Unforgettable cruise

Chapter 82 - (actual chapter 23 concludes…)

* *
Jayne’s mood continued to swing during the entire shower-to-bed process. When she could keep herself in the moment, she was happy, even contented at points. When her mind drifted to the future—even the near-term future—she felt sad, upset, or otherwise discomposed.


Leigh had glasses of water to hand to them soon as they emerged all clean and dry from the bathroom. “Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.”


Bed was better, especially with Leigh gently rubbing her bloated belly along with Clark, the latter cuddled into her backside. She dropped off to sleep like a rock—a soft, sexy rock—within very few minutes after getting horizontal and being cuddled.


After a few minutes of being at loose ends and with soft conversation between her and Clark having faltered several times, Leigh wobbled over behind him, struggled to get atop the bed without waking up Jayne (and succeeded), then squished into her man’s backside. Originally meant as the start of some sexy time, the alcohol and food digestion ensured she and he dropped off into sleep, nearly as quickly as had Jayne.


* *
Up in his cabin after dinner that evening, inactive Captain Cameron Cranch took his temperature and otherwise did his nightly round of COVID-19 symptom checking, which he had routinely been doing at this time given that his and many people’s symptoms tended to be worse in the evening and pre-bed night.


{Hmm, no measurable symptoms for the third day in a row} he concluded. {Tomorrow may be the day to be more thoroughly reevaluated by Medical.}


He turned his attention to his nightly newly-incoming email review. One message in particular caught his attention:


To: SPHR, Capt. C. Cranch
From: DJ Gem Jayne
Subject: Difference-Maker Nomination, March 2020


Greetings Ms. Counts and Captain Cranch,

Today, 31 March 2020, I happened to witness a Food & Beverage Department staff member going far above and beyond expectations to deliver a once-in-a-lifetime positive, memorable experience to a passenger whom, via other channels, I understand has suffered great losses of family and friends to COVID-19 disease. A recovered survivor herself, as am I, this passenger, given name Rebecca, a native of New York City, repeatedly expressed deep frustration about having been a citizen of the state of California for a full 20 years, and still feeling like an outsider.

Seated with a group of passengers whom I now count amongst my friends, including Rebecca, I can verify firsthand that Sip And A Wink Pub barmaid Lita Hudson absolutely performed her job’s core mission of fast, efficient, friendly, accurate service throughout the course of our group’s unusually extended lunch, as is expected.

During one routine serving interaction with our group, Lita happened to overhear Rebecca expressing her frustration, lamenting that there was not some process by which she could become, in her words, an official “Cali girl”. Quick-witted to a degree I envy and thinking quickly on her feet, knowing nothing more than Rebecca’s stated frustration and that myself and two others at the table were native-born Californians as is Lita herself, and knowing that there is no actual official process to become a “Cali girl”, she on-the-fly in the moment invented an entire qualification procedure based upon available resources, namely those of us present who happened to be native-born Californians. The procedure amounted to a 4 question Q and A, with each of us natives asking nominee Rebecca a question “that only a true Cali girl would know”. She cleverly worded everything to make it seem official, and as though it was some sort of actual system extant outside her creative mind. She set up the quiz in a way which allowed her to continue about her business serving other customers, checking back with us as per her standard table rounds, got us going, and was on her way doing her job.

Back in time as part of the next loop of her standard rounds, she asked the final question which would in the context of this made-up process determine whether Rebecca qualified or not as a Cali girl. Feeling all the tension of a game show contestant about to make a high-stakes choice (I verified with her after the fact), Rebecca answered correctly. Madam and sir, I have no words suitable to express the deep, heartfelt joy and pride and relief and *acceptance* this passenger Rebecca felt upon earning this accolade she felt she needed, created on-the-fly by our ship’s creative and quick-witted F&B employee Lita Hudson. So thoughtful was Lita, she managed to obtain a bright orange California poppy, presenting it to Rebecca as a visible physical manifestation of her success at qualifying as a true Cali girl.

No lives were saved, as our heroic medical staff had to do on a daily basis with no outside support when we were at sea, under extremely trying circumstances. No emergency repairs were made to keep us going, as our Engine department had to do to keep the power on and get us here to port, and they and our other engineering and technical departments do routinely, for all our survival and, normally, optimal pleasure. One life of one passenger was changed forever, in the best possible way, with no deleterious impact whatsoever on barmaid Lita Hudson’s assigned duties.

It is not for us to know or judge why this Cali girl concept means so much to our passenger Rebecca. As a new friend of hers and witness to the entire proceedings before, during, and after as well as one of the question-askers, I can tell you first hand that this matters to her so much that she now prefers her friends refer to her as Cali, and that she wears that orange poppy Lita gave her in her hair everywhere she goes in public around our ship. If you see a super-extremely busty very, very fat woman with an adorably sweet face with a big yet cute nose and an orange poppy in her blonde hair, that’s Cali. Please consider saying hello to her if you cross paths; she’s the sweetest real California girl with a heavy Brooklyn accent that you’ll ever likely meet.

For her rapier wit, exceptional cleverness, and ability to bring profound joy to a passenger who’s recently suffered heavy personal losses, all while doing her assigned job without missing a beat, I humbly nominate F&B department Sip And A Wink Pub barmaid Lita Hudson as our March 2020 Difference-Maker.

Respectfully,

Jayn e Plain

contractor, Gold ’N’ Gems, DJ Swash Buckle (Club Troposphere)


Inactive Captain Cranch gazed blankly out the window lost in deep thought, not truly focusing on the last of cloudy daylight departing, dropping Coos Bay into the new night’s chilly darkness.