Any Port in a Storm: Chapter 2

Ash's Story

After the uncomfortable outburst by Tony toward our Captain I was in a hurry to get going and check out this sunken island.  I knew my husband well and I knew that until he could really cool off any little thing might set him off again.  I couldn't blame him for being upset, I was upset too, but he'd definitely taken things too far with that “you people” comment.  His family was old school Republican through and through and while he was probably the most liberal minded of his kin when things got heated his traditional values would always peek out.  I had been surprised when Tony told me that  Kyle was gay a few months ago and I can say I was actually proud of my husband for hiring the man despite him knowing this fact, but after those hurtful words I worried it was about to become an issue on our, until now, peaceful boat life.

I watched Tony set up the little outboard and, as he always did, bitch about the feeble 3 horsepower engine.  I just smiled.  I knew before the end of this trip we'd probably have some completely impractical shiny new 25 hp monster roaring on the back of this thing.  I liked the pleasant little putt putt of the smaller motor however.  The more sedate speed allowed us to enjoy the trip and see the sights.  We were on a year long pleasure cruise with no concrete schedule or itinerary, what was the hurry?  But once Tony had a place to be he wanted to get there as quickly and efficiently as possible.  While it amused me I also admired that about my husband, he was man that got things done.

The waters were smooth so I lounged out across the middle bench as we made our way to our mystery island.  I watched as my husband piloted us to our destination.  He looked so damn sexy to me sitting tall, gaze intently focused forward, and framed as he was by the flawless blue sky behind him.  His loose tank top fluttered in the breeze giving me little glimpses of his lean tanned torso.  With all of our swimming and hiking and other activities he had lost at least 10 pounds since we set sail.  His dark aviators hid his beautiful blue eyes but made him look so damn cool.  He had let his naturally wavy blonde hair grow out and he now wore a light beard and mustache which he never had back home.  There was a Young Guns era Kiefer Sutherland look about him...and I very much approved!  I briefly considered crawling back there and giving him a quick bj but I knew he'd stop me.  He was a fine lover, if a bit predicable, but adventurous he was not.  Sex was strictly for the bedroom, curtains drawn and doors firmly locked.

I took another glance toward the dark clouds in the distance.  They seemed a bit closer but it had only been a few minutes and I decided naturally worrying my mind was playing tricks on me.  Besides, they still looked to be a long way off.

I laid back, relaxed to the steady sound of the motor and the rhythm of the gentle waves as we passed over them, and enjoyed the warm sun on body.

Tony's Story

I had my parent's shitty little outboard cranked to full speed as we crawled across the span between Rose and this sunken island.  Christ had they cheaped out on this peace of crap.

I ran things over in my mind as we went.  I wished I hadn't gone off at the drunk like I had.  When searching for ammunition to get a rise out of him I had gone straight to what I knew about him.  It was admittedly hypocritical but despite me hiring him on large part due to his homosexuality for me it was still something to be scorned as surely as any other character flaw.  I am a modern guy but I knew in my gut there was just something fundamentally wrong with that “lifestyle”.  Man and woman, slot A into tab B, it was the natural order, as obvious as 1 plus 1.  It wasn't difficult to see.  I wasn't a zealot about it or anything but I believed what I believed.  I couldn't care less how people chose to live, that was their business, but I liked it a lot more when the world was more in line with the “don't ask, don't tell” mentality.

Me feeling bad over hurt feelings didn't change the fact that the dude had fucked up big time.  With all of the modern satellite linked navigation tools on board Rose one would have to be staggeringly incompetent to get lost on a calm sea.  It only hits me then that perhaps our Captain hadn't been lost at all, perhaps he knew exactly what he had been doing.  I glanced over my shoulder to see Rose getting further away as we traveled.  My curiosity had been piqued.

Either way it didn't matter much, incompetence or insubordination, both were equally bad.  If Kyle was going to be a problem I was going to have to get rid of him.  That would mean I'd have to hire another Captain at our next major stop, if there were any English speaking candidates available at all.  Beggars can't be choosers though, I thought that I'd likely have to hire the first one we came across.  I forced the jealousy fueled visions of some dark skinned chiseled young stud living with us and hitting on my wife from my mind and just hoped for the best.  Maybe I'd be lucky enough to find a lady Captain.  From what I'd experienced it was unlikely, but maybe.

I chastised myself for not using these first few months to actually learn how to sail and run a boat.  This trip really ought to have been just Ash and I.  I had wanted to squeeze every drop of leisure time out of this precious break year but I now realized that the time I saved from running the ship was balanced out by a lack of privacy.  I should have made the time to learn more than the basics.  I hated the fact I still needed Kyle and that I couldn't really take control of the situation.

I decided then that once we got back on board we'd sit him down and have a long talk with him.  If he couldn't fulfill his contract I'd arrange it with him that I would still pay him out for what he'd done and half of the remaining time IF he gave me a crash course in sailing.

As it turned out all of my worries and planning were for naught.  None of this would happen.  None of it would matter.  I was never to see Captain Kyle again.

We continued our snail paced trek across the glassy open water.  The island ended up being a lot further out than I thought it was.  Had I been calmer I would have had Kyle bring Rose closer but as it was I just wanted to get out of there.  Slowly, slowly the palm trunk got closer and closer.

Looking down I caught my wife checking me out.  I gave her a smile and it was in that instant that my anger finally and truly left me.  By God did she look good!  Laid out across the center bench she had her head rested on one cylindrical side of the RIB dinghy and her feet propped up on the other.  At just a shade over 5 foot tall her diminutive height allowed her to do this comfortably.  I liked small women, they made me feel...manly.  Her long straight chestnut brown hair, the color of which matched her eyes almost perfectly, cascaded down over her shoulders.  She had on a flowing beach shawl but it was open at the front revealing her trim body.  Besides the shawl she wore only a cherry red bikini, her large sunglasses, and of course her platinum wedding band glinted in the sun.  Her skin was tanned but not nearly as much as mine as she was far more careful sun exposure and skin care than I.  My eyes followed the sleek curves of her gorgeous body.  Pouting symmetrical b cup breasts, shapely legs, a nice ass, and a tight lean tummy.  At 35 she was at the very pinnacle of her beauty.  

I could only imagine what pregnancy would do to that near perfect physique of hers.  A C-section scar, stretch marks, sagging, drooping tits, tough nipples, dark circles under her eyes from fatigue...she'd have a Mom body.

Even as I thought those things I knew how shallow that seemed.  Despite those selfish thoughts it wasn't for sexy aesthetics I had been putting her off on the baby thing.  When we were younger it was so much easier.  We had years yet to make that decision.  Back then I believed, truly believed, that I would come around to the idea eventually.  It was important to Ash and I wanted her to be happy.  But as the window began to narrow and Ashley became more and more insistent I had been forced to confront a plain blunt truth.  

I just...didn't want to be a Dad.  In my heart of hearts, deep down, I knew I didn't want it.  If it happened I would accept it of course, but it wasn't something I was striving for.  Kids would get in the way.  They'd take over.  I'd watched my brothers and cousins and friends head down this road of parenthood and everything about it turned me off.  It wasn't for me.  Kids changed you.  They changed everything.  They would change us.  I loved Ash and the life we had together.  This trip together only drove home to me how great we really had it.  In 12 short years this could be our life all the time.

I knew I'd have to come clean soon.  I knew we had to talk.  I prayed our marriage would survive.  Whatever happened one of us was going to have to live with the regrets of what might have been.

I sighed and focused back on the tree which was by that point getting close.