CHAPTER #30
Jenny awoke to a gentle sway, she at first didn't know where she was. But she remembered when she looked around. She was on Trition's Pegasus. Last thing she remembered was having a glass of wine with Nate and trying to stay awake. She felt his arm around her waist and snuggled into his warmth. He was still sleeping. She looked out the window of the cabin and saw that it was late evening. A satisfied smile tweaked the corners of her mouth. It had been a wonderful day, especially seeing Nate so happy and relaxed, while sailing. Just being around him and sharing the adventure, was amazing to her. She was getting to know him in ways she never knew before. Sex wasn't everything, even though with Nate it was always fantastic. It was getting harder and harder for Jenny to keep her heart locked to him.
"You awake Jenny?" Nate asked yawning & stretching.
"Yup, just woke up….. I'm hungry though." Jenny stretched like a cat.
"Me too actually, I hope that Chuck came back and dropped off food. Let's go take a look."
Jenny stood up cautiously, worried about her footing, but she found she was much more steady than she had been earlier today. She followed Nate into the kitchen. On the counter were two containers… it smelled delicious. While Nate heated it up, Jenny went up to the deck to see if Chuck was around. She found him sitting on the lounger, sipping whisky and talking to a pretty red head.
"It's about time you two came up to enjoy the evening," Chuck drawled, lazily.
"It is a beautiful evening. Thank you for the food Chuck." Jenny said, then turned to their guest, "good evening."
"Bon soiree," the girl said in a silky voice.
Jenny smiled and felt terribly inadequate. This red bombshell even had a sexy voice. She had on skinny jeans and a sexy top. Both her and Chuck looked ready to go clubbing. Jenny blessed Nate's timing, when his shout that diner was served, came from down below. Jenny excused herself.
"Oh that smells great!" Jenny said as she sat down to join Nate. "You should see the gorgeous red-head with Chuck."
"I'm sure she's a dish. But I'm too hungry for food to care. This is so good." Nate smiled, giving Jenny a reassuring wink.
Jenny and Nate dug in to the food. The spices and flavours were fabulous. They giggled at how quiet they were, just eating and enjoying it. "Guess I was hungrier than I thought!"
"Nate, they look like they are going to the clubs. We are totally not dressed for that," Jenny said nodding her head in the direction of the ceiling.
"We'll go back to the hotel, shower and change. Then we will meet them at the club."
"But wont that be super late? What time is last call?" Jenny asked naively.
Nate grinned, "in France, there is no such thing as closing time. The bars close when there is no one left to drink the booze."
"Oh!" Jenny said with shock. Then she returned his grin with her own devilish smile, "in that case, lets get back to the hotel!"
They put their garbage away, grabbed their things and went up the stairs. Nate said fluently, "bonjour comment faites-vous?"
The red head smiled and said, "bien, mercy. Allez-vous par e joindre a` nous plus tard ce soiree?" Then she switched easily to english to translate for a confused Jenny, "what I said was; 'well thank you. Will you be joining us later tonight?' I apologize for my impoliteness. I didn't realize not all of you were fluent in french. Please excuse my rudeness."
Jenny was impressed and quickly said, "oh thank you, but you weren't rude at all. And anyway your accent and speech are so beautiful."
The red head introduced herself, "I'm Josephine."
Chuck stood, "Nate and Jenny will meet with us later. We're dropping them off at the hotel first."
Nate locked up the doors to the yacht's lower deck. Then they got into the zodiac and headed quickly to shore. Jenny admired how Josephine's french twist hairdo, still looked fabulous. She wasn't jealous, but more envious. When they got back to the hotel, she wished she had her sewing machine, as nothing she had brought on the trip would suffice. When Nate came out of the shower, he noticed Jenny's unhappy face.
"What's wrong Jenny?" Nate asked.
"I didn't bring anything to wear that will do for tonight. I could make something…" Jenny said looking around the room and through her things.
Nate smiled, that's what he loved about her. "Don't worry, Chuck already thought of that for us. Go look in the hall closet."
Jenny gave him a weird look and did as he said. She looked in the closet and gasped. In a garment bag, was a black designer boustier and matching skirt, in her sizes. The other garment bag, held dress pants and a blue dress shirt for Nate. "How?"
"He had it all ready before he came back to the yacht. Like he said, what we don't have with us, we buy."
"Do I have to give it back at the end of the night?"
Nate hugged her, "this isn't Cinderella. You just keep it, unless you want to give it away."
Jenny hugged him and then took over the bathroom. When she emerged, Nate whistled. "Wow you look amazing."
"Thanks, now lets blow Chuck and Josephine off their feet!"
Nate got a cab and it took them into the city. They had VIP passes and didn't have to wait in line. Once in the club, a quick text and they found Chuck and his date. Nate had helped Jenny learn how to ask for drinks and the washroom in french, during the cab ride there. They ordered drinks and sat down with Chuck and Josephine. Jenny looked around the club, it was very similar to the clubs back home. She wanted to dance and went with Josephine to the floor. It was very loud, so it was hard to talk, which was ok with both of them.
Chuck gave Nate one of his looks, then they touched glasses and drank up. "There is something about women with red hair…."
Laughing, Nate replied, "you always did like to dance with the devil."
"Fire and brimstone…. what can I say, I love the heat."
Nate punched Chuck playfully in the arm, "now THAT was cheesy!"
Chuck rarely danced, even though he was good at it. Tonight for Josephine he made an exception. Jenny couldn't help watching them. Sexuality just oozed from the pair. Nate came to her and danced too, which redirected her attention to him. She was glad she had had that nap, otherwise she wouldn't have lasted long. They danced the night away. Eventually Chuck left with Josephine. Nate and Jenny left the club and just walked down the street.
"It's a beautiful night…er… early morning," Jenny laughed.
"Do you want to go back to the hotel or the yacht?" Nate asked, offering Jenny his arm.
"Um, the hotel first, just to grab my things. Then I would rather stay on the yacht. I love the rock of the boat when the waves are so calm. And it's so nice out, I'd like to star gaze and maybe if I can stay awake, watch the sun rise." Jenny said tilting her head back to look at the twinkling stars.
"I'd like that too…. Are you having fun Jenny?"
"Yes, very much. This is so far the best summer ever…. But Nate, I would have been just as happy spending my summer with you at home too." Jenny said earnestly, stopping to look into Nate's eyes.
He tilted her chin and kissed her on the lips. The romance of France was rubbing off on him.
[GOSSIP GIRL NARRATOR: could this be the new 'un homme et une femme', with a new twist, the man is the one who's heart still loves another? Only time will tell….]
Sunrise, with the light reflecting as it danced on the water, was breath taking. The hypnotic sound of the mast lines, moving in the breeze, was like gentle wind chimes. Jenny was snuggled against Nate's chest, sipping hot chocolate. They sat there as the sun grew bigger in the sky, not saying anything and not needing to. Time seemed to stop.
Jenny stood up and stretched. "I'm feeling domestic this fine morning. What would you like for breakfast?"
Nate rose, stretching as she had. "Bacon and eggs would be great, but I'll help you."
"Is it today or tomorrow that the ocean race comes into port?"
Flipping some bacon, Nate answered, "should be today."
As they sat down to eat their breakfast, Nate got a text message from Chuck. He wouldn't be joining them out on the water today, as he was badly hung over. Nate shook his head, then told Jenny what it said. She giggled and winked, as her mouth was full of egg.
After swallowing she said, "so we can take our time, before heading back out on the water."
"The race shouldn't be coming into port, 'til probably this afternoon. Why what did you have in mind?"
"Nothing in particular," Jenny smiled coyly as she did the dishes. Nate dried.
Nate had a shower first, then he and Jenny both brushed their teeth. As Jenny came out of the shower in her towel, Nate grabbed her around the waist and she giggled. They wrestled a few minutes and then he carried her to their cabin. The boat wasn't the reason why the bed was rocking this time.
Later that morning, Nate piloted the yacht out of the harbour. There were other sail boats on the water and he joined a small regatta. The other boats were built for speed and Jenny loved watching the various sail colours around them. Trition's Pegasus ended up 5th. It was so much fun.
"That boat is a catamaran right? And same with that one?" Jenny asked Nate as they left the sailing group.
"Yes. The one with the blue, red and green sail is an 18 footer and the other one with the orange and brown sail is 16."
"They look the same size," Jenny observed.
"The size is of the mast height. It also makes for a slightly larger sail and that makes the bigger one faster." Nate explained.
"I love how they raise in the air and the one pontoon stays in the water. It looks like fun hanging over the edge like that!"
"It's exhilarating all right. Makes it feel just that much more faster. But those two are moving quick, we are going at a fast clip, so they are definitely flying… no pun intended." Nate grinned.
They sailed around the mouth of the port, looking for the best vantage point to see the race come in. Jenny had binoculars pointed out to the ocean, watching for the first sails to breach the horizon. Nate put the yacht on autopilot as they waited. It was a few hours later, other observing boats had lined both sides of the port, when the tips of the racers came into view.
Finally a helicopter above the area announced through a megaphone, "and here they come! In first place Spanish Team 2, being challenged by Puma, closely followed by Abu Dhabi."
The announcer listed each team as they came surging closer to the port. The team pulling up in the rear was Telefonica. It was reported that they had a shredded sail. As Nate had predicted, they could hear the shouted orders of each team captain. With some of the teams they were close enough to see the crew faces.
Jenny heard shouts of, "main on main on!" and "go, go, go!" When a captain yelled, "come around port side, steady steady!" Jenny knew what he was talking about. She had to ask Nate what the 'jib' was and he explained it was the horizontal bar that attached to the bottom on the sail. It was what the boom attached to also. Racing team Groupama with their large green with orange stripped sail, came so close to their yacht, that the splash of waves created spray that soaked both Jenny and Nate. Jenny laughed with excitement, not minding it at all. Nate handed her a towel and said he was glad of the spray, it cooled him off. The day was hot and sunny, with a nice strong wind.
"Today has perfect racing conditions, Chuck is missing out!" Nate said.
"He would just ask us to choose who is going to come first and then have us bet money on it," Jenny smiled.
"Ahaha, you're right he so would," Nate laughed in agreement.
Once all the teams had passed by, with the speedboats keeping pace beside or behind them, then the other sail boats, including Nate and Jenny, followed. Excited by the races, some people raced each other into port for fun. Jenny could hear shouts in multiple languages both from the Volvo Ocean racing teams and from the spectators. Nate, she discovered understood Italian, Spanish, German and a few other European languages. He was a patient translator. When they pulled into the marina, Chuck pulled up beside them on a wave runner. Once they anchored, he tossed Nate the tow line and secured the wave runner to the boat.
"I just saw the racing teams come in, figured you'd be in behind them," Chuck said.
"It was awesome! They came in so fast and one boat came sooo close to us, it splashed us too!" Jenny replied enthusiastically.
Nate much more calmly said, "beautiful out there on the water today. The racers look exhausted though. Must be rough weather where they came from, because Telefonica had a ripped sail."
Chuck drawled, "we both know weather can change suddenly over the ocean. Unfortunate for them, but good for me. The bets I have placed, have then coming in the rear anyway."
Jenny shot Nate a look, and he disguised his laugh with a cough into his arm. She smiled and asked Chuck, "so you feel better now?"
Chuck gave a self-righteous grin, "indeed I do. Enough to rent us a speedboat and have a little fun racing others today."
Nate looked around and saw a black and red cigarette boat, "I didn't know Ducati made boats!"
"Don't be so surprised, car makers make boats, why not motorcycle manufacturers. Hopefully she's as fast as they say. Around 50+ knots. And I'm told she handles well in rough water," Chuck said.
"When are you planning on using it?" Jenny asked Chuck.
"Later this afternoon. Figured we would talk to the crews a bit and get a bite to eat where all the teams are going after the press conference. Then fuel my need for speed."
Nate laughed at Chuck, as much as he loved sailing, he appreciated speed boats too. He set the anchor and went to shore. The racing teams were all still working on their yachts. Media was everywhere. Eventually the teams went to the press conference. Jenny was amazed that everyone gave so much information to the press. She could see exhaustion in the faces of the crew members, yet they all patiently answered the questions.
"Nate Archibald?" A man said from behind them.
"Yes? Do I know you?" Nate asked politely, shaking the offered hand.
"Ken Read."
Jenny said in awe, "Ken Read? Skipper of the Puma racing team?"
"One and the same."
"This is Jenny Humphrey and Chuck Bass. Pleased to meet you Mr. Read." Nate said.
"Call me Ken. I met your father when I was preparing for the 2008 racing season. He told me you had a love for sailing. We talked about getting you on my team. How is he doing?"
"He went through a rough patch a while back, but landed on his feet. I don't think you will see him sailing anytime soon though," Nate vaguely replied.
"Are you still interested in joining the team one day?" Ken Read probed.
"Sure, we should talk…." Nate and Ken exchanged contact information, while Chuck and Jenny waited patiently. Once they were done, all of them wished Ken a good race.
"Hopefully you will see me win this year," Ken said as he was whisked away by a Puma representative.
"Your father sure got around," Chuck commented. Nate just nodded.
Jenny's stomach growled with perfect timing. Nate laughed, "hungry?"
She blushed with embarrassment, putting a hand over her stomach, "I guess more than I thought."
They ate at the place Chuck had pre-booked. Then made their way back to the marina. The Ducati speed boat was ready and waiting. Jenny put on her life jacket again, but Chuck and Nate didn't bother. As Chuck started the boat, the engines rumbled to life. Just from the sound of the boat, Jenny knew this boat had speed like nothing she'd ever witnessed before. It excited her as much as it scared her. This was sure to be an exhilarating ride. Chuck expertly moved the boat out of the marina, then shot Nate a grin and opened her up. The roar of the engines drowned out Jenny's shriek of surprise. The G-force pushed her into the cushions of the seat. Chuck laughed with Nate, enjoying the sheer power of the machine. The boat screamed across the water, slicing through the waves. It was so different than sailing, Jenny observed to herself. Sailing suited Nate and this speed boat was definitely more Chuck's style. They circled around and slowed down as they approached a few other speedboats.
"Any of you feel like racing?" Chuck called out, first in english and then in German and Spanish.
"Would you like to add a wager?" Came the first reply, which was agreed to by the Spanish boat.
"Name the amount and I set the rules," Chuck replied.
Jenny watched Chuck in his element. She knew he loved to gamble, the game was more important to him then the actual win. He reeled them in and then would take them hook, line and sinker. Jenny grinned to herself at how cheesy that even sounded in her own head. Once negotiations completed. Chuck turned to Nate and Jenny.
"You might want to stay seated at all times."
Nate grinned and then sat down beside Jenny. Chuck lined up their boat with the others and waited for another boat up ahead to let off a flare, signalling the start of their race. The twin Mercury motors on their boat roared to life with the other boats. But they didn't pull ahead like Jenny thought they would. From the way Chuck and Nate had talked earlier, they should be in the lead and far upfront. Then Jenny's eyes narrowed, Chuck was playing with the other boats. He knew they could blow away the competition, he just wanted to let them think they would win and then take it away from them at the last moment. Jenny nodded to herself, it would be wise that way, if he wanted to race and bet again. Nate took her hand and gave her a quick squeeze. She looked at him and flashed him a big smile, then turned her attention to the boat beside her.
By the time Chuck had enough of racing, he'd won $5, 000. Since everyone who had even joined racing, had deep pockets, no one was upset. Instead they were invited to a private party. After the boat was returned, a limo picked them up and took them to a mansion on a hill overlooking the ocean. Jenny was whisked away by a maid. Chuck and Nate were lead away by a man. They found out it was a themed party. Jenny wondered why the rich and famous loved to dress up so much. She was dressed in a gown that made her look like a goddess. The ladies helping her also did her make up and hair.
Nate saw Jenny led to the main party. He watched her walk, she'd embraced the part completely. Nate felt a twang of jealousy when a number of men standing near by stopped talking and watched her glide by.
Chuck nudged Nate, "I told you she's not a girl anymore. Jenny is a seductress."
Nate smiled and without taking his eyes off Jenny said, "she's just playing her role." Then he moved to go meet up with her, as he saw her searching the crowd for them.
Chuck muttered under his breath, "looks like I need to help him open up his eyes."
The pool had a glass cover over it allowing the party guests to dance over top of the water. The lights in the pool changed colour and sparkled from below, giving the dance floor a mystically celestial feel. Jenny loved that part and the whole enchanting decor. The food and drink were carried by waiters also dressed in costume. The mansion was itself built with roman and greek architectural concepts, which fit the theme so completely.
"Where is Mr. Bass?" Jenny joked with Nate.
"Our Chuck Bass is being enticed by a few ladies on the other side of this pool. Over by the ice sculpture."
"Oh I see, well those ladies better move him away from the ice or it will melt in a few minutes!"
They laughed and nodded knowingly. The food they shared, both enjoying how each thing they tried, held little secrets of flavour. The food was out of this world, definitely fitting for the goddesses. Nothing was too heavy, just completely satisfying. Jenny excused herself to go to the washroom.
Even though Chuck was distracted by a few of the other ladies at the party, he didn't miss when an older 'goddess' made a move on Nate. He saw Jenny walk towards Nate and stop suddenly, which is what drew Chuck's attention. He watched her take in the scene. The woman walked up to Nate and boldly put her hand on his crotch. Not only did it surprise Nate, but the woman had his undivided attention.
[Gossip Girl narrator: Is Jenny the Goddess going to turn Nate into a statue or throw a lightning bolt at the other goddess? Goddess fight anyone?]
Jenny's eyes narrowed. Then she scanned the room, looking for a man that could be used as bait for the woman. She had two waiters deliver drinks, asking them to tell the man and woman it was from each other. The man and woman nodded at each other and took a sip of the drinks. Since Nate wasn't reacting the way the woman had expected, she moved on to the man Jenny had selected.
Chuck saw Jenny smile with satisfaction. He came to stand beside her, "well played Jenny."
Jenny looked and winked at Chuck, but said nothing. Instead she walked over to Nate.
Nate knew that Jenny had seen the other woman's hands on him. "I'm sorry Jenny, forgive me."
She laughed, "it wasn't your fault, there's nothing to forgive. Now let's dance, I love this song!"
The party carried on into the early morning hours, but by 3 am Jenny's feet were getting sore. Nate picked her up in his arms easily and carried her to where Chuck was making out with two women.
"We're heeding back, you staying?" Nate asked when Chuck came up for air.
The ladies he was with answered for him. Chuck not one to disappoint beautiful women, confirmed he'd catch up with them later in the day. Nate got a cab called to the mansion and they headed back to the yacht. They'd lost their clothing and so had to wear the costumes back. Thankfully Jenny's purse had their id, money and keys. When they got back on board Triton's Pegasus, Nate once again picked her up. She giggled and let him take her down to their room. Still playing his role, Nate gently massaged her sore feet, then continued to massage her all over. It wasn't long before the goddess lost all her composure and joined him in a different kind of dance.
CHAPTER #31
