by Joyce Jordan
“No, it’s taken care of and it will be delivered around nine,” Ana told him.
“Okay, then. I’ll see you all later.”
They all grabbed their bags and changed into something to wear for the remainder of the night. Ana found a bed and crawled in. She sent a short text to Gabe confirming their arrival and intent to call in the morning. As expected she got a response but decided not to converse with him, for fear of not catching any zzz’s after all.
She would have to make it up big time to Gabe. As a man he would probably be satisfied with sex. But this had to be more than that. The fact that she had quickly put this together for his sister’s sake wouldn’t even matter to him. Not enough to interrupt their lovemaking. Especially since it wasn’t a matter of life and death at that moment. So she needed to use the next forty odd hours to see what she could come up with.
At least they were now moving along with the wedding. Ana had set a date for spring of next year. Gabe had complained, but Ana had no desire to get married in the winter and now wasn’t the time to get married because not only was it too hot, but there was no time to plan the wedding and have everything done before the onset of winter.
Dallas weather was warm in winter, but she didn’t really want to have it in Texas. New York was now her home. She wished to visit again before selecting which one to decide on prior to making her final decision.
Ana slept for about two hours before Evelyn woke her up, and then woke everyone else up. She was super excited and it was hard not to be affected by her enthusiasm. Although she had spent her college years in Los Angeles, Ana had never lived anywhere outside the dorm room as a freshman in her first semester then a house she had ended up sharing with Kelly. So this really was also new to her too.
A lot of the sights they would be seeing, would be places Kelly and her had seen several times, but it was always fun to go with different people. There was always something different each time you toured Hollywood or Beverley Hills with a different audience or browsed the shops on Rodeo Drive.
Besides today they were going in style. So much different from the times they had taken the tour buses or driven their own little cars, trying to drive and sight see at the same time.
With three bathrooms getting ready with four females and one male was a breeze. They offered Stefano one bathroom and the girls shared the other two bathrooms. Kelly and Ana already used to sharing everything, opted to take one bathroom and within no time were ready to go. Ana took the time to call Gabe as they waited for the others.
“Breakfast,” Ana said accepting the chair one of the waiters was pulling out for her. “It’s eleven in New York, so I’m really hungry.”
“I could eat a horse right about now,” Jes said, sitting next to Ana.
Evelyn sat opposite them with Kelly on her side. “I’m too wired to eat anything right now.”
“You just want to get up and get going, right?” Kelly asked her.
She nodded perusing her menu.
“Are you ready to order?” their waiter asked.
Stefano took the seat at the head of the table. He winked at the gay waiter who gave him a huge smile.
“What do you recommend?” Ana asked him. She listened to him as he mentioned three great options, then she settled on one.
He went round the table and took off after he had taken everyone’s order.
“He’s cute,” Stefano said as the waiter entered the kitchen.
“No hanky panky,” Kelly warned him.
“Just flirting love. And watch how our service will be better than the rest of the tables,” he replied.
“As long as you don’t get us in trouble with Manuel.” Ana saw Tim come in and waved at him. He was with the pilot and the stewardess. At least they had made it after cleaning and securing the jet. While Tim was on the job, the flight crew could tour the city and be ready to leave come Sunday.
They were not sure yet what time they wanted to leave. They, however, had to make it back in time for Kelly to go to work. At least she would sleep on the flight back, if the parties proved too interesting to leave and go to bed. With some of the Hollywood parties, one never knew. It could be early morning before you made your way back home to sleep.
“Hey, Tim,” Ana called him as she signed for their breakfast. “We’re just going to do some shopping on Rodeo Drive. “We’ll be back for lunch to meet Kelly’s parents, then do so sight seeing after that. Someone will deliver our ride in a few minutes, just sign for it. I gave them your name.”
“Ana, I’m not sure Gabe would agree with that. I’m supposed to be with you at all times, just in case you run into any trouble.”
“He said that?”
“More, but you get the drift?” he asked.
Ana frowned. “Look, I don’t want to cause trouble. So we’ll go and freshen up and collect our purses while you sort out the car thing. We’ll meet you in front in twenty.” Ana turned to the girls, “You guys go on up. I’ll be a minute. I just need to call Gabe.”
Ana found a quiet spot and made her call. The hotel was still on the quiet side. Being LA most people would probably start rousing after ten, if not noon. Life here definitely moved at a much slower pace in the morning. After dusk, it was a different matter. Which would make the shopping that much more enjoyable. No one rushing past by you to get to the next shop or rushing to the train.
“Morning Ana. Want to tell me where you are?”
“Gabe, you still don’t trust me.”
Gabe sighed. “What are you accusing me of this time Ana?”
“Why is Tim following us like a puppy?”
Gabe laughed. “Sorry, but first of all, he isn’t following you, he’s just there for your protection, making sure nobody tries any funny business against you or the others. Secondly I have no idea if you are in a safe city or neighborhood. You refused to tell me remember? Baby, I protect what’s mine, my family and my brothers’ too.”
“So this has nothing to do with you being over protective and wanting to learn our whereabouts?”
“I can’t say I don’t want to know. Maybe it’s you who doesn’t trust me,” he said turning the tables on her.
Ana snickered. “Nice try. I’ll call you later. I love you.”
“Ana…” Gabe called, but she had already hung up. It was making him crazy, not knowing where she was. At least he knew Tim would keep them all safe. With the threat of Jeremy gone, everyone had relaxed somewhat.
After she had gone, he had met up with Rafe and Nate and they had gone to join Manuel at the club. Mitch who had been keeping tabs on Evelyn had heard about her being spirited away from her house and immediately called him. He had met them at the club hoping to be given the girls destination. Gabe had then understood why Ana had been very secretive.
Mitch had been pissed when all of them had told him they had no clue where the jet had been headed to. After some convincing he had agreed not to investigate. If she wasn’t ready to talk to him, he would only add fuel to the fire. He had been upset but after a few drinks they had all been lamenting over a lonely weekend.
They had moved to the office after the club had closed down. They had continued drinking and talking well into the early hours of the morning.
When Ana’s text had come through he had smiled and wondered why she had not confirmed their landing at the same time Tim had. He had let it go, not wanting her to know how closely he was monitoring her without really invading her privacy.
Seventeen
It certainly had been an exciting day and was about to get even better. They had shopped till their legs were aching. Evelyn had refused to drop. At least not yet. That would have to happen once she got back to her little house.
Ana was glad she had been wearing tennis shoes. But now she was soaking her legs in hot water to relieve the walking they had done in and around the shops on Rodeo Drive, pretending to be Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman; then the Hollywood Walk of Fame and finally the Santa Monica Pier.
&n
bsp; Kelly’s parents had arranged invitations for them at a couple of high powered parties where they were promised they would see a few stars, but may not necessarily be able to talk to them.
Ana just wanted to meet Matthew McConaughey, while Kelly was claiming she was interested in seeing Orlando Bloom, and Jes was hoping to see Channing Tatum, and Evelyn wanted to see Jared Leto. Stefano was mysterious claiming he was down to three he wanted to see but wouldn’t say who.
She dried herself and took her time getting ready. They still had a couple of hours before they needed to leave. Someone had ordered dinner, and Ana made herself a plate. Going to a party you didn’t know without eating was always a no-no. If food was scarce or happened to be not what you expected, you could end up going hungry. Besides some of these Hollywood parties had appetizing food, but the food was not necessarily filling.
They took pictures, lots of pictures. Tim had the unfortunate job of being photographer and driver. It was nerve-wracking driving into the driveway of some bigshot director. Ana didn’t even remember the name. What if they were turned away?
They gave their names which were on the invitation list and were granted access. They did see some celebrities there but the party was a little on the boring side. It was filled with older people, so after chatting with Kelly’s parents for a while, they left and went to party number two.
Party number two was more lively. It was at a downtown hotel and had a lot of the younger crowd. They quickly found out that they fit in, and made their rounds assessing the room and it’s people. Ana watched Evelyn survey the room and grin at a couple glued together on the dance floor. Evelyn wagged a finger at her and Ana followed her to the dance floor.
Kelly saw Evelyn and Ana dancing and grabbed Jes and Stefano’s hands and pulled them with her and all three joined the two dancing girls amid the masses of dancing bodies.
Tired and thirsty, Ana made a sign to her friends and at their nod of understanding left the dance floor. She bypassed the bar and went to look for the bathrooms. There was a relatively long line and Ana thought about ditching it and coming back later or looking for another bathroom somewhere else. As she was still trying to make her decision, she saw Jes coming over so she quickly made up her mind to stay.
They were soon involved in a conversation with a group of girls ahead of them who on learning they were tourists told them of some tourist attractions to see. Ana took out her phone and wrote some of them down, wanting to visit them on their next visit.
Although she had attended college here, she could never consider herself to have the same information of places of attraction as a real Californian native. Besides between her classes and software jobs she had taken up, there hadn’t been much time left for any social life.
No regrets though. Her dedication had paid off and she had a portfolio of clients who kept her occupied with enough work to make her live very comfortably. This was before adding the money she earned from her games and licensed software. The merger with the Sullivans was moving along pretty well.
She was having her protégé Tom take over some of the mundane work and giving her more time to play with the bigger money making projects. Soon her team would grow to add two more people before the end of the year. She and Tom had really made a lot of progress.
“This weekend has been the best,” Jes said to her as they made their exit from the bathrooms. They found a pair of barstools being vacated by a couple that seemed to have called it a night. “It’s been work, work, work for me for the past several years. Building a business is hard work. I never knew.”
Ana laughed at the expression of her face. “I know what you mean. I too built my business from scratch too. As a student, so I never really had the ‘full college experience’. But I think now is the time to play.”
“We should do this every month,” Jes said then frowned. “Or is that too much?”
“I don’t think so,” Ana replied. “But the question is, will we be able to find the common weekend to do it?”
“Evelyn told me about your spa visits. I don’t mind doing that during the week if Kelly can’t get a weekend off.”
Ana grinned. “Oh, yeah. Those are the best. Those guys have amazing hands.” She leaned closer to Jes. “And I mean amazing.”
“What are you whispering about?” Evelyn asked.
“And why is Jes giggling?” Kelly asked too.
Ana motioned for the bartender. “We were just talking about how amazing Aiden, Dirk and Igor’s hands are. She wants to go, so we’ll have to make sure we get her someone with strong hands. Amazing hands.”
Kelly and Evelyn ordered while Jes and Ana continued talking. There were a lot of similarities between them. Most importantly, they saw eye to eye on most of her wedding ideas which made Ana relax and put everything in her hands. She didn’t have to worry about having a wedding planner who ignored her requests and did something else they thought was better, easier or brought them more money.
With Jes’s help she had located a local New York designer who was making her dress and had agreed to make the bridemaid’s dresses too. It was such a coup, Ana was excited and didn’t hesitate in paying the extra fees the designer needed to work on her dresses exclusively.
They had all gone and seen her work. She was really talented and it was just a matter of time before she became a well-known designer and impossible to get hold of. What had really scooped the deal had been Kelly asking her to do her dress too.
Somehow the guys that made it to their little corner at the bar area, quickly left. The guys seemed very interested in them, but after a few minutes of chatting they left. They were all wondering why until Stefano joined them and told them Tim was signaling to the guys to scoot.
They were probably afraid of his big bulky body. It wasn’t like any of them were interested in starting a vacation romance, but he most likely had his orders and questioning him, wouldn’t help anyone. Ana would need to take it up with Gabe later.
“We should go and finish the party in our penthouse,” Stefano suggested.
“This place is about to close anyway,” Evelyn said in agreement.
“Most people are no longer dancing, but just chatting,” Kelly observed.
Ana looked around. They were right. She raised a questioning eyebrow at Jes, who nodded her agreement. “It’s Evelyn’s treat anyway, so,” she said with a shrug, “I’m game whichever way.” She stood, “One thing I know for sure, is that Gabe will be happy to hear that we have left,” she added nodding at Tim. “So will the rest of his brothers,” she finished.
Jes laughed then Kelly joined in.
“I was wondering why the guys were suddenly…”
“…losing interest,” Kelly finished.
“Lucky me,” Evelyn said. “I don’t have to worry about some high handed male specimen.”
“I wouldn’t be too happy and celebrating,” Kelly told her.
“Why not? I know Steve came and explained, but still it’s just best we call it quits anyway.”
“According to Manuel, they had to restrain him for a while when he heard we had left.”
Jes nodded, “Nate said the same thing too.”
“Rafe said they had to threaten bodily harm to him before he agreed not to pursue us.”
“Babes,” Stefano said. “Loverboy is a mess. You need to rethink your decision and get back with him.”
“Anyone can see you still love him, Evelyn. Don’t be stubborn like me and …” Ana swallowed. “You know what happened with Gabe and me. He’s the best thing that could have ever happened to me. And I truly believe Mitch is your best thing to have happened to you too.”
“Let’s head out,” Kelly said grabbing Evelyn’s hand. She tugged her until they were walking side by side and the rest were following. “I’ve seen him. It’s the same with when Gabe was pining over Ana. Remember that time?” she asked. At her nod she continued, “At the very least, talk to him and if you still feel the need to end it, then end it.”
“I haven’t known him for long,” Jes said, “but I think he’s one of the good guys. Besides, have you seen how he looks at her?” she asked them. “Hot, hot, hot!” she ended with a swoon.
Stefano fanned himself. “Ditto.”
“It’s not different from the way Nate looks at you Jes, and…” Ana said.
“… Manuel looks at you Stefano,” Kelly finished.
They waited as Tim went to bring their limo around. At that moment a group of guys saw their opening and came to join them. “Let’s leave men talk for New York and get to enjoy this great weekend you guys put together for me,” she said. “Look at these hot guys,” she whispered before they were within hearing distance.
“Ladies,” one of them said as they came to stand next to them. “Hey man,” he said with a nod at Stefano. They were soon introduced to the group of four men, then another two came to join and before long a little crowd had gathered and introductions just kept going.
They didn’t even get a chance to go beyond introductions, because Tim descended on them and ushered them into the limo.
“Oh dear heaven,” Ana moaned. “Gabe is going to hear about this and … oh boy!”
Evelyn huffed. “Nothing happened.”
“Yeah, just introductions,” Jes agreed.
“Rafe and Gabe are mighty possessive,” Kelly told them. “So I get where she’s coming from.”
“He wasn’t happy with me running out on him Friday night,” she added. “Now I’ve just added fuel to an already burning fire.”
“What happens in LA, stays in LA,” Evelyn advised them and put her fist in the center. One by one they all bumped fists.
“I’ll go with that,” she agreed, “except that I don’t think either one of us can stop Tim from reporting back.”
“We could bribe him,” Stefano suggested.
Evelyn sneered. “We could try, but that would be a waste of time. Tim is loyal to Gabe.”
Kelly sighed. “We’re here. At least lets get to enjoy the rest of the evening and worry about New York tomorrow.”