Miss Independent (Random Updates)

Chapter 34

Corey's phone pinged, causing him to look away from the program he was working on. "New notification?" he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes since they stung. He was so focused he wasn't blinking. Once he could see properly, he opened the notification then stood so quickly his chair fell back. "GUYS!"

He rushed into the kitchen so fast that he nearly tripped over his feet, "Whoa Sunshine," Raven said quickly catching him. "Where fire?"

"Aus..." Corey gasped as he steadied himself. "Austra..."

"Austria?" Victor tried to help.

"Breathe, Corey," Axel said calmly even though his face said otherwise.

"Lu," Corey gasped, "Li..." He shoved his phone out so Raven took it.

"Finally!" Raven shouted.

"What the fuck!" Gabe shouted as Victor took the phone from Raven.

"Luke is with Elizabeth in Australia at the Steve Irwin zoo," Victor said as he turned the phone around to show everyone the picture of the both of them holding a burned koala.

"I call pilot," Raven said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"I'll go start packing," Gabe said as he rushed toward the stairs.

"Owen," Axel called out, causing Owen to stop walking towards the doorway. "Are we doing the right thing?" Owen turned to face Axel. "I mean," Axel sighed, "he hasn't reached out to us, not once since he left. What if?" he cleared his throat, "what if he doesn't want us to come?"

"Then he will have to tell us to our faces," Owen replied honestly. "We have to at least try and this way we can show him and her in person how we have faced our consequences and tried to learn from this harsh lesson. At least this way he can't say we didn't try."

The following afternoon

"Alright, let's check out this fucking pool," Nathan huffed as he tossed a towel to Silas. "Maybe it will be halfway decent."

"Let's just hope, it's not too full," Silas nodded as everyone else grabbed their towels.

"Let's just hope the zoo will give us some sort of usable information tomorrow," Corey huffed. "It was hard enough to even get a freaking appointment to talk to the vet."

"Sorry Guys," An employee held up his hand while shaking his head. "The pool is closed for a private event. The desk manager should have informed you when he checked you in."

"Closed for how long?" Owen asked.

"Alright, Elizabeth," A voice came through the doors, making them freeze in shock. "One more dive and Lewis should have all the shots he needs. No more retakes or we won't be able to make it to paintball. Your choice, paintball or swimming?"

A glance amongst themselves told them that they were all thinking the same thing, Luke and Elizabeth were here at the hotel.

"Will I have an hour for swimming too?" Her voice sounded distant but it was her.

"Yes, Cupcake, we have dinner at five so either an hour of paintball with you and Lewis trying to shoot me or an hour of swimming and Lewis getting more pictures of you swimming. Your choice, so what's it going to be? Ten seconds..."

"Paintball!" She shouted excitedly.

"Then this is the last dive, no more and no arguing."

"Yes Sir," she said happily. The group could hear her jumping on the diveboard before a few seconds later the familiar sound of water splashing came through the doors.

"Hey sorry," Luke said as he pushed open the door to face the employee. "We need maybe five more minutes and then..." He trailed off as his eyes registered the group in the hallway. "Oh..."

"Oh?" Gabe asked. "OH?!?! That's all you fucking have to say, Luke? Fucking seriously?"

"Watch your tone while speaking to me, Gabriel Joseph," Luke said sternly as he stood straight up. "And yes that is all I have to say since you surprised me by being here. Excuse the fuck out of me for being startled for a minute."

"Lucien," Owen said as he stepped forward, "I know this is a surprise but may we please have a few moments of your time to speak with you? Both of you?"

"Hey we are..." Lewis said as he pushed on the door to step next to Luke. "Man, what the fuck?"

"I'm not sure," Luke shook his head. "Give me just a minute and then I'll be right there." Lewis frowned but nodded and headed back inside. Luke turned to face the group and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm not sure why you are here but I've worked too damn hard to earn her forgiveness and trust and I'm not about to mess it up nor mess up what we have. You wanna talk? Then you'll follow my rules without complaint. I need to tell her you are here and prove that I had no idea you were pulling this shit. But it will have to wait, we are on a schedule and I promised my girl some fun with some paintballs and the attempt to shoot me as much as she wants with her best friend and I'm not going to break it. I have your numbers, I'll reach out when the time is right. Now leave, I'm not having you upset her again."