“Uh, yeah, sure. What’s up?” I said.

“I’d never been someone to cheat. Even before I met Maria, I was always a loyal boyfriend. But since this trip has started, I’ve been cheating on Maria.” Cesar pressed his tight fist against his forehead, hiding his face. His closed eyes and bent head showed he at least was remorseful of his actions.

“Wow dude, that’s some real scumbag behavior. Did you even think about how she’d feel when you were doing something so disgusting?” I said, taking a sip of my coffee. I looked over at him, and tears were running down the side of his face.

“I…I know I’m… a weak man.” Rubbing the tears from his eyes, he continued. “I gave in to my carnal desires, and I just lost control. I’d blame all my actions on alcohol, but if I’m being honest, each time I did it, I was completely sober.”

“So, why’d you do it?”

"The stress from work and our relationship has been crushing me. I live in constant fear that she'll leave me like everyone else has. It seems day by day my anxiety keeps getting worse. I've been carrying around the engagement ring for over a year now, but I'm just...terrified she'll say no when I propose. It eventually got to the point I needed some way to release all this pent up stress and anxiety. So when those women came onto me, I gave in." He picked up his glass with trembling fingers and sipped his martini.

"I felt nothing for those women. No love, no emotions. They were just outlets. They were just distractions. Honestly, I didn't even make it past a minute, but thinking about it now, there was another reason I kept going back. We had incredible sexual chemistry. Maria is everything I could ever want in a partner, but we're just not compatible in bed. When I started those affairs, the sexual chemistry was amazing. I'd experienced nothing like that with Maria."

I couldn’t hold it any longer; I let out a monstrous cackle. It was so loud everyone in the room looked over in our direction. “Hey, calm down. Why are you laughing?” Cesar said, confused, looking around.

“I’m sorry, but you did something so vile, and you couldn’t even make it past two minutes? How pathetic!” I said, wiping a tear from my eye. “That post-nut clarity must give you nightmares to this day!”

"You're right. If I were going to throw everything away, I should've at least made it to three minutes." Cesar gripped his glass and forced out a laugh that didn't reach his eyes, then quickly took a drink to cover his embarrassment.

“Anyway, you know what you have to do, right? Tell her and accept whatever consequences she gives you. And that means you might lose her.”

A dark shadow came across Cesar’s face. “Yeah, but first I have to break things off with those girls, then I'll face Maria and tell her the truth.”

“Those girls? That’s right, you said women before; you must be a glutton for punishment.”

“Yeah, I might’ve had multiple one-minute sessions with two different women.” Cesar said, rubbing the back of his head in shame.

“You make me sick.” I laughed.

“Trust me, I want this vacation to be over more than anything because I can’t even look at myself in the mirror anymore.” Cesar said, taking another shaky sip of his glass.

“Anyway, who were these chicks?"

“Beatrix was the first girl I got into an entanglement with. We met during our first week on the boat. She’s on a 3-month trip since she divorced her husband; all I know is that Beatrix is the one who started it, and she never told me why. She only told me she came on this trip to escape from reality for a bit,” Cesar said, showing me the pictures of Beatrix.

“That’s tough. How are you going to break things off with her?” I said, taking a sip from my coffee.

“Honestly, I’m still thinking of a way to break things off smoothly. Beatrix only recently told me about why she is on the trip, and with that information, it makes things complicated. But Anya, the other girl, she’s just on a two-week bachelorette party; she’s just looking for a plus one for a wedding she’s going to. Granted, she’s a bit of a weirdo and makes some unhinged comments, but it should be easier to break things off with her.” He said, showing me the picture of Anya.

“I’m still curious about how you pulled off having two different affairs. This boat is big, but not that big. There aren’t many places outside of the cabins to get some privacy. There aren’t that many places you can hide; there are cameras everywhere.”

“Well, it’s convenient that their cabins are on either side of me. On the nights I would sneak over to see them, I’d climb over the banister and then shimmy to either side to their balcony and then go inside and do the deed. When we were finished, I’d do the same thing to get back into my cabin. Maria sleeps like a rock. I don’t think the world ending could wake her up.”

“Talk about risky behavior. Were you ever scared if the boat hit a large wave? You could lose your balance and then its all over.”

“Of course, I felt scared, but I’m a bit of an adrenaline junky. I also feared that she would have to pee and I would get caught if I went out the front door. So, every night I’d draw the curtains and pretend to be reading. Once I was confident she was asleep, I’d sneak over to one of the girl’s rooms.”

“Wow, that’s literally insane.” I was shaking my head; after I took another sip of coffee, I continued, “I just hope you follow through with making things right.”

“You can count on it, brother. You’ve heard my story; what’s yours?” Cesar said, waving to the bartender to get another martini.

“My life isn’t as scandalous or extravagant as yours. I’m your average 9-to-5 worker. I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now I’ve become a digital nomad. Although after speaking with a detective, she explained that I might have a knack for solving cri. But that’s just a pipe dream; I’ve only ever wanted to live a simple, mundane life.” I took a sip of my coffee.

“Nah, brother, why would you do that? Do you need me to tell you again about Mr…”

“No. You do not need to remind me of that disgusting story.”

“Okay, okay.” Cesar said, putting up his hands signaling his surrender. He grabbed his martini and then took a sip.

“Anyway, I just want to live a normal, boring life where my biggest excitement is there’s a new flavor of cold brew at the local coffee shop.”

“Nah, I still think you're better than that. Listen, let me tell you something…”

“Hey guys!” We looked over to the voice, and we saw it was Maria and Syd; Maria was happily waving at us.

“Listen, before we depart, let's do this again. I still have something to tell you.” Cesar said with a wink.

“If it’s another horse story or chess analogy, you can save it.” I said, finishing my coffee.

Cesar let out a hearty laugh. “No, trust me, you're going to want to hear this.”