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with her girlfriends. Rory didn't mind it. For a while at least it was even a pleasure to get distracted by all that Myrtle Beach had to offer.
The hot guys walking along the beach were more than enough to eye candy to enjoy each morning as the girls nursed their hangovers on the beach, working on their tans.
But now that week was over. Those days were gone and all she had left to prove they even went, was new bikini shaped tan lines.
But that’s okay. Rory was looking forward to taking over the world with her T-shirt business. And she knew she’d see her friend at Alicia's wedding in 6 months.
That's right. The wedding!
"I'll be in New York City for your wedding," Rory said to Alicia, dreading the thought of actually leaving her island paradise and heading into Manhattan.
"Yeah, but that's in the Hamptons so you won't actually be in New York City," Alicia replied back. "It's not the same thing."
Well, thank God for small favors.
"Attention passengers of United Airlines Flight 43 to Los Angeles," the overhead speaker called out. "Boarding will begin in twenty minutes."
Right. They were going to call out the Elite Super Diamond Prestige Award Members first and then all the other variations of passenger, so Rory was pretty sure she'd be the last person to board the plane.
"I gotta go, ladies," she said, however. "Gotta get that seat. If I board late, they may just throw me off the plane if they're overbooked."
Natalie, Kim, Lisa, Carla, Brittney, Becca, Ashley, Christine, and Alicia all gave a variation of the eye roll. To go through all the reactions took at least a minute.
The hugs took another ten minutes.
Detaching herself from Alicia took another five.
"Promise to come visit, okay?" Alicia said with glossy eyes as she hugged her best friend for the eighth time. "And I promise to come by soon too!"
Promises made, Rory headed towards her gate. Her head spinning from the booze, she had no doubt she'd sit down and fall asleep once she boarded.
And then...Southern California.
Different from what Alicia lived in.
But...there was something about how it felt.
Something was going to happen.
Her life felt as if it was about to change.
She didn't know how.
But Rory definitely felt excited.
One moment it was sunny like an Indian summer on the island of Montcove, and the next moment it would turn into a monsoon. Thankfully bad weather didn’t linger for long and things were mostly peaceful. At least they were, till a few years ago when the peace was disturbed when Montcove suddenly became a celebrity vacation destination.
It took just one celebrity marriage to kick Montcove’s status as an obscure vacation island into oblivion. Where the residents were used to a few thousand tourists a year, now they saw hordes of Hollywood celebrities renting villas and hotels and driving around in their fancy cars. With Hollywood stars came business opportunities, and much to the dismay of local residents, plenty of outsiders had bought up properties and set up shop to cash in on the buzz.
The old German bakery was now a luxury rent-a-car, while the shabby Windwood Hotel had been turned into a luxury rehab. In the three years since the boom started, the residents had seen everything—A-list celebrities, the fanatic tourists who came for celeb spotting, and of course, the dreaded paparazzi.
As good as that was for the economy of the island, many of the residents still found it a nuisance they could do nothing about. It was on one such summer night that the rain gods decided to come down over the island. The residents ran in to take cover, the celebrities rolled up the windows on their expensive sports cars, and the paparazzi rushed to save their expensive camera lenses.
Chapter 47
The wind hit Arsen in the face, determined to do some harm. Beads of sweat mixed with rainwater trickled down from his longish hair as he walked past the main door of the villa. Loud voices, clinking glasses, and smoke fumes trailed him, but he couldn’t care less.
Enough’s enough.
