After relaxing in the hot tub, Marshall and Lee are ready for dinner and then it's time to watch the ship leave the harbor in this week's Moving Forward! Don't forget to see what the other Briefers are up to. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
With so many dining choices, it was hard to select just one,
but for their first night, they finally decided to try the steakhouse they’d
spotted when they were wandering about the ship. They found a table for two and
ordered rare strip steaks with loaded baked potatoes and fresh asparagus.
“Maybe tomorrow night we’ll meet some new people, but
tonight is ours,” Lee said, and Marshall sure wasn’t about to argue with that.
He couldn’t help but notice a lot of other men had the same idea, and love was
most definitely in the air. Even the music was more romantic than he’d expected,
soft and mellow jazz selections. Everything was perfect, down to the small
touches, such as the candles on the tables, and the fresh flowers. They held
hands across the table and nobody blinked an eye because they weren’t the only
ones doing it.
Marshall found he still had room for dessert, even after all
that good beef, but he couldn’t make up his mind what he wanted. The molten
chocolate lava cake sounded good, but so did other things, some of which he
wasn’t even sure what they were.
“What do you recommend?” Lee asked the server, whose name
was Phillip. Phillip was slender and graceful, and had been most attentive to
all of their dining needs without being pushy. A welcome relief after certain
people who would remain nameless.
Phillip thought for a moment. “Have you ever had Bananas
Foster?” he asked. Neither one had.
“What’s in it?” Marshall asked. “Besides bananas?”
“Butter and brown sugar and rum and cinnamon. Our chef adds
banana liqueur, too, for just a little extra kick. It’s served tableside, set
on fire, with vanilla ice cream on the side.”
“What do you think about that?” Lee asked.
“Sounds delicious to me.”
“Make that two,” Lee told Phillip.
“Good choice.” He grinned at them and left, returning a
short time later with a serving cart. Marshall watched in fascination as
Phillip assembled the dessert, ending with setting it aflame and serving it to
them.
“Bon appetite, gentlemen,” he bid them, taking the cart back
with him.
The sweet concoction melted in Marshall’s mouth. The soft ice
cream took on some of the flavors of the bananas. “This is delicious,” he
announced, taking a breath after consuming half his dessert.
Lee obviously enjoyed his too, although not nearly as
quickly. “I’m glad we ordered this,” Lee said. “We’ll have to keep trying new
things, won’t we?”
“We will,” Marshall agreed. From the glint in Lee’s eye, he
knew he meant more than food, and the thought was a thrilling one. He
remembered Lee’d mentioned a nude beach on one of the islands. A private nude beach. He could only
imagine what sort of fun was to be had there.
After finishing dessert, they found one of the bars and had
a couple of beers and listened to some music.
Lee glanced at his watch. “Almost time for the ship to get
underway? Guess we should head to wherever we’re gonna watch from, don’t you
think?”
“Yeah, I don’t want to miss anything,” Marshall said.
They’d discussed watching from their private balcony, but
finally decided to head to the observation deck, to get a wider panorama. They
negotiated their way through other men headed toward the elevators. Probably
some of them had similar thoughts. Changing their minds at the last minute,
seeing the crowd in front of the elevators, they took the stairs instead.
“Work off some of that dinner,” Lee joked. “And that rich
dessert.”
Marshall laughed. “Afraid of getting a spare tire around
your middle, old man?” he teased.
Lee stopped in the middle of the stair and turned to regard
Marshall, eyebrow raised. “You care to compare bellies, boy?” he challenged him.
“Right here, right now. See who’s got the flattest stomach? What are you
willing to bet?”
Marshall considered the proposition carefully, glancing
surreptitiously between his belly and Lee’s. He’d probably spoken too quickly.
He knew Lee didn’t have any fat to speak of. He really wasn’t sure his own
stomach could stand up to such scrutiny, although it would probably be close.
Lee laughed when Marshall made no immediate reply. “Just
what I thought. Come on, let’s stake out a place at the rail.”
They reached the observation deck, which was already crowded
with other men, and found a place where they had a good view of Galveston
harbor. The Wandering Star wasn’t the only ship displaying night time activity.
Smaller boats were setting out and coming in both. From the looks of them, they
were doing some night time fishing.
Lee put an arm about Marshall’s waist, and they leaned
together, taking in the sights. If not for the lights slipping away as they
moved out to sea, Marshall wouldn’t have known they were moving; the motion of
the ship was that gentle. He wondered what it would feel like at night, when
they were sleeping.
“You know something?” Marshall said, his gaze fixed on the
far horizon toward which they quietly steamed.
“What’s that?” Lee asked.
“I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and find out this was only
a beautiful dream. You and me, here on this ship. I mean, it seems… almost
unreal, you know?”
“I know,” Lee said softly, “but it’s all real, I guarantee.
You and me and this ship… all of it. And I’ll tell you something else.”
“What’s that?”
“This won’t be the last time. We are going to live our lives
to the fullest and do things we’ve never done before.”
Marshall liked the sound of that. He snuggled closer to Lee
as the ship pulled out of the harbor, into the open sea.
to be continued
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