A Moment In Time - Chapter 10

Jena's POV

I ducked my head and took a shaky step into the limousine. Natalie was  seated on the far side of the car and she was scrutinising the interior and gasping occasionally. I sat down next to her and beamed brightly. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
Bill and Tom whisper something to each other and laugh before getting in the car. They sit opposite us and close the door.

Then the silence descends.

Bill's POV

Being the chatty one, I've never found myself short of conversation, but at that very moment I was dumbfounded. The girls sat quietly and modestly; Natalie was playing with her skirt and Jena was looking at something in her bag.
"So!" I began, not knowing what to say.
"How was your flight?" Tom leans forward starts the conversation.
The girls laugh and blush.
"Mm? Something interesting happen?" Tom probes.
"Well... we had some trouble with these young boys-"
"-Oh. Them!" Natalie folds her arms in frustration and leans back to stare out the window. Jena pauses and then resumes talking.
"Yes, well we thought they were in our seats-"
"-which we weren't!" Natalie adds.
"Nat! Shh!" Jena scolds.
"Anyway! They were saying some pretty-"
"Pretty? There wasn-"
"Nat!"
"Right! ...sorry!"
"They weren't being nice at all and eventually they got angry and-"
"-thank goodness for the hostess-" Jena turns around and glares at Natalie who quickly covers her mouth.
Tom and I start laughing.
"What?" they ask.
"Well." I sigh. "Its just... you sound just like Tom and I. We're always cutting off eachoth-"
"-ers sentences." Tom smiles proudly, I just roll my eyes.
"You get the p-"
"-point."
"Tom!"
"Bill!" he smiles devilishly and pushes me against the side of the car.
I push him back.
Tom reaches over to punch me but I divert his hand and he hits the wall. Swearing softly I notices the girls huddling together and laughing at our boisterous behaviour
"Tom?" I whisper while we struggle against each other.
"Yeah?"
"Should we..." my eyes flicker to the girls, "... you know...?"
He looks at me and nods.

Natalie's POV

Jena and I are enjoying the entertainment and laughing at their contorted faces.
We consider trying to stop them but before we can act, the boys unbuckle their seatbelts and rush over to us.
They land ontop of us and start tickling us like we we're little kids.
"Bill!" I scream in delight. He is attacking my stomach and I try to reach around and get him back, but he's too strong and quick (possibly from years of experience with Tom).  The sweet torture brings tears to my eyes and I look over at Jena.
"Tom!" she pleads for him to stop through a large smile, but they continue relentlessly.
We wrestle with each other for another minute before a voice interrupts us.
"Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, but I would appreciate you sitting restrained while the vehicle is in motion."  The driver is eyeing us in the front mirror and with relief the boys release us from their grips.
Allowing us to breathe for a few moments they decide to sit on either side of Jena and I.
Tom drapes an arm over the back of the seat and rests it gently on my shoulder. And Jena places her head on Bills chest.
"Is it going to be like this every day?" Jena sighs happily.
"You better believe it!" Tom laughs.
Jena and I roll our eyes and try to regain our breath.
"We're still partially crippled you know?" I retort.
"What-ever!" He picks up my arms and lets it drop.
"Your fine!"
"Well there goes that excuse!" Bill winks at me.
The cabin has grown hot with our excessive breathing and we all decide to roll down the windows.
I watch the scenery flash by, utterly bemused by being in a foreign land. The car slows and stops at a traffic light and I notice something across the street.
"Oh my gosh!" I point out the window as a beautiful garden comes into view.
Curious, Tom and Bill poke their heads out to see what I was referring to.
"Oh that's the-"
Snap!
A bright flash stuns the four of us as it lights up the interior. We all flinch back, trying to avoid whatever it was when suddenly-
Snap! Snap!
Two more flashes of light and the boys realise what the source is.
"The windows Tom!" Bill shouts across me and Tom immediately jumps into action.
Flash! Snap!"
The window closes and we all retreat into the shadows.
"What is it?" Jena exclaims.
"Paparazzi. They have probably been following us since we left the airport, waiting for a chance to shoot." Bill mumbles.
"They managed to catch us when we stuck our heads out the window, and their van pulled up beside ours. So they could see the rest of us." Tom swears in German and looks at Bill. A silent conversation is exchanged and they both nod.
"Is everything okay?" I whisper.
"All good." A smile replaces a frown on Tom's face and he lowers his arm and squeezes my shoulder lightly.

Tom's POV

"So! Do you girls have any nice clothes?" I ask. They both immediately blush and look down at their clothes and consider what they're wearing.
"Isn't this nice...?" Jena questions.
"Oh! Of course, but I mean do you have nice nice clothes."
"Um..." They exchange a glance and shake their heads.
"Well we were going to bring along some nice dresses but our parents told us we didn't have enough room or need for them."
"In that case... I guess you'll just have to go shopping this afternoon." Their faces light up as they try to withhold their excitement. Jena clears her throat.
"Well, if we have to... I guess we can come to an agreement..."
"Good! Cause we're taking you out to dinner tonight!" Bill clasps his hands together.
"Really?"
"Seriously?"
"Nah, we're just kidding...- of course we're serious!"

–

Jena's POV

The boys dropped us off at a shopping centre. They said they couldn't join us because of all the fuss and attention they would create and we sadly departed, but they left us with a bodyguard- and a credit card.
I link arms with Natalie and we stroll past the shops.
"I really love Mr. YipYap!" I sigh.
"What?!" Natalie stops abruptly and turns around to face me.
"No! NO! Not in that way! I meant, I love him because if it wasn't for him being so annoying then we wouldn't have left his class... and run into the boys."
"Yeah!" Natalie laughs and shakes her head. "They sure ran into us... with their car!"
"Aww, come on, you know what I mean!"
"Yeah, but I think next time I want to meet someone- it won't be in a hospital."
We both laughed and continued walking.
"Nat!"I squeal with joy and pull her over to a window that encased a beautiful jade green dress.
"Oh my gosh. Its beautif- 600 euros!" she splutters.
I spin around and face the bodyguard.
"How much are we allowed to spend?" he pauses for a moment and answers promptly.
"I have been told that price doesn't matter." My jaw drops and I look back at Natalie who's expression mirrors mine.
Without further hesitation, I drag Natalie into the shop.

–

"What do you think about this one?" I look over at Natalie who is holding out a dark satin blue dress adorned with sequins around the waist.
I flicker between her and the dress and I notice her eyes pick up the colour.
"You should try it on." I conclude. She smiles in approval and pulls the dress off the rack.
I glance to the left and notice the shop assistant eying us off suspiciously. Her hair was jet black and pulled back into a tight bun. With matching glasses, and a tall posture she strode over to us. Her gaze was piercing and questioning... if only she knew who's credit card we held.
"Can I help you ladies?" A fake and tight smile plays at her lips and she looks us up and down. I stand up straighter and address her.
"My friend would like to try on a dress, and I would like to try that one, in the window, please." Her smile falters as she realises we aren't just playing around.
"Right away Miss." she taps her heels along the ground and carefully pulls the dress off the model.
"This way please." she points in the direction of the changing rooms and we follow obediently.
"Let me know if you need a hand." She turns around and slinks away.
Natalie smiles brightly and quickly rushes into the cubicle.

Natalie's POV

The dress fits perfectly, I spin around once and I feel my heart beat out of my chest with pride.
"What do you think?" I pose for Jena who giggles and claps her hands.
"It suits you! Truly!" I curtsy and survey her dress.
"My, my, the boys won't be able to take their eyes off you with that!"
Jena blushes and returns back into the dressing room.

–

"Just these two, thanks!" We place the dresses on the counter and the shop assistant hollers at us.
"Do you realise how much these items cost?" Her perfectly shaped eyebrow moves slightly and I nod firmly back.
"We do." She pauses for another moment and then begins to work on the register.
"That comes to... uh... €1130." Holding out her hand she purses her lips, expecting us to gasp with shock, but we smile and hand her the credit card. She takes it from me shakily clearly amazed we could afford the price. A witty comment comes to mind and I nudge Jena in the ribs.
"And here I was thinking we could afford those €450 shoes."