"Maybe this was a bad idea, Pen." JJ mused, deleting yet another creepy email reply to her Craigslist ad before putting her phone facedown on the table; determined not to look at it again until they left the restaurant.

Across from her, her best friend Penelope Garcia tutted and shook her head, hands busy with dumping packets of sugar into her ice tea. "No way, Angelface!" she countered firmly. "You worked so hard to be able to afford this trip! It's not your fault that 'Petrović the Bitch' ruined it!"

"It's not about Vickie, amazingly enough." JJ assured with a slight roll of her eyes. "I'm going no matter what at this point, it's just…" she gestured to her phone. "I don't think I can wade through another fifty of these horrible replies, honestly. I'm wondering if it would be better to just cut my losses."

"Nuh-uh, unacceptable!" Penelope held up a hand when JJ opened her mouth to protest. "I know you make good money and technically you can afford it if you don't get any of the money back since you've been saving for this for so long, but it's the principal of the matter, Jayje! She's gotten away with too much as it is! Besides, maybe whoever gets the ticket will be a good rebound?"

JJ leaned back and thanked their server as he set their plates of food in front of them, waiting until he was out of earshot to speak. "Pen, you know that I've slept with other people since Vickie and I broke up."

Penelope shrugged as if that didn't change her point. "Not women people. Men don't count, everyone knows that."

"How silly of me to forget." JJ said flatly, taking a bite of her burger. "I'm not using this to hunt for a hookup. I just want to have a good time."

"Having orgasms is a good time."

JJ snorted. "Fair, but I'm not looking to hook up with someone I'm going to be forced to share a room with for a week. Especially not if the replies I've gotten so far are my prospects."

"It would be convenient though, wouldn't it?"

"The whole premise of this cruise is that there's only queer women on it. I'm sure I don't need convenient."

Penelope held up a hand signaling that she was relenting. "I'm just saying, don't discount any opportunities that might present themselves. You've still got a couple months before you've really gotta do anything about it."

"Okay," JJ relented with a sigh. "I'll leave the ad up, and I'll think about it, but I don't want to hear it if I decide to go alone."

"Deal. All I wanted was for you to keep your options open."

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JJ's phone pinged with the tone alerting her to an incoming email and she shot a glare at her cell distastefully where it sat on her coffee table. In the six weeks since she'd vaguely agreed to Penelope's cajoling about keeping an open mind to the responses to her ad, she'd waded through more ridiculous replies than she had for anything else she'd ever put online, and as a single bisexual woman on Tinder, that was certainly saying something.

"Aren't you going to look?" Penelope giggled from next to her on the couch, her face slightly flushed.

JJ let her head drop against the backrest and dramatically flung the hand not holding her wineglass onto her forehead. "Absolutely not. I should turn my phone off."

Penelope shrugged and leaned forward, setting her own mostly empty wineglass on the coffee table and picked up JJ's phone. "It can't be that bad," she assured, unlocking her friends phone and going through the myriad of unread emails she had before stopping on one with a curious sender; "there's a response from someone named 'Derek'?" she said a little confusedly. "Is that, like, a stone butch thing?"

JJ groaned distastefully. "If there's a merciful god, it is but probably not. I've been getting more than a few random guys answering trying to get me to ditch the trip altogether and sleep with them or something. Usually with a not-so-tasteful nude attached. All junk, no face. Sometimes abs."

Penelope giggled again. "Well, this one doesn't say there's any attachments, but we should look anyway in case he uploaded a pic in the email directly just so I can roast him. Best case scenario, it's a really hot butch, right?" She opened the email when JJ gestured with an arm for her to go ahead and read it silently for a moment before smiling softly. "Aw, he sounds nice!"

JJ lolled her head to the side and squinted at her friend. "How much wine have we had already?"

"No, I'm serious! Listen;" Penelope cleared her throat and sat up straighter as she read the email out loud:

"'Hey, I know my email has a guys name, and I understand the impulse to write me off, but it's for a good cause so please hear me out!

My best friend Emily is in kind of a slump right now. She thinks she doesn't need a long break and some new social experiences but she does…she really does. She doesn't have a problem getting the ladies or anything but I've known her for eight years and she hasn't taken a vacation once in that whole time unless you count the times she was sick or there was a federal holiday. She thinks self-care is five more minutes in the shower than usual and honestly it's stressing me the hell out so I know my girl is hurting

The problem is, she's stubborn as hell and usually has to be tricked or forced into doing nice things for herself so I figured I could find some kind of cool lesbian hotspot or something on Craigslist and guilt her into going by paying for it. So I saw your ad and that cruise sounds like just the thing she needs. Plus the idea that it's non refundable is gonna work real well with the whole guilt thing

Emily is great when she loosens up. Real funny, smart, a total nerd (but don't tell her I ratted her out) and even if you two don't really get along, she's zero drama and she'll probably keep to herself anyway. Clean and neat but not obsessed about it, so she's not gonna passive-aggressive you into picking up a towel or anything you might worry about for being close quarters with someone. I'm totally good for the money but I get this is a little weird and I have no problem paying upfront before getting the tickets in case you think I'm trying to creep you and using an app or something to pay so you don't think I'm trying to jack you either. If it influences your decision at all, here's a recent picture of her. Well it's me, my sister, and Emily, but it's from last week so it's the most recent picture I have of her. Holla at me!' Ooo, what a delicious assortment of hotties!" Penelope added, scrolling down to see the picture.

JJ set her glass on the table and curiously scooted closer to Penelope who leaned over to display the screen better. The picture was taken in a sunny backyard, seemingly during some kind of party. On the left was a handsome, muscularly built Black man with a boyish grin and thick eyebrows who had to have been Derek. Next to him was a striking pale woman with shoulder-length black hair and angular features who wasn't looking at the camera but sideways at Derek, clearly trying not to smile and doing a poor job. On the right was a gorgeous Black woman with dark, short brown hair, an entrancing smile, and a t-shirt that read 'I can kick your ass on Halo.'

"Damn." JJ agreed appreciatively, pointing to the woman on the end. "That must be Emily."

Penelope looked back and forth between the picture and JJ a few times. "You don't think that's his sister? Because, I mean…" she trailed off and raised her eyebrows incredulously.

JJ rolled her eyes. "Penelope." She said dryly. "You are the least Mexican person on the planet and you have a Spanish last name and four Mestizo brothers who, I shouldn't have to remind you, look nothing like you."

"Okay, you got me there."

"Anyway," she pointed out, gesturing to the woman on the end again. "He said she was a nerd and if publicly wearing a shirt bragging about your Halo skills doesn't scream 'nerd' I really don't know what does."

"That is a good point." Penelope acquiesced before looking at her friend with a wide grin. "What do you think? Reply to this one?"

JJ frowned slightly. "It's miles better than anything I've gotten so far," she admitted.

"Plus you've got to accept one of these sooner, rather than later."

"God, I definitely drank too much…" JJ sighed. "Give me the phone." Penelope promptly handed over the phone with a little squeal of delight and peered over JJ's shoulder as she typed:

'Okay, I'm going to be honest and say that if it hadn't been for my friend opening your email first, I probably would have deleted it but I have to admit, my interest is piqued. I feel like I should warn you though, if you're playing me somehow, my friend is also an accomplished hacker and she WILL destroy your life.'

"Damn right!" Penelope crowed with a nod.

JJ laughed and wrote that she'd send Derek the travel details and such as soon as he paid her the agreed on price, adding that while the picture wasn't really necessary, she was glad he sent it as Emily was indeed very pretty. She sent the email and leaned back to get comfortable again. That hadn't been too bad and at least now she could take the ad down and not have to go through replies to it anymore.

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"Hey, Pen," JJ greeted her friend after she'd picked up on the third ring. "I just got off the plane, I'm getting my bag right now."

"So," Penelope drawled in an excited voice. "How was the flight? Is the anticipation killing you yet?"

JJ sighed and followed the signs towards baggage claim. "The flight was okay, and honestly having an empty seat next to me was kind of nice but yes, the anticipation is killing me." Penelope had been teasing information about Emily for weeks leading up to their first in person meeting. She'd struck up a rather quick friendship with Derek after she insisted on doing a background check on him before allowing JJ to give him her Venmo information and had been finding out information on Emily through him. JJ had been supposed to meet Emily that day before their flight out of Dulles and have time to get to know each other on the three hour trip to Miami, but something had come up at Emily's job and she'd had to arrange to take a flight out the next day.

"Want a handy Emily fact?" Penelope goaded cheerily.

"No, Peej, I don't. I told you, I don't want you to tell me anything when we haven't spoken to each other, that's creepy!" JJ did want to know something. Truth be told, she was rather anxious about not being able to meet her before boarding the cruise. Derek had sprung his 'surprise' on Emily at the last possible minute and Penelope had advised her that he'd pointed out it probably wasn't a great idea to try and strike up even well-intentioned conversation when Emily would be laser focused on how much she wanted to fight him until she left.

Penelope scoffed. "It was only creepy when you thought you'd have the flight to get to know her! Now it's just common sense."

JJ frowned and stopped at the correct baggage carousel, watching the luggage go around and looking for hers. "No, it's still creepy." She insisted. "Not everyone is a busybody like you."

"It doesn't count as being a busybody if you're going to be sharing a room with someone! —Especially not a hotel room!" Penelope snickered, full well knowing the answer to the question she was about to ask. "Have you decided what to do about that yet, by the way?"

JJ grumbled and spotted her nondescript black suitcase by the bright purple luggage tag on its handle and grabbed it as it went by her. Her cruise package had included a hotel stay in New York City after their weeklong tour around the Caribbean. Emily's return flight ticket was the same as hers obviously, but since JJ hadn't spoken to the other woman yet, she hadn't been able to broach any of the potential solutions she had on the subject.

"I don't know." She admitted, making her way out of the airport to the queue in front of the cabstand. "I thought I'd feel out a solution once we got to know each other, but…" she frowned and worried her lower lip between her teeth. "I called the hotel after Derek paid me and they said they're booked so they couldn't get me another room or a room with two beds, but that we could ask before check in to see if there might've been some changes."

"That could be a good thing though!" Penelope chirped suggestively. "If there's no changes, I mean."

"Will you knock it off?" JJ chided, sliding into the waiting cab when it was her turn. "Listen, I just got in the cab, so I'll text you tomorrow when I get checked into the room on the ship, okay?"

"Sure thing, hot stuff! Toodles!"

Penelope hung up before JJ could say anything else and she rolled her eyes, giving the cab driver the address of the hotel she'd be staying the night at. No matter how anxious she was feeling about having to share her room with a literal stranger, JJ was determined to have a good time regardless.