They had just got out of the airport, viewing their surroundings. Unfortunately, not everyone was impressed.
"What? No glamour? No cute taxi drivers? Why isn't there anything worth admiring, or more importantly why isn't there anyone out here worth showing my beauty to?" Nichole cried out, her shrills nearly deafening the others.
"Whoa! Chillax Nichole! We're only just outside of the airport! It's not like this is all of London," Alexia explained.
Joe nodded in agreement. "Lexi is right; we'll see more of London real soon," he said before becoming serious. "Now remember guys; what is the most important thing that we all have to remember?"
"Must get souvenirs!" Benny cried out, punching the air with his fist.
"Take loads of pictures?" Ethan guessed.
"Go to every night club!" Sydney replied, jumping up and down with excitement.
"Buy lots of fabulous outfits!" Nichole asked eagerly, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"No, no, no and no!" Joe said, groaning in frustration before looking at Alexia. "Please tell me you know what the right answer is."
"Uh…. beat all of my opponents at the tournament?" Alexia said, smirking.
"Alexia…." Joe growled, almost loosing his patience.
"Relax bro, I know; its 'don't do anything that may get us all into trouble'," she then said, rolling her eyes while smiling.
"Right! After all, remember that incident that happened last year?" Joe reminded them all
"Well to be fair, it was Ethan and Benny's fault," Sydney responded. "After all, who would be dumb enough to not only paint and glue over the play props right before the performance, but to also forget to clear away the evidence."
"And whilst all of us besides Joe tried to clear the evidence away, we ended up getting caught!" Alexia finished the rest of the tale before looking at Joe. "By the way, how in the world did you get in trouble?"
"Simple, with my dad," he answered. "He argues with me a lot! Always asking me why I hang around with 'trouble-makers', and why I allow you to get involved in their mess!"
Alexia frowned. "Let me guess; being not only my father's closest friend, but also me being the owner of a very important company for the military, he wants me to be a respectable, decent and serious 'young lady' right?" she began saying, with a hint of annoyance in her tone. "One he shouldn't have to be concerned with the way I behave because he thinks it's 'what my father would've wanted' and two; you should follow your guts, not what your father always tells you. Besides one of these days you're gonna have to make these sorts of decisions yourself when you do become a commander."
"You mean if I do. I'm having enough trouble in becoming a soldier," Joe said before sighing. "You know, sometimes I think my dad wishes that I were more like you. Or better yet, wishes that you were his daughter."
Before Alexia could respond, Sydney began calling out to them. "Hey guys. Less talking, more exploring around London. Now lets go while it's still the afternoon!" she said while everyone else was anxious to get to the hotel before starting the exploration.
Alexia sighed before holding Joe's hand comfortingly. "Come on, let's go to our hotel. After all, we didn't come all this way just to be depressed right?" she said while smiling at him.
Seeing that she was right, Joe smiled and squeezed her hands in response before following the others.
After taking ten minutes of finding a taxi, within half an hour they had made it to the 41 Hotel where Alexia made reservations for six Executive Hospitality suits, with room services included. After they dumped their luggage into their rooms, they immediately headed off to do a bit of exploration.
