I thought this ship was massive when we first boarded, but after spending a day at sea, it's feeling quite small. While the restaurant offered a fully seated experience for dinner, they served breakfast and lunch buffet style.

Given my recent adventures, I looked for security cameras in every room we went. Cameras were only in the main dining area where guests sat and the kitchen where food was prepared.

After eating, we explored the ship and stumbled upon a game room where people played high-stakes poker. The air was thick with tension as players wagered large amounts.

The ceiling was filled with security cameras, clearly needed with all the money being wagered below. We left quickly, uncomfortable with the tense atmosphere of people betting their life savings. We planned to come back later for trivia when things would be more relaxed.

In the middle of the ship, there were a few shops. We walked into the first one in sight. “Doesn’t this dress look amazing on me?” Syd held a dress in front of her.

I reached for the tag. “Not at this price, it doesn’t.”

Syd made a frown, then looked at the tag; her expression changed to shock, and her eyes grew wide. “Oh yeah, I look horrific in this. What was I thinking!” We both laughed as she put the dress back. As we left, I noticed that there were cameras strategically placed around the cashiers and the most expensive items.

Leaving the store, we walked past a large display; there was a digital board displaying tonight’s events. “Oh, look! Before trivia, there’s a cocktail mixer; we should go!”

“You want to meet more strange people? I’ve surely had my fill of that guy last night.” I chuckled.

Syd slapped me on the arm. “Oh, stop it. Not everyone is like that chess guy yesterday. We can’t be the only normal people on this boat. We have nothing going on after lunch besides trivia, anyway. Think about it; we could even make some new friends, and they can be our travel buddies!”

“Sure, we can check it out, but I want to hit the pool before we go to lunch.” I walked towards the elevator. Each hallway has a single camera at the end of each corridor. The outside of the boat was similar; there was a single camera outside each balcony, which would allow security to see down the entire corridor.

What am I doing? I solve one murder, and now I’m some trained detective. No one is getting murdered on this wonderful boat. The only thing I need to worry about is relaxing and spending time with Syd. 

After lunch, there were about 2 hours before the mixer started, so we went to the spa to get a good sweat. “Oh, look at that; it's lunchtime. Let's hurry and eat so we can get ready for the mixer.” Syd said, looking at her watch and holding her book in the other hand.

“Ugh, you still want to go to that thing? Do we have to go? I was hoping after all this you’d be ready for a nap.” I said. Taking the towel off my face. While Syd enjoyed the heat of the sauna, I preferred the cryotherapy.

“Of course! I’ve always wanted to find another couple and go on couple trips with them. I want to at least try to find them while we’re here.” Syd put her book down and looked over at me.

“Alright, fine,” I sighed. “But I’m going back to the cryotherapy room before we leave. It’s way too hot in here.”

“Really!? You haven’t even been in here very long. You spent mostly in the cryotherapy room.” Syd said.

“Yeah, because hell is hot for a reason. Even God thinks the heat is only for torture.” I said, leaving the sauna room. As the door closed, I could hear Syd let out a little grunt in protest.

Freshly showered and ready to socialize, we grabbed a coffee and then walked over to the mixer. At a standing table was the master chess player I met last night. He held a drink in one hand as he talked to a woman who was shorter than him.

“Don’t look, but the chess pimp is over there recruiting some innocent girl.” I said, hiding the side of my face.

“You don't want more chess philosophy? You might even learn how to get some girls to grow your stable.” Syd snickered as I glared at her.

“Stop it. Let’s just get out of here before…”

“My man! It's funny running into you here, remember me from the bar last night!” The guy from yesterday said, walking over with his girlfriend. “I didn’t properly introduce myself last night. My name is Cesar, and this is my girlfriend, Maria.” He extended his hand to shake mine.

Dammit

“Oh, what’s up, dude? I didn’t know you were coming to this.” I said, shaking his hand, then shaking Maria’s, “My name is Tom, and this is my girlfriend Syd.” She stepped forward and shook both of their hands.

“Did you guys just board? We’ve been here for about 2 weeks now and haven’t seen you around the ship.” Maria said, with a wineglass in her hand.

“Yeah, we boarded yesterday and will be here for seven days. How long will you be sailing?” I said.

“That’s so short! You’ll barely even get enough time to relax.” Maria said, “We’re on week 2 of our 3-week vacation.”

"Wow, three weeks? That's amazing! I wish I could do that, but I'm booked solid with surgeries for the rest of the year. This is literally the only week I could get off," Syd said.

"You're a surgeon. Interesting. My cousin's a surgeon too, but he's kind of twisted. He actually enjoys the fact that he gets paid to slice people open." Cesar said.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed my profession attracts a lot of weirdos!” Syd said as she did a cute little dance.

Why did she dance to that? Is she one of the weirdos?

“I know all about weirdos; I work in construction, and there’s a litter of weirdos on each job.” Cesar chuckled, “But I love my job. Right now, we’re in the off-season, so I was laid off until our next job comes in at the end of the month, and since Maria is my stay-at-home girlfriend, it makes it so easy to plan these long vacations.”

“That’s right, my sole job is making sure Cesar is in peak condition to perform well at work and plan our vacations!” Maria said, clutching Ceasar’s arm.

“That’s absolutely wonderful!” Syd said, “Hey, you guys are really cool. You should join us for trivia; it's about to start.”

“That sounds like so much fun!” Maria said with her eyes wide. “I’m the queen of trivia; we play all the time when we are home!” Without further delay, we made our way back to the game room.

"Maria delivered on her promise. Her score was almost perfect, and she knew everything, like some kind of human database. The judges thought she might be cheating, so they stationed someone right next to her to ensure she wasn't using her phone. We ended up winning and dividing the $10,000 prize money.

“That was so much fun!” Syd said as she looked over at me, and I could see the message she was telling me in her eyes: I think we found our travel buddies.

“You guys are so much fun. We should hang out more while we’re on the boat.” Maria said, latching herself onto Caesar’s arm.

“Yes, I was thinking the same thing! We’ll have a girl’s day tomorrow, and the guys can do their own thing.”

"That's a great idea. Old sport and I can continue our conversation from last night," Cesar said, giving me a wink.

Syd looked at me and snickered. Fuck, there goes my relaxing trip; now I have to listen to chessboard wisdom.