50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

More Life: Chapter Sixteen

    The first day in Turks was one of relaxation. Carlos was able to get his tan on the white sandy beach located just outside of their all-inclusive hotel resort. His mind kept going back to the conversation he'd had with Aubrey as they were getting off the plane. He hadn't quite known what to expect from the hip-hop-mega-star-turned-business-man-turned-hip-hop-star-again. He'd feared that shortly after losing Destiny, Aubrey would go on another hoe-fucking spree of some kind, to get his mind off of the loss. Sure, there were rumors of him knocking up some woman, but those were unfounded at this point.

    Unless Aubrey was great at hiding women, he was taking real time to grieve the loss of the love of his life. There was something heartwarming in that. Because my bitch Destiny deserves to be mourned, Carlos thought, lowering his sunglasses from the top of his head to the bridge of his nose. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

    As relieved as he was that Aubrey was giving himself time to truly feel his grief, the man had a very antsy vibe about him. He seemed very on edge, as if he'd just found out about Destiny's death. It was the oddest thing. For a while, Carlos had watched as Aubrey paced the length of the beach, studying everyone that passed him. When fans stopped to get a photo with him, he was looking off in the distance towards something else. His body was here, but his mind was completely somewhere else. 

    At first, Carlos was concerned. But then, he figured that this might just be Aubrey's process. This might be what he needed in order to process his grief. That is when Carlos decided that his focus would be better spent on getting the perfect tan.

    That first night, everyone did their own thing. They all had their room assignments, no obligations other than to get rest from a long flight. Drinks flowed, merry times were had. Then, towards the end of the night, Chubbs emerged at the bar facing the beach. He approached Carlos and spoke in very hushed tones. "Have you seen Aubrey?"

    "Me?" Carlos asked, nearly choking on his drink. "No. Why?"

    "Just asking," Chubbs said, already moving away from him.

    Carlos turned, his eyes following Chubbs. "What the fuck was that?"

    The following morning, Carlos was fighting with his comforter when a sharp knock rapped against his hotel room door. Groaning in frustration, he nearly fell out of bed and stomped his way to the door. He opened the tall, heavy door with his eyes narrowed into slits. "Your death will be painful and gruesome."

    Chubbs breezed through the door without asking. "Aubrey is missing."

    Those words were guaranteed to wake anyone up. "Wait - what?"

    "He's missing and has been since last night," Chubbs said. "He isn't in his room, isn't in the gym or any of the restaurant areas. He's not answering either of his phones. I've already alerted the other members of the team. We are keeping this quiet for now, while we investigate. Do not speak about this to anyone, even another team member."

    "Do you think..." Carlos rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. "I mean, we don't think that Palmer had anything to do with this, do we?"

    "We aren't making any assumptions. At this time, we just don't know where he is."

    "I mean...okay." Carlos chewed his bottom lip nervously, watching as Chubbs left the way he'd come in. Am I supposed to go out looking for Aubs, or would I wind up missing, too? With a sigh, he hurried to shower and dress so that he could go out looking for his best friend's man.

~~~~~~

    The problem with attempting to bump into someone else in Turks, was that Turks was comprised of many islands. Most tourism was focused on a handful of those islands, but what appeared to be a tiny location on a map could seem much bigger when you were looking for one person in particular.