A Hidden Gem... Within A Secret Realm

Chapter 3. Excitedly Awaiting...Mardi Gras

Gemma went to check the mail. She was eagerly awaiting the arrival of their Mardi Gras Packages. They had booked their rooms in the lovely, Majestic Swan Hotel, the Neon filled night life of the most beautiful city in Louisiana, New Orleans.

Mardas Gras was to start the following week and Gemma had got a call confirming the girls reservations for August 9 thru 13 or Fat Tuesday last week sometime. Whoever she spoke with confirmed and told their packet with all their tickets and the Itinerary for the Festival would be included in the package and it was due to arrive from USPS on the Friday, one week before the reservations were arranged to be filled. Which would make it Today!

When she reached in to drag the mail for the day out of the mailbox she got chills that ran up and down her spine as she felt, the large oversized envelope graze her hand, her excitement soared! She had been waiting to go to Mardi Gras all summer long. Her Birthday was quickly closing in on her and she would be celebrating at the carnival . She would turn 18 on Friday August 9, 2024 and the legal age to drink in New Orleans is 18. She can't wait! She was just a few months younger than her friends and now she can party with them and stay at the hotel.

They would be walking or riding in some sort of transportation that they had purchased in a special packaged deal , bought through the hotel that they were staying the week at. None of the girls would have to drive so they would be celebrating all together , NO need for a designated driver.

Gemma was so excited as she opened the envelope containing all of the frills and thrills that their reservation would hold. She was so glad that the other two girls didn't have a problem celebrating her birthday with her at Mardi Gras this year instead of just the normal Skating Rink-Slumber Party that she had

every birthday before, in which they had attended, they had a lot of fun at those too she might add, but she felt like this one was going to be the Greatest One Ever! The best part of it was that she was getting to spend it with her 2 best friends.

Both friends had helped her in picking out the room in the French Quarter and there had been quite a few hotels in that area to choose from, but the one they had chosen has the best view of the New Orleans Streets, a balcony, and all the extra amenities, including but not limited to: parties, a pool, a Jacuzzi tub, and a pool table inside their hotel room. So plenty to keep them busy when they weren't taking Part I. The Mardis Gra. Gemma had decided to first call her friends to see if their packet had arrived with the afternoon mail like hers had.

Her hands were literally shaking as held the package up next to her chest awaiting the other person on the other lines, "HELLO".

Quiet was the only thing she heard so she decided to try the words that were rattling around in her head as the recipient of the phone call was rudely holding back their "HELLO!" She decided to try, Lee" Hello," whispered quietly into the speaker end of the phone she held in her shaking hand. After that night at the Yucatan Liquor Stand where he outwardly showered he with the affection he had been feeling for her for years, in front of God and everybody, she longed for nothing else but to hear his voice if that's all he could give for now, she would take any little piece of him she could get.

He sat quietly listening to her hush, hush murmuring that made her sound breathless and his heart beat rapidly not to mention the other part of his body now standing at attention due to the raspiness of her voice as she continued on, "My, my is anyone there?" she said in a weakened low Sexy voice. It was very different than, the voice that he was used to. Gemma was usually outgoing and wild. Basically a spit fire, but the way she spoke to him tonight was alluring and hard for him yet it was definitely a side of her that wanted to see more of it.

The last semester of school last year the teachers got the brilliant idea somehow, God Only Knows How, to put Gemma and him together as study buddies and he felt as though something inside her changed the more time they spent together the closer they became. He knew his feelings for her had changed This mute, timid girl that he has known most of his life and her life was changing not just on the outside looking in, but from the inside looking out. She was cocooning into the most ; Beautiful, Idealistic, Iconic, Sexy, ( and when I say Sexy), I mean right down alluring, to the point she has kept me erect from the time I heard her whisper "Hello".

He heard her voice again, "Dominique is that you?". That pulled him out of his head, both of them, and back to reality. He wished she was there with him right now and he was pretty sure she was feeling the same way.

"Hi, Gemma," He whispered, I'm here,.". He lost her the minute he said her name. She was deep in a trance. Gemma didn't know why but every time he called her by name now, the words from the song, "Say My Name, Say My name," Lit up in Neon flashed like lightning

through her brain. She just loved the way he said her name. It when he whispered it especially her whole body shook and it was if it melted her to the core. She used to despise him and the way he treated and treated her but now she longed to have him wrap her in his arms. She was sure he wanted to feel her in his arms as much as she wanted to be there. She couldn't even think of his lips locked with hers. For , she knew if she did that she would to take a cold shower in order to get her feverish skin back to normal.

Now it was her turn to be drawn back to reality.

"Gotta Go!" She heard his voice coming through the phone, then the dial tone, and then complete and utter silence.