Cougar Cruise

The ship really came alive around 8pm as alcohol began flowing freely and cubs and cougars continued to mingle.

"Do you like to dance?" Gavin asked after dinner while they were having a glass of wine.

"I love to dance!" Natalie told him before something occurred to her. "Let me guess. You're really good at it."

"Nah. I can hold my own, though," Gavin told her, too embarrassed to admit he'd taken ballroom dancing in high school when he had a huge crush on the prettiest girl in school.

It was midnight before either of them realized the time as they danced, talked, and laughed the evening away.

"I should get back to my cabin," Natalie said when the huge clock in the ballroom quietly chimed 12 times.

"It seems like we just got here," Gavin told her.

"It does, doesn't it?" she asked but not so much as a question as in agreement.

As they slowly made their way to her room, Natalie said, "I know I've said this several times, but I really didn't want to come on this cruise."

"Me, either," Gavin admitted.

They stopped in front of her door, and Gavin turned toward Natalie and smiled at her as he said, "But I'm really happy I did."

"So am I," Natalie admitted as Gavin softly kissed her again.

The room was quiet, so Natalie slowly opened it and was relieved to learn she was alone.

"I had a wonderful time today, Gavin," she told him.

"Same here, Natalie. If you're not sick of me, I'd love to see you again tomorrow."

She smiled and promised him she wasn't.

Gavin could tell she wanted to say something so he asked to go ahead.

"I guess I was just thinking about the purpose of this cruise and how turned off I was by the whole 'cougar-cub' thing. And yet, well, here we are."

"You want to know how old I am, don't you?" Gavin asked quietly with a bit of a smile.

"Yes and no," she told him honestly.

"I'll tell you if you promise me you'll..."

"Uh-uh. I...I do not want to tell you my age," she said, cutting him off.

Gavin laughed quietly then told her that's what he wasn't going to say.

"Oh. Sorry. Then please go ahead."

"I'll tell but you have to tell me you'll see me as the same person no matter what number you hear me say."

"You're scaring me, Gavin," she said as she looked up into his eyes.

"What number would scare you?" he asked as he gently brushed her hair back.

"Before today I'd have said anything under 37 or so, but now..."

"I'm not 37," he told her.

"I know. I also know you're almost certainly not even 30," she quietly replied. "And...that...scares me."

"I'm 27," he told her frankly.

Natalie didn't let the shock of hearing his actual age show, but even though she expected an answer of 20-something, actually hearing it was difficult.

"Is ten years really all that much?" Gavin asked as he waited for her to look at him again.

"Ten?" she asked, her eyebrows raised up high.

"You said anything under 37, so..."

"No. That was my lower limit. Based on my age."

"Oh," Gavin replied, giving her the impression he was even more shocked and that this was about to be a final goodbye.

Natalie couldn't blame him. All of this cougar nonsense aside, what rationale man his age would actually be interested in a woman as old as her for anything other than whatever cubs and cougars did?

"I understand," Natalie said. "I'm struggling with it, too, and yet...you're...gorgeous."

"Wait. What are you talking about?" Gavin asked, now completely confused.

"The elephant in the room. My age. Now that you know I'm over 40, whatever illusions you may have had have just been shattered. I mean, I was sure you were under 30, but when you heard that I'm over 40 you had to be thinking..."

Gavin took her pretty face in his hands and kissed her again as she spoke.

"What...why are you..." Natalie began before finally shutting up and kissing him back.

This kiss got very steamy very quickly, and before she knew it her tongue was deep in his mouth and he was pulling her close and seconds later she was grinding against his body when she suddenly pulled back.

"Gavin. I...I'm so sorry," she said again as though she'd done something wrong.

"Why? I enjoyed that," he told her.

When she looked at him again he smiled and said, "All of it."

"It's late and men get, you know, more aroused when it's late, so it makes sense that you'd..."

Again, he put a finger on her soft, full lips then smiled again.

"It's you, Natalie. I like...you. For you. Okay?"

Her eyes were darting back and forth with his so rapidly it nearly made Gavin laugh.

"You're...serious, aren't you?" she asked as her heart continued to pound.

"Very."

It was quiet for several seconds before she whispered, "I'm...41. Years old."

Adding 'years old' made him smile and almost laugh, but Gavin held it together.

"Good to know," he told her before kissing her again.

This time it was a more subdued kiss that lasted just a couple of seconds.

"So...may I please see you again tomorrow?" he asked.

"Okay," she replied, barely able to talk as her head spun and her thoughts whirled.

"Goodnight," Gavin told her after kissing her once more.

"Goodnight," she said back before turning and closing her door.

Gavin's mind was swirling every bit as much as Natalie's, and he completely forgot about Darren and the very real possibility he could be on...condom #2. Or #3 or...

Just as he reached for the door, he heard voices. Again.

He almost said, "You've GOT to be kidding me!" when the door opened wide.

"You won't have any trouble falling asleep tonight, sweetie," the much-older woman said as she kissed Darren, who was buck naked and standing in the doorway.

"Ahem!"

"Oh. I'm sorry," the woman said as she turned around and smiled.

She, too, gave Gavin the once (and then twice) over before saying, "I was just leaving, but I could be talked into staying if you'd like to join us."

Gavin swallowed hard, forced a smile, then said, "That's um...very tempting, but uh, it's been a really long day."

She looked him up and down, did the growling thing then said, "Oh, I'll bet. A cub like you has to be busy ALL day long!"

"Um, right," he replied as he excused himself as the woman turned back around and asked Darren his name again.

He told her just as Gavin slid by doing his best to pretend his friend was at least partially clothed and looking up because he knew he wasn't.

"Dude! She was awesome! Older women really are in their prime, you know what I mean?" Darren said very animatedly after closing the door.

"I've heard that," his roommate replied.

"So. The totally hot cougar you were with. What's her name?"

"Natalie."

"Right. Yeah, Natalie. So...did you, you know?"

Darren held his arms out like he was holding someone else's arms then began thrusting his hips like he was having sex with her.

"Um...no."

"Seriously? Bro, she was like SO into you! And did I mention she's like totally smokin' hot?"

"Yeah. You kinda did," Gavin replied as he began unbuttoning his shirt.

Darren wasn't exactly well educated, but his street smarts were unparalleled.

"Hold on here," he said. "You like this chick, don't you?"

Gavin's first thought was to firmly inform his friend that Natalie wasn't a 'chick', but he knew it was a waste of time.

"I kind of do," he said instead.

"Geez. Are you serious? I mean, do you like...like her...like her?"

"It's crazy, huh?"

"Day-um!" Darren said. "Yeah, that's some crazy shit, bro!"

As Gavin stripped down to his underwear Darren pulled his on.

"It's really ironic," Gavin said after finally turning around to face his best buddy. "I'm the one who didn't want to even do this, and here I am..."

He stopped because he wasn't sure what it was he was doing.

"Wait. You're not like...falling in love with this...woman, are you?" Darren asked as he sat down on his bed.

"In love? No. No way. But I gotta tell you I've never met anyone like her, and the truth is, I've never felt like this about anyone before, either."

"Did I mention she's freakin' hot?" Darren asked very seriously.

Gavin shook his head and chuckled then agreed.

"She really is beautiful, isn't she?" he mused out loud.

"I gotta tell you, man, I thought she was like too young to be here. You know, when I first saw her and everything."

"She's 41. Can you believe that?"

"Whoa! That girl is...41? No way!"

"Yes. Way," Gavin replied.

"She looks 31," Darren told him.

"Yes. Yes, she does."

"I mean, she's not like...all wrinkly and shit," Darren offered, trying to be supportive.

His friend laughed again then said, "Her skin is so smooth. And the really crazy thing is she's from Phoenix. The sun ages people and she doesn't look...aged."

"Oh, I'd do her in a heartbeat!" Darren informed his friend.

Gavin gave him the eye and Darren said, "What? It's true! I would and that's a compliment. I swear!"

Gavin sighed then said, "So...tell me about your adventures."

It was nearly 2am when Darren stopped talking. He went back and forth between Cougar 1 and Cougar 2 over and over and over again, comparing and contrasting in the kind of detail that Gavin didn't care to know about. Then again, he wasn't really listening. He heard every word, but most of the time he was thinking about Natalie Robinson and how she made him feel. The rest of the time, he sat there wondering how she felt about him, and by the time he finally crawled into bed, he had to ask himself if Darren's question was all that far off base.

For the rest of the cruise, Gavin spent every minute he could with Natalie whether they were onboard or at some port of call. There was a modest amount of kissing, but mostly it was just holding hands or walking arm in arm or maybe just talking while eating something at a local restaurant.

During their final hour together, both of them were dreading seeing the shoreline of Tampa Bay knowing their time together would soon be over.

As they stood out on the railing while the ship prepared to dock, Gavin said, "I'd like to see you again, Natalie."

He was facing her and had his hands on the back of her upper arms as he spoke.

"I'd like that very much," she told him sweetly.

"Phoenix isn't much of a drive," he told her, knowing it was 115 miles and less than two hours away via I-10.

"No. No, it isn't," she agreed as Gavin pulled her close and held her until they heard the ship's PA system.

"I'll call you soon," Gavin promised as they said their final goodbye.

"I'll look forward to that," Natalie told him before putting her arms around his neck and kissing him one last time.

As they walked away, Gavin heard Virginia say to her daughter, "At least one of us fell in love."

The last thing he heard was, "Mom! Hush!" and he smiled when he did, because as crazy as it sounded, he knew he'd done just that.

He'd even admitted it to Darren that morning who'd given him his word he wouldn't tell a soul.

For his part, the Navy veteran didn't even use 10 out of 36, but he too, had the time of his life. It was just for a very different reason.

On the taxi ride back to the airport Darren said, "I tell you what. I could see myself marrying an older woman now."

"Yeah. Me, too," Gavin quietly replied, knowing there was no need to explain.

In the taxi the Robinsons took, the mood was similar and yet different.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Natalie asked when her mom didn't hear the second time she asked her a question.

"Yes. I'm fine," Virginia replied unconvincingly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" her daughter gently asked.

"Not really."

"You sure?"

Her mother shook her head then said, "The saying is true."

"Which saying?"

"There's no fool like an old fool."

"Mom, did something happen?" Natalie asked as her fear level rose.

"What? No. Nothing happened. Not like that anyway."

"Then what is it? What's wrong?"

Her mom looked at her then said, "I guess I had to learn the old-fashioned way that I'm, well, I'm an old-fashioned woman."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I don't want the kind of relationship a cruise like that brings. I guess what I'm really saying is I really do want a little mystery, you know?"

Natalie's heart was breaking for her mother, and yet she didn't know what to say.

"It's ironic, isn't it, that I'm the one who wanted to go, and you're the one who had a good time," her mother said as she tried to smile.

"Mom, I'm so sorry this didn't work out for you."

"Oh, no. I'm fine. I'm just disappointed that I refused to listen to my head when it was trying to tell my heart this was a bad idea."

She finally smiled a genuine smile then said, "But now I know."

"You're really okay?" Natalie asked.

"I am. I'm fine, honey. The real question is how serious are things with your cu...the young man you spent your time with? Gavin, right?"

"I'm not sure," Natalie told her truthfully. "I was really dreading going, but I went to be supportive, and then I met someone who made me feel like I've never felt before."

"You had the romance I didn't," her mother said making it clear she didn't feel sorry for herself but rather was happy for her daughter.

"Yeah. I...I guess I did."

"You're going to see him again, right?"

"He promised he'd call, but I'm trying to be realistic. After all, the whole cougar thing aside, I'm 41 and he's 27. So letting myself believe this was anything more than a brief-but-very-pleasant fantasy seems rather foolish."

"But you'd like him to call you, right?"

"I don't really know, Mom. On the one hand, yes. He's just so...pleasant to be around, you know? We like a lot of the same things, and he and I talked for hours and had such a good time."

"But?"

"Mom. Please," Natalie replied. "I'm 41 and he's..."

She tried not to laugh but couldn't help it when she said, "He's a cub."

Her mother smiled but didn't laugh.

"Honey? He is a lot younger than you, but he's no cub. He's a grown man and an architect, as I recall. I didn't get to spend any real time with him, but he struck me as someone who has everything you've ever wanted in a man. Am I wrong?"

"No, but he's so...young!"

"That's a fact I can't argue with," her mother said. "But you have to ask if the age difference is really that important. It may be, but that's not for me to decide. I loved your father more than anything, and now he's gone, and I'd give anything to have him back, my pre-cruise bluster aside. But after this cruise, I realize what I really want is someone else...like your father."

"So what are you saying, Mom?"

"I'm saying that we have no idea how much time we have on earth, honey. And we also have no idea how long we'll have with that special someone. And if this Gavin of yours makes you happy, then maybe age should be further down the list of your concerns. That's all."

"I really do like him, Mom," her daughter confessed as her mom took her hand.

Natalie looked right at her mother then said, "A lot. But I'm not the only one involved, and once he has some time to think about what he'd be getting into, he'll...he'll come to his senses and that'll be that."

"Will you be okay if that happens?" her mom asked the way she'd done so many times before.

"It's funny, but I'll actually be really disappointed. I'll get over it, of course, and I'll have had a really wonderful experience to look back on. And I think it's fair to say that I won't be afraid to at least consider going out with someone younger than me in the future."

Natalie laughed then said, "Assuming he's at least 30 years old."

Her mom laughed, too, then thanked her daughter for coming.

"Mom, you know I love you, and I wouldn't have let you go alone unless you insisted on it. I just feel terrible that you didn't have a good time."

"I didn't say I didn't have a good time, honey," her mom replied with a smile.

"Wait. So...did you...are you saying you..."

Her mother laughed again then said, "Let's just say that I'll also have a very memorable experience to look back on and leave it at that, okay?"

"You did, didn't you!" her daughter said as she gave her mom an 'I can't believe you did that' look.

"Well, that's the reason I went on the cruise, right?" her mother replied as she raised her head as though she were smugly satisfied and turned away.

Less than a minute later, Natalie's phone chimed. She pulled it out of her purse and smiled.

"It's him, isn't it?" her mother asked, knowing it was.

"Yes. It's a text from Gavin."

Virginia saw the way her daughter was smiling then watched her use her thumbs to type out a reply.

"So?" her mom asked.

"He told me he had the most enjoyable time of his life and asked when he could come to Phoenix for a visit."

"I hope you told him 'soon'," her mom said.

The phone dinged again and Natalie was all smiles for a second time.

"He said he'll be there this weekend!"

"That would be soon," Virginia said as her daughter tapped out another reply.

In their taxi, Gavin and Darren were pulling into the airport when Darren asked what she said.

"She told me I could come see her anytime."

"So are you going to?" Darren asked.

"Yep. This weekend."

"You know you're like way to young to get married right, bro?"

"Married? No one's talking about getting married."

The taxi stopped and just before Darren got out he said to his friend, "You don't have to say it. I've know you for around 15 years, and I've never seen you like this before. Ever."

He opened his door, stepped out, then once Gavin stood up, he looked across the car and said, "You're in love, man."

Gavin gave him a dismissive look, but he didn't say anything because saying he wasn't would be a lie, and the one thing he and Darren never did was lie to each other.

There were only a couple of school days left before the Christmas break, and Gavin wasn't working on a major project at the office. So when he told his dad he planned to spend some time in Phoenix, work wasn't an issue. But he did get asked 'with whom'.

"I uh, I kind of met someone on this cruise," Gavin admitted.

"Didn't you say this was a...what did you call it?" his father asked.

His son laughed then told him it was 'cougar cruise'.

"Right. A cougar cruise. So are you telling me you met...a cougar?" his dad asked with one raised eyebrow.

"Kind of?" his son replied, both of his eyebrows raised.

"Meaning?"

Gavin spent some time explaining who he'd met and how it came about.

"So both she and you went reluctantly and the two of you ended up spending all of your time together and hitting it off?"

Gavin had his phone out, and when he got the pictures he'd taken of Natalie, he handed it to his dad who was shaking his head.

"I don't really want to see my son with some gray-haired woman," he said as he took the phone.

Gavin smiled then watched his father's reaction.

The first part involved wide eyes. The second brought a furrowed brow. The third was oral.

"This woman is a...cougar?"

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"

His dad tilted his head as though that would help him see better then whistled.

"Don't tell your mother I said this, but this woman is hot!"

"I know, right?" his son replied as he took the phone back.

"I'm almost afraid to ask how old she is."

"Take a guess."

"Let me see those pics again," his dad said as he held out his hand and scrolled through them a second time.

"Had you not told me the nature of this cruise, I'd guess early 30s. Maybe 35 at the most, but I think my brain is suggesting that because I know she has to be older."

Gavin took the phone back a second time then said, "Natalie is 41."

"I'm...I'm speechless," the older Freeman replied. "I guess the big question is...are you serious about her?"

"We only just met, Dad, but I gotta tell you I've never felt like this about anyone before."