Once they landed in Ireland, a limo was already waiting to pick them up. They had decided to go to Dublin first and then the Cliffs of Moher. The Royal Marine Hotel was spectacular from the outside. Their room was satisfactory for Chuck and Nate. They had two beds, one for Chuck and one for Jenny and Nate to share. There was a spa which they all would be going to later. The pool would be visited in the evening. Jenny took pictures of it all and as per her mother's request, got some postcards.
"Either of you feel like going into the city for some pub food?" Nate asked.
"Sure, let me call a cab," Chuck answered.
Jenny sent her mom and dad a text message, that they had arrived in Dublin, Ireland just fine. She didn't get a reply back, but wasn't worried. "Should I take a jacket?"
"You could, sometimes it gets cooler in the evenings."
Jenny dug through her carry on and pulled out a jacket. Then she was ready. Chuck handed her fake id, "this is your new id, so memorize your info. Legal drinking age in Ireland is 21."
"Oh, thank you!" Jenny said excitedly and gave Chuck a quick spontaneous hug. Nate grinned.
"Enough of that, " Chuck dismissed.
Jenny laughed happily and let him go. The concierge called and said their cab was there. Jenny sat in the middle. She was happier still, when Nate took her hand into his. Chuck told the cabbie where to take them and they were on their way. Jenny commented on the country side, while Nate and Chuck educated her on Ireland.
When the cab left, Jenny whispered to Nate, "Oh my god, I love the Irish accent! Um, what did he just say?"
Nate translated and laughed, when she said, "oh, wow, I thought he said something totally different."
Chuck said, "shall we sit outside?"
They took chairs and sat down, amongst other people already laughing and enjoying beers. Nate ordered them a pitcher of beer and ask for some menus. He grinned as he watched Jenny try to decipher what was being said around her. The waitress returned with the beer and asked for Jenny's id. Satisfied, she poured them each a glass.
"I can't drink this. It's um, gross. Is it Guinness?" Jenny asked disgusted.
"No, but similar to that. You did ok though, half a glass. What a trouper!" Nate took pity on her and poured her glass into his. "Order some Irish whisky instead."
Jenny did as he suggested, but asked for a coke too. The waitress smiled and flirted with Chuck. "I didna think the lassie would drink the brew."
Chuck winked and said to the waitress, "it is an acquired taste. When do you get off work?"
"In an hour," came the quick reply.
Chuck smiled, "we will still be here."
Nate put his hand on Jenny's thigh and she looked over at him. He winked and she smiled. They both liked that Chuck was being his old self. They had some classic pub food and a few drinks. The waitress joined them and then invited them to a party at a friend's place. Chuck went, but Jenny and Nate headed back to the hotel. They decided to go for a swim in the luxurious pool. Both Jenny and Nate swam some laps. Then when they had the pool to themselves, they splashed around and then shared some watery kisses. By the time they returned to their room, Nate had a text from Chuck advising he wouldn't be returning until the morning.
"He's not going to be in this room for the whole three days, is he?" Jenny asked.
"Most likely not. When he booked the room, I think he already had that planned."
"Oh," Jenny said.
She had been looking forward to spending the night in Nate's bed. Now that there was another bed available, he didn't have to do that. She was feeling a bit of the jet lag and sat down on the other bed across from Nate.
"You feeling okay?" Nate asked
"Ya, just really tired suddenly. I have a little headache."
Nate got up from the bed he was lying on and told Jenny to have some Advil and water. Then he gave her a shoulder and neck rub. They got under the sheets and without meaning to she fell asleep quickly. Nate smiled, although he was use to jet lag, he didn't mind going to bed early. For a little while he just watched her sleep. Then he snuggled up to Jenny and fell asleep too.
** ~ ~ ~ ~ ~**~ ~ ~ ~ ~ **
In the morning, Nate and Jenny had breakfast alone and then met Chuck in the spa. At the spa, they were pampered and discovered what true relaxation was. The spa became their morning ritual over the three days they were in Dublin. Then off to the Cliffs of Moher they went. The cliffs were exhilarating, beautiful and scary to Jenny all at once. Both Chuck and Nate enjoyed Jenny's fresh look at the sites they saw. She even scared them both, when she went to close to the edge of the cliffs and knocked some earth loose. At the same time they shouted her name, grabbed an arm and hauled her backwards. The three of them landed in a tangled heap on the ground. Jenny laughed hysterically, Nate scolded her and Chuck grumbled about idiot tourists. She promised never to scare them like that again, but behind her back she crossed her fingers.
Chuck had ordered a limo to pick them up for the drive to the airport for the flight to France and into Lorient. They would be staying at Mercure Lorient Centre Hotel, in two adjacent rooms. The hotel was as close as they could get to the port. Jenny loved hearing Chuck speak French, he was very fluent. Nate also spoke French to the bell boy and to Jenny it was so sexy. She wondered what other languages he spoke. Once in the room, Nate called to his Dad's navy friend, to see where he was sailing in from or if he was already docked at the marina.
Nate said, "Triton's Pegasus is anchored in port. Dad's friend said we can take her out for a few days. He's got business in Paris for the next two weeks."
Jenny asked, "Is Triton his name or the boat's?"
Nate smiled, "Triton's Pegasus is just the Oyster yacht's name. Triton is a god of the sea, son of Poseidon. He is half man & half sea creature. He controls the waves. So the name is kinda like saying swift wave rider."
Jenny grinned, "wow that is so cool! I love greek mythology."
Chuck asked, "what kind of yacht?"
Nate replied, "we have a choice, either the Lagoon Catarmaran, which he said has two smaller rooms, but beautiful upper deck. Or his custom Oyster 885, which is just as nice, but much larger bedrooms. It's your choice Chuck."
"Any pictures?" Chuck asked.
"Sure, where's your ipad?.... So this is the catamaran...." Nate said, pulling up the pictures. "And this is his custom Oyster."
"Let's take the Oyster, since it's close by already. It's a nice yacht, Triton's Pegasus looks fast."
Jenny was in awe. "Wow look at the layout for the deck!"
"Okay, I'll make the arrangements. Do you just want to then stay on it for the rest of the time we are here, or still keep a room at the hotel?" Nate asked.
"I'll reserve a room here, but we shouldn't need it. The yacht has a fully equipped bathroom, according to these pictures," Chuck said.
Once they had changed, they took a cab down to the marina. Nate said he would just check at the marina for the keys. His dad's friend had already left for Paris and would not be meeting up with them. There was a zodiac tied to the dock, that was from their boat, to take out to the yacht. When they got in, Jenny immediately put on the life jacket. Nate and Chuck smiled at each other. Nate started the motor and they zipped out to the yacht.
"Triton's Pegasus is even more beautiful in real life," Jenny gushed.
Chuck climbed on board and Nate tossed him the tow rope. Then once the zodiac was tied off, Nate helped Jenny on board. They looked around the ship. The back end of the ship, had sun chairs behind the wheel chairs. In front of that was another lounging area build into the deck, which had a table for dining.
Nate said as he gave them the tour, "I like the tinted windows over the aft bulkhead."
Chuck admired, "the multiple windows are nice, good way to get fresh air down below."
They went down stairs and then saw how it was customized. The online version of the yacht, showed multiple bedrooms, but they had been ripped out to give three large bedrooms instead and it opened up the dining area. The kitchen was large and spacious. Chuck saw that everything was stocked already; food, beverages and alcohol. Chuck poured himself a glass of whisky, swirled it in the glass and took a sip. A satisfied smile graced his face.
Jenny was in one of the bedrooms, "look, you can see out on the water from the bed. That's so romantic!"
Nate was in the stern and shouted, "same here in the stern."
Jenny came out of the room and looked at Chuck, "what is all this aft, stern, starboard stuff?"
Nate heard her and came to stand with them as he explained. "Aft is the rear of the boat, also called stern. Port is the left side and starboard is the right side. The bow or fore, is the front part. It's sailor terms, you will hear it when the ocean race ships blast by, when the captain shouts instructions."
"Oh ok. Just keep telling me that a few times, I'll remember," Jenny replied.
Chuck looked at Nate, "do you want go out for a sail?"
Jenny saw Nate's eyes light up. That's when she realized how much he truly did love sailing. "Ok, I'll just keep on this ugly life jacket then."
Nate laughed at her and gave her a quick hug. Chuck rolled his eyes. Nate asked for Chuck's help, "help me drag the zodiac up."
Jenny watched her friends pick up the zodiac and carry it to the bow. Where it had it's own area to be anchored down, when sailing. She asked, "why didn't we just leave it tied to the back of the boat?"
Chuck answered before Nate could. "Two reasons: first when we back out of here it wont get in the way, and second Nate wants to go fast and the zodiac will cause a drag that slows us down."
Jenny asked nervously, "um how fast?"
Nate winked, "depends on the wind."
She watched as they hauled in the anchor and slowly backed out. There was a motor used to do this. Nate also was talking on a radio to the harbour master, to find out what the conditions were out on the water. He made it all look way too easy. Chuck told her that the Trition's Pegasus, was electronically equipped to either be sailed manually or with all the gadgets. The sail could be raised and lowered by switches, for example.
"I like your dad's friend, more and more. You can sail this beauty all by yourself and I don't have to move off this lounger," Chuck drawled. "Jenny, could you please bring me the ice bucket and the whisky?"
Jenny obliged Chuck, finding it a little hard to walk. She held on to the side of the walls and furniture, as the yacht moved on the waves. By the time she came back up on to deck, Nate had the sails up and they were moving easily away from shore. She stumbled and an ice cube ended in Chuck's lap.
Nate laughed. "Don't worry Jenny by the end of today, you'll have your sea legs. Walking on land will seem weird."
Jenny wasn't so sure. She crawled to the front of the ship on her hands and knees. Then she sat with her legs dangling over the bow, holding on to the railing. She loved how the wind blew her hair back behind her and the ocean spray tickled her face. She wore sunglasses so the salt wouldn't sting. Turning her head, she looked over her shoulder. Nate was beautiful, handling the ship with ease. Chuck lay facing him, talking about the sailboat.
Nate saw Jenny looking at them and waived. He heard her giggle and watched as she turned to face the oncoming spray. He missed what Chuck said, "what was that?"
"So how fast are we going, about 20 knots?"
"Just slightly over, I'm pointing her out to sea. Once we clear the inlet, the wind should be much better. Do you think Jenny will get sick once it gets choppier?"
"Way ahead of you Nate, I gave her Gravol, as soon as we got on board. I didn't want her to have to swab the deck, her first time out at sea." Chuck grinned.
They were both distracted by a shriek of delight. Nate called to Jenny, "what's up?"
"Oh my god! Dolphins are up here! They are riding the waves of the... er... the bow!"
Nate put the ship on autopilot and made his way to the bow. He sat down beside Jenny and watched the harbour dolphins leap beside them. Nate glanced at Jenny's face, enjoying her look of wonder and awe. He saw a tear fall down her cheek. He kissed it softly away.
"Oh Nate, they are so graceful, I just...." Jenny choked on her words, overwhelmed by emotion.
"These are just spinner dolphins. Wait to you see the big ones."
She turned to him with eyes glowing and stuttered, "th-thank you so much for showing me this."
He kissed her deeply. Then kissed her nose and stood carefully back up. "When you make your way aft, if you stand up, just watch for the boom sail." Nate pointed to the horizontal shaft that one of the sails was attached to. "I've seen it knock people overboard."
"Ok. Nate... I ...," Jenny couldn't say it yet to his face. She wanted to so badly to tell him she loved him with all her heart, but fear stopped her.
He saw it all over her face. He paused, waiting for her to finish, but she just swallowed the words. Nate wasn't sure why, but he wanted her to say it to him first, when he was awake. He smiled at her and went back to the wheel. He took off his shirt and then took the yacht off autopilot. Chuck was snoring, so Nate knew he was relaxed. Being out on the ocean, handling the ship, this is what he loved. Watching Jenny enjoy it too, made his heart open up. The past few years, all the drama with Serena and his family, it fell away, with each new crash of wave.
Jenny made her way back to Nate. She sat beside him at first, then went below to her day bag. In the cabin, she got out her sunblock and changed into her bikini. Then with a baseball cap on her head and sunglass in place, she went back to Nate. She put sunblock on his back and shoulders first, massaging it in. He groaned in pleasure. Next she stood in front of him and did his chest, face and arms.
"We don't want you turning into a lobster!" She giggled. She looked at Chuck, "I think I should use the spray on stuff for him. I don't want to wake him up."
Her blue bikini twinkled in the sun, changing colours as she moved. It reminded Nate of a mermaid movie. He grinned and called her his sea sprite. She flashed him a smile as she carefully sprayed sunblock on Chuck, making sure not to wake him.
GOSSIP GIRL NARRATOR: Is Jenny the sea sprite that Nate has always searched for? Or is she the siren, who's going to sink his ship?
"Do you want anything to drink or eat?" Jenny asked Nate when she was done.
"I'm not hungry, but I would like a gatorade."
"Orange?"
"Yes please," Nate said politely.
They sailed the afternoon away. When the wind died down, Chuck took over the sailing for a little bit, to give Nate a rest. Nate said he could put the yacht on autopilot but Chuck said it was ok. Nate asked if Jenny wanted to go for a swim and she declined for now.
"I'd feel better closer to shore. I'm a bit spooked by how deep the ocean is, you can't see what's down below. Blame it on Jaws, Deep Blue Sea and those movies."
Nate appreciated her honesty, even if he thought it was a bit silly. But when she showed him a sharp fin piercing the surface of the water, he realized she had a point. The fin turned out to be a bottle-nosed dolphin, but it appeared from no where. Jenny calmed down when she saw the spray come from the blow hole. She still giggled nervously though and removed her dangling legs from the water, where they sat in the stern of the yacht.
They headed back into port late afternoon. Other boats, both motorized and sail, head in as well. Jenny waived at everyone they passed by. Almost all the other people out on the water, enthusiastically returned her waive. Both Nate and Jenny where tired by the time they lowered the sails and set anchor. They were in the channel, close to shore, but not in the marina. Only Chuck was wide awake and he took the zodiac to shore to get some food. None of them felt like cooking anything. After he had left. Nate and Jenny drank some wine and watched the sunset. Nate had finally convinced her to take the lifejacket off. He noticed her blinks became laboured. He set her glass aside and picked her up in his arms. He carried her to the master bedroom. She snuggled under the blankets and was out in seconds. Nate gently brushed a hair off her cheek.
He called Chuck on his cell and told him just to pick up some food and come back for them in a few hours. "There's no rush, she's sleeping and I think I'm going to crash too.... What?... Ya that's fine.... Sure my track pants would be great. Thanks Chuck."