Jeff only smiled in reply. He simply didn’t have the words. Through the dinner Jeff felt increasingly like a fifth wheel. His wife and her boyfriend had eyes only for each other and only occasionally did one of them speak to him. Sometime before dessert, Jeff reached a decision. Turning to his wife, he said, “Audrey, I think the two of you need to be alone tonight. I am going to pack an overnight bag and check into a hotel on shore.”
Jeff half-hoped that Audrey would say something to dissuade him but all she said was, “Jeff, Donald and I really appreciate this. I will make it up to you somehow, I promise.”
Skipping dessert, Jeff returned to the stateroom and packed a bathing suit, a change of clothes and a few toiletries. He called the concierge desk to inquire about the water taxi over to Hamilton and was told that the next one left in an hour. Not wishing to deal further with the love birds this day; Jeff took his small bag and went to the bar where he had first seen Kat. He sat at the bar watching couples dance when a familiar voice said, “Hey sailor, buy you a drink?”
Sure enough, it was Kat! She wore casual but stylish clothing and a small beaded necklace looked stunning. “Why I would love to have a drink with you! Make mine rum and diet Coke.”
Settling comfortably into her bar chair Kat noticed Jeff’s overnight bag and said, “Going somewhere?” Jeff spent the next several minutes giving Kat a rundown on the collar situation.
“Ouch!” Kat said. “That must hurt.”
“To be honest with you Katrina, I am not exactly sure what I am but I know that I cannot share a room with them tonight. Being four feet away from my wife is more loneliness than I can bear.”
“I understand completely and believe me I know all about loneliness.”
“From your psychiatric practice?”
“Yes, but lately from my marriage.”
“Where is your husband?
“”He is in our stateroom, passed out drunk. It probably will be sometime tomorrow afternoon before he can open his bloodshot eyes and this bender has all the earmarks of a two day drunk. I envy you going to a hotel tonight, Jeff, I honestly do.”
“Then come with me!” The words came out quicker than Jeff could think about them.
“Come with you Jeff? To a hotel? Do you really mean that?”
“Kat, I promise that I am not coming-on to you. I will get us a room with two queen size beds and promise to be a gentleman. As bad as my situation is, I cannot bear the thought of you in that small stateroom with a snoring, and potentially nasty drunk.”
“That’s not a thought I relish either. Not only does he snore; sometimes when he is this drunk he wets the bed. “Kat suppressed a disgusted grimace.
“Then come with me, please! We can keep each other company and out of emotional harm’s way. If he has hangovers like you’ve said, we could be back by lunch tomorrow and he wouldn’t know.”
“Jeff, I think you are spot-on! Wait right here and I will go and throw a few things into a bag and be right back! I think you are saving my sanity tonight!”
Aboard the water taxi, Kat pulled her sweater a little tighter against the cool breeze and said, “You know, I don’t even know where we are going, and just this moment, I don’t even care!”
“It will be a surprise then,” Jeff said.
Once the water taxi had dropped them off, Jeff hailed a land taxi and they spent the next eight minutes enjoying the evening sights until they arrived at the Elbow Beach Resort. Their room offered a magnificent view of the beach and the ocean. “What would you like to do here,” Jeff asked.
“Well, what I do not want to do is sit at a bar drinking tonight.
“Okay! Now that we know what you do not want to do, I know exactly what we should do,” Jeff declared. Do you trust me? Then dress a little more warmly and follow me Katrina. They named a hurricane after you so you must like wind in your face!”
Ten minutes later, the pair was aboard a motor-scooter touring the island. Jeff headed south towards Paget and stopped near the water’s edge. Standing near the wall of an old fortress they watched the moons reflection on the water. “The view here is beautiful,” Kat said.
Looking directly at her Jeff said, “It certainly is.”
Kat smiled at the compliment but made no other comment. In due course, they were back on the scooter, Katrina’s arms firmly holding Jeff. They traveled northeast along South Road, taking in the colorful homes with their spotless white roofs, used for catching rainwater because the island has no wells. In Tucker’s town they found a small pub where Jeff ordered cappuccino and croissants which they savored slowly while sharing the backstories of their lives. After an hour, they got back onto the scooter and rode wordlessly back to the hotel.
In their room, Kat said she wasn’t ready to sleep yet and so they sat out on their balcony enjoying a view of the ocean and the soothing sounds of small waves against the beach. “This is so peaceful,” Jeff said.
“Yes it is,” Kat replied. “Jeff, please hold me.”
Jeff took Kat in his arms and held her close. “On the scooter, Jeff, I realized that it has been a very long time since I had my arms around someone or had theirs around me. I miss that terribly.”
“Katrina, I will hold you all night long if you want me to.”
“I just might.”
Jeff held Kat for the best part of an hour when she announced that she needed to sleep. Kat excused herself to the bathroom and soon the shower was running. After a time, she entered the room wearing a pretty floral nightgown. She turned down one of the beds and said, “Jeff, being here with you means a lot to me. Maybe I should rephrase that. You taking me away from my alcoholic husband tonight means a lot to me. Please don’t take this badly but I never have been unfaithful to my husband. Will you be hurt if we sleep in separate beds?”
“I promised separate beds when I invited you Kat.”
“But did you think we would use both of them Jeff?”
“Under the rights granted me under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution I have the right not to incriminate myself.”
Kat smiled broadly. “We are not in the United States, Jeff.”
“Point taken, Katrina.”
Jeff got into in the other bed. He enjoyed hearing Kat breathe, deeply and slowly in calm slumber. He would have preferred to have slept holding her but the temptation would be great. Although he didn’t tell Kat, he never had been unfaithful to Audrey either. He wondered if his monogamy actually meant much anymore because his wife was miles away in bed with another man in what for all practical purposes akin to a wedding night.
He awoke to hear Kat on the phone ordering juice, coffee and toast from room service. “Sorry, Jeff, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“No worries, I was waking up anyway. “
Jeff’s eyes followed Kat as she padded over to the patio door and opened the curtains. Sunlight flooded the room. “You are beautiful Katrina, you truly are.”
“I wish…” Kat began.
“No, you are beautiful, truly beautiful.”
“Are you trying to seduce a girl Jeffrey?”
“Not before breakfast, Darlin, not before breakfast.”
Once breakfast was over, Kat moved to sit in Jeff’s arms.
Neither spoke. Not a word about fidelity or infidelity was spoken. It was as though each of them simply set aside their monogamy for a few hours. Their lovemaking was gentle at first and then frantic. Through it all, not a single word was spoken.
Afterwards, the couple lay spooning and Katrina whispered, “Thank you Jeff.”
“For?”
“For being there for me when I needed someone, really needed someone.”
“It was a two way street Kat. Thank you for being there for me.”
The couple sat out on the balcony for a good two hours before dressing and heading back to the ship. They said their goodbyes on the elevator and Kat got off on deck six. Jeff left the lift on deck eight wondering what he would find in the stateroom.
