Charlie glanced at Morgy. He got the message. “You go on ahead, Charlie. I’ll bring Pet along directly.”
“Thanks, mate. I owe you one.”
“You wanker! You owe me more than one!”
“One of these days, I’ll pay you back.” He winked at Pet. “See you in a few minutes, love.” Charlie hurried back toward the engine room, again taking the longer route to his cabin. He had to hustle, or Morgy and Pet would beat him to the door.
He beat Pet to his cabin. Hoping to at least wash the dirt off his face before she got there, he went to his loo, pulling his arms out of his boiler suit as he walked. He then rubbed some soap and water on his face.
Before he could rinse it off, he heard the knock on his door. He quickly splashed some water on his face, then grabbed a towel and rubbed it dry. When he opened the door, both Pet and Morgy stood there.
“Didn’t know you were joining us, mate.” He gave Morgy a questioning look.
“No worries. Pet asked me to come with her for a few. She wants to ask us something.” Morgy followed Pet into Charlie’s cabin. Then Charlie closed the door.
Pet sat down on the bunk, as she had the night before.
Morgy pulled out the desk chair. Still in his dirty boiler suit, Charlie remained standing. “What’s on your mind, Pet?”
When Petula looked up, her eyes stopped at his chest. “It’s hard to remember, with your being half undressed.”
Morgy tittered. “Oh, my dear, I tell him that every time he comes to the bar with his coveralls open. A girl can’t think straight with that chest out in the open air.”
Charlie couldn’t believe Morgy had said what he said in front of Pet. He hurriedly put his arms back into the sleeves of his boiler suit. “You have to forgive my mate, Pet. Sometimes he has verbal diarrhea and runs at the mouth.”
Morgy chastised him. “Oh, stop being such a whinge. Petula knows I fancy you as much as she does.”
Suddenly concerned that Pet would think he and Morgy were more than friends, Charlie quickly added, “And Pet also knows we’re good mates and that’s all.”
Not to be outdone, Morgy retorted, “After last night, I’m sure she knows that very well.”
Pet agreed. “I certainly do, except I think I prefer him clean. Do you always get this dirty?”
Glad that Pet had changed the subject, Charlie spoke up before Morgy had a chance to say anything more. “Depends on what I do during my watch. Most days I get pretty damn cruddy.”
“It’s rather attractive, in an earthy sort of way.”
Directing his comment at Charlie, Morgy quipped, “Oooh, I do like her.”
Already feeling a woody coming on, Charlie agreed. “Yeah, so do I.” He wanted to get Morgy out of his cabin, so he tried to get things moving along. “What did you want to ask us, Pet?”
“I want to host a party in my cabin, with you two and some of your mates. I have a few friends on board who would like to meet some men.” Pet pointedly looked at Morgy. “Those include male friends.”
Charlie spoke before Morgy could. “Pet, we can’t do that. You’ll get all our arses thrown off the ship—”
Morgy interrupted. “Not so fast, Charlie. We’ve done it before.”
“Yes, but not in a passenger suite. We have parties in our cabins.”
“So let’s do it in here.”
Petula appeared skeptical. “You’ve had parties in these small cabins? The three of us nearly fill it up.”
Charlie glanced at Morgy. “What was the most we ever did?”
“Ten. That’s our voyage best.”
“You fellows crammed ten people in one of these tiny cabins? That’s not possible!”
Morgy grinned. “My dear, it is possible. We’ve done it. It makes for meaningful relationships.”
“I would suppose so!”
Curious about the friends she mentioned, Charlie wanted to know more. “Who are your friends, Pet? Can we trust them?”
“You can absolutely trust them. They work for me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The women are models. We just had a show in Sydney. The man is my assistant, Derrick.” She smiled at Morgy. “He would definitely fancy you.”
Ignoring the last comment she made, Charlie asked, “How many women?”
“Three. If Morgan pairs with Derrick, then we need three more men.”
Morgy jumped up from his chair, then sat back down beside Pet. “Since he’s too damn filthy to do it, let me.” With that, he hugged her tightly. “The answer, my dear Pet, is yes! We can do ten.”
Petula gasped for air as the bear hug squeezed the breath out of her. When she could speak, she again offered her suite. “We would be more comfortable in my cabin. I have so much room, it’s obscene.”
Charlie didn’t have to say no this time. Morgy did it for him. “Darling, we can’t do that. If anyone would complain because of the noise, or if the crew would be seen in the passenger section at night, we’d all be put off the ship at the next port.”
Petula appeared mildly disappointed, but agreed. “All right, then. When?”
Charlie jumped in. “Tomorrow night would be spot-on. I have the day off. What about you, Morgy?”
“I can switch shifts tomorrow with someone, and work the early shift at the bar. That would give me tomorrow evening free.”
“Pet, does that work for you?”
“It certainly does, Charles. You just have to find three more men for my girls.”
“The only problem there is figuring out which three. Morgy, what do you think?”
“Let me mull it over. I’ll come up with some willing blokes to show the ladies a good time.”
“I’m sure you can, Morgan. I have every confidence in you. And what about food and drink? I’ll pay for anything we need.”
Morgy tapped his cheek. “I’ll have everything delivered on a cart to your suite. No one will question that. Then we’ll bring it down here when it’s time.” He turned around and looked at the cluttered desk. “Charlie, clean up this mess so we have a table for the food.”
“My pleasure, mate. I’ll just stuff it all under my bunk.”
Morgy threw his hands in the air. “Heterosexual men are completely hopeless!” He got up to leave. “Shall we say tomorrow at seven o’clock?”
Petula clapped her hands. “That will be splendid. I’ll tell my girls to wear something appropriate for sitting on the floor.”
“And make sure what you wear is washable. You never know what might get on it,” Charlie chimed in.
Morgy opened the door. “With what I expect will happen, very little would be good.” With that, he went back to work.
Feeling a bit awkward about Pet being in his cabin when he needed to shower, he thought to offer her a drink. “Would you care for a G and T, or is it too early for you?”
“A tonic with no gin would be splendid.”
“You got it.” Relieved he had a distraction, Charlie found his bottle of tonic water and poured a glassful for Pet. When he handed it to her, he thought to excuse himself. “I need to shower before I get any closer