It really was. Peg couldn't believe that the cleaner who came to clean her cabin was Max Goof, her former neighbor and also someone who was like a son to her.

Max was surprised to see Peg just as much as she was to see him. "Peg? Is that really you?"

Peg squealed with delight as she hugged him very tightly. "Oh, Max! I'm so very pleased to see you!"

"And I'm very pleased to see you too, Peg," Max said.

Peg let go of Max. "So, you got a job on this cruise?"

"Yep," Max replied. "It keeps me out of trouble. And how's life treating you, Peg?"

Peg was so happy to see Max that she didn't want to ruin this reunion by telling him how stressful and miserable her life really was, so she just said, "Yeah, it's really great, Max. Listen, I need to go and have some breakfast now before the cafe stops serving it. It really was nice to meet you, Max. And thank you so much for doing my room. See you soon."

"See you soon, Peg," Max said, as he headed to sort out Peg's bed. "Have a good breakfast."

"Thanks, Max," Peg said. "And thanks for doing my cabin." Then she walked out of her cabin and left Max to do his job.

Peg really enjoyed the sausages, the crispy bacon, the scrambled eggs, the fried mushrooms, the porridge, white toast with butter in the big Seashell Café and cups of tea. While she ate her delicious buffet breakfast, she was very glad to be having a massive break from cooking and cleaning in her house as well as her very busy and stressful real estate job. Then she thought about when she saw Max coming into her cabin to clean it a few minutes ago. She wasn't expecting to see him at all, but for some reasons she couldn't work out yet, she was starting to feel better now that she saw him than she did for a very long time.

Max was the son of Peg's former neighbor Goofy and since, they became neighbors, they developed a type of mother-son relationship between each other. Because Max's mom died a whole year after he was born, Peg became the closest thing he ever had to a mother figure and he was like a son to her in return. And Peg was always very grateful to Max for being PJ's first and best friend. Before Goofy and Max moved to Spoonerville, PJ had no friends at all and he didn't even get along with his sister Pistol very much but that all changed when their new neighbors arrived. Max and PJ not only became best friends, but they even became like the brothers they never had and, to a degree, Max and Pistol even developed a type of brother-sister relationship between them. And that was when Max and Peg developed their mother-son relationship between them and because of that she was just proud of Max of everything he achieved as much as she was of her own son PJ. And because of that and because they were good neighbours when Peg and Pistol lived in Spoonerville and because they were looking after her son PJ (deep down, even more so than Pete really did), Goofy and Max were always welcome to her place in Mouseton when PJ went to catch up with his mom and his sister whenever he could. Her ex-husband Pete wasn't welcome at all.

Ever since she met him, Peg always thought Max was cute but as he grew up, she thought he became a very handsome and sexy guy. He in some way reminded her of his dad Goofy only smarter and more into the things she was when she was his age, like sports, acting and having a similar sense of humor and similar temper.

Because it was a day at sea as the cruise was heading to the Bahamas for tomorrow, Peg decided to save her energy and rest for the big day tomorrow. She went on Deck Seventeen where the big pool, the small pool and two hot tubs were. She made herself comfortable on a wooden sun lounger with a dark blue cushion to read her book which she hadn't been able to for a long time because of work and everything else going on in her life.

As she read her book, Peg saw Max by the pool. He was sitting in the lifeguard's chair and making sure everyone was safe and behaving themselves in the pools and the hot tubs. As well as doing a very good job, Peg thought Max looked very sexy in his lifeguard red shorts. And she wasn't the only one. A lot of other ladies, no matter how old or young they were, either on the sun loungers around her or in the swimming pool seemed to find him very attractive too.

An hour later, a female lifeguard wearing a red one-piece swimsuit came to relieve Max of his lifeguard duties. Then Peg watched him go into one of the hot tubs to relax. She decided to take her clothes off, leaving on only her green bikini, and headed to the hot tub he was in. "Can I join you, Max?" she asked.

Max was delighted to see Peg again. "Of course you can, Peg. I'm just a crew member of this cruise. You're a passenger and the passenger is always right."

Peg chuckled as she got into the hot tub. Then she sighed happily. "This is lovely. So very lovely." Then she turned to Max. "So, you're a lifeguard as well as a cabin cleaner, Max?"

"Yeah, that's right. Being a cabin cleaner is my main job, but when I've finished my shift, I do other jobs to help the cruise and keep me occupied, like how I just did that lifeguard shift."

"And you were very good at it."

"Thanks, Peg."

"So, what's your next job?"

"Oh, I'm done for the day," he replied. "I'm just relaxing for a bit in the hot tub. It really helps. So, is Pistol with you? Or Stanley?"

Stanley was the last guy Peg was in a relationship. It was the longest relationship she had been in since she divorced Pete, but it didn't last even one year and not an honest one. He cheated on her with a lot of other ladies. It reminded her of when she was married to Pete and how he cheated on her.

Peg sighed again, only this time it was a sad one. "No. It's just me. Stanley and I broke up more than three months ago and Pistol is still at boarding school. I came here now because I won free tickets to this cruise by a competition. I just hope it'll be worth it."

Max felt sorry for Peg as she looked very sad.

"Well, I've been on this cruise for the last two years, Peg," Max said. "The crew and I, we've been on many voyages in the Caribbean and it never gets old or boring. I can guarantee you will not regret coming on this voyage. There'll be plenty of adventure, excitement and beauty, whether it's one the cruise or visiting the locations."

Peg started to smile more. "Okay, if you say so. And, Max, I'm feeling better knowing you're on the cruise with me, even though I'm a passenger and you're a crew member."

"And I feel better knowing you're here too. So how was your breakfast?"

"Everything was very delicious."

"And do you like your cabin?"

"I do."

"And how do you like the rest of the ship?"

"To tell you the truth, I haven't explored the rest of the ship or see what activities they do."

Then the bubbles in the hot tub stopped.

Max got up. "Well, Peg, as the bubbles have now stopped, how would you like me to give you a tour of the cruise?" Max offered.

"Oh, yes, please, Max," Peg said.

"Cool. Just give me a few minutes to change back into my clothes very quickly and then I'll give you the complete tour."

"Great."

Then Max and Peg got out of the hot tub. Max went to get changed while Peg went back to her sun lounger, dried herself with her towel and put her clothes back on.

Soon Max arrived back, now wearing his cruise crew uniform again. "So, shall we begin the tour, Ma'am?" he asked jokingly.

Peg laughed. "Please do."

"Very well, Ma'am. If you care to follow me."

And Peg did with glee.