Boyfriend arrival…
Michelle in LA: Here, we go… Mr. Eye-Candy I arrived…
Yep, that’s true… Dean’s totally clueless what will hit him soon, lol. He could have cancelled the whole trip, but as you said, that would have probably been the end to the relationship as well. He’s a workaholic and he can’t lean back while others do the work – some people just can’t other than to put their job career first.
Well, it’s safe to say Michael won’t be happy at all!
Max by the pool… hm, definitely Max in shorts.
keepsmiling7: Go Liz! You don’t need Dean for the fun, lol.
HypnotiqBlueEyes: Liz has every right to be majorly pissed at her fiancé, but we got a feeling he won’t be missed during the trip anyway, lol.
Drama? Oh hell yes!
sarammlover: That’s right… the Liz is going to change a thing or two for Liz Parker!
lizzy_koh: It is Dean’s company indeed and he would have the power to chancel it, but would that get him back on Liz’ good side? Probably not, lol.
Explosive fireworks, lol.
begonia9508: It’s true, he won’t be missed in the end, so stay at home Dean!
nitpick23: Well truck or car, the important part for the fic is that it gets them from Seattle to LA.
It’s indeed not Dean’s fault that this came up so short for the trip, but someone else could have handled it as well. With his business you never know, that’s for sure and he’s not the type who could lean back why someone else does the work. Call it bad luck for him… or maybe Dreamer luck? There are more ways to look at it, lol.
Dean could have cancelled the trip, but that wouldn’t have gotten him back on Liz good side for sure.
Alien_Friend: He’s definitely not the right man for Liz Parker!
mary mary: Lol, not disappointed that Dean can’t make it, huh? Yeah, we got the feeling he won’t be missed at all.
Chapter 10
Maybe I should have just gone to bed, Liz thought as she walked along the still busy Pier 39, wrapping her arms around her tightly. It was summer, but summer nights in San Francisco could still be cold and foggy – one of a few more reasons to miss her hometown of Roswell. It had hardly ever been foggy or anything there. Roswell only had two seasons, hot-as-hell summer and not-hot-as-hell-summer; there wasn’t much in between. Although the chilly nights San Francisco had one bonus that her hometown didn’t – the ocean!
The sounds of the waves splashing against the sides of the pier drew her down the pathway. “A coffee please,” she said as she stopped at a little kiosk. Normally she only drank it for breakfast, but at least it would be something warm in her hands and belly since she wasn’t planning to go home in defeat anytime soon.
“Cream? Sugar?” the woman around her age asked her politely and smiled.
“Cream, thanks.”
“Here ya go.”
Liz nodded and gave her some bills. “Keep the change.” Her cold fingers wrapped around the warm to-go mug as she continued on her way along the pier. She stopped for a second to watch and admire the lights of a rather large ship as it slowly maneuvered its way through the bay. Engrossed by the pretty lights she failed to notice someone standing behind her until they spoke
“Liz Parker?”
Turning in surprise, Liz's eyes took a second to adjust from the ship’s bright lights to the darkness around her. She only had a few friends in town and they most likely weren’t hanging out around Fisherman’s Wharf at night.
“Kyle! Oh, my gosh,” she went to hug him with a grin. “We haven’t seen each other forever.” And it really had been almost three or four months by now.
“Well, what can I say? I’m a busy man. Places to be, important people to see, and all that stuff,” he grinned and returned the hug. He wasn’t so much a fan of his past life in Roswell – especially not his high school days – but meeting with Liz was a whole other story. He always enjoyed hanging out with her again and she really was the only one from home other than his father who he still was in contact with.
“How have you been?! I swear every time we meet again I think you look better,” Liz teased and poked a finger against his stomach. A stomach that would have wobbled and jiggled a few years ago, but now it nearly broke her finger! It was tight and hard as bedrock. His hair was short and close to his head, his clothes casual but sexy at the same time.
“I can totally return the favor,” he shifted his stance and rearranged the paper bag he was carrying. “You here all alone?”
“Just said goodbye to a friend after dinner,” she lied, not really interested in talking about the truth right now and somehow it seemed ridiculous to walk around here alone because of a fight with her fiancé.
“An’ your plans now?”
“Going home, probably,” she shrugged.
“Nahhhh! The night’s way too young for that! What about a little party on my yacht?”
She almost choked on her coffee. “Your… excuse me, but did you just say your... YACHT?”
"Well it's no Saudi Prince sized pleasure ship." He laughed. “Some would probably say it’s more like a speedboat on steroids, but it’s got a bathroom and a small kitchen and a sleeping berth.”
“Wow, well that’s ......nice,” a stunned Liz had trouble finding the right words.
“I travel around a lot and this way I can take my own bed with me if I stay on the coast.”
“How practical,” she teased. “So you’ve got a wild party on your yacht, huh?" She put special emphasis on the yacht part of her sentence. "I remember when parties at your house used to mean a couple rounds of Dungeons and Dragons in the basement or a Star Trek marathon on TV."
"Ohhhh, god," Kyle slapped his hand over his eyes and shook his head, "please don't remind me of my pitifully geeky past!"
"Hey, I happened to enjoy your geeky past," Liz pulled Kyle's hand down from his eyes. "I even recall coming over once and watching a few episodes of that Star Trek show you loved so much. Deep Space... Twelve!"
"Nine actually... Deep Space Nine..." Kyle smiled fondly. "It was my birthday and you were the only person I invited that actually showed up and..." shaking his head, Kyle looked at Liz. “Look, it’s just some friends of mine from work and town blowing off steam. Maybe about 10 people, so if ya wanna join us for a while. It’s definitely lacking beautiful women.” Kyle wiggled his eyes. “Ya still with your lawyer? What was his name? Bean?”
“Dean,” she laughed, knowing that Kyle and Dean didn’t get along so well. “I’m still with him.”
He frowned. “There’s a little hint of sarcasm in your voice, Parker.”
“Forget about it,” she waved him off. “We had a fight and right now I don’t wanna talk about him… or think about him or anything about him.”
“Guess that’s one more good reason to go to my party.”
“Why not? I've never been on a yacht,” Liz agreed. “I’ll come with you for a while.”
****
The music on the yacht was loud, but not loud enough to drown the thoughts and worries in her head while she sat on a small bench next to the railing, staring out over the marina, where some of the other boats were lit up. What was she going to do about the trip? Should she really go without Dean? What if he had already cancelled the flight since he was actually the one working in the company that was paying for it? No, he wouldn’t do that – no matter how much they had fought.
Liz was pulled out of her thoughts when the cell in her hand buzzed. She expected to see Dean’s caller ID again. He had tried to reach her a few times now, but she had ignored it.
“A text message,” she muttered to herself and opened it up. Of course it was from her fiancé again.
Honey, I know you’re mad at me, but I don’t want you to be out alone at this time of night. Come home, go to bed and then go on the trip with your friends if that’s what you want.
She sighed, not knowing how to interpret this. Was he mad? Disappointed? Really worried? Sometimes it was hard to say with Dean, because of his job as a lawyer he tended to be… neutral a lot of times.
“Well, this’s one way to take part in a party,” Kyle said as he joined her outside while the other guests had gone inside a while ago.
“Sorry,” she forced a smile and put her cell away.
He placed a mug filled with something hot in her hand. “Glogg,” he said and sat down next to her. “So tell me what’s going on, Parker?” He waited for an answer, but when she stayed silent he lifted one eyebrow. “That bad, huh?”
“Well, no… I don’t really know.”
“Is it about Bean?”
“Dean,” she corrected him although she knew he remembered the correct name. “As I said, we had a fight.”
“About what?” He sipped on his own drink and then leaned forward, opening a small plastic box on the deck to pull a blanket out. He spread it out and placed it over both of their legs since the night was cold.
“Thanks,” Liz looked at him, “but shouldn’t you be inside with your girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend?” he looked at her, confused.
She nodded. “The one with the red dress. You two seemed to be very… intimate.” Which was a nice way of saying dry humping on the dance floor!
“Oh, that,” Kyle laughed. “That’s nothing.”
“Shut up,” she snorted. “So now you’ve transformed into a womanizer, Valenti? I’m very disappointed.”
“Ya know it’s a nice way to distract from my original question, but you get a pass for now,” he shook his head. “So what? I have a little fun now and then, does that make me a bad person? It’s not like I promise them anything.”
“No, I guess it’s okay, just… I remember different times and it’s weird to see you like this. Ya know… hot, successful an’ stuff.”
Kyle laughed. “Guess no one would have expected this considering my high school career, huh?”
Liz joined him with her own laugher. “I’d give anything to see Tess’ face if she could see you now.”
“Tess?” He frowned. “Tess Harding?”
“Who else?” She rolled her eyes "Was there another Tess you had a crush on in high school?”
“You knew about... I mean... things change.” Kyle said dryly. “I doubt she’ll even remember my name,” his tone turned amused, remembering those times all too well.
“I bet she’d bite her own ass now if she saw you like this.”
“You still in contact with her?”
“I haven’t been for a long while, but we’re gonna have a little reunion tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Wow. Just you an’ her?“
“No, Isabel and Maria as well.”
“Is DeLuca still with Guerin?”
“No, they broke up long time ago.” She wrapped her hands around the mug, enjoying the warmth coming from it.
“So, where’re you guys meeting? Here in San Francisco?”
“No, I’ll go to LA in a few hours and then we’ll fly over to the Maldives.”
He lifted his eyebrows surprised. “Maldives, huh? Not bad. The lawyer paying for it?”
“His company,” she said with a nod. “And it’s the reason we fought as well.”
“What’s there to fight about?” Kyle wondered aloud.
“He wanted to blow it off at the last minute,” Liz answered, her tone turning angry. “First off it was his idea to go there and now he’s too busy to go, but I already invited everyone and it’s kind of a miracle everyone had time. Plus Tess and Michael are already on their way to LA by now, so I can’t just cancel.”
“So you’re going alone?”
“Do you think it would be bad of me if I went alone?”
“Hell, no! He can’t honestly expect you to cancel everything a few hours before the trip. I say you should go and have fun. He’ll be busy with work anyway, won’t he?”
“Pretty much,” she agreed.
Kyle nodded and leaned back. “Four Roswell girls at the Maldives… they’re gonna go crazy. And you said Guerin’s gonna go as well?”
“As well as Maria’s new boyfriend. And Michael doesn’t know about it.” She laughed when she saw his knowing face. “Yeah… trouble.”
“Trouble?” He snorted. “That’s an understatement. Guerin’s gonna be pissed. I don’t wanna be in the other guy’s shoes. You should bring a referee as well.”
“Wanna come with us?” She was only joking at first, but then she started to really consider it. “I mean it, Kyle. With Dean not going we'll have enough rooms and all, so if you’re interested in going…”
He glanced at her doubtfully. “I’ve got a few days off, but somehow I doubt I’d be the right person for this.”
“Why?” Her excitement grew. “We’ve all changed, Kyle. Nothing’s like in high school anymore and you an’ Michael got along.”
“Just because we had to for some bio classes,” he rolled his eyes.
She waved him off. “That’s all a long time ago. Come on!” She held out her mug to him and put on a pouty face. “Say yes!”
He studied her face for a long while and considered the possibility before he lifted his mug and tapped it against hers. “I say why not. A few days on a lonely beach can’t hurt, right?”
Liz grinned and hugged him tightly. “Awesome.”
“But promise me I won’t get pulled into a classic DeLuca-Guerin battle and your fiancé won’t send a killer after me either.”
“Promise,” she let go of him and stood. “And speaking of him, I should probably go home before he calls the police.”
“When should I be ready?”
“Would 4am in the morning be too early?” she asked with a grin.
“Holy shit! 4am? That’s cruel, Parker!” Kyle groaned as he walked her toward and than down the gangplank.
"Hey, you wanted to go," Liz laughed as she hugged Kyle goodbye. "Pick you up from here?” She pointed at the boat.
He nodded "Yeah... see you at the butt crack of dawn I guess."
Liz laughed and turned to walk away. Kyle watched her for a bit to make sure she reached her car safely. Turning toward the gangplank he looked at the rather raucous party going on his boat. “Guess I should think of a way to get rid of them and get ohhh... three hours sleep or so”
Taking a deep breath Kyle bounded up the gangplank yelling, "OK, PEOPLE PARTY’S OVER!!!”
