Doug’s Comments (group member since Apr 27, 2016)

Doug’s comments from the First Chapter group.

Hi P.J.,
Thanks. What's being offered turns out to be much less than expected, at least from comfort level. On the other hand, what is discovered on the journey turns into much more than expected.
The 'love scenes' do escalate on the journey.
Five Weeks to Jamaica

Five Weeks to Jamaica
Chapter 1:
FIVE WEEKS TO JAMAICA

Kurt watched appreciatively as his girlfriend Madison walked across the patio bricks, involuntarily twitching his eyebrows at the motion of her hips under the short restaurant skirt. Madison had an unusual method of movement, almost manly in nature, but somehow always sensual. Kurt turned back to his workbench, and placed his tools in the center of the table. He had hoped to finish the job he was working on by nightfall, but a cold beer sounded really good. Maybe he would go back out after dinner and complete the project. He rolled down the garage door and went into the house.
Madison waited for him in the kitchen, popped open two Pacifico’s and grabbed his hand in an effort to lead him into the living room.
“Hang on a minute,” he said, “let me wash up.” He scrubbed-up quickly and joined her.
Seated together on the small, front-room sofa, Kurt turned to Madison and gave her a brief kiss on the lips. She grinned. He loved her lips. They were soft, and the upper lip was nearly as full as the lower—one of the many things about her that he adored.
Kurt had noticed the unusual fullness of her upper lip one evening a couple of years before, when she was lying on her back on the kitchen table drying her hair. She liked to let her thick tresses hang down nearly to the floor while drying. Lying on the table, she would run her fingers through the long golden locks, spreading them outward and let air between the strands to help them dry. On that particular evening, he was struck by the beauty of her heart shaped face in the upside-down position. With a cat-like slant to her eyes and a narrow bridge across her nose, her face appeared even more intriguing and lovely than when right side-up. That memory made him grin.
He stood and walked behind the couch, and leaned over to kiss her from that upside-down angle. She responded coquettishly, and smiled happily at his seemingly childlike captivation. “Oh Kurt,” she whispered, “Sometimes you are so silly.”
Both of them jumped in surprise when the phone rang. “Darn,” said Kurt.
“Let it go,” said Madison.
He shrugged and told her, “I’m expecting a call from work that I need to take.”
It was a phone call that would change their lives.
***
Kurt picked up the telephone. “Hello?” He was expecting a call from his boss, but instead it was his brother Larry.
“Hey Kurt,” Larry asked, “want to go to Jamaica with me and Marcos?”
It was so typical of him to get right to the point.
“What?” Kurt replied, frowning because his brother had once again managed to disrupt his usually imperturbable state of mind. “What are you talking about?”
“We found a luxury yacht selling a five-week, all-inclusive cruise to Jamaica, and we’re leaving in ten days. Want to go? It’s only five hundred dollars per person, and they still have space available.”
Kurt’s immediate reaction was one of slight annoyance, partly because Larry had interrupted his dalliance with Madison, and partly because he would not have answered the phone if he had not been expecting an important call. Pausing for a moment before responding, Kurt tried to focus. ‘A five-week cruise to Jamaica for five hundred dollars?’ It was a little too much to wrap his thoughts around.
“Larry,” Kurt responded slowly, “I’m kind of in the middle of something right now. Besides, I can’t just stop my life to take off on a five-week cruise.”
“Okay, not a problem. I just thought I would ask. Go ahead and get back to what you were doing and I’ll talk to you later.” With that, Larry hung up.
Madison sat with a puzzled expression. “What was that all about?”
“Oh, you know Larry. Apparently he and Marcos found a five-week cruise to Jamaica for five hundred dollars and he called to ask us if we wanted to go.”
Madison looked at him for a long moment, then asked, “Can we?”
Madison rarely strayed beyond her comfort zone. She grew up in the tiny desert community of Barstow, California. She had lived there for the first eighteen years of her life, never venturing out of the State, much less the country. Her life was basically predictable and routine. For her to express even a faint interest in taking off on the spur of the moment on a potentially life-changing excursion seemed well outside of her conservative nature. But as Kurt searched her face, an expression of quizzical interest was evident.
“Seriously?” You are actually contemplating an adventure like that?” Kurt asked.
Madison paused for a moment before answering, “Why not? After all, what do we really have going here? I don’t like my job very much. I’ve never had the opportunity to visit other parts of the world. Both of us are more or less just living day by day without any real goals, plans, or serious ambitions. Why couldn’t we just drop everything and take off on a cruise?”
Kurt did not expect her reaction. Her eagerness intrigued him, but he needed a little time to try and digest the direction this was beginning to take. Like most men, he tended to categorize everything in his daily life into neat little compartments that could be opened, reacted to, and closed in systematic order. To have something like this pop up out of the blue caused him some serious consternation. He stared at Madison for a long moment before answering, “Okay, if you like, I’ll call Larry back in a little while and ask him for more details about the cruise.”
“That would be great.” Madison whispered as she stood and moved toward him, wrapped her hands behind his neck and stretched her five foot-three inch frame onto her tiptoes to brush his lips. “Now can we get back to where we were before the phone rang?”
***
Afterward, they dressed and went back into the kitchen to prepare some food. Kurt caught a couple of decent size surfperch the evening before, and he prepped the filets while Madison fixed a salad. Casually, they talked about their day, Kurt told her about the excellent body surfing he enjoyed that morning and Madison filled him in on some of the current gossip going around the restaurant.
Seated at the dining room table and eating their food, both of them were quiet. Kurt’s thoughts lingered on Madison’s reaction to the cruise conversation. Madison’s face exuded a rare mix of pensiveness and restrained energy or enthusiasm. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, while her eyes sparkled as if they were lost in some far away Shangri-La. He wasn’t sure what to make of her mood. He believed that she was truly engrossed and captivated with the thought of taking off on the cruise. At the same time, he was reluctant to bring up the conversation, simply because he was still trying to come to terms with even considering such a bold and outlandish move. They finished their meal in silence and cleaned up the mess.
Then Madison asked, “Are you going to call Larry and find out more details about the trip to Jamaica?” There it was. Obviously, she was serious, and evidently she was anxious to pursue the possibility.
“Sure, but I’m going to make my work call first, then I’ll call Larry.”
Kurt and his boss spoke briefly about everyday things, and he assured his boss that he could have everything wrapped up by the following afternoon.
After hanging up, he asked, “Are you sure this is something you want to do?” He had pondered the matter enough to become more curious and was beginning to warm to the subject.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Madison replied, “but there are a lot of things we’ll need to know before we can really consider it completely.”
Kurt nodded. “Yes, there is a lot to consider, but things like this don’t come up very often in one’s life; and hey, what’s life without a little adventure?”
They smiled at each other for a long moment, and then Kurt picked up the phone and dialed Larry. “Hey Larry, what’s this thing about Jamaica?”
“Like I told you earlier, Marcos and I found an ad in the local paper, advertising a five-week cruise to Jamaica for five hundred dollars, and we booked passage. The cruise is due to depart in ten days. We’re going to downtown L.A. tomorrow to get our passports and our shots.” He paused for a minute, and Kurt interrupted.
“So, what kind of a boat is it? Do your really think it’s legitimate? That seems like a really cheap ticket for a luxury cruise ship.”
Larry said, “Well, it’s not a real cruise ship, more of a yacht. It’s about one hundred-fifty foot long; and they’re selling passage for thirty-five people. I think they are just trying to cover some of their expenses to get the boat delivered to Jamaica. It’s scheduled to go into service as an inter-island excursion boat between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. I spoke with the captain of the boat yesterday, and it all sounds legitimate to me. The captain said we could have our money back when we arrive at the boat if we are not satisfied with what they have to offer.” He paused for a breath, “So, do you really think you and Madison might want to go? They told us at the Passport Office that if we got applications in by tomorrow, we should receive them back by the first of next week. That gives us about a five-day leeway. As for shots, I think we need malaria, typhoid, and maybe hepatitis. There is a travel vaccination office near the passport office we are using, and they will know what we need.”
Kurt asked, “Okay, do you have a number to call where we can find out a few more things?’
“Sure, I’ll give you the number, and I’ll also give you the number for the captain. He said that anyone interested could call him for details. Give me just a second.” A moment later, Larry read off two phone numbers.
“This is great!” Larry exclaimed, “I really hope you guys decide to go.”
“Yeah,” said Kurt, “it does sound pretty exciting.”
“Great. Give me a call and let me know, and say hi to Madison.”
After hanging up, Kurt filled Madison in on all the details. Rubbing the scar on his cheek—a habit of his whenever his thoughts are fraught with anything he is unsure of—Kurt grinned a sheepish smile and nodded at Madison. “Okay kiddo, I guess we’ve got a lot to do if we’re going to try and make this happen.”