Well, that was a very eventful evening! After we got back to the boat, we talked for a few minutes, then went to bed (okay, so maybe that part was not so eventful, but whatever). Anyway, the next morning I woke up around nine, threw on a pair of black Jean shorts and a baby-blue tank top, and went outside to get the boat ready to leave. When I stepped out the door, Rachel was lying on the back seat.
"Hey," I said.
She turned her head to look at me. "Hey!"
"Can you help me with this?" I asked. I got off the boat and unplugged the power cord.
"Sure," she said. She took the cord from me, wound it up, and shoved it under the back seat. I unhooked the hose and did the same with it. After we took the top down and put on the generator, we got drinks from the cooler, sat down, and talked. After awhile, Maribeth, Joanne, and Jamie joined us.
When it was 9:30, Maribeth and Jamie said good-bye and started walking to AJ's boat. Rachel called Baltimore Inner Harbor Marina and reserved two slips.
"All set," she said after a few minutes, flipping her cell-phone shut. All of the sudden, we hear the Star Wars theme song being hummed from the beginning of the dock. Wee look down the dock and see Nick, Brian, and an embarrassed Kevin coming towards us. Kevin was walking behind them a little, pretending he did not know them.
"Hey," the three of us said in unison. The guys hopped on the boat.
"Morning, angel," Brian said, kissing the top of my head
"Good morning," Kevin said, kissing Joanne on the cheek.
"Morning," Nick said, kissing Rachel lightly on the lips.
"Awe . . ." Joanne and I cooed.
"Shut up," Rachel said, glaring at us.
"So, Kevin, how come you weren't singing along with the guys?" I asked.
"Ever since last night, these two have had so much energy that we made them sleep out back because they wouldn't shut up," Kevin complained. "I'm pretty sure you two had something to do with that." He raised an eyebrow at me and Rachel, who just smiled innocently.
"Moi?" I asked.
"Oh, no, of course not," Joanne said, rolling her eyes. "You're always innocent."
"That's right, and don't you forget it," I scolded. Just then a call came over the radio.
"King's Ransom, King's Ransom, this is Sudden Impulse, come in," Maribeth's voice said.
I ran and got the receiver. "We're here, Sudden Impulse. You ready to go?" I asked.
"We're out already," Maribeth said laughing. "I thought you might want to give us a head start.
"You're gonna need it," I laughed. "We're coming out right behind you."
"Sudden Impulse out."
"You guys ready?" I asked turning to everyone. Rachel walked up the side of the boat and started to untie the front lines. Joanne did the back lines. The guys just stood there looking helpless. "Just make yourselves comfortable. We'll do most of the work."
"Okay," they all said, sitting down. Brian cam up and sat on the seat next to the captains chair. As soon as the lines were off, Rachel came back and I pulled the boat out of the slip.
"Wow," Kevin marveled. "You are good."
"I know," I said, jokingly. We went out the cut and passed R2 (which is the marker that as soon as you pass it, you can go faster). The water was like glass. No waves, nothing. "You guys ready?" I shouted over the engine.
"Yep!" Rachel said, making sure everything was secure. She pushed Nick down onto a seat so he didn't fall.
"Here we go!" I yelled. I sped the boat up, almost to full speed (I didn't want to over heat the engines).
"Woo hoo!" Joanne yelled from the back, pumping her arms up in the air.
"This is awesome!" Brian said, standing up next to me. He held onto the bar with one hand and my waist with the other. I smiled over at him and reached for my sunglasses, putting them on so I could see. I spotted Sudden Impulse in the distance.
"Everyone be ready to wave as we go by," I said.
"Bye!" Nick called.
"Not yet, moron!" Joanne yelled at him. He slunk back into the seat and put on a pouty face. Rachel patted his head.
"It's okay, you're still a good boy," she said. He barked like a hyper dog and started panting. Kevin raised an eyebrow as Rachel slowly inched away from him.
"Hi!" Maribeth called from the fly-bridge of AJ's boat as we caught up to them.
"Bye!" We all called as my boat zipped past theirs. I heard Maribeth speed up the engine, so I slowed mine down so we didn't lose them.
Rachel jumped off the seat and ran downstairs. All of a sudden, the radio went on. A commercial was just ending and the DJ came on. Rachel came upstairs and sat back down. With her head on Nick's lap, she stretched across the seat. The first song to come on was "C'est La Vie," by B*Witched.
"Sudden Impulse, Sudden Impulse, this is King's Ransom. Come in," I said over the radio.
"This is Sudden Impulse," Maribeth said.
"Turn on the radio," I said. As she turned it on, I looked back to see her dancing on the fly-bridge, holding onto the steering wheel with one hand. AJ was dancing behind her. I laughed and turned around to face the front again, but not without catching a glimpse of Joanne and Rachel dancing on the back of the boat and singing along. Nick was trying to get Kevin up so he would not be the only guy up there. When he realized it was useless, he looked at Brian expectantly. He quickly grabbed my waist and gave Nick a look that said "Sorry, taken." I started singing along and so did Brian.
When the song ended, Joanne and Rachel cheered. The next song to come on was the Backstreet Boys "Larger Than Life."
Then AJ's voice came over the radio (the one used to communicate and the one with the music). He did his little yelling thing that he does in the beginning of the song and everyone laughed. Everyone, on both boats, was singing along
After a few more songs, Rachel wanted to drive. She took my place and Nick took Brian's. Brian and I walked carefully up the side of the boat and sat on the front. I pointed out Baltimore in the distance. The sky was amazingly clear so we were able to see the Bay Bridge far off on the right. Brian put his arm around me and I put my head on his shoulder, the wind whistling as it went by.
As we sat there watched the water, the song on the radio changed. I strained hard to hear the first few bars of music, then smiled and closed my eyes when I realized what it was. It was Ricky Martin's "Private Emotions."
"This is one of my favorite duets," I told Brian. He started singing the lyrics to me. I joined him when Meja's (the female singer in the song) part came on. When the song was over, I laid my head on Brian's shoulder again.
We stayed up on the bow until Rachel slowed the boat down. Going into Baltimore Harbor, there is a twenty minute no wake zone. Brian and I got up, walked down the side of the boat, and sat across from Joanne and Kevin. Joanne waved to someone, and I turned around to see Sudden Impulse slowing down not too far behind us. I waved to Jamie and Howie, who were sitting on the bow, and they waved back. I turned back around.
"So, did you enjoy the ride?" I asked Kevin and Brian.
"It was awesome!" Nick screeched, turning around from the front seat. I saw Rachel shake her head slightly.
"Thanks," I laughed. I heard Maribeth call for the slip assignments over the radio. She was told that my slip would be on the "T"-head of "C" dock and Sudden Impulse is in slip C36. I took the controls from Rachel and slowed the boat down a little more.
"I need you guys to move," she said to Brian and Nick, who were sitting on the back seat. They slipped to one side. "No, I mean get up," she directed. They got up and joined Kevin on the seat across from where they had just been sitting. Rachel lifted up the seat cushion and took out three ropes. She tossed one to Joanne, who tied it to the back, and took the other two up front. She tied one to the same side halfway up (the spring-line), and then the other one to the same side of the bow. She got two buoys and tied them to the railing.
I maneuvered the boat along the T-head and Rachel and Joanne jumped off and tied it up. I cut the engine and took out the power cord and hose. With the guys watching in amazement, we connected the cord and hose and Joanne turned off the generator.
"All set," I said, standing on the dock and leaning on the side of the boat. Just then, a dock hand came up to us.
"Looks like you don't need my help," he said, smiling and admiring our job.
"Nope, but go over there," I pointed three slips down to where Sudden Impulse was backing in. "They'll probably need help."
"Thanks," he said, walking towards their slip.
"They do," I said, "but Maribeth's backing it in and Jamie can't do the front lines and the back lines at the same time."
"Ah," Brian said. "Good point."
"What about AJ?" Nick asked.
"The words 'He has no idea what he's doing' came from your lips, did they not?" I said.
"True," Nick said, "but I was talking to myself."
"I eavesdrop on every conversation," I stated.
"Oh," he said, eyeing me warily. Maribeth, Jamie, AJ, and Howie walked up the dock and stood with he girls next to the boat.
"All set?" I asked her.
"Almost, I need your help showing AJ how to connect the power cords," Maribeth said.
"K," I said. I turned to face everyone else. "I'm gonna help Maribeth with the power lines, then we're going to check in. AJ should come with us so at least one of you knows how to do it."
"What about me?" Brian pouted.
"You," I said, standing on tip-toes (he was still on the boat) on the dock to give him a quick kiss, "will stay there and have a good time, then go meet Donna. We'll meet you on your boat. Everyone okay with that?"
"Yep," everyone agreed.
'C'mon," I said to Maribeth and AJ. We walked to his boat and Maribeth and I showed AJ how to connect the wires. That took about ten minutes. By the time we got to the marina office, it was 11:45. It took a half hour to check in both boats. When we got back to the dock, we found everyone on AJ's boat. There were four new people there. Three guys and a girl (and a pizza place. Just kidding!)
"Hey, peeps," Maribeth called.
"Hey," everyone (we knew) called back.
"Hey, man. How's it going?" One of the guys said to AJ.
"Good," AJ said. The three of us got on the boat.
"Hey, babe," Brian said. He kissed me on the cheek as I sat down on the floor in front of him.
"Maribeth, Alex," Kevin said, "this is Donna Wright, our manager, and this is Daemon, Dave, and Trey from EYC. They're one of our opening acts. Donna, guys, this is Maribeth and Alex." He pointed to all of us in turn.
"Hi," Maribeth and I said.
"Nice to meet you," Donna said.
"Well, hello there," Dave, the blond one, said to me. He reached out for my hand and (being my dense self) I gave it to him (I thought he was going to shake it). He attempted to kiss it until Brian stopped him.
"Watch it, man," he said, jokingly. "She's mine."
"Oh, so this is the famous Galaxy," Donna said. "Kevin told me all about you ladies on the phone. Especially you and Joanne," Donna said to me.
"Me?" I said, shocked. I turned to Kevin and raised an eyebrow at him. Brian gave him a suspicious look.
"I told her how good you and Brian sounded together, that's all," he said in his defense.
"Yeah," Donna said. "He used the same technique I used to get these guys a record deal. He held up the phone for me to listen at that party last night."
"Oh," I said, embarrassed.
"Don't be embarrassed," Maribeth said. "You guys sounded amazing." Brian reached for my hand and squeezed it.
"I have a question," Donna said.
"Shoot," Rachel said. "Just not literally."
"Do you know who's boat that is? I want to ask the owner if we could use it for a photo-shoot," Donna said.
"Which boat?" Joanne asked.
"That one, right there," she said pointing at the boat on the T-head.
"Oh, that's Alex's," Nick said.
"It's yours?" Donna said in surprise.
"Yeah," I said.
"You wouldn't mind if we used it, would you?" she asked.
"Of course not!" I said. "be my guest, as long as you don't sink it." Everyone laughed.
"Deal," Donna responded. "I'll go call the camera crew." When the crew got there, they set up on the dock first. The first person to go was Brian. I sat there talking to EYC, while watching my boyfriend 'pose' for the camera. He kept making faces at me and to his dismay, they got pictures of every single one of them. When he was done he hopped off the boat and joined the four of us on the deck. I was cracking up over something Daemon had just said.
"What's so funny?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Nothing," I teased.
"Really?" he asked. He kissed me lightly on the lips.
"Really," I said. He brought my lips up to his and kissed them softly. Then there was a camera flash. We stopped kissing and turned to see one of the photographers standing a few feet away.
"Perfect," he said, "let's get another one!"
"What about everyone else?" I asked, trying to get him to leave us alone.
"He already got us," Joanne said.
"Us too," Maribeth said.
"And us," Rachel said.
"I guess we're next, then," Jamie sighed.
"Just a few more, please," the guy begged.
"Fine," I said. I laid my head on Brian's chest while the guy snapped pictures. Then I lifted my head and looked up at Brian, who smiled warmly at me. "Okay, that's enough," I said.
"Thanks," the photographer said. He turned to Jamie and Howie. "You're turn!" They both groaned while he started snapping pictures.
"The leeches!" we shrieked. Jamie and I had gone on a cruise together during our senior year of high school. Everywhere you went, there were photographers (employed by the cruise line) asking "Would you like your picture taken?" It got real annoying, real fast. The "best" is, we had to pay for them afterwards (as if the torture of getting them taken wasn't enough).
It was three o'clock by the time they were done. The Backstreet Boys, EYC (which, by the way, stands for "Express Yourself Clearly"), Donna, Rachel, Joanne, Maribeth, Jamie, and I were all sitting on the back of my boat talking and drinking (sodas!).
"So, what do you guys have planned for tonight?" Donna asked. The ten of us looked at each other.
"Nothing, yet," Howie said. "Why?"
"Just wondering," she shrugged.
"Actually, I do know this really nice restaurant in Little Italy, if you want to go there for dinner," I suggested.
"Chipparelli's?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah," I said.
"I love that place."
"Fine with me," Brian said.
"Sure," Kevin, AJ, Howie, Nick, Maribeth, Joanne, and Jamie chorused.
"What about you guys?" Brian said to EYC.
"Sure, if you want us to," Trey, the one with short brown hair, said.
"Of course," Joanne said. "The more, the merrier."
"Donna, you in?" I asked.
"I don't think so," she said. "Mandy needs some company tonight, too, and since it looks like you all already have plans, I'm the only one left."
"She can come, too," I said.
"Umm, Alex, I don't think that's such a good idea," Nick said, cautiously. Rachel elbowed him to be quiet.
"The more, the merrier," Joanne repeated, ignoring him.
"Please," I begged Donna. She laughed and gave in when I gave her the puppy-face.
"All right, all right," she said. "Just don't do that."
"Okay," I said happily. I gave them directions to Chipparelli's and told them to be there at seven. Rachel went ahead and called in reservations for fifteen. When she was done, Donna and EYC left.
"I really, really wish you hadn't done that," Brian groaned.
"What?" I asked.
"Mandy Moore and Brian don't exactly get along too well," Kevin explained.
Oh, no, we get along great," Brian said, "but that's the problem."
"Why?" Jamie asked.
"She has a little crush on him," Howie said.
"A little crush?" AJ exclaimed. "She practically crawls all over him."
"She does crawl all over him!" Nick said.
"Don't remind me," Brian groaned, sinking into the seat.
"Don't worry," I said, kissing him on the cheek. "We'll fix that, right girls?"
"Oh, yeah!" Maribeth said.
"Yea, fun!" Joanne shrieked.
"Definitely," Rachel said.
"She's going down," Jamie said.
"Huh?" Kevin said. "You're not gonna kill her or anything, are you?"
"No! Of course not," I said. "We won't hurt her, but we'll think of something." I winked at the girls.
"Alex, this means you're going to have to be in major flirt mode tonight," Rachel said.
"Fine with me!" Brian said, sitting up straight on the seat. The five of us cracked up. I looked at my watch. It was 5:30. Damn! Time really does fly when you're having fun.
"Wow, it's already 5:30," I said.
"We should go get ready, then," Brian said. He gave me a soft kiss on the lips. "We'll be by at 6:30."
"Okay," I said. "Bye!" Everyone said their good-bye's and the guys climbed off the boat.
As they were getting on theirs, Joanne yelled, "And take showers! You need them!" Rachel and I slapped her upside the head and dragged her inside the boat.
"So, what are we going to do to about Mandy?" Rachel asked.
"I don't know. Let's see what happens," I said. "After all, she can't be that bad, right?"