Chapter 10-Hunting in New York
The next morning, Bridgette was at the airport waiting for her friends and her mysterious helper. She sat on a bench, playing with a streak of her hair, until she saw Leshawna and Cody, coming towards her with a couple of bags.
"Hey, Leshawna! Hey, Cody!" Bridgette greeted.
"Hey, Bridge!" Both of them replied at the same time.
"So, where's our guide?" Leshawna asked, while putting her bags next to the bench Bridgette sat on.
"Is she hot?" Cody asked curiously. "Oh, sorry, bad question…Is she single?"
"Guys, just be patient. She will be here in about…Where's Noah?" Bridgette suddenly asked.
"He wanted to get a coffee." Cody replied.
"Cappuccino." Leshawna corrected.
"I'm sure he said coffee." Cody affirmed.
"He wanted cappuccino. I'm still capable of hearing, Cody." Leshawna said.
"Actually I wanted a latte macchiato." Noah affirmed from behind the two, holding his hot drink.
"You're late." Leshawna complained.
"Since when does waiting for five minutes kill?" Noah asked calmly.
"Do you want to drink that slowly or do you want me to pour it down your throat?" Leshawna asked threatening.
"So where is the mysterious friend, Bridgette?" Noah asked, trying to change the subject.
"She should be right…" Bridgette started, but was interrupted by a happy squeal.
"Brenda!" Somebody shouted from behind.
The small group turned around and their eyes widened as they saw Lindsay running towards them.
"Hi, Brenda!" Lindsay said, hugging Bridgette.
"Lindsay is our guide!?" Noah exclaimed shocked.
"But…" Bridgette tried to say something.
"Oh my Gosh, I was like waiting here for my maid to come with my dog and then I saw you and I wanted to say 'hi'." Lindsay explained. "You look totally awesome. Did you lose weight? Oh, hi, guys!" She waved at the others. "I can't remember their names." She whispered to Bridgette, giggling. "Oh, I have to go; my maid is here with my cute little doggy. Bye!" Lindsay said, before turning around and running towards an old lady with a Chihuahua, shouting 'Chanel!'.
"That was awkward." Leshawna affirmed.
"So she wasn't our guide?" Cody asked.
"No. How could you think about that?" Bridgette asked, arranging her dark blue top.
"Then who is it?" Leshawna asked, nervously.
Bridgette, who was standing in front of her friends, was preparing to tell them, but heard the sound of heels tapping on the floor. She looked behind her friends and smiled.
"She is." Bridgette said happily.
Cody, Leshawna and Noah turned around. They saw a tall young woman, with long silky brown hair, wearing a grey dress, high heels and sunglasses, with a suitcase in her hand. She approached them with a smile and took off her sunglasses.
"Oh, my God…Courtney?" Leshawna asked surprised.
"Good morning!" Courtney said friendly. "By the looks on your faces you weren't expecting me." She said crossing her arms.
"I didn't tell them who our helper was." Bridgette explained.
"You're our guide in New York?" Cody asked. "Didn't you become president? Senator? Or at least a counselor?" He asked confused.
"No, I'm just a business woman." Courtney replied casually. "Although it would have been great to have a career in politics."
"So what's with you and the Big Apple?" Noah asked, taking a last sip from his latte macchiato.
"I've been there so many times; I know it just like I know my own palm." Courtney said proudly.
"It's okay then. Our problem is solved." Bridgette said with a large smile on her face.
"Not really. The city is huge. How are we going to find Heather?" Cody asked.
"Didn't really think about that…" Bridgette admitted. "I was concerned with finding a guide so…"
"It's okay, Bridge." Leshawna said, putting her hand on Bridgette's shoulder. "we appreciate you for finding us a guide."
"We'll have plenty of time to think: before we get on the plane and during our flight." Courtney affirmed.
"Um, and at what time is our flight?" Noah asked, seeming to want to remind the others, rather than find out.
Bridgette looked at her watch and gasped.
"Oh, crap!" She exclaimed. "We have to hurry."
After a flight without any major events (Leshawna argued with a few passengers because of luggage placement; Cody tried to flirt with the flight attendant; Noah read a new novel; Bridgette struggled to open her small peanut bag and Courtney discussed politics with the man standing next to her.), the group arrived in New York. But they still didn't have a plan.
"So, what do we do now?" Cody asked.
"I didn't really have time to think about it." Leshawna admitted. "Some people just don't understand that they have to share the damn luggage space!" She said, irritated.
"Great, we've traveled all the way to New York for nothing." Bridgette sighed.
"Maybe not." Noah affirmed. "I'm sure Heather came to New York to make sure nobody will find her. But there is also a chance that she wanted to relax and feel good while 'hiding'. From what I know, girls like Heather relax by doing two things: giving orders and shopping."
"You're right!" Bridgette exclaimed, clapping.
"Let's just hope she didn't change during these ten years." Noah said.
"Trust me, after what she did with Gwen and Trent, Heather clearly didn't change." Leshawna affirmed.
"So all we have to do is find a good shopping place?" Bridgette asked.
"Bridge, there are over hundreds of shops and boutiques, especially in New York." Leshawna said.
"Unless she has a certain brand she likes. It would make the search easier." Courtney suggested.
"But we don't know that brand." Bridgette said, while sitting on her small suitcase.
"Haven't you seen what she was wearing?" Courtney asked.
"The last time we saw her, was ten years ago." Noah replied.
"We only saw her receptionist slash assistant." Cody added.
"That's it!" Courtney exclaimed, while the others looked at her curiously. "A person like Heather wants to look perfect. That means famous brands and expensive clothes. Also, a person like Heather wants the people who represent her, to not embarrass her."
"I don't get it." Bridgette said.
"Are you saying that Heather might have influenced her assistant's style, just to match hers?" Noah asked, seeming the only one who understood what Courtney said.
"Yes." Courtney replied happily. "All you guys have to do is remember what the girl was wearing. After that, our problem will be one step closer to its solution. Does anyone remember anything about her clothing?" She asked, but only received silence as a reply.
"Who on Earth pays attention to a receptionist's clothing?" Leshawna asked irritated.
"I think she was wearing a dark blue blouse." Bridgette said, while massaging her temples.
"Girl, stop that, it's freaky!" Leshawna told Bridgette.
"That's all I can remember." Bridgette sighed.
"Big help." Noah said with his usual cynicism. "I'm not an expert in women's clothing, but I think that dark blue blouses can be found in almost every boutique or so."
"He's right." Courtney admitted with disappointment.
"Courtney?" Cody tried to gain her attention.
"What is it, Cody?"
"Where can we find clothes with a black 'H' in the middle of a silver oval emblem, on the left side of the chest area?" Cody asked.
"There's a clothing boutique called 'Hannah's Fashion'." Courtney replied. "They have that emblem, but I don't understand why…Oh, my God, Cody, did that girl have that emblem on her blouse?"
"Yeah, she did." Cody replied, with an involuntary grin on his face.
"You're our hero, Cody!" Bridgette exclaimed, hugging him.
"I know where the boutique is, so let's hurry." Courtney said. "We'll take a cab, come on!"
"Good thing somebody paid attention to the details." Leshawna affirmed, while she and the others grabbed their luggage and headed to the nearest taxi.
Noah and Cody remained a few steps behind.
"The emblem wasn't what you were looking at, was it?" Noah asked Cody, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope." Cody replied with a grin. "But it's a good thing I saw it, right?"
"Right." Noah agreed.
After a fifteen minute drive, the five stepped out of the taxi. Most of them, didn't seem too happy.
"I can't feel my shoulder." Cody whined.
"At least you can move your arm." Bridgette said, holding her left arm in a strange position.
"Remind me never to stay on the back seat of a cab with more than two people." Leshawna said, while stretching her legs. "It's not good for me."
"No taxi driver lets more than four people in a car, without an extra tax. So, feel grateful that I paid another 50 dollars just so we could fit in there like sardines." Courtney affirmed.
"'We'?" Noah asked bothered. "You stayed in the front!"
"I stayed there to give directions to the driver." Courtney explained.
"He was a taxi driver. We pay those guys to know where we want to go." Bridgette said, with her arm still in the same position.
"Details, details." Courtney said. "Oh, and Bridge, you should really do something with that arm."
Bridgette slapped Courtney over the head.
"Why did you do that?!" Courtney shouted.
"You told me to do something with my arm." Bridgette replied, trying not to laugh.
"As much as I enjoy seeing Miss Former-CIT get hurt…" Leshawna interrupted.
"Hey!" Courtney said irritated.
"We're wasting precious time here." She continued, ignoring Courtney.
'Hannah's Fashion' was a rather large boutique. The building had its walls painted in a golden yellow, with green plants near the entrance and through a spotless glass window the newest arrivals could be seen. The sign 'Hannah's Fashion' was large enough to be seen by those who were passing by, but it was nice and discreet at the same time.
When the five entered the boutique, they saw lots of pieces of clothing, all arranged perfectly on shelves or hangers. There were five dressing rooms, a couple of plants, a few paintings that showed fashion throughout the ages and six employees ready to assist the customers.
"This is great." Leshawna said, while staring at the different clothes women were looking at. "Do we have time to shop here?"
"I don't think so. Do you see anyone who might look like Heather?" Courtney asked.
"What if Heather is wearing a wig?" Cody asked. "She might try to disguise herself."
"She wore after the show, remember?" Bridgette reminded. "I don't think she wanted to go through that all again, now that her hair is back to normal."
"Stop putting so many questions and look for Heather!" Leshawna said on a stressed out tone.
The five looked around and even walked through the customers to find Heather, but there wasn't any trace of the wedding planner.
"This was a bad idea from the beginning." Bridgette said with sadness in her voice. "We should have known that the chances of meeting Heather here were very low."
"Close to zero, actually." Noah added, before Cody elbowed him. "What? It's mathematically true."
"But it was worth trying." Cody affirmed.
"So that viper got away." Leshawna said with regret.
"Well, we're still in New York… Want to go somewhere else?" Courtney asked.
"Nah, I think I'll browse through some clothes here to make me feel better." Leshawna said, heading towards a shelve with blouses.
"Might as well do the same thing…" Bridgette sighed and walked towards the accessory stand.
Two girls, who were working in the boutique, were standing near the accessories, talking. One of them was blonde and very pale; the other one was brunette and incredibly skinny. Without indenting to, Bridgette overheard what they were talking about.
"This is so not cool. My feet are starting to hurt." The pale blonde complained. "Oh, do we have anymore orange sundresses?"
"Like we had yesterday? No, you know Heather took the last one." The skinny one replied.
Bridgette's eyes widened and she tried to get closer to the employees, without being noticed, to find out if the Heather they were talking about was the one she was looking for.
"Damn regular client!" The blonde whispered furiously.
"Don't talk like that. She comes here monthly from…Well, I forgot from where. But it's almost on the other side of the U.S. So, you should appreciate her effort. Plus, she always buys tons of outfits every month. We have to be thankful for that."
"Yeah, half of our salaries are the money she spends here. It's a good thing wedding planners earn a lot. But I really wanted a sundress like that. I wanted to go to the beach looking great."
"She's going to Miami in a few days, so she needs to look great, too." The brunette explained.
"I heard she was leaving, too. In three days, right?" The blonde asked and the brunette replied by nodding.
Bridgette rushed back to her friends to tell them about the conversation. After getting them out of the boutique, she started narrating what the girls said.
"Wow, she's going to Miami? Does she have traveling fever or something?" Leshawna asked the others.
"I don't know. But it seems we have only one thing to do." Bridgette said on a serious tone.
"Please tell me we're not going to Miami." Noah pleaded.
"No, we have to find Gwen and Trent and get them back together." Bridgette continued.
"I feel like I don't know the whole story." Courtney said, rather confused.
"Oh, that's right, you don't." Bridgette giggled. "I'll explain everything eventually. We have to get back home first."
"I smell a wedding." Cody grinned.
"Between Gwen and Trent?" Courtney asked. "It was about time those two got married."
"Well then, let's go and find a flight to home." Leshawna affirmed.
"If I knew that we were staying this long in New York, I wouldn't have brought luggage with me." Noah complained.
"May I remind you that you're not the only one with luggage?" Leshawna asked, bothered by his complaining. "You are one annoying book critic..."
"Well, at least I'm popular. Oh, damn, did I just sound like Heather?! This 'Heather hunt' is really beginning to affect me..." Noah thought, while he and the others walked towards a taxi zone.
This was chapter 10, the longest chapter I've ever written for this story. I'm sorry it took so long, but I was away from home for a few weeks.
I would like to specify that the Lindsay part from the airport wasn't planned from the beginning. I've inserted it as a 'thank you' gift for a faithful reader of this story (who, I hope, enjoyed it).
What are your thoughts on the chapter? Please review and tell me your opinion.
-PurpleFunkytown-