An Unexpected Twist

Last weekend, I was supposed to babysit for a six-year old boy and his two-year old sister who I haven't seen since the spring. I was really looking forward to seeing them, but unfortunately, I woke up on Saturday morning to a distressed voicemail from their mother. The little girl had gotten phenomena two weeks ago, and then got a different strain this past week. They weren't going to leave me with the kids just in case she had to go to the hospital again.
Disappointed that I wasn't going to see the kids and frustrated that I had asked for the day off from work, I listened as the mother continued to explain the whole situation. They had paid to go on a dinner cruise in Boston Harbor for her 40th birthday, and the last day to refund the tickets had already passed. She wanted to know if my boyfriend and I would like to use the tickets, as they would go to waste otherwise.
Needless to say, my boyfriend called out of work and we made our way to Rowes Wharf in downtown Boston to board the Odyssey. We came up from the parking garage in the impressive Rowes Wharf archway, completely in awe of the grand architecture around us. As we waited to board the ship, we were afforded views of the full moon rising above Boston Harbor.
At 7 o'clock, we made our way on board. The dining room was that of a five-star restaurant; dimly lit and modernly styled. As we entered our deck, we were greeted by a maitre d' who then called our hospitable waitress to show us to our table. We were some of the lucky ones who received a window table. Our table was set with fine linens and more silverware than I knew what to do with. The menu was almost all foreign to me, but among the three courses I was able to pick out the words "salad, ribs," and "cake." Granted, the salad was Boston Bibb, the ribs were short, and the cake was 'decadent' and 'torte.' The menu as about as intimidating as the formal dress code and atmosphere.
As the night drew on, we were able to feel more comfortable in the dining room, but we still never grew used to the constant attention our waitress paid us or the feeling that everyone else was wondering why we were there. We took several strolls to the upper observation deck, but our walks were always cut short due to the frigid wind. The views of the city were out of this world, something that I might never have seen otherwise in my lifetime. After several failed attempts, I stopped trying to take pictures, because I knew that they could never do justice to the reality.