Thanks for all of the reviews! And thank you Becky for reading over it. It really helped! I'm sorry it took so long. I've been really busy, and then I was away at camp. But here's the next part, I hope you guys like it!
Chapter Three - Welcome to ParadiseOrlando ran to the vans after gathering all of the bags. He wrapped his hand around the handle and pulled the sliding door open, not knowing – nor caring – who was on the other side. He just wanted to get to the boat, sail around, visit a few places, and have this damn cruise out of the way.
He settled into the open seat right by the door, once the car was in motion Orlando looked around, noticing whom he was riding with. Thankfully, Rupert was nowhere in sight. He, Keira, Geoffrey and Jack must have taken the other van, because Johnny, Mackenzie and Lee were in this one.
“Orlando, what took you so long, mate? You-” Johnny wondered before being cut off.
“Nothing!” He snapped, not bothering to see who was talking to him. “Am I not allowed to walk slow, you know… admire the scenery? God…”
Johnny leaned back in the seat, holding his hands in an “I-give-up” position. He knew the best thing to do when Orlando was upset was to let him rant and blow off steam. It would all stop in a few moments.
“That’s fine Or, but why are you in such a pissy mood? Don’t need to take it out on us!” Lee interjected, turning around from the front seat.
“I-” Orlando looked around at the three friends. He didn’t mean to dump his frustration on them. They just happened to be in the car. “Sorry guys, I’m just pissed because Keira feels the need to bring her boyfriend everywhere.”
“Could we maroon him?” Mackenzie asked from the seat next to Orlando. He and Rupert had never gotten along either.
Orlando’s eyes lit up at the thought. “That’s a great idea! We could say we’re gonna show him a secret island once we make port, take a speedboat out to a small spit of sand, and then leave him there! While you three do that I’ll distract Keira (of course) the whole time so once you get back to the ship Rupert-less, she won’t even notice-”
Johnny leaned forword from the backseat and sighed heavily. “Orlando, how many times have we had this conversation?”
“Oh God… not again.”
“You’re setting yourself up for it. It’s not my fault. But… you want Keira to be happy, right?”
“Of course I do Johnny, but-”
“Not done yet!” He said, turning his head to face him. “Marooning Rupert would get rid of him yes, but it’ll just upset Keira. He apparently makes her happy and how he does it confuses me ‘cause he’s a little… odd, but you’re going to have to deal with him. As much as I know you hate hearing this, just leave them be and let their relationship run it’s course. The outcome might surprise you.”
Orlando crossed his arms across his chest and stared out the window, watching the houses and trees and street signs whiz by. “Why are you always right?” He muttered
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The group traveling in the second van sat in an awkward silence as Rupert plowed on with a tedious monologue, raving about the movie he starred in with Johnny Depp. Even though nobody would admit it, Rupert was the source of all the discomfort Keira was even starting to regret bringing her boyfriend along. He always made things feel… different.
The car stooped momentarily and Jack perked his head up, muttering “finally” before asking, “Are we there yet?”
Turing around, the young driver looked at the four faces nervously. “N-no. We’re at a st-stoplight,” he stammered, not used to being in the presence of so many celebrities.
“Do you know how much longer it’ll be?” Keira asked from the back, not being able to take anymore of Rupert’s stories. She had heard them all before, anyways.
“About twenty minutes,” the driver answered, attempting to act confident.
But it didn’t work. A collective groan escaped three out of the four passengers, which made the boy feel horrible. “I’m sorry! I’ll try and go faster!”
Geoffrey turned from the front seat and faced their escort, Tom. “Nah, you’re doing fine,” he whispered quietly. “It’s the talking bloke we don’t like.”
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Twenty-five minuets later, both cars pulled up to a dock in Tampa, Florida, where three giant cruise ships awaited departure. Once the vehicles stopped one actress and six actors pilled out of the cars. Both drivers got out as well, opening the trunks and unloading the luggage onto a trolley while the stars stood around watching them, unsure of what to do.
“Hey everyone!”
All seven whipped their heads around at the familiar voice. “Jerry… Gore? What are you doing here?” Keira wondered, confused.
“We decided to come along with you guys,” Jerry answered. “We took a regular flight from California this morning and arrived at the dock about an hour ago.”
“Well that’s great!” Geoffrey piped in. “You two deserve this trip just as much as we do!”
“Right. Now if you lot will follow me, we’ll make our way over to the ship. Oh, and don’t worry about your bags,” Gore added, noticing that Rupert had gone back to retrieve them. “Tom and Sal will bring them up for you soon.”
As the group walked along the dock to the farthest ship, Keira managed to sneak away from Rupert and joined Orlando at the head of the pack. “Hey you!”
Orlando turned his head, glancing down at the smiling brunette. “Hey Keira!” Looking around, he noticed that someone was missing. “Where’s Rupert?”
“Somewhere back there, thank God,” Keira replied. “That car ride was an awkward and complete hell. I mean, I love Rupert and all, but I just can’t stand how he feels the need to tell the same story over and over again!”
“You should have come with the other group. I’m sure it would have been so much more… enjoyable.”
“Oh really?” Keria asked, raising an eyebrow.
Orlando smiled and then changed the subject. “So are you excited for two paparazzi and press free weeks?”
“Excited? More like ecstatic!” Keira’s entire face lit up. “Not having to deal with the media will be great, I’m finally going to be able to relax and have fun! I just can’t wait to see where we’re going and what we’re doing!”
The two talked for a few more minutes as Gore and Jerry led the crew towards the cruise ship, which was called The Enchantment. Jerry led them up a wide ramp and into the large and elegant lobby.
The group stopped in front a long mahogany deck. Tom and Sal brought up the rear, pulling the trolleys full of luggage (most of it being Keira’s) through the entrance and leaving it by Gore’s side. He thanked them and the two young men departed down the ramp.
“If I could have everyone’s attention for two minutes, that would be wonderful!” Jerry announced, taking five enveloped keys (that had the actors named written on them) off of the deck.
“I’ve got your room keys right here. Make sure it’s with you at all times because you won’t be able to enter your room without it. The ship should be arriving in the Virgin Islands tomorrow around 11:00am, so feel free to roam around the boat until then.”
Keira turned and her eyes searched for a clock. There was one right above the door they had just came trough, and it read 2:03pm.
“We couldn’t book all of you separate rooms because it would have been too expensive, so you’ll have to share,” Gore said, looking at the cast. One or two seemed disappointed, but overall, no one seemed to care.
“Geoffrey, you’ll have your own cabin, so get the key and get whatever suitcases are yours. You can head down there right now. The room numbers are also engraved on the key.” Geoffrey smiled and gathered his bags before walking down to room 405.
“As for the rest, Johnny and Jack, you’ll be sharing and so will Lee and Mackenzie. I’ll be with Jerry. Are you all ok with this?”
Johnny and Jack nodded before taking their keys, but Lee spoke up. “I’ll be ok with it as long as the room comes with two beds!”
Gore laughed. “Don’t worry, Lee. There are two beds in each room. I wouldn’t have you sharing if there weren’t.”
As Lee and Mackenzie left, Gore and Jerry turned to the remaining three actors. “Keira, since you’re the only girl in the group, you’ll be having your own cabin. Is that ok?” Gore wondered.
“Oh it’s fine! Don’t worry about it! I’m going to need all the closet space I can get!” she laughed motioning to three of the five suitcases that remained.
But Gore’s decision of having Keira room by herself didn’t work with Rupert. “So does this mean that Keira and I aren’t going to have the same room.”
“Yes, that’s exactly what it means,” Jerry answered, handing Keira her room key. “You two have separate rooms.”
Orlando tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling, mouthing the words “Thank-you Jesus!” before looking back at his friend’s boyfriend, grinning widely.
“So am I going to be by myself as well?” Rupert wondered, annoyance etched across his features.
“Oh, no,” Gore said. “You and Orlando are sharing a room.”
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Rolling over on her queen sized bed; Keira opened her eyes, noticing that it was now dark outside. How long have I been sleeping?” she thought to herself, getting out of bed and slipping on some black flip-flops.
After Jerry had given her they key to her cabin, Keira had gone down to her room, finding out that she had been given a luxury cabin. It was a large space that had plenty of walking room and a comfortable queen-sized bed that was in the right hand corner. It was visible the moment you walked through door. Across from the bed was a long, marble countertop vanity complete with a polished mirror above it that had lights on either side. The mirror was only half the length of the entire vanity because on the other half of the wall resided a silver flat screen television showing first run movies. Two pillars at either end of the room divided it in half. A sitting area was on the other side and it included a cozy, comfy couch, two smaller seats, and a coffee table. Finally there was a door next to the couch that led to a private balcony, overlooking the ocean. Keira wasn’t sure if everyone else had been given this ritzy of a room, but she didn’t really care. This place was fit for a queen.
Yawning, Keira stood up a bit straighter and stretched her arms, deciding to find Orlando and the rest of the group. She opened the door and stepped out, closing it with a soft "click" and then proceeded to the elevator, riding it up to the main deck.
As Keira stepped out of the lobby, a warm gust of Caribbean air greeted her face, causing Keira to smile. This place was truly heaven on earth. Keira was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that she would be spending two whole media free weeks with her boyfriend and co-stars.
Walking along the railing, Keira's eyes looked up and landed on a head of unmistakable curly, chocolate brown hair. Her pace quickened and she moved to where Orlando was standing, leaning forward on the railing, staring out at the ocean.
"Hey," she greeted, her voice soft and quiet.
Orlando's face lit up at the sound of her voice and he turned to grin at this best friend. "Hey, Keira."
"So watcha thinkin' about? You looked so deep in thought when I was walking over."
"Oh, nothing. Just... stuff," he lied. The truth was that Orlando had been thinking of Keira and wondering why on earth she would choose to date Rupert. He just didn't get their relationship.
"So what have you been doing since we boarded?" Orlando questioned, changing the subject.
"Sleeping." Keira shrugged nonchalantly, looking up at him.
Orlando chuckled. "Classic Keira."
"Oh, hush up," She giggled, lightly smacking his upper arm. "I was tired."
The pair fell into a comfortable silence, gazing out at sea. Both stood thinking about completely opposite ideas. Neither knew how much time had elapsed before...
BANG!!Resulting from a mixture of shock, surprise, excitement, nerves, and fear, Keira's hands latched onto Orlando's arms. Two more loud bangs sounded and Keira jumped at each one, wondering where the hell they were coming from.
"Keira, it's fine. They're just fireworks." Feeling unusually bold, Orlando moved his arm out of Keira's death grip and snaked it around her waist.
"Oh." She paused, a bit confused. "Why?"
"I'm not exactly sure. But sometimes cruises shoot them off the night we depart."
"Well, they're still really pretty." Keira stated after a while, her eyes locked on the sky.
Blends of red, purple, gold, green, and blue illuminated the night sky. Sparkly ashes drifted to the calm water like falling stars, slowly sinking into the dark depths of the ocean. The sea's clear, glassy surface glittered and twinkled like a gem in the sun, mirroring and reflecting the light show. It was truly a sight to behold.
"It's gorgeous," Orlando whispered close to her ear, his eyes not bothering to look at the sky. Instead, they remained transfixed on the woman in front of him.
Keira tore her almond-shaped eyes away from the mesmerizing sight to look at her friend who seemed oblivious to everything except her. "Is everything ok, Or?" she asked, smiling awkwardly at his intense gaze.
"Ya. Everything's wonderful."
Little did they know that the mysterious fireworks weren't the only sparks being lit that night.
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So.. was it boring, cool, exciting, stupid, good, ect. ect? I'd love to hear your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, criticisms, reviews..