*Aye Chihuahua. Sorry about my late post. My computer got a virus. I've procrastinated long enough! So, now I'm getting ready to finally start the adventure! :3 ~Tri-Foxx*
…:::Destination One: Dublin, Ireland:::…
Chapter Three: Unofficial Drunk Week
To the dismay of her work, Sakura was leaving for Europe in only a few antagonizing hours. She had been up since the crack of dawn making sure that she had everything she needed and then headed out for La Guardia Airport.
It was a ghost town in such a usually busy airport, but she suspected as much since the only people who were flying to different places around the globe at five in the morning were her and businessmen. She sat by herself in the lobby area for Flight 116 and people watched as a person or two would walk by with high-tech phones in hand and a single suitcase trailing behind them. She felt lonely being the only person flying off to Ireland this morning, while others texted and typed away on phones and computers across the hall in the Detroit, Michigan lobby.
Sakura ran her fingers through her bed-matted cotton candy hair and turned to face the window. The tired sun was slowly rising up through the horizon for another day of warming the Earth. There were a few colorful, wispy clouds scattered across the tickle-me-pink and baby blue sky. They floated against gravity and the turning of the world, disappearing into the far corners. In thirty minutes, the sun was finally up and running in brilliance.
Sakura's eyes were beginning to become heavy, but she fought the pain of wanting to sleep. She lifted her wrist to her face to check the time on her watch. The intercom from across the hall sounded to inform passengers that the plane to Detroit was ready. She sighed and looked around the lobby to find one other person who somehow slunk past her vision to sit in the blue chair against the wall. His face was glazed over in what seemed like sadness, and Sakura knew immediately why when she looked down to see his uniform.
It was made of heavy fabric, and it was decorated in brown, green, and tan camouflage. There were thick, camel-colored boots strapped perfectly to his feet.
Sakura pulled her eyebrows together in sympathy.
It must be really hard leaving your family to go fight in war, she thought sensitively.
Her fingers ran through her matted hair again, and she took the liberty to stare off in another direction. She pondered on why he was heading off to Dublin, but she concluded that maybe it was stop before he had to get on another plane to the battlefield. She silently prayed for him and his family.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thanks for your wait. If you please head over to the ticket master, we will be happy to help you aboard the plane," a voice over the intercom said cheerily.
A wave of nervousness crashed down on her without warning, and she stood up throwing the strap of her carry-on bag on her shoulder. She allowed the soldier on before her, and she shakily gave the ticket master her voucher. He approved it, and she giddily walked down the runway towards the plane.
There were more people on the plane then she would have imagined. She spotted the last seat by the window in the very back of the jet. The seat by the aisle was taken by a boy with black hair that was styled into liberty spikes. His arms had a tattoo on every inch of skin, the small chains on his pants rattled, and she could hear the rock music blasting from his earphones. It was a wonder that he was able to get on the plane, and he was probably the reason why no one had taken the seat at the window.
She pointed to the seat beside him and was about to ask if it was taken, but the boy quietly got up and let her slide through. Sakura placed her carry-on bag at her feet and looked out the window. She already predicted the six hour trip to Ireland to be long and quiet. She instantly became bored, even before the take-off.
xXx
Three hours into the flight, Sakura had already taken a nap and bored herself to death with her crossword puzzle. Her seat buddy was no help either, for he just wanted to listen to his music without disturbance. She sighed heavily and stared out the window to see the vast blue ocean for the hundredth time again. At first, it was excited to watch the sea, but then it turned out to be as interesting as paper.
She dug into her bag to find something else to do, but the turbulence in the air caused some of her items to be tossed upwards. She sucked in her breath and watched as the spiky-haired boy flinch as he was caught off guard by the flying objects. Nevertheless, he managed to grab hold of her items and returned it to her.
"Thank you and I'm sorry about that," Sakura apologized.
"No problem," the boy replied, somewhat coldly and he turned back to his music.
After a few minutes of silence, Sakura tried to get the boy to talk to her by turning on her charm.
"So, what's your name?"
He blinked a few times, looking shocked that she would dare try to start a conversation with him. He pulled out his earphones and set his music player aside.
"Uh, it's Axel. Yours?"
"I'm Sakura. You're name is pretty unique. I've never heard it before."
Axel laughed.
"Yeah, well my parents weren't exactly in the in crowd. Also, they liked Guns N' Roses a little bit too much, so they named me after the lead singer."
"Oh?" Sakura replied. "That's pretty cool. Why are you off to Ireland?"
"Well, this week is only the biggest drinking holidays if you don't count St. Patrick's day," Axel exclaimed with a boyish grin.
"Really?"
Sakura grinned just as big. She was brought up in a household where alcohol was banned, but it didn't stop her through her teenage years. Since then, she had grown up a bit and her party days vanished when she began to focus herself of getting a job. A past demon swelled up in Sakura's chest.
"Drink!" it told her. "It's okay! You're on vacation! But don't make an ass of yourself like you did at your twenty-first birthday party!"
For the rest of the flight, Sakura conversed with Axel. Not only was Axel excited for the "unofficial drunk week" in Ireland, his band was playing in one of the bars. He wrote down the bar, the name of his band, and when he was playing on a card when the plane touched down onto the runway at Dublin Airport at precisely six in the evening.
"I hope to see you there! Maybe I can get you back stage passes," Axel told her and nicely helped Sakura find her suitcase.
Sakura smiled, waved by to her new friend, and went to go find the lobby with the Cross-trek tour guides. She had to ask multiple times where they were sitting, but eventually she found them standing beside a giant water fountain in the middle of the lobby where the ticket counters were.
"Name?" asked one of the tour guides in a red shirt with a clipboard in his hand. His hair was sandy-blonde and disheveled, and his deep brown eyes looked tired as if he was working too much. Sakura felt sorry for him.
"Sakura Haruno from New York."
He scrolled through the list, checked her off, and pointed to a small group of about twelve people. Sakura walked up to the group and searched through every face hoping to find the cougar from the Chinese restaurant, but she came up with unfamiliar faces. All of them looked to be above the age of thirty-five, except for one mousy-brown haired girl who looked to be close around Sakura's age.
She went to go stand by the girl but made no attempt at greeting her. The expression on the girl's face looked like she was about to run back onto the plane, but the expensive looking camera hanging from her neck appeared that she was on a photography run. Sakura bit her tongue and gazed around at the other group members.
The whole group looked normal or rich, but Sakura had to stifle a laugh when she saw a very cliché tourist couple looking down at a folding map. Both were large in the middle, and they matched their khaki shorts and a tucked in polo shirt. It was all very comical, and Sakura had to turn away.
"Okay, okay, people!" exclaimed a raven haired woman in a red tour guide shirt and the commotion from the group became quiet. "My name is Jen, and this is my partner, Harry. We will be your tour guides for the entire trip.
Now before I go on, yes, you will be able to explore on your own during the week, but we will have group activities three times a week. Also, I must advise you that you are in a different country, so it will not be wise to go off by yourself. If you are with someone, that's great! If not, this is a great way to meet new friends from around America. Now, if you please follow me, we will be heading to the hotel via bus."
With Harry and Jen in the lead, Sakura began to move with the rest of the crowd like a group of cattle with the sound of rolling suitcases thundering down the tile floor. Sakura watched with curiosity as natives rushed past the group, but her curiosity heightened to extreme levels when she walked out of the sliding doors.
The first thing she wanted to do was to drop her stuff and run around like a child, but she had to suppress that feeling. Harry helped her put her bags in the side compartments of the silver tank of a tour bus, and she climbed in behind the tourist couple. They were squabbling away about something, but Sakura paid no mind. She happily grabbed her comfy, clothed seat in the middle.
"We are going to give you a few ground rules. The first one is to stick with the group or a buddy, as I explained earlier," Jen began at the front of the bus. "Second, food and souvenirs will have to be paid for by you. Next, we are all adults here, so there isn't a curfew. We just ask you to be responsible and safe since you are in unfamiliar territory. Also, you may think this is a joke, but we have had it happen before. We will not bail you out of jail. That is your fault if you get in."
The bus rumbled with soft laughter, and Sakura couldn't help but smile. Her body tingled with anxiousness and excitement. Jen finished her speech as the bus began to roll out of the airport, but Sakura zoned out.
She pressed her forehead against the glass and her eyes began to move around rapidly at the many sights Dublin had to offer. To the rolling green hills in the background, the cobblestone roads, and the roaming sheep in the streets, Sakura knew she definitely was not in America anymore.
The bus travelled on down out of the city and into the country, where acres and acres of farmland dictated. The bus stopped in front of a gigantic old, white building where jade green creepers were growing against the sides and front of the structure. A swinging sign that was staked into the ground read "McEwen's Roadside Villa".
The villa was extremely beautiful up close. The classic ivory color of the three-story building was complete with contrasting black shutters and decks with black iron bars blocking off the edge. Sakura stepped off the bus with wide, curious eyes, and the smell of nature was overwhelming in a good way.
"Here's your room number and key," Harry said, breaking her thoughts. "Do you have someone you are sharing a room with?"
"Oh, no I don't," Sakura replied and grabbed an old fashioned key with a card with the number two-twelve tied to the end out of his hand. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. You are free to do anything until eight o'clock, where we will take the bus to a restaurant called O'Malley. It's not very expensive, but the atmosphere makes it appear so."
Harry chuckled, and Sakura humored him with a fake laugh. She thanked him again and headed into the wooden doors.
Inside was just as unique as it was on the outside. White marble covered the floor, making the downstairs look brighter. Unique art and sculptures decorated the foyer, and a comfy red couch was sitting in front of a stone fireplace. Sakura, with her bags in hand, walked up to the front counter for help finding her room.
"Top of the evenin' to you, ma'am," greeted the counter assistant in a thick Irish accent. She was very beautiful with long flowing locks of gold hair and a cheery smile. "How may I help you?"
"Yes. Where is room two-hundred and twelve?"
"The front number means the floor and the last two numbers mean your room number. Yours, for example, is on the second floor and the twelfth room. Anything else?"
Sakura shook her head and thanked the assistant. She ran to catch the elevator with two of the group members. They looked like a honeymooning coupled by the looks of their shining rings and lust filled eyes. Sakura looked down at their number and sighed with relief when they were on the third floor.
She pressed the button for the second floor, and she listened quietly to the classical elevator music and the annoying cooing of the couple. She tapped her foot impatiently and almost ran out of the metal doors when they opened. The feeling of love in the small elevator was intoxicating and excruciatingly painful because it reminded her of the feelings she had for Sasuke.
She power walked to her room and twisted the old fashioned key into the lock. Opening the door, she sucked in a mouthful of air.
"It looks like I just died and went to heaven," she whispered to herself.
She shut the door quietly behind her and took a minute to examine the room she would be staying in by herself for a week. The walls were painted a soft, creamy yellow and it was accented with white window seals and floorboards. The oak floors were perfectly polished, and a plush, white area rug covered the living room portion of the ground.
A black faux-leather couch was stretched in front of a huge, flat-screen television, and an eccentric coffee table that was held up by metal horses was placed in between. She walked through the living room, passed the equally amazing kitchen, and into the bedroom.
She threw her bags onto the floor, dashed towards the bed, and took a flying leap, landing on her back onto the king sized comforter. She closed her eyes in pure bliss and let her mind travel towards the future.
xXx
*Thanks for bearing with me. I swear that the next chapter will be very exciting and not rushed like this one! I actually very excited to write the next chapter, which is weird to say because I'm never excited to write a new chapter. Please review, whether you thought it sucked or if you liked it!