chapter 2

It was just after Christmas and the girls had finished packing for their trip. The cruise was leaving out of Nova Scotia and set to travel down to the Caribbean, though the Atlantic, around the horn of Africa u to India, China, Japan, cross the Pacific to Hawaii then Seattle, San Francisco, Mexico, through the Panama Canal and finally back to Nova Scotia. The would stop in a couple of locations overnight but for the most part the ship was just out at sea. The contest was very straight forward, and the only major requirement was that the girls take a photo everyday with a Slurpee in hand and a candy bar.
The girls dropped off their luggage at the dock and checked in on the main deck of the ship. Standing there was a sharply dressed young man of about 22 holding a sign that had Emily's name on it. Emily felt a bit awkward walking up to the man. He was quite handsome at about 5'10", well built at a solid 180, and soft black hair.
"Hi, this is Emily and you can call me Cassi." Cassandra jumped in sensing Emily's hesitation.
"Welcome aboard ladies, my name is Ryan and I am here to make sure that your trip is the best that it can be. I will be responsible for your daily photos for the contest and as such I brought you these." Ryan stepped aside to show off a tray of slurpees ranging in color and flavor. "I'm sorry I don't quite know which your favorite is, so I just grabbed them all for you to choose."
"Ryan," Emily finally answered. "I think you are my favorite person in the world right now." Emily walked up and grabbed a red Slurpee in her left hand and a Blue one in her right. Cassi and Christina followed suit and the three girls gathered together for their first promotional picture.
"You girls are ready to jump right into then. Well I believe you will love your room then."
Ryan led the girls through the mezzanine of the ship and laid out to the best of his ability where most of the amenities were on the ship. It all seemed like so much and Emily was starting to tune him out. She sipped mindlessly on her Slurpee. She had always loved the cold rush of a brain freeze, the sweet sugary flavor and that satisfying smooth texture on her tongue. She hardly noticed getting into the elevator as the moved to their floor.
As the elevator doors opened they could tell they were on in the nicest part of the ship. The wide hallways and elegant paintings had the girls awestruck. Emily and Cassi had both finished the first of their two slurpees and were well into their second. Ryan approached a room with double front doors and opened them wide.
They had a suite to themselves that had four small rooms that branched off. In the center of the suite was a hot tub, a sitting area, and best of all...
"Is that a slurpee machine!" Christina yelled in excitement.
"Of course, we want you girls to enjoy these whenever you have a chance. We also have some of our partner merchandise here," Ryan said gesturing to a tray of candy bars, chips and other snacks.
"My god," Cassi gasped. "It's like our own private 7-11 in here."
"We really want you girls to have a good time and for that reason I will have this room here to the right and will be on call to assist you if you need anything, but I will let you all unpack and get settled. The ship sets sail in 2 hours and we will have cocktails before dinner."
With that Ryan left the three girls and they walked about their room taking everything in. Chritina was the first to break into the candy bars. "Emily, thank you for this, this is heaven." Christina said this between bites.
"Hey don't hog them all," Cassi said as she grabbed a bar for herself.
"And look at this," Christina said pointing to a small bar behind the hot tub. "Perfect." She opened up a bottle of vodka and spiked her Slurpee. "Now this is what I have been looking for."
"Top me off too, right after I refill." Emily refilled her blue Slurpee and Christina gave it 2 splashes of vodka.
"A toast! Lets make this the best vacation ever."
The girls put on their best outfits as they went to their first dinner on board. They had met Ryan for cocktails and the girls were all enthralled by Ryan's presence. They sat down to their first meal and it was nothing short of amazing.