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Drew Nance Book 2: "The Hidden Staircase" by Bobbie J. Cabot Chapter Twelve: |
They had all decided to meet at Drew’s place and had arranged for the airport shuttle service to pick them up there. Drew was all set, her matching magenta-colored Samsonite luggage ready. It comprised of one simply enormous wheeled rectangular suitcase and one carry-on bag.
She was dressed in a simple tanktop (which was actually a sheer, white sleeveless bodysuit) a pair of stretch cutoff shorts over one of her thong gaffs, and Chuck Taylor low-tops. She made sure she had no metal jewelry or earrings aside from her watch and phone, and made do with plastic bangles and thick, plastic ring earrings, and she didn’t wear a belt because her pants didn’t need it. That would simplify getting past the metal detectors and stuff.
She had put her new little detector in with her electronics, hoping the airport people wouldn’t notice it, or if they did, they wouldn’t make a big deal of it and assume it was just a camera.
When Callie and Aunt Arlene arrived, they added their own share to the luggage, and when Iola’s dad brought her over, the pile became enormous.
Carson handed out three Mace spray sticks, one to each of them (Drew already had one). They were actually Mace pepper sprays. On the packaging, it said “Exquisite Rhinestone Purse Pepper Spray (3 colors).”
Drew discarded the packaging, and and asked them to put their sprayers in with the baggies that she asked them to put their perfumes et cetera in. Callie took care of putting away Aunt Arlene’s in hers.
Mr. Morton came and chatted with Aunt Arlene and Carson while the three girls sleepily lounged around on the couch, and, pretty soon, the shuttle arrived.
The driver and his partner came in to help them with the luggage and, after a lengthy goodbye, they were on their forty-minute trip to JFK via the Verrazano Bridge and then the Belt Parkway. They arrived at JFK’s Blue Terminal very quickly, efficiently and without incident.
Drew put on a thin cardigan sweater, and put her e-ticket, IDs and passport in its pockets.
The day before, when she parked her car outside and rushed in to get something for Sabrina, she found a brochure stuck beneath one of Arcee’s wiper blades when she came back. She casually took out the folded piece of paper advertising Meatballs, that new place near her school, but before she threw it into the trash, she felt something inside the folded paper.
Drew got in her car and only opened the brochure after she had closed the door. What was inside was an official looking form from her school district that explained that she was a recognized LGBT person and was currently in transition. There were lots of extra details and was countersigned by some doctor she didn’t know.
Drew smiled. Lieutenant Hardy came through for her again.
However, a small post-it on it said “not back-stopped: use only if necessary!” There was also a brown faux-leather passport billfold. It looked pretty average, but it had the multi-colored, blue-white-and-gold seal of INTERPOL and a blue-and-white-and-gray seal of Homeland Security with a red circle around the eagle, side-by-side with the INTERPOL one.
Another post-it was stuck to it. “Use this,” the post-it said. “Put your passport in it. Vital!”
She didn’t quite understand why it was vital but she trusted Frank.
So that was why she put her passport in the leather INTERPOL-Homeland Security holder along with her school ID even though her passport wasn’t necessary to travel to Hawaii (her passport had a lot of fake stamps in it that showed that Andrea Jane Nance was one well-traveled teenager). Sandwiched in the passport’s pages was her e-ticket.
In her other pocket were her other IDs and the little official letter that she kept in a little plastic envelope-slip.
So she grabbed her magenta carry-on and the big magenta trolley-bag from the curb and waited for the others to get sorted out.
“Omigod, Iola,” Drew said. “How many pieces of luggage do you have, anyway?”
“Six?” Iola cringed, and Drew huffed. She turned to the others. “How about you two?”
“Ummm, eight?” Aunt Arlene said.
“But that’s the both of us!” Callie said.
Drew sighed, and told them to wait. She then went and got two trolleys and went back.
“Okay, now put all of your luggage in these. Make sure the bags are all unlocked, and let’s go.”
In point of fact, it was her first time in JFK, but it always pays to read the signs, and she went to the security line as if she knew her way around. She led the way and the other girls followed, pushing their stuff on their carts.
Drew was prepared for everything, it seems. She unlocked her luggage, took out the electronics from her bag and put it in a basket, along with her watch and cellphone. Since she wasn’t wearing anything metallic, she didn’t need to take off any piece of clothing other than her Chuck Taylors, which she also dumped in the basket. he also took out the plastic ziploc baggie that had all her perfumes, lotions, et cetera (anything liquid, essentially) in the basket as well
The girls watched her closely and followed her lead. The girls found putting their shampoos et cetera in a separate baggie weird, but they trusted Drew.
Drew noticed their earrings.
“Put all your metallic objects like your jewelry and belts in the basket, too,” she said.
When Drew was ready, she dumped her bags and her basket on the conveyor belt and fell in line to the full-body scanners. (Though technically a domestic flight, they still had to go through the scanners.)
When she was waved forward, she handed her passport and e-ticket in lieu of IDs (it was just a domestic flight but she decided to use her passport as her ID, even though she didn't need to) to the security personnel.
She noted that the security officer who took her passport did a double-take. She looked down at what he was staring at, and it was the seal on her passport’s leather cover. He waved it at the other security personnel and the others nodded. Hmmm…
Drew was about to step to the scanner, but security just waved her on. She didn’t contradict them and just went to the end of the conveyor to wait for her stuff, essentially jumping the queue. One of the security people handed her passport back and mumbled apologetically, “sorry for the delay, ma’am.”
Hmmm…
(Eventually, she would find out from Frank that the leather passport wallet with the seals were only issued to government VIPs, and such people were, in most circumstances, not required to go through as rigorous a security check as other travellers. Though not known to the public, this was known to EU, Asean and US port security forces, and Lieutenant Hardy thought it would simplify getting her through checkpoints.)
She waited for her bags and cart to go through, put her electronics back into her big bag, locked it, put her phone in her back pocket, her watch back on her wrist, and slipped her Chuck Taylors back on.
Drew looked back and saw that, unlike her, the girls had to go through the usual thorough procedure, and were still in line. She snickered.
So she sat down in one of the chairs at the end, and surfed the net with her phone while she waited for her friends to go through.
After a while, the girls were standing beside her.
“All set?” she asked.
“Geez,” Callie complained. “Everything I ever heard about airport security was true.”
“Stop complaining, Callie,” Aunt Arlene said. “It’s necessary. Where next, Drew?”
Drew unerringly went to the proper counter – in this case, the Hawaiian Airlines counter. There, they got their boarding passes, passed their check-in luggage through and went to the Business Class lounge for Jet Blue/Hawaiian Air.
There they had some snacks and waited for their flight to be called. The girls were all chatting excitedly, and, although she tried to be cool, Drew was pretty excited, too – it was her first time to fly in an airplane, after all, despite what her faux passport said.
Despite the original schedule they were told, their flight departed JFK at eight AM, Friday morning. The non-stop flight was twelve hours long, but instead of arriving eight PM, since Hawaii time was five hours behind New York time, local time would be 3PM when they arrive. Still, in their heads, it would still be eight PM.
Upon disembarking and getting their baggage, they got on the complimentary shuttle to the Pacific Pearl, the best little hotel in Honolulu. It was, in fact, in Yokohama Bay, near the western-most side of Honolulu, but in a very secluded part of the beach which offered tranquil, turquoise waters, long, clean, sandy beaches and plenty of tropical trees around the hotel to provide the appropriate ambiance. This out-of-the-way hotel provided five-star services and amenities but was barely known outside of a very exclusive clique of privileged upper class travelers, dedicated and knowledgeable tourists and knowledgeable locals. And the ones that owned and ran the hotel preferred it this way. They had no desire to be over-comercialized and become a cookie-cutter Hilton-style hotel. Word-of-mouth gave them more than enough business, and they charged high enough prices that they were more than able to sustain their high quality services and amenities.
The girls were the only ones in the hotel shuttle, and they sipped on complimentary drinks while on the hour-long drive (fruit juices for the girls and a Mimosa for Aunt Arlene). But, after the twelve-hour trip, they couldn’t help it and napped along the way.
Upon arriving, porters came and picked up their baggage. One of the front desk reception people came and politely shook them awake.
“Oh! I’m so sorry,” Aunt Arlene said, as she woke up. “Guess the flight caught up with us.”
“No need to apologize, Ma’am,” the girl responded. “It’s totally understandable. Most of our guests feel extremely tired after their trip, and the five-hour time difference does take it out of you. Let’s get you girls checked in so you can freshen up, and maybe have a short nap?”
“Sounds great,” Drew said. Thank you, Ms., ummm…”
“My name’s Leilani. And you are Mr. Nance’s guests. Welcome to Honolulu.”
“Thank you. Well, lead on, Leilani.”
They followed her and marveled at the mixture of plantation-style and Hawaiian Romanesque architecture of the Pacific Pearl Hotel. The hotel was just ten floors high, but it was very impressive with all the dark basalt blocks that gave it a unique Hawaiian style. The hotel used round arches, barrel vaults, ground vaults and cruciform piers to support the upper floors, with touches of white fixtures and palm tree-type decorations. It gave the hotel a massive yet modern feel with a very tasteful, south pacific kind of aura.
They went inside and approached the front desk. The people behind the counter smiled their welcome.
“Aloha,” the guy behind the counter said. “I am Keanu, no relation, hehehe. Welcome to the Pacific Pearl. I’m your concierge.”
“Hi, Keanu,” Aunt Arlene said. “I believe we have reservations, under the name of Carson Nance?”
“One moment, please, while I check.” He turned to his computer terminal. “May I see some IDs please?”
They handed their IDs and Keanu verified them.
“Yes, your VIP reservations have been confirmed. Ms Shaw, you and your daughter…”
“… Niece…”
“Ah, sorry. Niece. You and your niece, Callie, are booked in Room 10-01, the King Kamehameha Suite, and Ms Drew Nance and Ms Iola Morton are booked in the adjoining Room 10-02, the Queen Lilliuokalani Suite. They’re two of our best suites. They both have king-size beds, jacuzzi-style bathtubs, full bars, complimentary internet and southwest-facing picture windows and balconies facing the ocean. It's only one bed per room, but just let us know and we can have single beds brought up.”
“Wait!” Drew exclaimed. “Ummm… only two rooms?”
“Yes, that’s what…” he looked at his terminal. “That’s what a Ms Alice Moss reserved. Was there a mistake?”
Drew preferred a room of her own for obvious reasons, but when she looked at her friends, she thought better of what she was about to say, and not look like an antisocial jert.
“Ummm. I was just thinking... do you think these rooms will be large enough?” Good thing she was able to think up something reasonable to say.
“Oh, yes, Ms Nance. These are our two best rooms, and our largest suites, as well.”
“Ahhh.”
“What if you check them out and see what you think? We can make arrangements to move you if you so desire.” He rung the little bell on the counter. “Joseph?”
One of the bellboys came over.
“Yes, sir?”
“Please bring these ladies to 10-01 and 10-02.”
Joseph nodded, got their room keycards, the big cart with all their bags, and led the way.
“Follow me, ladies.”
“Oh, Ms Shaw,” Keanu, the concierge said to Aunt Arlene, “Ms Moss specifed that the bars be cleared of all alcoholic drinks. Is that correct?”
“That’s correct. Thank you.”
“Awww…” Callie and Iola moaned.
After a short ride in the elevator, Joseph led them to the appropriate rooms.
“This is room 10-02, the Lilliuokalani Suite,” Joe said.
Drew pointed at her magenta bags and Iola’s six mismatched ones.
Joseph brought them in and Drew and Iola walked in. Their jaws dropped.
It was a huge room with a large TV and sofa set on one side and a big canopy bed on the other end. Against one of the walls was a spacious bar area that had a mini-fridge and a minibar,. And the other wall was taken up by one large panoramic window. It was decorated in little palm plants and very elegant-looking drapery and carpets.
“Wow!” Iola commented.
Drew opened up a door to the verandah, and they stepped out.
“This is so beautiful,” Drew said and marveled at the fresh, warm air and the blue-green waters. The view was enough to take her breath away.
“It sure is,” Iola commented.
From inside, someone knocked and Drew checked. It was Callie knocking on the connecting door.
“Can you believe this, Drew?” Callie asked. “It’s like so ridiculously big, and the view is to die for.”
“Yeah. It’s like something from a storybook.”
Callie gave her a hug. “Thank you for arranging this for us.”
“Thank my pop. This is all his doing.”
“Wow!” Callie peeked into their room. “It’s exactly like ours.”
“Yeah?”
“Come and check ours.”
The two of them went into Callie’s and Aunt Arlene's room.
“Hey, Aunt Arlene,” Drew said. “Great room.”
“Unbelievable, Drew. Totally unbelievable. But, ummm… can you get Iola?”
“I’ll go get her,” Callie said.
“Anything wrong, Aunt Arlene?” Drew asked.
“Oh, nothing at all, Drew. I just need to go over some things.”
The other girls came in.
“Okay, kids,” Aunt Arlene said. “Take a seat.” She gestured to the couch, and the three obliged.
“Okay,” she said, standing in front of them. “now, before our vacation really starts, let’s go over some things.
“Carson, the Mortons and I agreed on certain ground rules, and I’m telling you now, these are not up for debate, okay?
“So here they are: one - You three follow what I say, okay? But I’m not gonna be unreasonable. We can discuss things, and I’ll give whatever you say a fair hearing. But, in the end, what I say goes, understood?”
The three nodded.
“Two – we will try to do things together, but we don’t have to. You guys can do your own thing, but you have to keep to a budget.” Aunt Arlene handed Callie and Iola debit cards. “Callie, you and Iola will be getting your daily allowance via those cards, to do with as you please. Your folks and I agreed to give you a budget for the duration of the vacation, to be offset against your future allowance. The cards will be topped up daily, any any amount you don’t spend just stays on the card, and you can spend it anytime you want. Any cash remaining we will take back.”
“Why doesn’t Drew get a card,” Iola asked.
“Carson said she has a credit card already. Anyway…
“Third rule – except for when we’re doing stuff together, everyone will be back in the hotel rooms by midnight, and no visitors without letting me know. No excuses. Also, you will let me know where you are when you’re doing your own thing. I’m going to be texting you the itinerary your folks and I decided on. You’re free to join or not, but if you don’t you’ll have to tell me the day before, no one goes off on their own alone, and then you check in with me regularly where you are or what you’re doing.
“Fourth rule – any meals in the hotel restaurants and the use of hotel services or facilities will be charged to the room. This doesn’t include the minibar and room service, If you want snacks, we buy from the nearest 7-Eleven and bring them back. We will not touch the minibar stuff. And nothing alcoholic under any circumstances - that’s something the Mortons required. And the tours and packages that we arranged, as well as tickets for parks or museums and all that are all paid for already.
“Fifth – if any of you fail to follow my rules, at my sole discretion I can cancel our vacation at any time and we all go back home.
“So. Are the rules clear?”
“Yes, Aunt Arlene,” the three said together petulantly.
“Don’t be like that. We can still have some fun. Okay, I’m texting you what we’ve cooked up and you guys check it out, and let’s talk about what else you think we should do.”
The “standard” stuff were all included in the list, apparently, like a tour of Pearl Harbor, a visit to the Arizona Memorial, snorkeling, golf, visiting the lava tubes, diving lessons, checking out some of the waterfalls etc. And lots of time at the beach.
Drew chimed in with some other suggestions, like waterfall rapelling, a mountain hike, a sunrise and sunset view, deep sea fishing, snorkeling, diving, parasailing…
Iola chimed in with dancing, clubbing and nice restaurants, and Callie suggested a photo-safari.
Drew volunteered to look up these things on the web and get some telephone numbers to call, and the other two decided to help.
They settled on Drew and Iola’s bed and surfed the web via the free wifi, but Aunt Arlene begged off since she wanted a nap. Later, she said they’ll go down and have dinner and go over whatever they come up with.
The three didn’t last long, however, and also fell asleep.
Several hours later, Aunt Arlene found them snoring in a heap on Drew and Iola’s bed. She giggled, shook them awake and told them to get ready for dinner.
“Dinner, Aunt Arlene?” Drew said.
Aunt Arlene pointed to the wall clock. Apparently it was eight in the evening already – five hours since they arrived in Honolulu, and One AM in their heads – and dinner was currently being served downstairs.
“The Front Desk said it was casual,” Aunt Arlene said, “but they said we should dress smartly.” The three belatedly noted Aunt Arlene wearing heels, a nice skirt and a light cotton top. She looked far younger than she usually did, close enough to be Callie's slightly-older sister, and was very pretty in a vacation-y kind of way.
“So, chop-chop, girls! Freshen up and get ready.”
The three took quick showers and Callie and Iola broke out their new stuff. To emulate Arlene, they picked sleeveless tops and shorts that were so loose they looked like short skirts. They decided to wear low heels as well (they brought these shoes just in case they were going dancing or something).
As for Drew, she took her clothes and her little toiletries bag, went to the bathroom, got out one of her “time-lapse vitamin pills,” and downed it with a sip of water from the faucet.
Drew decided to wear a sundress over a fresh gaff. She made sure the sundresses she bought all ended well above the knee while the others selected theirs based on colors, patterns and material only.
She looked pretty good, and to accessorize a bit, she got one of the fancy scarves she brought for covering her hair, and knotted it around her waist as a belt.
And, instead of low pumps, she wore string sandals instead.
“How do I look, Aunt Arlene?” she said when she came out.
“Your taste is impeccable as always, Drew,” she said.
As they were to step out of the room, Drew fell back a bit.
"Anything wrong, Drew" Aunt Arlene asked.
"My tummy's feeling a bit queasy," she said. "I think I need to, ummm, use the facilities..."
Arlene smiled at Drew's embarassment. "That's okay, dear. Sometimes happens after air travel. Has to do with the air pressure. Although cabins are pressurised, they only keep the pressure at a lower pressure of around 11.3 per square inch. Air pressure at sea level is around 14.7."
"So?"
"So, the pressure difference sometimes affects people."
"Must be it, then."
"Don't worry, dear," she said, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "We'll meet you downstairs. Come, girls!"
Arlene, Callie and Iola went downstairs and followed the other guests to the main dining hall. Lots of hotel people were in evidence, most of them locals. And with them in the expected Hawaiian shirts and shorts for the men and colorful Hawaiian-print halters and grass skirts over bike shorts for the women (not real grass skirts, of course, but they looked authentic from a distance) the Hawaiian vibe was undeniable. Sure, it was unfortunate stereotyping, but the staff wore their "costumes" with good humor and didn't think it was like stereotyping or anything like that - they were working in a hotel, after all.
- - - - -
When the girls left, Drew checked if the door was locked. (Obviously, she was just faking a tummy-ache.) To be sure, she used a couple of straight-back chairs and jammed them under the doorknobs of both of their rooms' doors.
As soon as the doors were secure, she brought out her fake camera, i.e. the PKI 4725 Detector, and proceeded to sweep their rooms, the bathrooms, the balconey areas, and everywhere she could think of. She even sweeped all of their baggage.
And, aside from the intercom beside the doors, their laptops and other gadgets, her ersatz camera detected nothing. That made her feel reasonably confident that there were no cameras, microphones or other electronic bugs.
But, sweeping the rooms regularly with the three girls around may be impossible. She had an idea, and she decided she'll try the idea out later and see if the others would notice.
She then got out a half a dozen of the cameras she brought from home (these were the kinds that looked like pens but were actually motion-triggered surveillance cameras - she bought a whole lot of them from a Best Buy months ago when she and her dad were making sure their house was free from surveillance and bugging).
She set them at inconspicuous locations so she'd get unblocked video shots of both rooms. She then paired them all with one pen. Set up this way, the pen that she had would turn the motion-triggered cameras on or off. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was being a little too paranoid but, hey, better safe than sorry.
Now she could go down and meet the girls for dinner, but... her stomach started to rumble.
"I guess Aunt Irene knew her stuff," she muttered, and went to the bathroom.
- - - - -
A few minutes later, she walked downstairs and had to deal with some out-of-town tourists. Clearly, they were drunk and weren't acting in their best behavior. But Drew, having had experience with Staten Island teenage jerks, was able to fend them off with very little trouble.
"Stupid tourists," she said, and realized what she just said. She had to giggle - after all, she was a tourist, too. She resolved to act more civilized than those mainland jerks.
Looking around, she found Callie and the others at their own table. They had reserved her a seat.
"How's your tummy?" Callie asked.
"Better now, thanks!"
A waiter in a very festive Hawaiian shirt came up. "Would you like a drink, miss?"
Drew looked at everyone's fruity drinks, and ordered a Pina Colada (it was the only fruity drink that came to mind).
"One virgin Pina Colada coming up!" (Apparently he was well briefed.) He then handed her a menu. "You can order from our ala carte menu, miss, or you can try the buffet lines. I suggest the Kalua Pig - they just took it out of the pit an hour ago, and it's genuine suckling pig today. Better hurry, though - it's usually the first thing to run out."
"He's absolutely right, Drew," Iola said as she waved a forkful. "This is absolutely gorgeous!"
Without any further word, Drew got up and went to the longest line. Most of the people in line were men, and they let Drew cut in front of them.
"Just look at that," Callie said. "We waited ten minutes and Drew gets in front in no time..."
"Just eat your food, honey," Aunt Arlene said and sipped her Blue Hawaii (hers was the only drink at their table that had actual alcohol in it).
As for Drew, she came back with a plate laden with Kalua Pig, Laulau Chicken, a small paper cup of the purple Poi, tuna Shoyu Poke, Lomi-lomi salmon as her salad, a small bowl of Chicken long rice, and a small bowl of steaming white rice. Each little helping was a small portion only so that she could try everything.
"Ahhh!" she said as she tucked in her table napkin into her sundress's collar. But since it had a relatively low neckline, it looked ridiculous. The girls giggled. "What!" she said, "I don't want to mess up my new dress!"
"Ahhh!" Callie said. And after a few moments, she giggled. Drew gave her a razzberry and grabbed the napkin from the empty plate beside her and put that on her lap.
A lady came by. Judging from her fancy cocktail-type dress, she must be the hostess.
"Good evening, ladies," the lady said. "I hope you're enjoying our food."
"It's wonderful!" Arlene said.
"Thank you. We try. Anyway, if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to let any of our staff know."
"Wait..." Callie said. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"
The lady shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I can't remember if we've met before..."
Callie snapped her fingers. "I remember now! You're Polly! You like to swim in the pool in Central Park! We see you there all the time! Hi, I'm Callie."
The lady, Polly, grinned and shook Callie's hand.
"Well, it's always good to see a fellow New Yorker," she said.
"This is my Aunt Arlene, and these are my best friends, Drew and Iola."
"Pleased to meet you all," she said, and shook everyone's hand.
Drew thought back and remembered that gorgeous lady who was waiting to use the shower when they went swimming about a month ago in Central Park. Too bad the pool will be closed soon, Drew thought. At around Labor Day, they would be closing it, preparatory to draining it, cleaning it, and then converting it to an ice skating rink.
As she shook Polly's hand, she couldn't help but stare at her, recalling that short time she saw her completely naked and showering.
Iola giggle. "You have to forgive Drew," she said. "I'm afraid Drew has a bit of a crush on you."
Everyone giggled, and Drew looked at Iola in shock. "Iola!" she said, and socked her on the shoulder.
"Oh, don't worry, Drew," Polly said. "She's just teasing. So, what are you girls doing in our beautiful island?"
"Oh, the girls are having a short summer vacation," Arlene said. "I'm afraid I'm the designated chaperone and token adult." Polly and Arlene chuckled.
"Oh, I know how that can be," Polly said. "I have several nieces and nephews myself, and I've been assigned to ride herd on them from time to time."
"So, what're you doing here, Polly," Callie asked.
"My family owns the hotel, and I help out during the summer and the winter months. Otherwise, I'm usually back in New York. I work at the City College."
The three nodded. "Ahhh! So that explains it," Iola thought.
"How about you guys," Polly asked. "How long will you be here?"
"We just arrived this afternoon, actually," Arlene said. "We're going to be here for the next three weeks."
"Ahhh! That's great!" Polly said. "Would you guys like to have a local tour you around?"
"Ah, thank you, but we couldn't presume..."
"Nonsense! It'd be my pleasure. Besides," she leaned down to whisper conspiratorially, "any excuse to get out of working, and play tourist for a change."
The girls laughed in delight.
"I'll talk to my dad, and square things away. And I can meet you all tomorrow at around eight, for breakfast."
"Thank you, Polly. See you tomorrow, then."
They waved and watched as Polly sashayed away.
"She's even more gorgeous than I remembered," Drew said aloud, not realizing she was speaking.
Callie frowned and Iola whapped Drew lightly on the head.
"What!" Drew said.
Comments
Not helping
Drew's comment isn't helping Callie's crush on her. It really was a bit of an open mouth, insert foot comment about Polly with Callie sitting right there.
Three days and there's only one comment?
Yikes. This is a great story. Thank you for writing it.
WiFi detector?
I assume that would be detectable by the equipment on hand.
Stlll, a hardwired camera or microphone would be hard to spot.
If you want to be totally paranoid, make sure nobody is going full Russian and bounce laser beams off the window to listen in.
Ummm
But 117 kudos (as I post this).
BAK 0.25tspgirl
one mouth...
insert foot. off to a great start. thanks
Praying to the great Goddess of writing
That the muse will bless a certain awesome author with the time, the desires and ideas to continue this awesome story.
It's Axiomatic
This is probably naive and self-evident, but it's axiomatic that, when the author is away, or hasn't been writing for a while, most of her stuff in the site becomes quiescent. No new kudos clicks or comments when nothing new comes in. Or almost quiescent.
Yours was the first comment in a while. Thank you, Willow.
To answer your question - I have very little time for writing nowadays. Also, the little time I have, I am using for a little project I am hoping to work on soon - something you may know about, maybe even read a few stories from it. I may know something about it in a couple days. But, in any case, if it falls through, then I may start working on Drew's story ahead of schedule.
Regardless whether that "project" becomes a reality or not, I did promise everyone to start working on my stuff here by December or January. Hopefully, earlier than that.
So don't lose hope - it won't be quiescent anymore. Eventually.
Thanks again, Holly.
click here to read all of my blogs,
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“Time release” vitamins
I’m still suspicious
Dance the dream you're in
Must've been asleep
When this came out - or away - but it was still a nice surprise to find another Drew Nance un-read. I hope whenever Bobbi's schedule leaves the time that she'll gift us with a further chapter..
Teri Ann
"Reach for the sun."