AN: Hi! Thanks to all of you who review! It really does feel nice to know that people care enough to take the time and let you know their thoughts on your work X) (this cheesy emotional moment was brought to you by McDonalds, we love to see you smile)
Enjoy!
Tori
"Look Tori! The taxis here are pulled by horsies!" Cat shrieks tugging at my jacket sleeve with one hand and pointing to the carriage-like vehicle with the other.
"Yea look at that…" I say uneasily looking around. We had just collected our baggage from the Yerbanian Airport's luggage carrousel, which was pulled by a goat who in turned was pulled by a young boy. After rescuing Rex from the hungry goat's mouth, we had made our way outside to hail a taxi and get to the hotel. However, once outside we saw that, as Cat had stated, the taxis consisted of horse drawn carriages. And not the cute romantic type carriages. These were literally large wooden boxes on wheels pulled by one or two horses and manned by small foreign men.
"Good Gandhi! These people are years ahead of our time!" Sikowitz exclaims while putting down his bag.
"Yea, if by 'our time' you mean one million B.C.…" Jade mutters dropping her bag next to her feet on the sidewalk. My eyes meet hers for a moment and I'm surprised to see her also looking at me, but I quickly turn my gaze away. After the incident on the plane we didn't talk for the rest of the flight. Once we got off the plane I tried to avoid her at all costs. It wasn't so much that I'm too mad to look at her; I just don't want her to see how much she had actually hurt me this time. My mom always told me that my eyes were the ones to give me and my emotions away, so with that in mind, I kept them as far away from her as possible.
"Hey look!" Andre calls out from next to me. We all follow his line of vision and land on one of the carriages where a man stands holding up a large hand-written sign that reads: 'HOLLIVOOD ARTS – TOREE VIGA & BADYS'
"'Badys?'" Beck questions. "Is that supposed to say buddies or a nice way of putting badass?" he adds with a grin.
"Well I guess that's our ride!" I exclaim with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. I'm beginning to wonder if Festus had ever gone to Hawaii to be able to even compare it to this place. But I mean, it is night time so maybe it will look pretty in the morning? And I suppose horse drawn carriages arerustic and ecofriendly…
Oh who am I kidding? So far this country isn't looking very promising. The only thing that keeps me hopeful is the idea of staying at the five star hotel Festus's brother owns. The online pictures portrayed it as a lavish resort filled with top of the line commodities. Now, all I have to do is keep the group's spirits and hopes up 'til we get there.
"Hi there!" Robbie calls out to the man holding the sign with a wide hand gesture. "We are Tori Vega and buddies from Hollywood Arts!" He enunciates each word loudly as though that will allow the man to understand him better. The foreigner simply stares at him with a bored expression while chewing his gum. His thick unibrow slightly rising at the sight of Rex on Robbie's arm.
"So um, are you here to take us to the hotel?" I ask hesitantly. His eyes sweep over me from head to toe in a way that made me feel very uncomfortable. Suddenly he grabs my wrist and pulls my palm to his face, where he then proceeds to inhale into it profusely. Just as quickly, he drops it and motions towards the carriage with his head as he makes his way to his seat up front by the horses. We all stare after him in utter shock and confusion but as soon as we see him lift the reins and ready himself to depart, we hurriedly scramble to climb onto the carriage. Robbie just barely manages to jump inside when the carriage suddenly takes off at an amazing speed.
