chapter 3 - set sail (part 1)

The Seabourn ship left the Manhattan Cruise Terminal at 9am sharp. Swarms of guests raced past Eliza as she wandered around the portside balcony with her roller bag, looking totally lost. A familiar voice called out to her.

“Over here!” Eric yelled from around a corner.
Eliza turned and recognized Eric waving 20 feet away.

“Oh hey stranger,” Eliza said as she leaned in and gave Eric a friendly hug.

“First day, so exciting! Look I gotta run, but you see where that life boat stand is? Take a right just past it and head straight through the door that says ‘Private — Lina Anderson’ and you should find your supervisor, Jeremy, there.”

“Oh cool,” Eliza said uneasily, “You’re not coming with?”

“Not my department,” Eric smiled. “You’ll be fine though, Jeremy’s super cool.”
“Who’s Lina?” Eliza asked.

“Oh, she’s uh... well she’s the head of all media and production for our cruise division. You probably won’t see much of her.”

“Okay cool. Well I’ll see you around! Thanks so much for helping me land this!”

“Absolutely, happy it all worked out. You’ll do great.”

“Thanks. Later!”

“See ya, Eliza.”

Eliza made her way over to the door Eric pointed her towards. The ship had an old-world charm to it — ivory pillars, art nouveau railings, and chandeliers. Though when she stepped inside the media office, Eliza was struck by how modern everything looked. It was decked out like a tech startup company with comfy-looking chairs, Macbooks, large speakers, and the most exciting part of all: a long counter piled with free snacks for the staff along with two fully stocked beer fridges.

"Eliza, welcome! So nice to meet you. I'm Jeremy, I'll be supervising/evaluating you… ‘evalue-vising’ if you will," Jeremy joked.

"Oh hi, nice to meet you too," Eliza replied. "This is an incredible office."

"Right? The celebrities we promise to tourists are the reason people buy tickets for these cruises, so we get all the perks. Pretty much anything we ask corporate for, we get."

"Wow, not bad," she said.

"For real. Well let me show you around. I saw you eyeing the beer fridges, and yes, they're totally unlimited. We're told not to open them until 5pm, but honestly it's always 5pm when you're in the middle of the ocean."

"Haha I love it."

"If you're hungry you can grab something while I take you to your room."

There were so many options to choose from — pastries, doughnuts, cereals, chips, candy... Eliza grabbed two danishes in one hand and pulled her bag behind her with the other. She tried her best to look attentive and not wolf her food down as she listened to Jeremy's instructions, though try as she did, Eliza still inhaled both danishes in a matter of seconds. She licked her fingers out of habit as she followed behind Jeremy.

"You'll be staying up on the staff loft with the rest of the media crew," Jeremy said, ushering Eliza down a long hallway. "You can eat in any of the restaurants or cafes on the ship that you want, but honestly sometimes it's more convenient to just hit up the mess hall near our rooms. The food's just as good and they'll make basically whatever you want. Just show 'em your ID badge and chow down."

"This all looks amazing," Eliza said. "And I'm really into that, I'm not always that energetic when I first get up, so having some coffee and fruit near my room will be great in the morning." Images of pancakes and home fries flashed before her as she fantasized about having such easy access to food any time she wanted.

The two continued across the ship, passing by various bars, cafes, the spa, gym, pool, and other amenities offered to the guests. Eliza was completely mesmerized by the options. Jeremy gave a rundown of Eliza's duties during her two-week trial period.

"So I'll be honest with you," Jeremy started. "This is kind of a light week. You'll probably have an hour or so of paperwork to take care of in the mornings, maybe a few phone calls to agents, then otherwise just checking in periodically on the talent to make sure they're comfortable. Though, the concierges usually carry most of the load."

"Cool cool, I can absolutely handle that," Eliza said.

"Right on, otherwise this place is basically your amusement park to wander around. As long as you got your phone on you, you can do whatever — hit the gym, hang in the pool, have some free beer... Just save your energy, though. The staff parties can get pretty wild."

"I like how that sounds. How often do you guys party?"

"Umm every night haha. I promise we're not all alcoholics, it's just the thing we do here."
"Hey no judgment. I'm so down."

"Sweet. Well hey, here's your badge and there's your room, #1402. Get settled in, then just explore around and try to get your bearings. I'll be in Lina's office if you need me. Why don't you check in with me in a few hours, yeah?"

"Sounds great. Catch you in a while."

Eliza’s bedroom was as beautiful as the ship's exterior. Tasteful nautical artwork hung above the bed and dresser along with a brass-framed mirror on the door. Eliza unpacked her things and put away the clothes she'd brought. Knowing it was a casual atmosphere and the middle of summer, she mostly brought sundresses and skirts, along with some shorts, tank tops, and two modest bikinis. However, coming from New York meant all of her outfits were very stylish and fashion forward.

"This is all insane," Eliza thought as she peered out the window, looking down on cabanas and bars. "I've made it. Finally I'll be the one my friends back home are jealous of, living that luxury cruise life." She smiled, and made her way to the mess hall.

It was far more impressive than she had imagined, with a huge menu perched on the wall. It looked like a classic diner. An older gentleman named Achilles cheerfully greeted her at the counter.

"What can I do for ya, hun?" the man said.

"Oh I don't know, today's my first day.” Eliza said. “Anything you'd recommend?"

"The Belgian waffles, I'll make them fresh for you," he said.

"Oh I don't know..." Eliza thought to herself how waffles sounded kind of heavy, and knew she wouldn't be able to focus later after a sugar crash. Not to mention, she was already two pastries deep. But she wasn't used to this amount of freedom. Up until now, meals were something she needed to carefully plan. On the cruise ship, however, food was plentiful and FREE.

"You know, that actually sounds great," Eliza said. "Any chance you could put some ice cream on that too?"

"Of course, no problem."
Eliza hesitated... "Maybe some scrambled eggs and bacon as well?"

The man nodded as he poured batter into the waffle maker.

Eliza blushed as the waiter brought over a massive tray of food.

"Enjoy, darling," he said and walked away.

She dug in quickly, bringing hand to mouth every few seconds, not even finishing the previous bite before shoveling more in. The sweet syrupy ice cream, combined with the decadent waffle batter and savory bacon placed Eilza into a hypnotic state of bliss. Each bite made her trendy skin-tight clothes even tighter, and her semi-professional appearance became less and less professional-looking. It didn't stop until all three plates were completely clean. The 1,500 calories she consumed in just ten minutes made Eliza feel sleepy almost immediately.

"Ah damn it," Eliza said to herself, feeling her expanded belly push up against the counter edge. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
Instinctively she put her hand on her belly, experiencing that familiar expansion.

“Maybe if I grab a quick nap now I won't crash so hard this afternoon."