Page 1 of Not that Sea-Rious

Marissa Olsen

M arissa offered her room key as payment for the first round of drinks and smiled at her three friends. They huddled together at the first bar they spotted upon arrival. They were cruising to celebrate Carolyn’s impending nuptials.

Once everyone had their red and yellow frozen daiquiris, the four women raised their glasses. “What happens on the boat, stays on the boat!” Tina, Carolyn’s matron of honor, toasted.

The group erupted into a fit of giggles as they clinked their beverages.

Marissa brought the sugar straw to her lips and took her first gulp of sweet, overpriced indulgence.

This week would be the most expensive of her life, but it was worth it.

Carolyn, her friend since third grade, would only get married for the first time once.

Besides, the women split the captain’s suite, so the cost of the cruise was a real bargain for the luxury they would experience.

At least, that was what she told herself.

“Alright,” Marissa announced. “I’m not saying we have to plan everything , but I think we might want to have some idea about what we are doing over the next four days.”

Joyce, a fellow bridesmaid, rolled her eyes with an exaggerated sigh. “Drinking and relaxing isn’t enough?”

Carolyn wrinkled her nose while adjusting the small veil atop her head. “I’m with Marissa on this one. We need to do more than that.”

Tina bobbed her head back and forth while sipping. “Well, tonight’s a day at sea, and that casino is calling my name. As soon as it opens, I vote we gamble.”

“Do they serve cocktails at the slot machines?” Joyce asked.

“Of course!” Tina sniggered.

Joyce nodded. “Okay. I’m in.”

Marissa frowned. “Don’t you want to go dancing? There’s a nightclub.”

“We don’t have to do everything on day one,” Tina said.

Carolyn took a hefty gulp of her drink before placing it back on the bar. “Okay. We can spread it out. Tonight, we hit up the casino. Tomorrow, we are at sea, so we can lie out by the pool all afternoon and get our relaxing in.”

“Then after dinner, we’re shaking our asses,” Marissa said.

She’d packed the cutest dress that fit her body perfectly. It needed to see the light of day, and it wasn’t the type someone wore just roaming a ship. It needed flashing lights, fog machines, and a disco ball. Come hell or high water, Marissa was going to the nightclub, even if she went alone.

“That works for me.” Carolyn nodded.

“What the bride says goes,” Tina declared.

Finally, Joyce agreed. “Okay.”

This was a bachelorette trip. They were supposed to be celebrating the end of Carolyn’s single life. She would join Tina and Joyce in the marital ranks, leaving Marissa behind. They couldn’t just lie around for four days. They needed to party.

Though Marissa should probably have some sympathy for Joyce. She was the only one with a toddler at home. Of course, she wanted to just kick back and relax, but that wasn’t the kind of excursion they had planned.

Marissa had an idea. She placed a gentle hand on Joyce’s shoulder. “How about we schedule time at the spa after Cozumel?”

“Ooh!” Carolyn’s eyes sparkled. “I love that idea.”

Joyce smiled.

Tina slapped the bar top. “So, it’s settled. Our final ocean day will be spent getting massages, facials, manicures, or whatever.”

“Now you’re talking,” Joyce agreed.

“We should probably head up there and make our appointments now before everything gets booked,” Marissa suggested.

Carolyn slurped the last bit of her drink.

The other three gaped at her.

The bride popped her empty glass on the bar top. “What?”

“How do you not have a brain freeze?” Tina asked.

“I’ve barely had two sips,” Joyce commented as she brought her straw to her lips.

Marissa giggled. “Well, you better keep up,” she said, before sucking down the last of her frozen delight. “This is going to be a long weekend.”

Carolyn shrugged and pulled out her room key and waved it at the bartender. “Another round!”

Tina snatched it out of her hand. “Nope. You aren’t paying for any drinks this trip.” When the bartender bounced over, wearing a bright smile, Tina offered her own card. “This one.”

With Joyce and Tina double-fisting daiquiris, the four ladies headed toward the back of the ship so they could make their appointments with the spa. Each of them discussed what they’d get done. Marissa, twirling strands of her long brown hair around her finger, considered something drastic.

“Do you think I could pull off a bob?”

Standing in the glass elevator, the other three women gaped at her.

That definitely wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. Excitement or condemnation. Both she’d understand, but pure shock? Nope, didn’t anticipate that. Then again, was it good or bad? She couldn’t tell. Marissa had long hair for as long as she could remember, but maybe she was due for a change.

“Absolutely not,” Carolyn declared. “You’re not about to experiment a week before my wedding. Do that on your own time. From now until I walk down that aisle, your ass is mine.”

Marissa opened her mouth to protest.

Joyce shrugged. “Thems the rules.”

Glancing at Tina, Marissa closed her mouth when the matron of honor nodded.

“Fine.” Marissa rolled her eyes.

The mundaneness of the last few years had eaten at her.

She was desperate for different, drastic, to break through the monotony of her existence.

Her hair seemed like the quickest and easiest start to that process.

However, her friends had a point about timing.

So, she supposed she could wait a week or two for a life-altering event.

“Wait,” Tina announced. “Before we go to the spa, we need to stop by the room and check out the digs. I’ve never booked the captain’s suite before, and I’m dying to find out just how spacious it is.”

“My only hope is we aren’t on top of each other,” Joyce commented.

“Impossible,” Carolyn chimed in. “We got the largest room on the ship. I bet we could host a dance party in there.”

“Like…” Marissa smirked. “The Thunder from Down Under?” she asked, referencing the male strippers.

The four women erupted into a fit of giggles.

“I’m not sure this cruise has that available, but maybe when we get to Cozumel, we can find something like that,” Joyce said.

“If there is, I will find it,” Tina declared.

Carolyn furrowed her eyebrows. “Of all people.”

Tina shrugged. “Just because I don’t enjoy sausage, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the scenery.”

As the elevator chimed and the doors opened, the four were again rolling with laughter. They spilled out into the hallway and stumbled in different directions.

“Wait.” Joyce leaned against the wall. “Which way do we go?”

“Toward the stern,” Carolyn announced.

“I don’t know what that means,” Marissa admitted.

“The back,” Tina informed.

“And where is that?” Joyce asked.

Rolling her eyes, Tina waved and headed down a hallway. “This way.”

Still snickering, the three women followed. Marissa hoped Tina knew where she was headed. She sure as hell didn’t, but she had faith in her.