An Awkward Encounter

It was a tremendously illuminating sunrise which made me hope that the cruise that I had booked without my hungover sidekicks was going to be fantastic. Even on vacation, I couldn’t break my need for punctuality and wasn’t sure if it was irritation or excitement I was feeling as I waited for the shuttle to pick me up. It arrived a few minutes after the scheduled time with a director who wasn’t phased one bit about how the hands on my watch told me.

The bus drove decisively down the street adding passengers from other hotels until it reached the dock where the boat was parked. The crew greeted us with jokes about our lack of attention to the scheduled departure and asked us to take a seat. I scanned the catamaran for a seat and found what I guessed to be the last one onboard next to an older woman and her daughter. I smiled at the woman and greeted her in both English and Spanish, but all I got was a sour expression and the cold shoulder that girls give you in middle school when you are a loser. I ignored her and sat down.

The catamaran pulled away and I gazed at the hotel packed peninsula. The sun reflected off the water and the smell of the ocean made this anything but a bitter morning. I had to hold my hat as the breeze started to amp up. The crew started to give their spiel and let us know that the bar was going to open as soon as the bartender set up. The music started and the two next to me began to get into their dance groove. I thought it was good that our initial strained introduction wasn’t going to stick. 

I got up and went to the railing to take some pictures of the island and then headed to the bar. When I returned, I noticed the compartment in the seat and decided to put my bag in it. As I opened it, I saw that the other women had a few things in there and once again got a cold stare as I closed the lid. I smiled back and went back to enjoying my drink and the view from the bow. I was starting to relax when I noticed a body next to me and saw the woman shimmying closer to me on the beat of the song. She accepted another drink from the younger woman who smiled at me and I raised my drink to her, and she nodded back. Her mother or aunt was not happy with our exchange and raised her elbows as if to make a definite personal bubble. I moved over as far as I could but felt ridiculous having to balance one cheek on the bench.

I gave up and got off the bench the bench and moved to the back railing of the boat, finished my drink and tried to enjoy the ride. The woman on the bench across from me smiled at me with such an inviting grin that I couldn’t help but feel like at least someone on this boat was amicable.

We soon came to the area where we could snorkel and the woman from across the aisle walked up to me as we both waited for our turn to get into the water.

“Hi,” she began, “I’m Lena. I couldn’t help but notice that rude character trying to claim this ship as her own.”

I laughed, “I’m Jocelyn. Yeah, it’s definitely awkward. I have no idea who did what in her Cornflakes this morning.”

“You can come across and sit on the bench with my boyfriend, Jay, and I.”

“I feel like I’m back in high school and I’m the new girl.”

“Sad but true. I’m not the best swimmer and Jay won’t go diving at all, so want to go in with me and practice the buddy system? I’m only a little paranoid.”

“Sure, but I’m no CJ Parker, so I cannot play lifeguard for you.”

“Deal.”

Lena and I had a great time snorkeling around the catamaran and got to see some great, if not a little scary, fish and deep-sea sights while Jay watched and absorbed the old woman’s malicious glare. He did a better job using his body to shield his own personal space as she jockeyed with him for a place at the railing.

Just like the new girl in school, I felt the jitters subside as I grabbed my bag and towel from the bench’s cupboard and moved it across to share with my new friends. Jay and Lena didn’t mind me crashing what should have been a romantic adventure and we got to know each other when the catamaran landed, and we went to get our lunch. We ended up being from cities that were about 100km from each other. We had a good group of people join us at our picnic table at the island’s restaurant and took some great group photos. 

After exploring the island and returning to the catamaran, the woman and her daughter almost seemed to become invisible with the terrific new people that I had met. We spent the last two days of our holidays bringing our friends together at each other’s resorts and got each others’ numbers to connect in the future.

Dina and Jay left the day before my friends and I. I got to take in a road trip with them on a bus barreling down streets that were too narrow for me to fathom how the driver kept the bus on the road. We took in vistas that brought the brochures to life. My friends were relaxed and open to exploring the small alleyways of the capital city, but that trip didn't implant itself the same way as that day on the catamaran.

I left the island the next day scrolling through my photos and taking pleasure in the memory of our meeting and like a schoolgirl, I calculated the best time to use the contact information to connect with Dina when I got back to my daily grind.

******

Here I sit again in a resort with a margarita two years after that awkward start, Dina is minus Jay, but we still have that same desire to reconnect in a tropical setting to make more great memories. This time it's another island and a whole new adventure. Hopefully, there will be no more grouches in this new story that we are making. We clink out drinks together: to an old grouch!