Theodore was shaken awake by one of his bandmates when the plane touched the ground at Velana International Airport after a 10-hour-long ride from London. The young man grunted as he lifted the hood of his gray sweatshirt squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light. Starting the plane ride with 4 gin and tonics seemed like a brilliant plan when they boarded but now 8 hours later Theo was a grumpy mess. He groaned as he got up from his seat trudging after the rest of the passengers of the plane.
After what felt forever he and his friends had gone through security and baggage claim and they were stepping outside into the scorching sun. The hungover Theo quickly pulled out his sunglasses and shoved them in his face sighing heavily as he did so.
“Come on Teddy! Lighten up, we’re on a beautiful vacation! Even you must appreciate this.” His base player Jeremiah exclaimed as he threw an arm around Theo. The rest of the band members chuckled in agreement.
Theodore let out another sigh throwing Jeremiah of his shoulders.
“Do I? Do I really?” he deadpanned as they walked towards the big double-decker bus with ‘
Ashford Resorts’ written in golden lettering on the side. This bus was supposed to take all of the invited visitors and their guests to the ferry that would bring them over to Carnation Island. In Theo’s humble opinion was all this travel even worth it?
Inside the bus, the music was pumping, and the atmosphere was already one of euphoria, you could tell that most of the people on the bus had vacation feelings coursing through their bodies among other things. The hungover Theodore snatched a couple of beers from one of the coolers that were set out around the bus before taking a seat at the far back with the rest of his band. His blue eyes searching the seats and the tops of people heads for a blonde one. After a while, he spotted the golden hair of his cousin Charlotte or Lottie as she was known to most. Lottie was one of the reasons that Theo was even on this trip. He had promised his uncle Warren to keep an eye on her for him. Warren wasn’t even his real uncle rather he was his father’s cousin, but the man was very intimidating. And on top of that Lottie had pestered him at the family gathering they both attended at the start of the summer. Apparently, her father had given her an ultimatum that she could only go if Theo went as well.
So here he was chugging a beer at the back of a party bus looking at his young cousin laughing loudly with her girlfriends like a creepy stalker. Shrugging he opened his second beer before turning back to his friends as the bus drove them to the pier where the huge ferry boat was already waiting for them. As they were boarding the boat Theodore caught his cousin’s eye and gave her a nod that implicated that she owed him a drink.
The big party continued on the ferry and Teddy couldn’t help but feel really sorry for the staff that had to run around like madmen to satisfy the needs of the hoard of young and drunk passengers. But the Wallenberg son just ordered a whiskey sour and sat down to watch the whole debacle go down.
Soon enough the boat docked at the Carnation Island pier and Theo took a deep breath of relief. But as soon as they exited the boat he could only groan. Rachel had really gone all out with the welcome party. Two huge LED screens had been set up right there on the beach flashing the text
on one screen and a video showing off the island on the other. Between them, a big wooden stage had been set up housing fire dancers and huge flower displays. At the center of the stage stood a sun-tanned Rachel with a wide grin holding a microphone up to her mouth as the crowd drew nearer.
“Hello, my lovelies! I trust your travels have been good and I hope that the staff and alcohol have treated you well!” She almost screamed into the mic.
“I can’t believe that you’re finally here! I almost pissed my pants with excitement when I woke up today!” she continued as she jumped up and down.
“So daddy has booked the whole resort just for us and I’ve planned some activities spread out over our time here! I will send out invites throughout your stay so keep an eye out for those! Oh! And the staff are handing out welcome packets as you will see these include a map of the island, the keys cards to your cabanas and invites to the first out of many parties! We’re going to have a huge bonfire right here at the beach with a sick DJ playing all night! But I’ll let you all settle in first so grab your packet, dump your stuff in your cabana and enjoy the day and meet back here at 8 pm!” A shiny white golf cart drove up right behind Rachel as she finished her speech, she jumped in the back and lifted the microphone once again “I’ll be living up in the main building, but ask the staff about whatever you need! They’re all super talented and nice! Get ready to rage!” she bellowed as the golf cart drove away and out of sight.
Theodore couldn’t help but roll his eyes behind his shades as he shook his head while the crowd cheered loudly. He was handed a thick envelope after he ticked his name of a fancy looking pad when they arrived at the big stage. On the envelope, in curling text, it said ‘
Teddy W.’. He and his friends made their way towards cabana #34 which they had been assigned. After a quick shower and change of clothes, Theo yelled out the rest of the gang that he was heading out and that they could find him at the bar.
As he arrived at the nice luxurious looking beach bar it was surprisingly empty with just a few tables occupied. Most of the newly arrived guests were probably checking out their new lining situations or napping. Theodore headed straight for the bar and took a seat on one of the plush bar stools.
“How many of these drinks can I order at the same time without you hating me?” he said dryly eyeing the menu in front of him flicking his eyes up at the blonde bartender.