CRUISIN’

CRUISIN’

 

Sitting comfortably on the small balcony of her room, she stared out at the vast expanse of the ocean. She pictured herself ending it all in the watery maelstrom.

Amanda Cloudcluster had just gotten out of a long-time relationship with her now ex-love, Rupert Fiddlestixx. For five years they had shared a one-room flat on 79^th street, off Broadway. Marriage was never an issue.

Amanda hoped a cruise would help her to forget. She was wrong. She couldn’t relate to anyone during the cruise, feeling lonelier and more left out than ever. She longed for this miserable cruise to end.

On the fifth day of the cruise, an unfortunate incident occurred. A waitress accidently spilled coffee on her dress. A gentleman, seated nearby, offered her his napkin. As he was wiping up the spill, he inadvertently brushed her breast. This sent a chill down her spine. He introduced himself as Clint. They decided to share dinner that night.

Clint Sanderfield told her that he was a wealthy hedge-fund manager in New York. He casually related that he was also the sole heir to the Sanderfield fortune. His father, Ernst, made a vast sum of money in the copper-smelting business.

They shared a romantic candle-lit dinner. Their eyes met frequently; their knees casually touched; their hands reached across the table. They were the last to leave. He asked if she’d wish to go to his room for a nightcap. She politely declined. The pain of her break-up was still burned into her brain.

She met him again for breakfast. They then spent a long romantic day on an island, exploring, eating, swimming and lying on a blanket in warm embrace. This scenario was repeated for the remainder of the cruise. They vowed to see each other again, exchanging addresses and phone numbers.

Once home, she received no phone call for several days. She decided to call him. His phone was disconnected. She called the hedge fund. They had no record of such a person. The address he gave her was a phony also.

A month later, while watching TV, she saw him! He was arrested for assaulting an under-age woman, robbing her in her apartment!

“Clint’s” real name was Stefan Stoolmayer, a naturalized citizen from the Ukraine. He had a long rap sheet of assaults on women.

Amanda was crestfallen. She had been played and felt betrayed! What could she do? This false relationship was just too much to bear.

Walking to work, she thought she saw him. Was it her ex or was it Stefan? He was neither. Her imagination was playing tricks. This double whammy proved she was a glutton for punishment. She purposely knocked into the stranger, his Starbucks flying out of his hands. She apologized profusely and then asked. “Can I treat you to another coffee?” He replied, “Thank you. I’d be glad to!” They sat in the Starbucks, whiling the day away.

“Hey, she thought, maybe we can take a cruise together?”