"Imagine!" said Tanya with glistening eyes. "A two-week long cruise!"

"Whatever," said Lacey.

"So what are you going to do?" asked Tanya.

"I'm going up to the cabin--"

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!"

"--then I'm going to put my stuff up--"

"Yeah? Yeah?"

"--and then I'm going to pull my laptop out and type."

Tanya's face fell. "That's it?" she asked.

"I have three chapters to write, two weeks to write them, and I still don't know who killed Marcy!" said Lacey.

"You're supposed to do that kind of stuff at home," said Tanya. She gulped as she remembered.

"My poor $70,000,000 couch!" she whined dropping her head.

"Forget the couch! Fun, fun, see, we're going to have fun! Drown yourself in the reality of your own making, I'll cruise the bachelors." Tany was desperate to pulle Lacey out of this state.

Exactly two days ago Lacey's teenage brother had taken his nine-month pregnant girlfriend to hide at Lacey's home while he scraped up the courage to tell his mother that there really hadn't been an six month camping trip. (Their mother already knew that, but that's not the point.) While she was sitting on Lacey's brand new, super expensive handmade couch her water broke. That alone was bad enough, but unlike almost every other woman in history her baby decided that it was going to be born right then, and practically slingshot himself out of the birth canal to where it was all Lacey could do to catch it. Then her father walked in just in time to realize that he was a grandfather. That would have been bad enough if he hadn't also been with his brother heading to a wedding with a huge bottle of champagne that he uncorked--or tried to. The cork exploded out of the bottle showering the already damaged couch with champagne. But that's not all! At that moment Lacey's mother arrived with her brother in tow, and she was carrying a large bowl of "special fruit punch" that she had made for a friend's aniversary. The girl's father bumped into her making the acidic liquid splash not only on the carpet (discount from a warehouse) but also on the couch. Then the girl threw up on it to complete the day. Needless to say, the couch was history. The cleaner that she had taken it to had flung his hands up in disgust at the mess on it. Lacey's ever-sympathetic mother had simply shook her head and said, "You shouldn't have invested that much in a couch anyway."

Lacey's editor, hearing what happened, decided that what Lacey needed to finish her book on time was some time away from the insanity that hid itself in the family robes, and booked her on a two week cruise across the ocean. Poor Lacey.

Dylan kept his face carefully nuetral as he walked up the gangplank and onto the luxiurous cruise. He couldn't wait for the boat to pull away from port. For two weeks he wouldn't have to deal with his two brothers trying to force him to resign from the position of head of the company. What was father thinking? he allowed himself to wonder. It's not like I even wanted the position! It had been his father's dying wish so he couldn't just hand it over to one of his brother's who actually wanted the position.

"Welcome," said a prostrating crew member. "Mister Ellison, if you'll allow me to show you to your cabin?"

Dylan shrugged and followed the crew member. Even this was better than the subtle insults of his "family".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 weeks later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lacey fought back a groan as she slowly came awake. Her whole body was sore, it ached horribly. She hadn't felt this bad since the first day of aroebics class, followed by yoga. It was strange though, those muscles were mostly the ones in her arms and sides; this time it was mostly in her legs. She opened her eyes to find herself looking in the eyes of a man that she'd never before at the same time that he opened his eyes to see her. The two of them squealed and threw themself away from the other to where they toppled off the huge waterbed.

"What are you doing in my bed?" he demanded clutching the blanket around his bare middle.

"I don't know!" said Lacey waving her hand. A glint of gold in her peripheral caught her attention and she stared at the back of her left hand as if it had turned into a monster. Sitting on her finger, between her knuckle and the first joint of her ring finger were two rings--one with a large diamond and one that was gold set with saphires. She let out a strangled sound as she turned her hand every which way staring at her hand. Those two rings couldn't be hers; they were an engagement ring and a wedding ring. She hand't been engaged when she'd boarded the ship. A glance across the room showed her that he was staring at a gold ring on his hand in the same way that she had been staring at hers.

Her mind raced through the possiblities. Several ideas came to mind. One; this was a practical joke orchastrated by her mother. That wasn't too far fetched, in Lacey's childhood home the two major holidays were Christmas and April Fool's Day. Her mother managed to get everyone on that day, whether or not they were in the home. She also had a penchant for playing tricks throughout the year as well, April Fool's was just the major day when she went all out. The more she considered it, the more likely it was. 

"I--I'm wearing a wedding ring," said the man softly.

"Me too," said Lacey. She grabbed a blanket that was draped across a nearby chair and wrapped it around herself. "Maybe it's just a joke."

"What kind of person would joke about something like this?" demanded the man.

Lacey looked at him for a moment. "Well, that rules that idea out," she said with a sigh. "Obviously you've never met my mother."

Before he could form an angry retort there was a loud knocking on the door. "Hello Lovebirds!" called a familiar voice from the hallway. "I came to greet the honeymooners!"

In one coordinated movement that almost sparked a memory the two of them raced towards and opened the door to reveal Tanya. "Tanya," said Lacey. It was part curse, part exclamation, and all annoyance.

Tanya ignored it, this was Lacey's normal mode of operation. "Oh, come on," she said to her friend. "You can't still be mad that I spiked the wedding cake, are you?" Lacey and the man stared at her. "I mean, the two of you are so uptight, you both needed to relax and have fun."

Lacey groaned and drooped as the man sighed and scratched his head. "Only you," she said.

Tanya looked at where the sheet had dropped from the man's middle."Ooo! Lucky Lacey. Anyway, I came to tell you that we dock in twenty minutes."

The man flushed and pulled the covers back up as Lacey grabbed the front of her friend's shirt. "I can't remember the last two weeks!" she yelled. Then the second half of what Tanya had said filtered through her brain and she shrieked. "Twenty minutes? My story!" She shoved Tanya out of the way and dashed towards her cabin to be greeted by the other passengers, some of whom she vaguely remembered from when she'd boarded the boat.

"Already running around?"
"Oh, he must be keeping you busy!"
"Ah, to be young again!" (That one came from a man that was only about Lacey's age.)

What happened? What did I do?!