"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes!" I say for the tenth time this morning.
"You can say no if you'd like, it's completely up to you," Leo frantically says as I zip up the last of my luggage for his business trip. Safe to say, he seemed more nervous than I was.
"It's never too late for you to back out," he reassures me.
"Tortuga, I want to go. There's a reason why I signed all the papers, including the NDA. " I straighten my spine and stretch my arms to prepare myself to haul the mother of suitcases outside.
"What if-"
"There is no what if! If I stay here one day longer with nothing to do but brain rot and watch reality TV, I will lose my mind." I tug at the handle and pull the suitcase closer to the edge of the bed so the load can fall to the floor and I can roll it out. My plan goes in vain when he effortlessly lifts what is possibly the weight of 20 bricks over his shoulder and out the door. I admit, it was impressive.
"Besides, I told Delaware I would be coming," I added.
A week leading up to today, she came over as the two wanted some time to rehearse their lines for a difficult scene she wanted to practice. In the show, Delaware played the main villainess, while Georgia played the main female lead and potential love interest to Leo.
Ironic, I know.
Had Leo's private project not been leaked by one of his stalker fans, I wouldn't have guessed who was playing what before Leo had told me. Not to mention, because of the leak, the director decided to rewrite the entire script so that all traces of what was the original plotline would disappear. He basically kept the cast but wrote a whole other show.
Initially, this angered fans, but because Leo posted a statement defending the director's decisions, it then turned into an overnight sensation. It's the whole reason why Leo hosted the party with Eduardo Jimenez to celebrate the start of film production. They had a rocky start and are planning to go out with a bang.
Crazy to think that I will get to witness what will potentially be the next award-winning show, judging by how early all the publicity it is getting. It grew by a ton when Leo's and I's 'relationship' hit the headlines, as anyone can see.
Going back to Delaware, as the two rehearsed, when they took a break, the three of us sat outside on the porch, where they had mentioned the business trip to Mexico to film a beach scene that would take a series of days to shoot, along with several other locations that we would need to road trip to on the way. She suggested I come with them, as each cast member could bring a plus one, given that they will be filming for a while, possibly weeks to a month. They wanted to be as authentic as possible.
"You're coming right?" she beams, with eyes of hope that a puppy could drown in.
I glance over to Leo, who was equally as unsure. "I don't know if Leo already has his plus one, and I don't want to intrude."
"Actually, I was going to ask you later on tonight, but I guess Delaware beat me to it." He makes a sort of blank face in Delaware's direction, to which she giggles.
"Will you go! Please say you will! We can bunk together like a sleepover! I'll bring any products you need. You name it, and I will provide for our spa nights," she pleads excitedly, with her ideas racing from one to a thousand. "We can lunch together, and on our breaks, we can walk around, and-"
"Okay, Delaware." I finally agree.
I mean, come on, how could I say no to her?
Delaware immediately jumps out of her chair, squealing like a chipmunk, and Leo…it was hard for me to read. He seemed happy enough, but something tells me his nervousness is what slowly manifested into what was coming out today.
"Listen, Leo, if you don't want me to go," I say, trying to steal back my luggage from him. He reels it over to his other arm and takes a step down the staircase.
"No, it's not that," he turns to me. "I want you to go, but I'm worried that…"
"That I'll have another panic attack? Tortuga, I'll be okay. You bought me enough sour candy to last me a lifetime, not that I anticipate the worst, but I know my limits, and you being worried for me isn't going to help anyone. When I said, I don't want your pity, I meant it."
"You're right, Estrella." Leo defeatedly sighs.
"I'm always right."
"But," he tilts the side of his head.
"But?"
"But should anything go wrong,"
"Which nothing will," I add.
"Promise me you'll let me know. Deal?"
"If it will get you to enjoy this trip, deal."
By the time we made it down the staircase, Leo's stricken smile faded and sparked back to its original show-stopping position. At the front door stood Sir Stefan, waiting to bid us farewell.
"Don't run into any shenanigans, Leonardo." Sir Stefan warns him. "As for you, Ms. Martinez, keep an eye on him for me. Omar can only do so much."
"Stefan!" Leo exclaims.
I could help but laugh and give a small hug to Sir Stefan. "He'll be in good hands."
Sir Stefan smiles. "I'm sure he is. Get on with your flight before you miss it."
Leo carries the last of my suitcase and hands it over to Omar, who puts it in the trunk among the other stuff Leonardo is taking. He had double the amount, which didn't surprise me, considering that at science camp, he had multiple outfit changes. One for breakfast, then hiking, then dinner, and another during our campfire.
We hit the road, and when we arrive at the airport, I am reminded once more of how poor I am. Omar takes us to a back lot where we went through a private customs area where they checked us through and introduced me to one of two Leo's private jets.
You bet your ass, I was going to take advantage of those warm towels. I don't care if it is only a three-hour flight.
"Are you ready?" Leo smuggling smiles to which I respond with, "Does it come with snacks?"
"A whole bar," the corner of his teeth gleams.
"Cup of noodles included?" I raise my brow, keeping up my unimpressed image.
"Any kind you want."
"With tapatío?"
"With tapatío," he affirms.
I chew the inside of my mouth to stop myself from excitement. In all my times flying to Mexico, this was going to the first time I would be enjoying noodles on a flight. I would not be exaggerating when I say I have dreamt of this moment.
Once we were seated inside, and the private jet took off, as Leo promised, I was delivered my cup of noodles with a buttload of tapatío from a kind flight attendant.
So this is what heaven felt like.
I pressed a few buttons on the sides of my chair to recline it, but with such luxury, I had no clue what to do with it. Leo notices, unclips himself from his seat that was closer to the pilot, and comes to my side to help me. He takes my hand and indicates which button is to recline and to sit up.
The plane vigorously shakes, and suddenly, both of his hands are at the sides of my seat, and his body is hovering over mine. Meanwhile, Omar was deep in his sleep with an eye mask and headphones on, completely unbothered.
How the hell does this not wake him up?
The light to buckle your seat belt turns on with an announcement from the pilot. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Captain speaking. We are beginning to encounter some turbulence, so I'd like to ask you to please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts."
The plane shakes once more, and I plant my hands over Leo's by accident to grip the armrests. We freeze like statues with our eyes locked on each other until the shaking stops. "Estrella?"
"Yeah," I hiccup, catching his minty breath, making me conscious of mine. I never noticed it before, but around his neck dangled a piece of jewelry with a golden chain tucked slightly in the collar of his shirt.
"Your hands."
I promptly shoot them off of him without sparing a second, and he lifts himself out of my seat. "Sorry."
"That's alright, I'll go back to my seat before…" he searches for his words, lost in the haze.
"Yeah," my heart thuds with each beat, hitting my rib cage. " You do that. Don't forget to put on your seat belt." I stupidly sputter.
"Yeah," he replies, and from behind, the flight attendant guides him back to his seat at the front next to Omar, who was snoring away. When he sits down, I quickly grab the hot towel the flight gave me earlier in the flight and press my flushed face to it.
"It was the turbulence," I tell myself. That's why I'm like this, the turbulence must've raised my heart rate, that's all. I was tempted to peek over to Leo to see his reaction, but I couldn't do it. I needed to calm myself down first. I put on my wireless soundproof headphones and blast my music, skipping any and all songs pertaining to love or airplanes.
For the remainder of the flight, it was smooth sailing despite the grey in the skies. Talk about timing.
When we arrive, we are met with a light sprinkle of rain, and Omar jumps straight into action. He drives us to our hotel, and there in the lobby is the rest of the cast and the director waiting to greet us, including Georgia. She murmurs something into the ear of her plus one, who is none other than influencer Celise Monterrey. They both laugh and pass another glance straight at me.
This should be interesting.