Chapter 9
Leah closed her door soundly, careful not to awake Iran that slept quietly in her room. Her heart ached for her friend. She walked into the dining hall on the ship and stepped into line. She waited for what seemed like eternity until she finally ordered a cup of coffee and a donut. She looked up and saw her boyfriend walk in the room, with a small smile on his face.
"Guess where we are going when this ship docks?" he asked, coming up to her and giving her a kiss.
"Where?"
"I don't know. I just bought a brochure on the Philippines and it had some pretty nifty stuff in it!" he said. Leah smiled at him.
"So, did you hear about Nick and Riana?" Leah sighed. AJ nodded his head slowly.
"Nick hasn't come out of his room since yesterday morning," he said. Leah nodded.
"Riana is the same way. I think she's more confused then hurt. It seemed like they were fine. Riana mentioned something about wanting to find out Nick's secrets, or something like that," Leah shrugged.
"Secrets? Like what kind of secrets?" AJ asked nervously, hoping that Riana didn't know about Nick's past. In a sense he wanted her to. He wanted her to know that Nick was scared. He wanted Riana to know that she had nothing to do with their break up.
"I don't know. Why? Does Nick Carter have any secrets?" Leah asked with an evil smile.
"More than you know of....." AJ mumbled, loud enough for Leah to hear him.
"Do tell.........."
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"That's horrible!" Leah exclaimed once AJ had finished telling her. "How could she do that?"
"We don't know. Leah, you must promise me not to breathe a word of this to Riana, do you promise me?" AJ asked.
"Brownie honor!" Leah said with a serious look on his face. They smiled at each other and moved in to kiss when they felt a shudder beneath their feet and the motor stopped.
"Hello, passengers. This is your Captain speaking. We have docked in the Philippines, for a two day escape. The ship will depart from here on Wednesday at 7:30 in the morning. Have a nice stay!" the Captain said happily.
"Well? What are we waiting for? Go get your stuff and get ready!" AJ said.
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Brian shook his head slowly, wiping his eyes from the tantalizing dreams of sleep. He quickly got dressed only to hear the door open and AJ walk in.
"Rok! Come on!" AJ said. He ran around, packing an overnight bag.
"AJ, why are you packing a bag?" Brian asked. He squirted some toothpaste onto his blue and purple toothbrush.
"Leah and I are staying at a hotel tonight..."AJ trailed off. "Where's my deodorant?" he asked. Brian shook his head and laughed.
"Bri, can you move a little faster please? Kevin and Howie are already waiting for us downstairs."
"Kevin's ready?"
"Yeah, he is. Get Nick up and we'll meet you downstairs."
"AJ, I'll try to get Nick up, but you know him. There really is no point in trying." Brian said sadly. His eyes wandered over to Nick's closed door, hoping and praying that Nick would come to his senses. "
I agree with you, B. But, just try, ok? For me?" AJ pleaded.
"I'll try. Give me, 20 minutes to take a shower, ok?" He bargained.
"Deal. No later!" AJ called before he walked to get Leah.
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"Nick? Come on, get up." Nick slowly opened his eyes and reeled back from the sun coming through the window of his room. His head flopped back down onto his soft pillow, his head throbbing like a hangover. But he didn't understand why his head hurt so bad.
"Brian?"
"Yeah, Nick. Come on, we're gonna go spend a day on land. I don't know about you but I need to spend a day off of water," Brian babbled. He threw the covers off of Nick's boxer clad body. "GET UP!"
"Brian, go ahead without me. I'll hang out around here for today." He mumbled into his pillow. He heard Brian sigh.
"OK, Nick. But promise me you'll come with me tomorrow. The only time we get to visit foreign countries is for a concert, ok? I want you to see some sights with me."
"OK, Bri. I promise."
"Ok, see ya Frack." With that, he threw the covers back on Nick and walked out of his room and into the lobby, leaving his best friend alone. Nick sighed to himself, the events that happened before running through his mind.
' What have I done?' Nick thought to himself as he made his way into the shower. ' Carter, you had the perfect girl and what do you do? You blow it!' The shower only made Nick's problems become more troubled. The burden he carried on his shoulders, the guilt, that surged through every single vein and artery in his body seemed to defeat him. All he could do was fall back into his bed, close the blinds and pray that Riana would someday forgive him.
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Riana sighed as she sat up in bed. Leah shut her door softly, after trying to convince her into coming with her and AJ. There was no possible way she was going. She didn't even plan on leaving the facilities in her room for a split second. Her head throbbed, but it was nothing compared to the ache in the depths of her heart. How could one man have such an impact on her life? A man that she knew for what, a week? Not even. She sighed and crawled out of bed with a single tear accompanying her loneliness. She dressed into her satin bathrobe and tied it loosely around her body, not caring that her eyes were puffy and cheeks were flushed. Riana yawned and opened the refrigerator.
"Where's the chocolate milk?" she asked outloud. She searched through the refrigerator, coming across the remnants of an ounce of Hershey's Chocolate Milk. All they had was coffee and coffee disgusted her.
"Figures," Riana said as she went into her room to take a shower. She quickly got dressed and headed for the diner for some breakfast.
When Riana arrived, she was surprised to see how vacant it looked. She figured most people were out exploring the new land. She had pictures in her mind of Nick with another girl, dancing the night away and then breaking her heart into a million pieces. She shook the thoughts out of her mind and walked into the line.
"May I have a chocolate milk please?" Riana asked the clerk.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. We're all out of chocolate milk," he said apologetically. Riana struggled to hold her dignity.
"Ok then. A hot chocolate will be fine."
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"What luxurious cruise doesn't have chocolate milk?" Riana muttered angrily as she walked back to her room. The warm sensations that her drink was giving her made her smile, she liked the feeling. She picked up her pace just as she barreled into a familiar looking 6 foot figure. _________________________
