The Stage is Set in Kingston...Part Two

The first official day of vacation had gotten off to a great start. The ladies had all slept to a moderately late hour, and breakfasted together in the parlor room of their suite. They had dined sufficiently on a meal consisting of vegetable and egg quiche, crisp bacon, hot buttery croissants served with apricot preserves, freshly squeezed orange juice and some of the most delicious coffee they had ever drank. Feeling extremely full and satisfied, they lounged around for a while just mulling over the events of their trip so far.

Claudette had planned out a wonderful travel itinerary for them which she now distributed in hard copy to each of them. Of course they had discussed in general what they would be doing, but now that they were here, it was time to take a look at the schedule. Future outings were planned for The Bob Marley Museum, Hope Botanical Gardens and The National Gallery of Jamaica. First item for today was shopping in the marketplace, followed by afternoon tea, and then back to the house for massages and facials. That would definitely relax them and put them in the mood for what lay ahead later that night. They would be having dinner at a landmark restaurant, hosted by a friend of Alexis who lived in Kingston, and then on to dance the night away at a trendy club called “Santana's”.

Keenan DeJohn was a tall, distinguished and articulate gentleman who looked to be of indeterminate age ( but she guessed him to be in his middle to late sixties) whom Alexis had met several years before on her first trip to Kingston. At that time she had been traveling with another friend and a male companion. She had been introduced to Keenan, and they had kept up a friendly communication via email several times a year, but it was enough to maintain an acquaintance close enough that he had come to see her on his last visit to the states two years ago. His open invitation to be his guest at his elegant eatery when she and her friends came down had been sincere and so had his insistence that he comp their meals.

He was seating them as a private party in his secluded VIP room located off from the main dining room. He would join them for before dinner drinks and then leave them to their dinner. To finish off the evening he had arranged a personal escort to take them to Santana's club, and to see that they had every comfort they needed and that everything he did for them was top shelf. It was no secret; he had designs on Alexis. She was aware of it, and he wanted to do everything possible to make sure she and her friends had a fantastic vacation.

And so the day passed in luxurious splendor for the four friends. They laughed, sipped on exotic tasting drinks, and reveled in the beauty of their surroundings, and in the simplicity of being in the company of each other. It wouldn't be normal if they didn't take a few moments to reflect on their lives for just a few moments. And in doing so, they agreed that in the mainstream of life, they had it pretty darn good. They were blessed and blessed indeed.

The time came for them to dress for the evening. It was such a happy time to be getting all dressed up in gorgeous dresses, wearing beautiful summer heels, smelling divine and looking absolutely fabulous!Alexis had spoken to Keenan earlier and he had told her to give their driver Delray Major the night off because he was sending his own driver over to pick them up at seven to deliver them to his restaurant. Later on after closing, he would drive to meet them at the club.

It was exactly six fifty-seven when the doorbell rang. Bonnie went to answer and she met the man who was to be their escort for the night. He bowed low to her as he spoke with a perfect accent” Good evening madame! I am Dante, driver for Mr. DeJohn at your service for the evening. Are you and your friends ready?” Just then, Helena, Claudette and Alexis gathered at the door. More introductions were made, the destination confirmed and off they went into the warm and sultry evening. The air was thick and laden with the perfume of the variety of orchids and lilies that bloomed in the gardens.

They all experienced a heightened sense of well being and felt as if they did indeed have the world in the palm of their hands. There was absolutely no way they could know that this would be a night to remember, but not for the usual reasons. There was no way they could know that trouble waited for them around the corner.

Ladies, Start Your Engines!

Whew! There's nothing like pure unadulterated excitement! Adrenaline pumping, heart racing, feet moving so fast they don't seem to touch the ground and feeling so good you want to shout it from the rooftops. Well, that's exactly how the four of us felt as we practically ran giggling and breathless through the airport to our gate, to wait for boarding our plane. Although we had plenty of time before our flight was scheduled to take off, we hurried along just for the fun of it.

Our very long awaited and very much needed vacation had arrived. You already know about most of the drama and the sadness and heartache we'd all gone through late last year and earlier this year, so when it came time for us to sit down and discuss our yearly sister sojourn, it was a welcome relief.

I wasn't too sure that we'd even be planning a trip this summer. After we had almost lost Helena, and Claudette had finally gotten involved in a committed relationship, I wouldn't have been surprised if nobody went but me and Bonnie, or nobody went at all. Imagine my happiness when everybody showed up at my house right on time, on the evening we had scheduled almost a year ago.

 Now, it was tradition for us to take a week's holiday together; we'd done so for a number of years. And it was a part of that tradition that we put on the calendar the date we'd convene to plan the next trip. We'd done just that on our last night in Paradise Island, Bahamas last year, each one of us adding it to our electronic calendars. Reminders were set so we wouldn't forget and when my reminder alerted me two days ago, I wasn't sure how to proceed.

I had the responsibility of hosting the rap session at my house, and so I went ahead and made preparations. In the past, there was never any need to question whether or not the ladies would show. We took for granted that we would, we'd plan and execute and it would always turn out fantastic. So at about six o'clock on that evening of our scheduled meeting, all of the food was prepared and laid out on the screened in back porch. The weather had been so agreeable, that I thought we'd enjoy the outside from the inside! I had set the sound system on a loop to play some old school R&B music, with the volume just right for listening and conducive to our conversation.

I had just put the finishing touches to the fruit and vegetable platter when my doorbell rang in a very insistent and prolonged way. Calling out that I was coming, I hurried from my kitchen through the foyer to the front door. As I reached for the door handle to open the door, I heard the unmistakable voice of my friend Bonnie. She was practically yelling "Open this here door diva!" So I threw open the door to them,and there they were...my three closet friends smiling from ear to ear, looking fabulous in their spring attire and standing together arms linked. I could tell simply by looking at these divas that we were in for a fabulous evening of  laughter, good food and drink.

It was hard to believe that we got anything serious done because we were in such a silly mood, but we selected our vacation spot, and elected Claudette as our travel coordinator. She would make all of the arrangements and take care of all of the bookings and let us know our share of the expenses. She really got into the role of travel agent, making sure we all had our passports in order. Having already decided ahead of time that we would reserve a villa type house, we knew that we would also have to share the costs of food, drinks and other necessary amenities.

Fortunately for us that was no problem. We all had funds available to cover our costs without breaking our personal banks. Being able to go on shopping and sightseeing excursions was a must, but we were comfortably off financially so our vacations didn't cause a ripple in our finances. Several years after our first trip, we each started a vacation club account just for our yearly holiday. We have been so blessed to be able to afford our sisterhood trip every year.

And so that brings us to the here and now. Here we were about to embark on our journey, where we would abandon any and all cares to the wind, and for the next week the agenda would consist of fabulous fun, tall drinks with little umbrellas in them, decadent food, luxurious spa treatments, shameful shopping and dabbling a little in the nightlife.

We had reached the gate for our airline and since we had all had electronic boarding passes, we decided to stop in at a bar and have a "departure celebratory drink". That was Helena's idea and honestly, these gals could find any reason in the world to have a drink! But what the heck, right? We had earned the right to celebrate and let loose. Looking forward to our time together in sunny Jamaica, we lifted our glasses in salute to each other. One by one, we toasted ourselves, and when it came my turn naturally I wanted to say something profound. So, I held my glass up high and tossed my head and said "To us; full speed ahead. Ladies, start your engines!"