money was tight for Rick and that the family home in Destin was needing some attention and that the family car had been destroyed in the accident that claimed his parents. So the ride would help Rick out a lot.
Rick agreed and planned to spend 3 days in Destin and then come over to Pensacola. So, they arrived into Mobile on beautiful day, rented a car, and took off heading east on I-10 towards the Florida state line. The pine trees and flat landscape always seemed beautiful to Jason. He could tell that Rick was happy to be back but also fearful of going back to Destin and all the memories. After an hour they were nearing Pensacola.