What I was hearing was she planned to take Tracy shopping and was asking permission to buy herself some stuff. If Pam were alone, she wouldn’t spend too much. With Tracy there to encourage her, and with it being LA, all bets were off. All that kept me from worrying too much was the fact that it was a debit card, and she only had what was in the account to spend.
“Manaia, who’ll go with them?” I asked to make sure they had security.
“It’s handled; I’ll go. I suspect Cassidy will want to go on the boat. Personally, I get seasick,” he shared.
That surprised me.
“Okay, you’re all set,” I told Pam.
Tami rolled her eyes at my happy baby mama. Pam stuck her tongue out at my friend.
“He loves me best,” Pam announced.
It was my turn to roll my eyes. It was my own fault for telling her that.
◊◊◊
When we got back to the house, everyone was up. The kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off in it. Last night, Brook, Tami, and I had done cleanup. This was going to stop today. I spotted Cassidy and sent her to round up everybody who was going on our yacht trip today. They gathered around in the living room while Cassidy and Manaia got the cars ready to take us to the heliport.
“Before we leave, there are a couple of things I need to mention. First, Tracy and Pam are going on a shopping trip. If you’d rather do that, they are leaving after Manaia drops us off at the heliport.
“Second, I’m not your mother. Last night, we had to clean up after you all, and this morning, you’ve already left the kitchen a mess. It’s not like we don’t have a dishwasher. I won’t have you treating this place like it’s a frat house,” I said.
“Sorry, I thought you had people for that,” Sarah said.
She really had never been around my house or me other than on photo shoots or when we were at modeling camp. And looking at the house, I could understand where she might think this was how I usually lived. Then again, we did just hire a cook/housecleaner back home.
“We do have a cleaning lady, but she won’t be in until after you all leave,” I explained.
Everyone but Lexi and Brook returned to the kitchen to clean it.
“I’m glad you said something. I was afraid you would make me clean it,” Lexi said.
“David would never do that. He would either do it himself or ask me to help,” Brook shared and then looked at me. “What was up with Sarah?”
“She probably assumes I’m not just a normal guy. She must think that I’ve always lived like this,” I said, waving my hand around to point out the lovely house we were staying in.
“You’re anything but a ‘normal guy,’” Brook assured me.
I gave her a quick kiss as a reward.
When they came back, I could tell everyone was in a good mood.
“All done, Mom,” Tim said.
“Sarah decided to go with Pam and Tracy,” Wolf announced.
He was clearly trying to put the best spin on it so as not to show his disappointment.
◊◊◊
Before we got into the cars to leave, Manaia gave everyone a quick security talk. His most significant point was to remain in the car until he or Cassidy opened the door to let us out. We were also supposed to only get out on the side of the vehicle where our security was, and we were to stick together. He couldn’t protect us if we all took off in different directions.
Once we arrived at the heliport, he stopped and rolled down the front passenger-side window.
“Cool,” Wolf said as the drone lifted off the front seat and made a quick circuit around our area before flying back into the car.
I swear everyone acted like ten-year-olds as they opened their windows and watched the drone do its work. Once Manaia was sure there were no threats, he got out and did his own visual check. I looked back, and Cassidy was doing the same. She was starting to act like a real security person.
I had a little smile as I saw my friends’ range of emotions when they saw the large helicopter we were traveling in. Then the debate began about who got window seats. Kids!
◊◊◊
The yacht was every bit as impressive as I remembered. Not only was it used for their own functions, the studio also rented it out for others’ events, and it had appeared in a few of their movies.
The top deck was open in the back, which was where the party would be. As we were about to board, a hotel bus pulled up, and my castmates from the J-drama started to get off. I urged them all to get on board and promised to introduce everyone once we got comfortable.
Over the next half hour, my other guests arrived. From USC, Ridge and his girlfriend Penny came, along with my former teammate Bill. Trip and Halle James showed up with Teresa, my sexy neighbor who’d become Trip’s new girlfriend.
I’d invited Ben Doman, who’d been Halle’s and my costar in
