"Brid McKay?"

Brid looked up to see a man in a slick black suit standing in the barn aisle. "Maybe," she answered cautiously. "Who's asking?" Brid poured more leather conditioner on the rag in her hand and went back to work on the saddle in front of her.

"Congratulations you have won a luxury suite on the cruise ship Dreamweaver!" The man-in-the-black-suit said with flair of an announcer on a game show, like it should mean something and Brid should start screaming, jumping up and down or faint.

"And I suppose I am also inheriting the throne of Australia too," she quiped, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Listen, I don't have time for your jokes or pranks." Brid gave the saddle a final wipe and then picked up the bridle sitting nearby and started on it.

The man's face filled with a mixture of confusion and affront. "This is no joke or prank, I assure you Miss McKay," he said. "I have your ticket here, plus a plane ticket to Miami where the cruise leaves from." He pulled out two tickets from the inner pocket of his suit jacket.

With a frustrated sigh Brid laid down the greasy rag and bridle. She wiped her hands off on her dusty, blue jeans and moved to look at them. Brid stared at her printed name in confusion. "Sorry buddy, but someone must have made a mistake. I didn't put my name in any contest."

"That is because I did." Brid spun around to see her boss standing nearby. "Its about time you take a break girl."


The limo turned off the Miami streets and moved through the harbor. Brid looked out the window as huge, luxurious ship loomed closer and the docks became more and more crowded. "There she is, the Dreamweaver," the man-in-the-black-suit said waving towards the ship.

The limo turned towards the ship and she could a crowd milling behind a barrier to the left of the limo. The car pulled to a stop in front of the gangway and a man wearing what looked like a butler's uniform opened the door and held out a white-gloved hand. Brid took his hand but only when the man-in-the-black-suit poked her in the side and waved impatiently towards the hand. She stepped out and the man-in-the-black-suit followed.

"Brid this is Jenkings," the man-in-the-black-suit said. "He comes with the suite."

"You make him sound like a complimentary robe or something," Brid retorted taking a closer look at the man before her. He looked like a slightly older version of Stephen Fry's Jeeves character.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Jenkins said in a crisp, English accent, bowing to her.

The milling crowd erupted in screams and pressed into the barriers. Brid spun around to see another limo pulling to a stop behind the one she had just climbed out of.

"And that would be your companion for the cruise," the man-in-the-black-suit announced nonchalantly, starting towards the second limo.

"Companion?" Brid asked in confusion.

"Its part of the cruise that you get all this time to spend with the celebrity companion," the man-in-the-black-suit said impatiently.

The volume of screams increased ten-fold and Brid look up to see the door opening. Out of the limo stepped a handsome Japanese young man, Takahiro Moshimoto.

(Sorry for the long entry, don't feel that yours needs to be this long. I started writing and it just got away from me. )