“Ladies and gentlemen,” a male voice announced over the loudspeaker, “I present to you the owner and CEO of the BLISS Organization, and your host for tonight’s dinner...Max!”
The guests applauded politely as Max made his way onto the stage. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and white dress shirt that was casually unbuttoned at the collar. A pleased smile graced his sun-kissed face and the Frenchman soaked in the admiration from the crowd, taking time to wave to his many patrons.
“He reminds me a bit of Tony,” Pepper, smiled, and turned her attention briefly to Storm. The chocolate-skinned mutant observed that Pepper was clearly amused by Max. Ororo had to agree and added, “A natural showman.”
Once the applause died down, Max addressed his audience, “Madames and Monsieurs, good evening. As you just heard, my name is Max and I am the owner and CEO of the BLISS Organization. I am also French so I offer an my deepest apologies if you have trouble understanding me.”
Light laughter filled the room, and Max paused for a moment before continuing, “I feel absolument honored to address you tonight. I thank you for choosing BLISS Pleasure Cruises as your vacation destination. I assure you, I speak for everyone with BLISS: It is truly our our honor to serve you. As our returning guests can assure you, and I say this without reservation, a voyage aboard a BLISS ship is a truly life-changing experience and one that you will never forget!”
Knowing laughter could heard scattered throughout the spacious room, mixed with polite, if confused applause at some of the guest’s reactions.
“As for our first time guests, I bid you a truly extra special welcome. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me or any of the friendly staff on board. They are here to serve you,” Max smiled, and then turned to the dozens of smiling faces behind him, “Isn’t that right, ladies?”
There was a murmur of girlish giggles that wafted through the throng of drop-dead gorgeous women and they all called out in a cheery chorus, “Yes, sir!”
“Speaking of those that are new to the ship, it is a tradition aboard ship to introduce you to our newest staff members. Without further adieu, I give you Claire, Luci and Gigi!” Max announced. The assembled female staff parted to make room for the four striking figures that strode onto the stage.
“May I present BLISS’ newest activities director, the beautiful Claire!” Max called out.
The first of the three new female staff members stepped forward. At first glance Claire looked astonishingly similar to the other female BLISS staff members, but as Pepper, Storm and Kitty looked closer they could see that the woman looked more mature than the other two beauties standing next to her on the stage. Her face was fuller, her hips and breasts were larger, but her exaggerated features marked her as unmistakably a BLISS employee.
And despite her older appearance, she wore the same tight dress and high heels as each of the other BLISS women. Claire all but skipped towards the podium, the wide smile never leaving her perfectly made-up face. She came to a halt a few feet to its left, and continued to smile out at the audience.
“My goodness,” Kitty said, looking up at the doll-like woman, “Can she even speak?”
Max finally moved to the side and Claire moved to the microphone. She licked her full, glossy lips before she announced in a breathy voice, “Hello my darlings! Your Activities Director is sooooooo happy to be aboard this amazing BLISS ship with all you lovely, lovely people!”
She paused to give a girlish giggle. Kitty made a choking sound, and tried to cover it up with a cough. Claire went on, leaning forward slightly to show off her deep cavern of cleavage as she continued, “Claire hopes you like the sound of her voice, cuz you sure are gonna hear a lot of it when she announces all the important activities that will be going on around the ship. It’s gonna so much fun!”
“But none of these amazing activities would even be possible if it weren’t for the amazing man in front of us all, and his wonderful vision. So now, let’s all come together in a big round of applause for tonight’s host, Max, and for BLISS!” Claire exclaimed, turning towards Max and clapping.
The returning guests on in the audience joined her in their excited applause, while the newcomers, especially, Pepper, Storm, Kitty and the rest of their table all looked on with perplexed faces before eventually joining the other guests in their applause. All the while, Claire beamed proudly at the suave Frenchman.
Max bowed and waved to the crowd, soaking in their praise, as he made his way back over to the podium. Claire greeted him with a warm embrace. She was still shorter than her boss even with her towering heels, and he had to bend down slightly to plant kisses on each side of her cheeks. Claire then minced her way back to stand by Luci and Gigi, who turned to her and gave her wide, excited grins.
“Thank you Claire,” Max smiled, “And I thank you all! In addition to Claire, may I present to you BLISS’ newest personal trainer, Luci! She would like to let all of you know that she is looking forward to sculpting you into tip-top shape. Next, our newest server, gorgeous Gigi! You may have already seen her at our welcoming party on deck earlier today, but that won’t be the last you will be seeing of her, I can assure you!”
The two shapely beauties stepped forward and raised their arms in the air, waving to the seated throng of guests. Once more, the veteran groups of guests showed their appreciation for the new crewmembers by applauding. Once the applause died down, Luci and Gigi rejoined Claire, and retook the same pose as the other female BLISS staff on stage. It was obvious that all of the BLISS women were intensely focused on their boss.
“Creepy,” Olivia muttered, “Like they’re in a cult.”
“I really need to get to the bottom of this,” Pepper said, shaking her head.