Quick to Love

Chapter 8

I wake up the next morning in a positively joyous mood. I can't wait to get ready and get on that boat! I am the first up and jump in the shower. I find myself singing the whole time I am in the shower. I chose not to wash my hair as let's face it, it will get salty from the sea water.

I bounce out of the shower and rifle through my drawer to find my best bikini. I settle on a black floral high waisted number which will look great with a pair of high waisted denim shorts. It emphasises my cleavage and shows off my tiny waist. I want Austin to be blown away when he sees me. I decide to keep my hair down with the loose waves still in my hair from last night. I pin the top up in a mini top knot so that it is out of my face in case it is windy. I don't want to look like I've been pulled through a hedge backwards after only five minutes.

After Charlie and Violet are up and ready we head down to breakfast. There's the usual spread of moorish food and easy listening music in the background to start the day off. I make sure that I eat a full breakfast, as I don't want to get sea sick or drink all day on an empty stomach.

When breakfast is finished, we make our way to the jetty where the boat is waiting for us. It's super hot again today and the sun is reflecting off the bright white boat. As we approach we see the boat is bobbing on the calm blue sea. We reach the ramp onto the boat, show our tickets and climb aboard. The boat is bigger than I expected. It has two floors one inside and one outside. We make our way to the top deck which has benches around the outside with a large DJ booth at the front. We locate some seats near the back of the boat and throw our stuff down.

I start to wonder when Austin will arrive, I am feeling super antsy. I can feel my insides tingling with excitement. Luckily I don't have to wait too long as after only five minutes on the boat, I see him climbing aboard. Charlie starts waving at the group and they quickly walk over to us.

Austin is wearing bright coral swim shorts which look amazing against his bronze skin. He looks irresistible in his Rayban's. I'm a sucker for a man in sunglasses. He makes a beeline for me which makes my heart skip a beat. He gives me hug whilst whispering "Hi" suggestively in my ear. It makes me shiver even thought it's 32 degrees.

"Hey" I reply smiling from ear to ear.

Austin and his friends commandeer the seats next to us and we become one large group. Wishing twenty minutes everyone is aboard and the boat moves away from the harbour. Once we are far enough away from the shore it starts to pick up at speed and everyone starts to cheer. The DJ starts to play some dance song that I don't know and everyone gets in the party mood. The atmosphere is electric and I know we are going to have fun day. A waitress is a tiny bikini that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination offers us brightly coloured cocktails which taste like battery acid but we drink them anyway as we are so excited to be on the party boat.

It's been an hour already and I haven't managed to get Austin alone. His friends keep pulling him over for conversations or they keep doing shot after shot. I keep myself busy by chatting to Charlie and Vi. We love people watching so we spend a lot of time rating the other party goers on board. I'm not going to lie there are some random outfits on this boat. People have covered themselves in glitter and face paint. There seem to be a large number of hen and stag parties that are super rowdy. I make sure to steer clear of those groups. We play a game where we decide who is going to hook up with who. I really hope the woman with pink hair and a silver bikini hooks up with the tall ginger guy so I win the bet. Loser has to buy the drinks the next evening.

I'm not really into the music that's playing as it's pure dance music. I just don't understand how people like the monotonous beats and repetition. Give me a good RnB or Pop song any day. I think you definitely do have to be high to like a lot of it and looking around I think that could be the case today. Finally an old song comes on which I know so the three of us decide to down a shot and get up to dance.

After a few minutes, I notice out of the corner of my eye that Austin is looking over at us. I pull out my most sexy dance moves but I'm pretty sure I look like bambi on ice. I smile coyly at him and he winks at me. We keep this to and fro eye contact for the majority of the afternoon and I am dying to have an actual conversation with him.

After we have been dancing and drinking for a while, I start to come over queasy. Eurgh why is this happening right this moment? I never get sea sick. I made sure to eat enough and also paced my drinks so that this wouldn't happen. I let my friends know that I need to pop to the toilets and I wade through all the drunk party goers. I finally make my way to stairs and go down onto the floor below where the toilets are situated. I join the short queue and have a drunken chat with another girl. Her hair is plastered to her face already and her mascara has smudged around her eyes like a panda. She looks like she won't last another hour and I feel sorry for her stuck on this boat. Eventually it's my turn and I squeeze into the tiniest toilet I have ever been in. I look in the mirror after I have finished and even though I feel a bit rough my make up is still looking good. I powder my face and add some more bronzer. I then squeeze out the tiny door and wander out.

As I walk a small way down the side of the boat to get some air, I bump into Austin.

"Are you OK?" he asks me looking concerned.

"Yes just felt a bit off colour but I actually feel much better now" I respond, not letting him know that I only feel better because I have bumped into him. He smiles down at me and his smile makes me blush from head to toe.

"Do you want to sit and chat away from the party?" he asks. At last! I agree and jump at the chance to spend some one on one time with him. We find a table at the front which is relatively quiet.

"I don't usually get sea sick" I quickly tell him. I don't want him to think I'm lame.

"Likely story" he says stifling a laugh. He totally doesn't believe me which irritates me slightly. I try to persuade him otherwise but he doesn't look convinced.

"Apart from the sea sickness, are you enjoying the party so far?"

"Yeah it's fun. Not too sure on the music though" I say.

"Not in to dance music?" he asks as he cocks his head to one side.

"Not really" I reply. "I only came to Ibiza because Charlie wanted to. I'm into music that has singing!"

"Yeah it's not really my scene either" he adds, "I'm more of an easy listening type of guy". I like that we both feel slightly out of place on the boat.

We sit and chat getting to know each other. He tells me all about his modelling. It's so interesting to hear what it's like from his perspective especially as I work with models all he time. It's a savage industry to be in by all accounts. He asks me about my job and I gush about how much I love it and about mine and Violets dream to start our own fashion line. He listens intently and seems genuinely interested in what I am saying which is a positive.

I am suddenly pulled out of my love bubble by the sound of Charlie's voice. "There you are Syd" she slurs loudly. She has become increasingly wasted since the last time I saw her. She runs over to me and hugs me tightly from behind. "I've missed you" she declares and kisses me on the cheek. "I see you have been preoccupied though missy" she garbles whilst waving her hand towards Austin.

I make a face at her to show my annoyance. She clearly doesn't know she is being a drunken nuisance. "I wouldn't miss me either if I had that face to stare at" she adds. I don't whether to be embarrassed or laugh at her. Austin must think she is crazy but when I look at him he's just chuckling like he finds this whole show hilarious.

"Sorry about her" I say seductively and put my hand on his arm. He looks down at my touch like it has surprised him. When he looks back at me his brown eyes bore into my mine and it makes the temperature of my blood rise. Just one look from him can make me melt to a puddle of hormones.

"It's OK" he whispers, "Shall we go back to our friends as they are clearly missing us?"

I agree even though really I want to spend the rest of the party in this exact spot with him.