Knight tolerated flying. He wasn’t a big fan of it, especially when they hit turbulence and he thought of how precariously held in a tin can aloft by fickle winds he actually was. Knight and Mal were in first class, of course. Mal was the perfect gentleman throughout while Knight was very quiet.
His mind ruminated on the name he had chosen, Leonard King. He would still be Knight to those who knew him. This was a name he was proud to bear. Leonard King.
They got off the plane and waited for their baggage. Knight glanced at his phone for the time. Plenty of time.
“So,” said Mal, easily hefting his two suitcases, “to the hotel?”
“To a taxi,” Knight said.
The two men hailed a taxi, and Knight took the driver aside to tell him where to go.
Mal got into the back seat and Knight climbed in beside him. The two held hands, caressing each other’s thigh, and looked at each other deeply. Ignoring the driver, the two men found themselves hugging, then kissing, then…
A cough from the driver. “We’re here.”
Knight pulled away reluctantly while Mal tried to peer out of the front window. Knight chuckled, got out and paid the man, giving him a hefty tip. Mal slowly stepped out of the cab and looked up.
Before them, moored at the dock, was a huge cruise ship. It flew a US flag and a Dutch one side by side. Mal whispered, staring up at the ship while Knight brought the bags, “A cruise?”
“A cruise. To Alaska. W’ three days at a national park.”
Mal turned to Knight, not saying anymore, but his frosty blue eyes spoke of love, lust, and gratitude. Knight only smiled and kissed Mal, a full-blooded kiss warning of things to come. “We’re early,” Knight said. “Maybe they’ll let us aboard.”
Knight took Mal’s hand and brought him to the dock. The man at the gate looked up and smiled. “Good afternoon. Boarding begins at three pm.”
“I know,” said Knight, “but d’y’ got a bar ‘r some’in’ we c’n wait in?”
“There is a restaurant at the end of the wharf. You can leave your bags and I can have them sent up to your room. May I have your name?”
“Knight. An’ Malcolm King.”
The man paused. “Oh, gentlemen, do excuse me a moment.” The man pressed a button at his lapel. He spoke in rapid-fire Dutch – at least that’s what Knight figured it was. The man paused, clipped a few words back, and then he looked up smiling again. “Do forgive me, gentlemen. If you can wait but a moment, your valet will be right down.”
Knight nodded, while Mal grinned. “A Dutch cabin boy. I like this already.”
“C’mon, Mal, he might be ugly as sin.”
The young man who came down to the boarding dock looked like a male model for the Holland-America shipline. His short brown hair had blond tips, and his blue eyes were bright and jovial. He had a smooth face, looking a little like Scott by his youth. He wore the white uniform tight up to his neck, leaving what was beneath to the imagination, though it looked promising.
“Hallo, gentlemen, you are in the Pinnacle Suite, yes?”
Mal put his arm around Knight’s waist as Knight said, “We are.”
“Let me take your bags and welcome you aboard.”
“You do that,” said Mal, still grinning.