Chapter 10

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created most of the characters, so I actually do.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as I created most of them, who they are is up to me, so...

Saturday morning finally arrived on the S.S. Tipton. After a week, the ship was over halfway across the Atlantic and due to dock in Lisbon sometime Thursday afternoon. And it was the first weekend after classes had begun, so the students on board were glad to be able to sleep in again and not deal with classes for two days. Somethings on board hadn't changed in twenty-five years though – curfew on weekends was still determined by how you were doing in classes. But for the new freshman, they wouldn't have a GPA until after the first semester. So, curfew was still strictly enforced. For a group of freshman, however, they had big plans for their Saturday.

Marissa and Abby had gotten up early to begin their day, and they were having breakfast in the ship's cafeteria. Marissa was supposed to be meeting Charlie soon so they could begin preparing for the following Friday. A young man approached them and sat down, but unfortunately, for them, it wasn't Charlie.

"Good morning, ladies. How are you two this fine morning?" Matt grinned at them.

Both looked up and sighed to themselves. "Hey, Matt..."

"So, Abby, you ready to kick a little but later?"

Abby nodded. "Sure..."

"Good. Hey, I hear your Mom is on the board of directors at Tipton Industries, right?"

"Yeah, she is. She's the chief veterinarian and director of the Tipton Animal Shelters too."

Matt nodded. "Cool. We have something else in common. My Mom's brother is on that board too. Uncle Wade is the director of the transportation division."

Abby shrugged. "I wouldn't know. At home, Mom doesn't really talk too much about work. She prefers to focus on all of us instead. Besides, my family has known the Tipton family for years. I mean besides the fact that she and Dad have known Wilfred Tipton since they were our age, his daughter, London, is like an aunt to me, and her daughter Nikki is my sister Annie's best friend."

Marissa turned to her. "Really? I think my parents have done business with the Tiptons before. For a while, there was a big joint venture between my family's company, Tipton Industries and Wellington Industries."

Abby smiled. "Small world. Wellington Industries was begun by my Great Great Uncle Tommy. So, that's my family's company."

Marissa laughed. "No way! That's crazy..."

"You're telling me..."

Matt realized he was having breakfast with two ladies from wealthy families. Marissa was nice, but everyone said she had eyes for Charlie. So, Matt turned to Abby and interrupted her. "I was thinking we could spend this morning getting to know each other better. You know, build up our team chemistry for later..."

Abby paused trying to come up with an excuse. "Well, I was going to talk to my Mom on a video chat. Sorry."

Matt frowned. "But wouldn't it be close to 4 AM back in Boston?"

"Oh...Well, you see, my Mom's a real early riser...She was raised on a farm, so its in her blood..."

Matt paused and nodded. "I can see that."

About that time, another young man sat down at their table. "Good morning, Marissa, Abs..."

Marissa smiled at Charlie. "Hey. You ready for today?"

Charlie shrugged. "As I'll ever be." He turned to Abby. "Hey, you want to hear something interesting? I got a text from Ben sometime last night. Mom and Dad are taking he and Annie to Six Flags for the weekend!"

Abby gave a fake laugh but realized she had just been busted in her previous lie to Matt. "Well, that was nice of them..."

"I told you this would happen. Without us there, they are focusing all of their attention on Ben and Annie..."

Abby shrugged. "Think about it this way. They're going to Six Flags for the weekend. We're on a cruise ship for four years. You want to trade places with them?"

Charlie paused and looked over at Marissa. "Yeah, you're right. I kind of like where I am right now."

Matt grinned. "Well, Abs...Looks like your morning just got freed up..."

Abby pasted a fake smile again. "Yeah...how about that?"

About an hour later, everyone had gone their separate ways after finishing breakfast. Abby would have rather gone back to her cabin to take it easy, but instead, she found herself walking around the deck with Matt. Of course, Matt was oblivious to this.

"So, what are your plans after high school?"

Abby looked up. "Huh? Oh...I have no idea yet. College I know, but beyond that, I have no clue."

Matt smiled. "I think I'm going to follow in my Dad's footsteps and go to law school and then try my hand at politics."

Abby nodded. "Good for you, but you can't be so certain. There's a long time between now and then. You never know what might happen."

"True, but that's what I want. And I always go after what I want."

Abby laughed. "Ever heard the old saying – be careful what you ask for because you just might get it."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, I suppose. But I like to think there is a higher power that puts us into situations. And then its up to us how we handle those..."

Matt smiled again. "Kind of like right now. We were put in a situation together today. Maybe it is a sign?"

Abby stopped them. "Look. No offense or anything, but I think what you are looking for and what I'm looking for are two totally different things. I'm not looking to date anyone right now. So, if that's on your mind, you can forget it..."

Matt just looked at her. "May I ask why?"

"That's a fair question. Short answer is I want the magic. My parents have that, and I've grown up seeing it with my own two eyes. After being exposed to it my whole life, I won't settle for anything less. Its not a slight against you. I'd like us to be friends, but that's all..."

Matt paused. "How do you know there is no magic?"

"I just know."

Back on the skydeck, Marissa and Charlie were sitting at a table preparing themselves for meeting her parents. And the best they could, they were trying to think of everything that her parents might think of to ask and what they needed to be ready.

"You do have a suit, right?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. My Dad suggested I get a brand new one before I came on board. He always told me you never know when you need to suit up."

Marissa smiled. "Good. Nothing flashy, right?"

Charlie laughed. "Look at me. Could I pull off flashy?"

Marissa laughed too. "Just making sure there wasn't some gaudy pinstripes or anything like that. And a conservative tie is needed too."

"Already taken care of. My Mom told me to get a light blue one. Something about how its a color that works on the men in our family."

Marissa smiled again. "I can see that. Now, we need to make sure we have the same back story."

Charlie paused. "You know...I say we keep it as simple as possible and use as much of the truth as possible. We met several years ago here on the boat, knew each other for an afternoon and then didn't hear or see anything from the other until the first day on the boat."

"That'll work."

"And then we'll just say we clicked again and decided to try going out with each other. That way, we'll only have been 'going out' for a week, so there wouldn't be too much of a relationship yet for them to grill us about."

Marissa grinned. "I think that will work perfectly. What was our first 'date'?"

Charlie grinned back. "Easy...We played pool in the game room and just hung out."

Marissa laughed. "I think I can remember that. And our second date?"

"Miniature golf...We just remember to relay what happens this afternoon and use it as our basis."

"And our third?"

"No third date yet. We both want to concentrate on our studies and make sure we both do well. Hopefully, that will go over real well with them."

Marissa nodded. "Good idea. You know...I think we might actually be able to pull this off." She paused. "Beyond that, Charlie, just be yourself. You're a great guy. Just let that shine through. Thank you again for doing this for me."

Charlie smiled. "No problem. Who knows...maybe I'll have to call in a favor at some other time myself?"

"Consider it done."

"Besides, you're pretty easy to hang around with, Marissa. You're a lot of fun."

"I could say the same thing. But, I remember that from several years ago."

Charlie laughed. "When did I show that? Before or after I wasn't watching where I was going and we bumped heads with each other?"

"It may be kind of sad, but that afternoon always stuck out to me. That day was one of the funnest I've ever had. And your family was so nice to me."

"That's us Martins. But, I have a feeling there are going to be plenty of fun days for you here on the boat."

Marissa smiled. "I think so too."

That afternoon finally arrived, and the battle was on. Immediately, it was apparent that two of the five teams were not going to be competitive. Nathan and Rachel were terrible, but they did really care as they were having fun with each other. And Abby and Matt weren't clicking as a team either. Of course, that probably had more to do with the fact that Matt didn't really feel like talking to Abby. She understood, but it kind of put a drag on the game for her.

That left three teams in contention, but two of them had an almost grudge match carrying over from the day before. And it all came down to the final hole. They were playing alternate shots, and both Brady and Charlie had hit the initial shots. And both had left awkward shots for their teammates to finish off the hole.

Marissa was the furthest out. She lined up her shot and putted. The ball made its way towards the hole. Unfortunately, it caught the lip and rimmed out. Marissa just stood there dejected. But not for long though. Charlie put his arm around her shoulders.

"Its okay. At least we had fun."

That left it up to Angela to win the match for her and Brady. As she lined up her putt, Brady knelt beside her.

"You got this."

She turned to him. "You think so?"

Brady grinned. "I know so. With that shot yesterday, I know you have ice water in your veins. Knock it down, and we'll go collect on our smoothies."

She nodded and stood up to take her putt. And like Marissa's shot, her ball was going straight towards the hole. And like Marissa's, it caught the lip. But Angela's shot swirled around the rim before it dropped.

Angela was so excited she began jumping up and down. Without realizing what she was doing, she turned and pulled Brady into a hug. And Brady just responded and hugged her back. They were still celebrating with each other when they noticed the other eight people there just looking at them and giving them looks.

Charlie leaned over to Marissa. "That was completely my bad. I should have set you up a whole lot better than I did." He smiled at her. "Besides, you came a lot closer on that putt than I ever could have. I would have ended up in that sand trap over there. And then you would have had every reason to wrap your putter around my neck."

Marissa laughed. "Its okay. You were right. This was another fun day for me. I think we have plenty of stories to pass along to my parents."

"Ahhh...I see. You're going to tell them how I choked on my last putt, huh?"

She grinned at him. "Maybe."

To be Continued...