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.
Hang on tight guys, here is chapter 9.
Chapter Nine
Jason left. Rick took a shower. He remembered he needed to call a friend of his in Destin and went for a phone book since he didn't have his address book with him. He went to the desk in the second bedroom. He looked in the drawer and found the phone book. He needed some paper to write on and found some personalized stationery. It had the initials ENW on it. He thought that must be who owned the place. He didn't remember Jason ever mentioning the guy's name. ENW, he thought. All you need is an S and you have all the points on a compass. He chuckled.
Jason's drive to Mobile was quick. The I-10 causeway didn't have much traffic. The USS Alabama sat gleaming just before the tunnel which takes you into Mobile. A couple of turns towards the dockyards and there was Sojourn. He thought she actually looked sad but how can an inanimate object look sad.
He showed his ID to the security officer and went onboard. He went to his cabin and took a nap. He went to the Purser's office and did some paperwork and went to make sure things were coming together for the board meeting. The Captain saw him and greeted him warmly.
The board meeting the next day started promptly at 4pm. Board meeting isn't really the right term. Compass Cruise Lines was owned by a parent company which was solely owned by one individual. In fact, the ships were actually registered in the owner's personal name. Each ship was worth $400 million so that was about two billion dollars just in hardware. The parent company also owned some resorts. It owned a charter airline - the very airline that came to the rescue of the passengers in San Juan. The cruise line and the airline were the jewels in the crown for the owner. His love of ships was equally matched by his love of airplanes. He had recently updated the charter fleet to Boeing 777s. They now had seven of them but one was for the owner's personal use. He loved the power of the massive engines, passengers loved the planes, and the technology in the aircraft was state of the art. The parent company had some other interests which didn't seem to be related. A chain of check printing companies, a farm house in Devon in southern England, a catering company which supplied services to cruise lines, and it had a foundation which provided millions to a variety of charities. The parent company was 100% owned by one individual and he was worth several billion dollars.
Tidying up a few things at the office, he went to his cabin, put on his assistant purser whites, and went to the boardroom. The team of executives had gathered knowing that the owner was due at any minute. They all loved him. They were hand picked. They were the best in the business. They were well paid and very loyal. The generosity he had shown to the crew of Sojourn was just another example of how he did things.
As the door opened, everyone smiled and said hello. The owner came in. Hugged many of the people. He sat in the middle of the table insisting the Captain of Sojourn take the head. "While we all know we aren't at sea, Captain Cardone is still master of the Vessel. He takes the helm".
Neatly placed in front of each person at the table was a leather binder embossed with a stylish nautical compass. Along the bottom where S or South is usually written was the name of the company. Simple and brief. ENW Enterprises.
Rick didn't hurry to Destin. He actually drove below the speed limit on Highway 98. In about 45 minutes he was there. He drove to his old house like he had done for 24 years of his life. So many memories. But that was the past and he felt an inner peace and completeness he had never felt before. Tranquility. He smiled at the thought.
When he pulled into the driveway he thought he must have been daydreaming and pulled into the wrong house. He looked again, and it was his house. It had been painted, had a new roof, the lawn had been re-sodded and landscaped. A BMW 328i sat in the drive. He felt like he was in an alternate universe. The mail box had several letters for Rick so this was his place. He went to the front door and tried the key almost sure it wouldn't work. It did. When he went in, he couldn't believe it. It was stunning. Hard wood flooring had replaced the worn green shag that had been there. The water stains in the ceiling had been repaired and the ceiling had been painted and new lighting installed. The furniture was out of a magazine. Comfortable but stylish. The kitchen caused him to gasp. Granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances. Through-out the house it was amazing. One room remained untouched. His old bedroom. It was just as he had left it.
Stunned he went to the kitchen and found an envelope on the table. It was addressed to My Dearest Rick. He opened it, and out fell a set of keys with the BMW logo on them. And a note was inside.
"I love you. With all my heart and all my being. May all your dreams come true. With all my love, me."
Rick was stunned. He was confused. He didn't know what was happening to him. He felt completely out of control. He sorted through the mail, threw away several of the letters that were similar to what he received on Sojourn, and filed the rest of the mail in his bedroom.
Back on Sojourn, they were going through the status of Sojourn's repairs. It appears that some steel cables had come loose at the pier in St Maarten and drifted under Sorjourn as she was docked. When the engines started the cables became entangled in the Azipods. There was no way to know. The port side Azipod had suffered substantial damage and would need to be replaced. The starboard side unit was also damaged and could only operate at 50%. That would mean a top cruising speed of about 8 to 10 knots. The ship would have to go back to Germany for repairs. She would be out of service for 3-6months. This was very bad news.
All eyes turned to the owner of ENW Enterprises. Ethan Neil West was under 40 and head of a multi-billion dollar company. While everyone liked him, nobody knew much about him or his personal life. He didn't live an extravagant life except for his personal 777 and a few other luxuries. He was kind to a fault but a smart businessman. Nobody doubted that.
"OK. Well, lets get Sojourn to the hospital and the surgery she needs." This caused a laugh around the table and helped to lighten the mood. Anyway you looked at this, it was bad news. But they would survive and make the best of it.
"I have 900 people who rely on Sojourn for their income. I can't leave these people without income. We have to take care of them. Besides healing Sojourn, taking care of our people is priority one".
The director of the new build construction team spoke up. "Well, we do have some good news. Our new build is ahead of schedule, we could take delivery of her in 6 weeks. We could move Sojourn's crew over to the new ship. We had not started recruitment for the new ship yet since we thought we were a few months out. Sojourn and the new ship are identical so no new training would be required."
Ann Jones, manager of PR then spoke. "Ethan, that leaves us with 6 weeks to fill with 900 people. You charter airline needs some help. We could probably take 100. The catering business is doing well and could take another 100 for short term assignments. Because of visa issues, the remaining won't be able to work on US soil. That leaves about 700 we will need to furlough until the new ship is ready".
Ethan looked at Ann and smiled. "Ann, what do you think my response is?"
Ann replied. "Nobody gets furloughed. Pay them all."
"That is right. Go ahead and offer short term work to those that want it at catering and the charter company. Pay them for that work on top of what they would have made on Sojourn. I want you to see what we can do to speed up the delivery on the new ship and also to shorten poor Sojourn's time in the hospital. Captain Cardone, would you do me the honor of being master of our newest vessel?" Captain Cardone nodded affirmatively.
Kevin, the Director for Sales and Marketing then spoke. "Ethan, you know you actually own each of the ships outright. You have also named each of the ships and we need to get busy marketing and selling the new ship. We need a name".
"OK, here is the new name. He passed the paper to Kevin. "I want a model with the new name sent to my home by tomorrow. Is that possible?"
"Sure, it is identical to Sojourn so we can use that model and change the name. Nobody will know. We can send that to you. Where shall we send it?" Kevin asked.
"Talk to Boss, I mean Sarah. She can tell you where to send it." Sarah had been with Ethan for over 10 years and bossed him around. He called her Boss and nobody got through her to Ethan unless she said it was ok. He loved her even though they both claimed to hate one another.
"Any other business?" Ethan asked.
Ann from HR spoke up. "Yeah Ethan, how much longer you going to wear the uniform? I mean you do look hot but I don't know many billionaires dressing like that."
Ethan smiled. "Well, I do look hot don't I?" I actually have had people whistling at me while I have been out jogging so I think the life at sea agrees with me. Oh, and Captain, thanks for not blowing my cover the other day. That was close".
"Well Ethan, you shocked me. I didn't know you were onboard. Can I please know when our distinguished owner is onboard my ship?"
"Point taken. Jason North has retired".