My Summer Affair

Chapter 7: A Day in Brighton

“Whoever had the idea to do this walking food tour," Natalie says between bites, “was absolutely brilliant."

“Everything has been delicious," I agree, also stuffing my face with food. I sit back when I finish and look at the plates in front of all of us. Most of them are still half full of food.

“Is everybody ready to move on to the next and final stop?" Our tour guide checks in with our table and as full as we all are, we are excited to see what will be next.

“Yes! Absolutely, let's go," Margot was edging on drunk when we first arrived at this next restaurant but all the food seems to have sobered her up a little bit.

Our guide sets our whole group up at tables outside and then he excuses himself to go in to grab our next round of food and drinks. I think this one consists of different flavors of lemonade and a charcuterie board with homemade cheeses. The walk over helped settle my stomach from the last experience and the thought of a nice cold strawberry lemonade sounds amazing. I take off my jacket and hang it on the back of my chair then tilt my head back and let the sun shine down on me, warming me in the breeze. I pull my shades down and close my eyes

“Are you following us?" A familiar voice startles me but I see Jackie grin and jump up. She runs around the table and I follow her movement to see Cadence walking toward us with Alfonso and Liam close behind. I wonder where Lucas is.

“Cadence! What are you guys doing here?" Jackie asks as she throws her arms around Cadence, planting a big kiss on his cheek. He looks just as thrilled to see her as well.

“Just exploring the Brighton," Cadence explains.

“Us too! We are on the last stop of a walking tour. I would invite you all to join us but our tour guide is a little fussy," Jackie lowers her voice and looks around to make sure the guide hasn't returned.

“How about you girls ditch this tour and we'll show you around?" Cadence offers and Jackie looks thrilled.

“I thought you were also tourists here?" I question them, playfully.

“Only technically, but we have been here a few times. And it would be our absolute pleasure to show you lovely ladies this fine city," Cadence lays on the charm, and Liam and Alfonso each hold out an arm for us to take.

Natalie looks at Margot and then at me before she stands and takes Liam's arm. Margot joins her, accepting his other side. Then they all turn to look at me. I sigh, pretending as if it's a difficult decision then I stand up as well and take hold of Alfonso's arm.

“Oh no, I see the guide coming back, we better hurry," I gather up the rest of my things and we quickly leave the restaurant's patio and head up the street. We can hear the guide calling after us but he already has his money for the tour so there's not much he can complain about.

Brighton is a beautiful city and the other boys are quite entertaining yet I still can't help but wonder where Lucas is. I guess Natalie can tell who I'm thinking about because she decides to ask the guys where he is.

“So, where is his royal highness?" Natalie smirks and winks at me which makes me giggle but to our surprise, all of the guys stiffen and regard her closely. “What? What did I say?"

“'His royal highness?" Alfonso asks, on guard for the answer. Natalie looks a little startled so I respond for her.

“Oh, it's nothing. At the airport, Natalie saw a newspaper about a 'Runaway Prince' and Lucas was the first cute, tall guy she saw so…" I trail off when I notice their faces, I must sound so silly. “Anyway, it's just an inside joke."

“Yeah, just an inside joke," Natalie repeats. “You do have those where you're from, don't you?"

“Ah, yes. Yes, we do," Alfonso nods his head and they all seem to relax. That reaction was so strange. What are they hiding? And where is Lucas?

“Lucas," Cadence answers for the group, “is in a meeting." He doesn't elaborate, clearly wanting the questions to end there.

“A meeting?" Jackie asks, oblivious to the intensity in the air. She looks up at Cadence and he smiles at her, trying to defuse the tension in the air.

“He will be joining us momentarily. In the meantime," Alfonso responds this time, “why don't we buy you all a drink? Since we so rudely kept you from the platter of lemonade that looks so enticing." His smile is enough to distract from all of Jackie's questions and she nods in agreement.

“That would be lovely, my dear," Jackie copies his accent badly which elicits a loud bark of laughter from Cadence who in turn gets a shove from Alfonso. Jackie looks pretty pleased with herself and it makes the rest of the group, including me, join in on the laughter.

“That was horrible," I comment, trying to stifle my laughter. “Please don't ever try that accent again."

“Even I was offended by that," Margot laughs aloud as she holds onto Liam's arm. She and Natalie are doing their best to playfully trip him as we walk to our next destination. None of us know where we are going but have decided to trust these boys with this leg of our journey. We take up positions around a tall standing table outside of the pub and grill the boys brought us to. Liam grabs menus for everyone and orders drinks that he tells us to trust him with the choice.

“Whoops!" Jackie grins at Alfonso in an apology and he just shrugs his shoulders, laughing as well. He looks over at me and smiles a soft smile, I'm sure it's not the first time he's had someone make fun of his accent.

Liam comes back with the drinks just in time to witness some of the silly antics our friends participate in. Liam sets drinks in front of each of us and as promised, they are delicious. I can't help but think there may be a little be of alcohol in the drinks but I'm on vacation, so I can start drinking whenever I please. I take another sip of the drink and snag a fry off Liam's plate.

“Oh, it's alright, Miss. Nothing a tall glass of beer can't fix," Alfonso takes on what I can only describe as the worst take on a southern accent. Margot puts her hand to her chest like she's so shocked by the accent.

“Why are you making fun of my accent when Jackie is the one who tried on yours?" Margot teases Alfonso by adopting a more pronounced and drastic version of her own, the one he tried to imitate. He has the decency to blush a little.

“My apologies, Ms. Margot," Alfonso does a slight bow in her direction, showing his humility in the situation. We all hold our serious faces for a few more seconds before the three of us burst into laughter.

“Oh, Alfonso," I squeeze his arm and smile when he looks at me, “don't let Ms. Margot make you feel bad. I think that accent has some real potential." I try to say it with a straight face but crack at the end and grin at him. He shakes his head but smiles back at me and everyone else.

“Okay, okay," Alfonso holds up his hands in surrender. “Let's just agree that we won't imitate each other's accents anymore."

“Oh, but it was so much fun," Jackie grins but nods her head in agreement.

“What was 'so much fun'?" A deep, sexy voice says from behind me. I try not to whip around and slowly turn with Alfonso, our arms still linked together. “Hi, Miss Mandy." His grin elicits butterflies from my stomach and I look up into the light, squinting to see his face.

Hi, Lucas," I smile up at him then release my grip on Alfonso's arm when I notice his eyes shoot down in that direction. He smiles when I release Alfonso and I silently curse myself for giving him so much power over me.

“Jackie and Alfonso here were trying to imitate each other's accents. It was a horrible thing to witness," Liam munches on his fries as he updates Lucas on what he's missed.

“Hey! My accent was not that bad," Jackie defends herself, putting on a fake pout. She leans on Cadence's arm and looks up at him.

“I agree, it was quite cute," Cadence smiles at her and leans down to her. She plants a kiss on his lips as a thank you, the two of them already acting like they're in a relationship.

“How was your meeting, your highness?" Natalie asks with a chuckle trying to move the attention away from the PDA between Cadence and Jackie. Lucas has a similar reaction to that of his friends and he turns his raised eyebrows on Cadence, who steps in right away.