Fairy Saves The Cruise

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(Edited)

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As the cruise ship sails steadily on the Atlantic Ocean, I leave my cabin to check on the kitchen staff. This is the first time I'm in charge of a cruise ship, having trained under one of the best captains/cruise director in California.

I'm determined to make a success of this two-week cruise.

"Oh crap!" I hear a cuss coming from the kitchen store. A few cooks are busy chopping vegetables. I move closer to the store. "Uh, Fairy, what's going on?" I ask the cruise head chef who is moving canned foods around in a disorderly manner.

We call her Fairy because she's petite and has the finest blonde hair I've ever seen. She raises her head, tears in her eyes. It seems the situation is worse than it looks. "Talk to me, Fairy. My cruise must be a success. What's happened?"

She inhales and blinks the tears away. "I swear I stocked enough coffee to last the cruise…" As she explains, my eyes are bulging. Absence of coffee is the definition of disaster.

"After dinner yesterday, I saw 10 bags of coffee out of the 20 packs I packed," she says, her voice wavering as tears pool again in her eyes.

"How is that possible?" I interrupt, my adrenaline beginning to spike.

She frowns at me. "Are you calling me dull?"

"No! That's not what I mean. There must be an explanation."

"Yea! So I thought Micky was playing a prank on me. It's April Fool's day tomorrow. But he denied it."

I start to pace. The kitchen staff stop their work to stare at us.

"Now I see two bags only!" Just then, my fifteen year old son, Jayden comes into the kitchen, dancing with earphones strapped to his ears.

"What do you want here?" I yell at him.

Jayden stops, glances between Fairy and I before he smirks. "Just cruising around and checking things, you know."

I know that mischievous smirk. "Get out of here before I lose my cool on you now."

Jayden sneers and dances out of the kitchen.

I pull Fairy aside. "I suspect the culprit may be Jayden," I whisper and see the look of surprise on her face. "So we'll set a trap for him, yes?"

Fairy nods. "Leave the coffee bags on the counter beside the microwave. He'll come by to use it. I'll focus the camera towards this angle and see if I'm right."

"But what do I serve—"

Three Italian soldiers in mufti and four ladies burst into the kitchen. No, it can't be! They can't know about the coffee situation.

The soldiers draw menacingly close to me, their liquor breath fans my face. I mentally note it is just 11am. Too early to drink. "I hear you are out of coffee," one of them says.

"Gentlemen, I don't want you to worry. We have the situation under control…"

"So it's true!" One of the ladies shouts. "You want war on your ship, Captain?"

I raise my hand to calm them when more people push into the kitchen. I see some of the security men placating them.

"I'll have your badge for this!"

"What the f**k! Do these morons know how important coffee is to us?"

The situation was getting out of control. One of the Italian soldiers pokes my shoulder and I stagger back.

"Hey! Enough, all of you!" Fairy shouts, standing on a counter stool, drawing everyone's attention. She looks furious. I have never seen this side of Fairy before having worked with her for five years.

The kitchen becomes silent. My brain is blank at this point because I'm in shock.

"You are elite people, that is how you are able to afford this cruise. Can't you behave accordingly?" She asks, her face turning red.

"Look little lady, coffee is everything. We can't be starved of it for the remaining twelve days of this cruise," a burly man says. That earns him a scowl from Fairy. It's like smoke is rising out of her ears.

"Don't-you-ever-call-me-little-lady-again!"

The man visibly cringes at the rebuke. Go Fairy. I'm super proud of you.

"Now back to the solution we were working on before you came barging in here like riffraffs. There are 2 bags left. I know a trick my grandmother taught me. I'll mix the coffee with some roasted barley, chicory root, and cacao. These ingredients have nutty flavour and tastes just like coffee when brewed. You won't get as much caffeine kick but they are healthy. I have enough to last the entire trip."

I see the crowd visibly take deep breaths. I gave Fairy a thumbs up and usher the guests out of the kitchen.

Shortly after, I'm in my office when my iPad starts to blink. I see its the camera positioned towards the microwave. I tap the screen and see my son tiptoeing close to the microwave!

Silly boy! I dash out of my office into the kitchen. Jayden turns quickly, his eyes wide in surprise with two bags of coffee in his hand. He had punched holes in them and ground coffee starts to pour on the floor. I notice the tap is running and the kitchen is empty. It's the kitchen staff's break time.

"I will kill you!" I shout and snatch the bags from him. Fairy runs into the kitchen at the same time.

"Oh, Jayden! Not you," she says, her expression one of disappointment.

Jayden looks down in shame. "Well, now I have your attention," he mutters. Fairy raises a brow and I remember the conversation we had before the ship left the harbour. She advised me to give my son more attention rather than take him on cruises as compensation for my fatherly duties.

I squeeze my eyes shut in regret. "Go to your room now. I'll come by soon," I say. Jayden drags his feet out of the kitchen.

Thanks to Fairy, my first cruise is saved.

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7 comments
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Hola amiga. This story full of dialogues and conflicts with people arguing, drunken soldiers and more that keep you in suspense waiting to know what will happen in the events, it really entertains a lot until the little cook comes up with that great solution to yield the two bags that were left. Good job.

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Hi there, @susurrodmisterio. 😃 Thanks very much for your comment. I'm happy it's entertaining. Jayden is a little crook truly. Haha.

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Very clever plan, but the results were pretty sad. Naughty Jayden! Imaginative and well presented story.

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Thank you so much. I really appreciate your comment. 😊😊🤗

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At least there was a good solution, haha excuses are always the order of the day and more if it's about coffee, thanks for sharing :D

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Thank you very much for reading and commenting. 😊😊

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