"You want to go where?!" Stephen scoffed, leaning up against the glass table.
I rolled my eyes," I want to go to Sydney, Australia."
"Why the hell do you want to go there of all fucking places?" Stephen snapped.
Euca sighed," It's his choice, if he wants to go there then I will make it so."
"And where the hell are you going to get the money?!" Stephen laughed," You don't even have a job!"
Euca continued to clean as he laughed at her, spatting various comments. My Nina eventually broke in.
"She does, she works for quite a few large companies as a dancer."
"She hasn't been working." Stephen sighed, taking another drink.
I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair.
"I've been on temporary leave for the past six months Stephen." Euca breathed," They don't stop paying me because I haven't been working."
"Oh really, and how much money do you have?" He laughed again.
I smirked and glanced at him.
"Oh... right now... about... 20 grand." Euca replied," Considering that I get paid about 2,000 dollars a month."
Stephen choked on his beer," What?!"
" I usually get paid about 4,000 a month. But considering I'm not working and all..."
"How the hell do you make so much?!"
Euca dried her hands," Well, PUMA pays based on popularity rating of the magazines that my group participates in. In the last few months there have been 6 highly rated magazines; Journey's pays based on Photo shoots and merch sales, and in the past few months the girls have had about 12 photo shoots and sales are fairly high. You get the jist right?"
"Why haven't you been helping with the fucking bills!"
Nina tapped Stephen on his hand," She has been, she actually paid off most of our mortgage last month. And she paid for Junior's last surgery..."
"Wh... Th... Huh?" Stephen breathed and collapsed back into his chair.
Euca sat down and looked at him," So, how long can you two get off of work?"
Nina squealed and clapped happily again," I know I can get off for about a month. I've been saving all my sick days, vacation days. You name it."
Stephen rolled his eyes," I can get about that much too."
I smiled," Awesome, so when are we going?!"
Euca laughed and looked at me," As soon as you want to head down there."
"Yes." I smiled and looked at my Nina.
She nodded," Go ahead and book those tickets for Friday."
"So soon, it's only Wednesday." Euca smiled.
Nina nodded," Yes."
I smiled and looked at Euca," That is awesome!"
She nodded and stretched out her arms," Alright. I will book those then."
"First class?" I pressed excitedly.
"If you guys aren't careful then, no." She laughed.
Almost immediately Stephen straightened out," Well, I will call my work and get some clothes and money in order."
.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.
| FRIDAY |
"So, the cost payed out to about 11,000 dollars." I smiled as I packed my bags.
"That is a lot of money," My Nina sighed," And all first class?"
"So far, yes." I breathed," Stephen still packing winter attire?"
Nina laughed and nodded," Refuses to believe that in the middle of December, it would be 80 degrees outside."
I rolled my eyes and zipped up the last of the bags," Welp, I guess he is just going to burn right up then."
"Yes," Junior smiled walking into the room," Everyone ready, the plane leaves in a few hours."
I nodded and carried out my bags along with my brothers," Stephen, Nina! Time to go!"
Stephen came out grumbling with a couple of bags," Summer in the fucking winter..."
I shook my head and helped Junior into the car before climbing in myself.
"Can he be anymore stubborn?" Junior breathed.
I shrugged and sighed.
...A few hours later...
" I am this close to bumping his ass to coach." I hissed, rubbing my temples as we waited at the gate.
Stephen continued to crack inappropriate jokes about Australia.
I buried my face into my hands," Kill me, kill me now."
Junior laughed and shook his head," Tell him how many stops we make and how long the flight is again. It'll make him quiet down for a few hours. Plus, our seats are far apart as it is."
I perked up slightly," Hey, Stephen. Wanna cool it just a little, it's a 23 hour flight with two layovers."
Stephen choked and collapsed into his seat," Right... Where again?"
Nina smiled and tapped his shoulder," First in LA."
"That one will take about two hours." Junior smirked.
"Then from there we head to Melbourne." I breathed easily.
"That will be about 15 hours." Nina smiled, rubbing his back slowly.
"Finally we head off to Sydney, and that will be an hour or so." Junior snickered.
Stephen melted, his features drowning in exhaustion," 23 hours."
I ran my hands through my hair," Man, I forget how well this works with him."
" Rest easy now because we have two layovers." Junior sighed, leaning back into the chair. Closing his eyes slightly, resting up.
It was almost six o'clock and we were all pretty tired. I picked the later flight so that we could sleep easy on the way there.
| 23 HOURS LATER |
.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.
"Here, let me help with that." I sighed as I picked up one of the backpacks.
Josi sighed and smiled," Thanks Archer."
"No problem, it's great that you lot are doing photos here in Sydney." I chuckled and grabbed a couple more bags.
" Junior, don't forget your carry on!" A smaller voice shouted from nearby.
I perked up and looked around, I knew that voice. My eyes darted around the waves of different people as I tried desperately to find the source of the voice.
"Archer," Jayden breathed.
"Shut up." I hissed, continuing to listen.
"Euca, hurry up or we'll miss the cab!" A gruff voice snapped.
My heart stopped, Euca. Here. In Sydney.
"Archer?" Jayden called.
"Euca." I breathed, looking around frantically.
"Mate, she isn't here." Jayden sighed.
"She is, I heard her. I heard her name." I scoffed.
Jayden narrowed his eyes at me and took a quick glance around," Try and call her?"
I nodded and pulled out my phone," I hate that you're level headed sometimes."
Jayden chuckled and shook his head.
"What's going on?" The new girl asked.
I didn't answer as I dialed quickly," Come on pick up..."
"Archie what's up?" Angie asked.
"He thinks your elder is here in Sydney." Jayden explained.
"What?" Ale and Josi gasped.
The line clicked.
"Hello?"
"Euca, it's Archer."
She laughed," Yeah I know who it is dork."
"Listen are you in-"
"Euca, do you have my headphones?"
"Did you check in your bag?"
"Yes. That's the first place I-"
Someone shoved me from behind, causing me to drop my phone, splintering it into different pieces. I glared at Cece heavily.
"Oops," she giggled innocently.
I clenched my jaw," Seriously?"
"What did she say?" Josi asked hopefully.
I shook my head," She didn't say, I didn't get a chance to ask."
The girls fell slightly from hope but shook it off quickly.
"We should head out." Cece perked up," Don't want to miss out on a few hours of sleep."
I rolled my eyes and picked up a few more of their bags before we all headed out and took the girls to their hotel. It was quiet while I drove. The girls were exhausted from the 24 hour flight from the states and I was trying to figure out why Euca would be here in Sydney.
"Mate, are you sure it was her?" Jayden sighed.
I nodded," It was her, I'd know her voice anywhere Jay. She's got to be here in Sydney. "
"But why would she be here?" Jayden asked, turning slightly in his seat.
I shook my head and bit the inside of my cheek," I don't know... but she is here. I know it."
"To be perfectly honest mate, don't you think that these four would know her a tad bit better than you?" He sighed," Look I know how you feel about her, hell for the first month I had to fight to keep you away from Amelia."
I glared sideways at him," I told you to keep your ruddy trap shut about that."
He rolled his eyes," Don't you start to get pissy with me. I'm just saying, so what if she is here mate. What mess is it going to cause if you dissolve back into what you had before?"
I bit the inside of my cheek as I drove, I hate it when he's right. The girls told me how hard it was on her when the two of us left, I don't want to put her through something worse than that with the way I feel. At the very least, I can see her again. I'm alright with that.
"Archer, you know that I don't mean any harm." Jayden sighed," Just... I'm holding back just as much as you at this point."
I sighed heavily," No mate, you really aren't..."
My phone chimed off as we pulled up to the hotel, I hummed soft and glanced at the screen.
💜: Hey, y did u call?
I smiled softly and relaxed in my seat.
"Aren't you helping?" Cece flirted, reaching a hand over the seat.
I rolled my eyes and shrugged her off," In a minute."
ME: I thought I saw you @ the airport.
I tapped on the side of the phone for a moment, waiting for a reply. I closed my eyes when one didn't arrive.
If she is in Sydney, then she must be as tired as the others are at this point. I hope she is, I can't wait to hold her again. I've missed her so much over the past year, I felt a piece of me rip even further when I found out that she had temporarily disbanded from the group.
Maybe, just maybe she'll come back...
.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.~.*.
"Archer?" I breathed, and climbed in the car," Archer, you there?" Narrowing my eyes slightly I looked at my phone, sighing heavily as I saw the red phone screen. Showing that the line had cut off," Damn it..."
"What is it?" Junior yawned.
I shook my head," Just, Archer called. The line cut off while I was helping you."
"Oops, sorry... Why don't you call him back when we get to the hotel?" He muttered, falling back asleep himself.
I sighed and looked out the window, my vision blurred from lack of sleep. 23 hours of my Nina and Stephen being extra tourists in first class as well as at the layover flight, on top of making sure my brother didn't lose his tickets or bags on the way there. It all left me completely drained, even so my mind did not want to cooperate with the rest of my body and decided to run a complete diagnostic of scenarios as to why Archer had called, and why the line had disconnected so quickly.
Groaning softly I leaned my head back against the headrest and stared longingly at the ceiling to the car. I was exhausted and my stupid brain didn't want to even rest in the slightest at this moment. I pulled my phone out and, with much struggle, managed to send a small text to Archer.
ME: Hey, y did u call?
💜ARCHER💜: I thought I saw you @ the airport.
I yawned and my vision blurred further and I passed out from the total sleep deprivation.
| THE NEXT DAY |
I sighed and shook my head as I woke up. The beds in this hotel are pretty comfortable, now that I have a few hours of sleep in me, I can see clearer.
Biting my lip as my thumb grazed over Archer's contact. Should I really call him so early in the morning, it's 5 in the morning right now, will he be awake.
Almost on queue, my phone began to ring. I yelped softly and the phone tumbled out of my hands as Bulletproof PT2 blasted.
"Shit shit shit..." I hissed as I scrambled to answer it.
"Hey, are you alright? I didn't wake you did I?" Archer breathed as I answered the phone.
"No, no. I've been awake for a little bit now." I sighed.
He chuckled," Really, I thought you might still be asleep."
"Why?" I smiled softly and leaned back into the bed.
"I mean, you've been working pretty hard. I wouldn't be surprised that you don't wake up till about noon." He laughed.
I gasped softly and laughed nervously," Mmm.. Actually. I uh... I'm--"
"Euca!" Junior shouted from outside of my room," Hurry, we wanna go out to the pool!"
I sighed and shook my head," In a minute!"
"Come on if we don't hurry, we might not get a spot!"
I groaned loudly.
"It's alright love, head out. I'll still be here." Archer laughed.
I smiled," I'm sorry."
"Go on love, it's alright."
"Ok, I'll call you in a few." I laughed.
"Bye."
The line disconnected and I sighed softly.
"Euca!" Junior whined as he scraped at the door like a lost pup.
I smiled and shook my head," I'm coming!"
Welcome to Sydney, Australia Euca. Time to get moving or else those three weirdo's will lose their heads.
Maybe I will be able to talk to Archer sometime today...