A North Carolina Autumn - Chapter 34: Chapter 34

"Okay, this is it." I tell Rylie as we walk up the gangway leading to the ship. "We're about to take the final step off of land, not to touch it again until our first port!"
"You make that sound exciting but also slightly terrifying." Rylie laughs from beside me and I take her hand. We had dropped off our luggage to have it delivered to our room and only had our backpacks, so it was nice to have my hands free to hold hers.
The ship comes into view again from the windows as we turn the last corner, and Rylie and I stare at it in awe. "I still can't believe how big it is!" Rylie comments.
"I don't think it's possible to get used to how big it is." I laugh. "And it'll be a shock when you see how high up we are, especially from our room."
"What deck is our room on again?"
"We're on the spa deck, which is deck 11."
"How many decks are there in total?"
"14. Well, technically 13 but due to superstition, they don't have a floor 13." I laugh. "The main decks people like to be on are decks 10 and below. But," I lower my voice and grin. "Deck 12 and 14 have the serenity area. It's for adults 21 and up, but we're going to sneak in at least three times a day. They have these huge chairs, well actually I think they're beds, and they have this sort of shell cover thing so while in it, you can see the view of the ocean but you can't see anyone else, and they can't see you."
"So they're private?" Rylie raises an eyebrow.
"Very private." I grin.
We reach the small final line and I pull out our needed papers and the keycards we were just given as we reach the agent. I hand her our items and she scans them quickly before smiling widely.
"Welcome aboard! Since you are part of the VIP experience, your rooms should be ready!" She hands the papers back to us and I thank her before Rylie and I finally step onto the ship.
The deck is wood and slightly wet, and has some small puddles as if it was recently washed. We enter a large doorway leading inside the ship, and we're instantly greeted by the sound of upbeat music that perfectly fits the vibe of a cruise. People mill around us, laughing and talking happily, but it's not too crowded yet.
The VIP experience was an add on option, and my mom had said it was 100% worth the money. It included priority boarding, early access to our room, our luggage would arrive early so we didn't have to wait, and a few other benefits throughout the trip. So far, it was already worth it.
More of the room comes into view the farther we step in, and after a quick glance around, I turn to watch Rylie in time to see the stunned and awed expression slide onto her face.
We're on one of the lower decks, maybe three or four, and I grin as I take in the atrium. The atrium is a tall, open space in the middle of the ship, spanning upwards for the length of seven decks. It reminded me of a mall. Three fancy elevators can be seen on one wall, each moving to a new level. These elevators are clear and I can see people inside, gazing down at the people on the lower levels of the atrium.
A large, beautiful staircase leads up to the next two levels, and just below that sits a bar. A few people sit at the bar, already starting on their vacation drinking. A domed window spreads over the top of the atrium, letting in a warm bright light despite the fog.
(i took this picture on a weird setting but edited it enough that it's not so dark anymore, it's not the best though 😅)
"This is the atrium." I explain to Rylie. "It's like... a living room for a cruise ship. People hang out here, sometimes they'll do karaoke or have live bands. It's fun to stand on those upper decks and look down onto the people down here." I grin. "Okay, come on. Time to find our room."
I pull her down the hall, and the noise from the atrium slowly fades the farther away we get. We get to the long, wide area where a row of elevators line two of the walls. I groan when I remember what early boarding meant.
"I forgot, they use the elevators to get the luggage up to people's rooms, so we have to take the stairs."
"Awe, are you being a wimp about a few flights of stairs?" Rylie teases with a smirk.
"Eight flights, Ry. You'll be complaining by the time we're done with stairs for the day, which won't be for a while. At least until after the muster drill."
"We'll see. I have stamina, but you're aware of that fact." Rylie grins. "What's a mustard drill?" Her stamina comment is immediately pushed from my mind and replaced with a laugh at her question. "What?" She asks with a pout. "You're laughing at me."
"It's 'muster'." I correct, still laughing. "But don't worry, people always think it's 'mustard drill' at first. It's the mark of a new cruiser." I grin.
"Oh." Rylie laughs. "I really thought you said mustard! So what is a muster drill, then?"
I finally manage to calm my laughter and explain as we start up the endless flights of stairs. "It's basically a safety briefing for what to do if the ship is sinking. Every single passenger gets to crowd on one of the lower decks and listen as they tell us how to use the lifeboats and whatnot for evacuation."
"Every single passenger on one deck? Won't that get crowded?" Rylie asks, and I feel a small sliver of satisfaction when I hear her breathing quickening as we continue up the stairs.
We will see about her stamina indeed.
"Every single one. They split us up onto both sides of the ship on that deck, but we'll still get pretty close and personal with a few people."
"Sweet, I'll get my physical contact in for the day!" Rylie chirps, earning a glare from me.
"I'm your physical contact for the day. For every day." I growl.
"I'm teasing!" Rylie giggles, pausing to kiss me quickly.
"You'd better be." I reply sternly as I start walking again. The stairs are starting to make me slightly dizzy with the frequent turns at each new level, and we were only on level seven.
"I'm really glad I only have my backpack." Rylie comments from a few feet behind me. "Can you imagine having to haul all of your luggage up all these stairs? I wonder if that's what they had to do on the titanic."
I raise my eyebrows at her mention of the titanic, forcing myself to keep the secret. "They probably had people do it for them." I say nonchalantly. "In the movie, most of the passengers were rich."
"You've seen that movie? I could never watch that, especially not before going on a cruise myself." Rylie chuckles.
Well. You're in for a surprise then! I'll probably really have to make it up to you afterwards, though... I was suddenly less excited about making Rylie watch the movie. But then again, I'm not the one that chose it... and she'd probably forgive me eventually.
"Okay!" I huff once we finally reach our floor. "We are on... the right side."
"Isn't that the left?"
"Uh... I don't actually know. I can't tell which way the front of the ship is." I laugh. "Anyway, we're this way." We head out of the elevator and staircase area and into a short hallway, with doors lining one side.
"Why is this hallway so short? I thought there would be more than..." She pauses to count. "10 rooms."
"Because our room is on the best deck. Most rooms have super long hallways with rooms on both sides of the hallway, but those are the lower decks. Those decks have interior cabins, which are the worst, oceanview cabins, which are slightly better, and balcony cabins, which are the best. But I wanted us to have the best of the best. We don't have any cabins across the hall or above us, meaning not a lot of hallway noise and no cabin above ours blocking the sun." I finish my explanation with a grin.
"I followed along for most of that, I think. So basically, we have the best cabin around." Rylie smiles.
"Pretty much." I laugh. "Behold," I say as I slide my keycard into the slot on the door handle. "Our lovely home for the next week." I push the door open and follow after Rylie, taking in the room and view.
The room isn't massive, but it's not disappointingly small, either. A large, queen bed topped with a fluffy white comforter and matching fluffy pillows sits in the center of the room, with the headboard against the wall. A tan couch sits beside the bed, with a small coffee table just in front.
On the wall across from the bed sits a small tv, and to the right, across from the couch, is a counter and mirror, surrounded by shelves. The bathroom is to the left of where we stand in the small entrance hallway, and closet doors make up the wall to our right.
Finally, my eyes land on the balcony doors. The curtains are pulled aside, letting in the midday sun. I can't see too much outside from our current spot, so I gently push past an awed Rylie and take her hand, pulling her towards the balcony. We drop our backpacks to the floor as I slide the door open and as we step onto the deck, we're greeted instantly by the sounds of seagulls, water moving and lapping against different surfaces, and loud machinery below.
Rylie and I step forward and lean our arms on the balcony railing, and I press my arm against hers as I remember her physical contact comment from a few minutes ago. Even without her comment though, I still would've done it. I craved physical contact just as much as she did, if not more.
Two chairs and a small table occupy the deck, and I'm excited for the time we'll spend out here. Breakfast on our own balcony with just the ocean for miles seemed like the ideal way to start our mornings.
The view in front of us is beautiful, especially with the fog. Everything seems whiter and cleaner. Tall buildings line the edge of the large river, clustered together as some stretch out to the sides, and some to the sky. I can make out little people and cars on the roadways between the buildings, moving about their days. To our left, the two bridges from earlier stretch across the water, only adding to the beauty. The sun shines just behind them, but the light is weaker as the rays struggle to break through the fog. I hurry inside and grab my camera, snapping a few pictures before putting it away and returning to Rylie.
I scan the ground below us for a minute, watching the little vehicles and forklifts zoom around, loading boxes and crates onto the ship, and unloading the empty ones from the last trip.
"We are so far from the ground." Rylie says in a small voice, and I laugh when I see the seemingly permanent wide eyed look back on her face.
"And we'll stay this high. Don't worry. These railings are very sturdy. And this," I tap my foot against the glass that stretched from the railing nearly down to the floor, with only a few inches of space between. "Is really, really thick glass. There's no way we'll fall." I assure her.
"Sorry for being such a wimp." Rylie says softly, and I'm surprised by the sudden change in her tone.
"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for! Come here." I take her hand and pull her back inside and shut the door behind us before climbing onto the bed. We kick off our shoes and Rylie cuddles closer to me before threading her legs between mine.
"This is your first time on a cruise ship. Last night was your first time on an airplane. You have every right to be nervous, and that doesn't make you a wimp." I tell her as I run my fingers through her soft blonde locks. Then, I suddenly felt like the worst person alive. Scratch that, the worst wife in the history of bad wives.
"Ii have to tell you something." I say quietly, and Rylie quickly moves into a sitting position, locking her worried eyes on mine.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothings wrong. I'm just the worst wife. Ry... they're showing Titanic tonight up on deck. I was going to take you to see it without even warning you." I lower my eyes.
"Aspen," Rylie laughs as she lifts my chin, her eyes meeting mine once more. "I know what you're doing to yourself right now, so please stop it. You don't need to feel back about planning to take me to watch a movie that will surely scare me. We do stuff like this to each other all the time, remember?"
Rylie's blue eyes are soft and kind, and I swallow down the sudden emotion in my throat. She was right. I think back to the outdoor movie night Sam and Jeremy had taken us to while we were at camp. We'd watched I Am Legend, and Rylie had hated it. But she still watched it and even enjoyed parts of it. Once, she'd taken me to see some horror movie with countless blood and gore scenes, but she'd held my hand the entire time, and I'd made it through.
"I mean, I would've pretended to be upset when the movie started, but I still would've watched it. I mean, I'll still watch it." Rylie clarifies.
"You actually still want to watch it?" I ask, surprise evident in my voice.
"Well, I wouldn't say I want to watch it, but we're going to now." Rylie grins. "If there's ever a movie we need to watch on a cruise, I guess it's that one. You just have to hold my hand the whole time, and reassure me during the rest of the trip that we won't hit any icebergs in the oh so cold Gulf of Mexico." Rylie laughs.
"I will gladly do both of those things." I smile. "And I'm done not telling you when I'm planning something like this that I know you'll probably hate." I laugh guiltily.
"As long as you were planning to make it up to me later, I would've been just fine." Rylie grins as she leans in. "Or you can make it up to me now and later..." She murmurs, her lips inches from mine. I push her down onto the bed and straddle her, flipping my hair to one side as I grin down at her.
"So tempting..." I hum before kissing her softly. She responds instantly, sliding her hands up the exposed parts of my thighs before her fingers travel to my face, gently brushing my hair behind my ear. Then, almost as if on cue, my stomach rumbles.
"Oh, thank God." Rylie giggles. "I couldn't decide between sex and food, but your stomach just made that decision for us!"
I let out a mix between a laugh and a groan as I flop onto the bed. "Stupid stomach. I'm starving, but also so tempted by you and your body."
Rylie kisses me once before steamrolling over my body, bringing on a fit of laughter from both of us. She finally gets to her feet and dgraps my arm to pull my lazy body up. "Come on, lazy bones. I need your expertise as my tour guide so I don't get lost!"
"You need my expertise for a lot more, too." I reply with a suggestive smirk. "Let's go get burgers!" We throw our keycards hooked to lanyards over our necks and I grab Rylie's hand before pulling her out the door.