North Meets South, Worlds Collide - 67. Chapter 66

What I was pleased with when the muster drills were done an hour before we left. Tony and I got our life vests and reported to our assigned area near where we would go if there was an emergency. This was mandatory on every passenger ship. After that was done, the ship was ours. We did the departure from a deck above and waved. If you’ve never been on a cruise, you’ve seen on TV where people line the railings and wave to people known and unknown as they left. There were many other boats in the harbor, even one of those boats used to fight a fire on ships by using the water already there. This time it was just spewing water up like water fireworks creating these arches of water wishing us off and perhaps wishing they could come, too. With the blast of this great ship’s air horn, the ship began to move slowly. I had been on a cruise ship, but this wasn’t a party boat. The Allure of the Seas was big, but so was the Queen Mary! The Queen Mary 2 had wide corridors and red patterned carpets ran through the ship. While many ships were well traveled, this one wasn’t showing any wear. Nothing rattled or squeaked. We had come on board while a chamber group played violins and harp and the feeling was to create one of elegance. This would be almost too stuffy, but it was relaxing. Now, we had begun the trip and those many boats following us out of the harbor like a flock of birds. Tony was very happy and couldn’t stop smiling as we sailed. He pulled me in front of him as he rested his cheek against my head as we stood at the railing watching as we left the harbor to the open waters. He kept his arms around me from behind he rested himself against me not giving a thought about whether anyone would see and be upset by it.

“I want you to be open about what you feel, Mitch,” Tony said as he pressed his lips to the back of my head. “We’ve always been truthful and never held anything back from each other.”

I turned around to face him. “I’m sorry for that outburst.”

He smiled at me. “You had a reaction to what’s happening and you care about me. I know that. Whenever you feel something, talk to me about it. Don’t apologize for caring. I know you do.”

“And you do the same,” I said emphasizing each word. “No holding back.”

Tony nodded and his face got a serious look. “I’m scared, Mitch. I have growths in my chest. The problem is I don’t know if it’s cancer or not. I believe if it isn’t, it will be soon. I hate not knowing about it as I hate knowing it’s there.”

I was beginning to object when he put a finger on my lips.

“Not done,” Tony said smiling bigger. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know you’ll be there. This is like the story about that pendulum thing swinging lower and lower to slice a person in half, only I can only hear the pendulum, I can’t see it.” He leaned in kissing me gently as the wind whipped his hair. “I need you. I need you to be honest and tell me what’s going through your mind. I’ll tell you.” He waved at the ship. “For the next twenty plus days, this will be our world. I’ve wanted to do this for years!” He chuckled. “I put my name on a waiting list saying when. This ship is booked years in advance.”

I chuckled. “You’ve been planning this for years!?”

“I had to!” Tony defended with a grin. “I put when we wanted to go and this came up.” He shrugged. “This unknown about what I’ve got will worry both of us. I don’t want to die. I’ll do whatever is needed to stop that from happening. It could be easy. It could also be very difficult, but I know you’ll be with me. Just be honest. Agreed?”

“I agree.”

A man came by carrying a tray. “Champagne?” He offered some tall glasses of bubbling liquid.

Tony took one and handed it to me. “Why not?” He took one for himself. “There will be other vacations, Mitch, but drink to what I promise will be a trip we will never forget.”

I touched my glass to his. “To the trip we will never forget.” You had to drink after that, but I loved Tony and this was making him happy, so I drank to our trip, but secretly I promised to not breakdown again and be whatever strength he needed in the future. I looked at the receding coastline. “So, what’s our first stop?”

Tony chuckled. “We’ll cruise for three days and our first stop is Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. This stop will be more your style than mine. A lot of nature. Wilderness isn’t really my thing. There isn’t a lot of development there, but very wet as it’s a rainforest or something. A lot of nature!”

I grinned as I bumped his head with mine gently. “That sounds perfect.”

Tony always insisted on a late seating for dinner. Just before it was time, I was dressed and waiting downstairs to which Tony had insisted. Tonight was our first dinner on board so I put on a suit and waited for Tony to finish dressing.

“Well?” Tony asked coming down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, he did a little turn holding his arms out for me to see him.

He was so handsome. His natural, slightly darker color and the dark dress suit was perfection. His hair was in place and he tugged at his shirt sleeve from under his coat sleeve.

I chuckled as I approached him. “Hubba, hubba.” Walking up to him I put my arms around him. “Tony Delveccio, you are an amazing human being. I’m so glad we married.” I caught his scent. “Wearing that cologne could get you in trouble.”

Tony smiled even bigger. “I’m counting on it.” He said returning the kiss. “I love you, Mitch. This is all about us. We don’t have either Davids, Sasha, Alik, Nick…it’s just us. For the next three weeks, there is no one else.” He kissed me deeply. “I love you, Mitch.” He held his arm out to me. “Shall we go?”

The whole feeling changed from that moment on during the trip. The problems we could and would face were put to the side and pressures were gone. Neither Tony or I cared if people saw and approved or didn’t. We did get a few stares, but I like to think that was because we were such snappy dressers, but the reactions we saw were pleased. We walked the wide corridor and boarded the elevator and rode down to the deck level for the Britannia Restaurant where others gathered to enter.

We sat with others assigned to the same table, but our table was in the center of the lower floor, the ceiling high above with lighted glass in colors cast a soft light over all the diners. Unlike the other ship, these tables weren’t crowded to generate more revenue with more passengers. There was enough space so that passengers and wait staff could walk easily. Behind us was a glass mural of the ship. This wasn’t a gay cruise, nor was there a gay group we were with, so the other guests at the table were not like us. There were three other couples at our table. One couple wasn’t happy with the seating arrangements as we made no attempt to hide Tony and I were not just friends traveling together when we came still arm in arm, but there was a middle-aged American couple from the mid-west had the problem and spoke with one of the staff demanding to see someone in charge. I guessed about the mid-west from the accent. I wasn’t judging at first, but I’d been with Tony a while and…everyone here was dressed nicely. It wasn’t even a formal night, but ladies mostly wore dresses and the men were either in suits or had on jackets, but this man and his wife…he had on a pullover shirt and she wore a blouse and pants. I was seeing the example of pigs in clothes. They may have saved for this trip, but I don’t believe they were ready for the opulence and more sophistication of this ship.

The man called the person in charge of this seating who came to see what the problems were.

“I was unaware that there would be homosexuals on this voyage.” The man said loud and irritated. “I insist they be given alternate seating.”

The man in charge frowned. What pleased me was the man in charge didn’t even ask who we all were, he just knew. “Mr. Delveccio and Mr. McKenzie are VIP travelers. This is the VIP table and they paid for that privilege. How is this a problem? Since they paid to be at this table we can’t reassign them. There are alternates we can offer. You can choose another time or there are other restaurants on board. Had we known it would have bothered you, we would have made sure you were assigned somewhere else.”

“Why do we have to…” he looked at Tony and me. “…put up with their perversion? It’s offensive to me and my wife!”

The man smiled, but it was one of tolerance of the ignorant. “We can’t refuse a person passage for any reason. What is your preferred religious practice?”

“Lutheran.”

The man smiled. “There are some that would be offended having a Lutheran at the table, especially someone Jewish! Martin Luther disliked Jews. That is well known. Should we refuse you? I’m Jewish, but I’m not offended…yet. I will find you another seat.” He almost physically pulled the man away as the man’s mouth dropped open.

The other couples at the table were a mixture of reactions, most of them were surprised by this couples’ intolerance. There was a couple that was in the fifties dressed nicely I could tell she was British when they began talking. They were the Parkers. Then another couple was French, the Girards in their mid-thirties and a new couple came that was in their twenties. The young woman looked amazed to be at this table. The Bensons, they were honeymooners and they were a mixed raced couple. She was light-skinned African and he was Caucasian.

“Does anyone else have a problem with the seating?” The man in charge of seating assignments asked. The other couples looked at each other and all shook their heads. “Enjoy your time on the Queen Mary.”

Mrs. Parker smiled as she was the one next to Tony on the other side of him. “I’m Elouise. My husband is Benjamin.” She said softly putting her hand gently on Tony’s arm. “I think it’s delightful. Our daughter is gay. Some just can’t seem to accept that gay people are everywhere. It’s a fact of life.”

Benjamin nodded with a smile. “How long have you two been together?”

Tony grinned at me. “We met in April of 2002, married in June of 2003.”

“You’re married?” The honeymooning woman smiled. “That’s wonderful!” She had an accent that put her in Australia...or maybe New Zealand or South Africa. They sounded so similar. “I’m Linda. This is Bert.”

“We are the Girards. My wife is Deon and I’m Rene.” The man said smiling speaking with a light French accent.

I smiled at them. “I’m Mitch and this is Tony. It will be a long cruise if we can’t get along. We didn’t mean to offend anyone.”

“Why would we be offended?” Deon asked with a smile. “You both met someone you love. I don’t see a problem.”

Ben shook his head and shrugged. “It’s their loss and their problem.” He then grinned.

The evening progressed much better. The meal was nothing short of spectacular.

After dinner, Tony and I did a walk about the deck and still, we didn’t let go of each other. The air was warm, but not hot. There was the ocean breeze and the moon shone over the water as we moved. We ended at the Queen’s Room where this was the largest ballroom on the seas. Tony and I went out to the dance floor and started slow dancing.

“Other than the one bump in the road when we arrived at dinner...” Tony smiled holding me as we danced. “…this has been nice.” He said smiling. “But I think soon we should go to bed.” He kissed me. “I am in trouble, remember?”

“Yes, you are.” I agreed. “So, am I.” I pulled him gently. “We have many days to see what else this ship has to offer, but for now.” I grinned. “Let’s test to see how comfortable that bed is.”

In the suite, Tony began undressing me. I’ve said it many times, but Tony and I had a very comfortable familiarity. We knew each other and we at ease with each other. We’ve had the passion filled frantic desire where clothes were tossed and the urge to have sex was so great it seemed we could get to each other fast enough, but not tonight. Tonight was slow and filled with love. We were making promises to each other to be there for each other. We were mated and he was my husband that I adored so much. He let me know I was so important to him as we loved each other. As he was nearing climax, he smiled as he released in me. “I love you, Mitch.” He said quietly.

I kissed him gently as my fingers went in his hair. “I know. I love you, Tony.”

He buried his face in my neck. “I know.”