Chapter 22
“Do you mind if we stop by my cabin?” Gloria tugged at her shirt sleeve. “I was sweating before Fire Up but now I’m soaking my shirt.”
“Note to self…do not let Giselde talk us into sampling energy drinks. Imagine what would have happened if we had sipped more than we did?”
“We would be bouncing off the walls.”
Millie slowed her pace, checking her app while following her cousin to the suite.
Using her keycard, Gloria tapped the top and eased the door open. She stopped abruptly, causing Millie to collide with her.
“Liz Rasmussen!”
Liz sat seated at the dining room table along with several other people Millie didn’t recognize.
“Yo, what’s up?” She briefly acknowledged their presence before plucking a bingo ball from the round metal cage. “B12.”
Gloria marched across the room. “What are you doing?”
“Playing bingo.”
Millie circled the table, noticing a pile of cash sitting in the center. “You’re playing for money?”
“Of course.” Liz rolled her eyes. “What fun is bingo if you don’t win a little dough?”
“You can’t do this.”
“Play bingo?”
“Gamble for money. It’s against company policy.”
“Because the cruise line doesn’t like competition?” Her brows furrowed. “For heaven’s sake. It’s only a few bucks.”
The woman on Liz’s right snickered. “A few bucks?”
Gloria snatched the stack of bills from the table and began counting them. “There’s four hundred dollars here.”
“Four…schmour,” her sister mocked. “Chump change compared to what the Winning Streak Casino rakes in every single day.”
“It doesn’t matter if it was a dollar or a hundred. Getting caught gambling could get you kicked off the ship.”
“Before the end of the cruise?”
“Correct,” Millie confirmed. “You would be escorted off at the next port.”
“You won’t rat me out, being family and all.”
“I won’t but this bingo session ends immediately and everyone gets their money back.”
“Sounds good to me.” The guy on the end scrambled to his feet. “I have seventy bucks in the pot.”
Gloria counted out the bills and handed them to him. “We’ll pretend this never happened.”
The others at the table followed suit—two women and another man, all took their cash and quietly left until only Liz, Gloria, and Millie remained.
“This could have ended very badly,” Millie lectured.
“Party poopers,” Liz pouted. “For your information, I was winning.”
“What do you think would have happened if these players decided you rigged the game, went down to security and complained?”
Liz’s eyes grew round as saucers. “I would have gotten in trouble.”
“Bingo,” Millie said. “And not in a good way.”
“But I’m bored,” she whined.
“You won’t be bored tomorrow.” Gloria gathered up the used bingo cards, ripped them in half and tossed them in the trash. “Are there more?”
Liz’s eyes slid to the side. “Maybe.”
“Where are they?”
“In my top dresser drawer.”
Gloria stormed out of the room and returned with a stack of bingo cards. “Good grief. This is too much. Floyd should cut you off.”
“He already did,” Liz said in a small voice. “Remember when my credit card got declined down at Guest Services?”
“Floyd was the one who put a hold on it?”
“He thought it got stolen. I had to tell him I bought a bunch of bingo cards.”
“And?” Gloria pinned her with a pointed stare.
“He made me promise to find some other way to entertain myself.”
“So you decided to hold your own bingo sessions here in our suite.” Gloria heaved a heavy sigh.
Millie patted her arm. “I could think of worse obsessions, but I must admit this one is a little concerning.”
“It won’t happen again,” Liz promised.
Millie’s activity app chimed. “I need to get going.”
“Let me change.” Gloria hurried off, returning in record time wearing a different blouse, this one lightweight and with short sleeves. “I’m ready to hit the deck.”
“Dot, Margaret and Ruth are playing trivia,” Liz moped. “Seeing how you two put a kibosh on my private event, I might as well join them. What are we doing tomorrow?”
“We have a beach day in Grand Turk,” Millie said. “It’s one of the prettiest beaches in the Caribbean.”
“Nothing but sun, sand and relaxation,” Gloria said. “But first, we have an Unsinkable Melodies show to get ready for.”
*****
“I’m not so sure about this.” Lucy nervously pulled back the theater curtain and peered out into the crowd. “The place is packed.”
“The more the merrier,” Gloria quipped.
“Easy for you to say,” Margaret said. “You’re not the one going on stage.”
Millie counted heads. “Where is Ruth and Liz?”
“I sent Ruth to our cabin to get Liz. She was primping and preening, changing her outfit half a dozen times,” Gloria said.
“She had better hurry.” Millie spied a familiar figure climbing the steps. Donovan, the improv host, had arrived.
She introduced him to the participants, including two other teams she’d selected earlier during a round of elimination. “We’re waiting on my cousin Liz and friend Ruth.”
“I have to admit, I’m looking forward to this twist on improv,” Donovan said.
“How exactly will it work?” Lucy asked.
“I see Liz and Ruth coming now.” Millie waved them down. “Donovan can explain it to everyone at once.”
“Sorry we’re late.” Ruth jabbed a finger at Liz. “We had one more dress change before Liz was satisfied.”
“Do you think this is too tight?” She tugged at the form-fitting sequined party dress.
“It’s perfect,” Millie said. “Donovan is ready to explain how the improv will work.”
He gave the contestants a quick rundown. “Each of the teams will take turns, making up a little ditty using the prompts I give you, all centered around cruising.”
A contestant, one of the women, hesitantly lifted her hand. “How long will we have to come up with our part?”
“It’s done on the fly in only a few minutes. You’ll have to think on your feet…literally,” Donovan said.
“The sillier the better,” Millie added.
Gloria rubbed the sides of her arms. “This is gonna be a hoot.”
“If this improv show turns out to be half as entertaining as I think it will, we have a hit on our hands.”