The Rave Party

"What time did Mark say the party was going to start?"

Bianca checked the brochure that Mark had picked up from the common area and scanned its contents.

"I think it should start at around 10."

I looked at my phone to see the time. "We have plenty of time to get ready."

After the morning incident, the three of us went for a dip in the jacuzzi for a bit, and then Mark went back to his room to take a nap while Bianca and I went to the spa to get our nails done.

We returned to our cabin with our freshly painted nails and Bianca jumped right in bed. We had about three hours to kill so she decided to rest her eyes. She asked me to wake her up half hour before the party.

I was always amazed at this. How is it that it took me over two hours to look decent and she could pull it off within a few minutes? She just disappears into the bathroom looking like a rag doll and emerges a beauty! It's truly incredible. To be honest, her 'rag doll' look could easily put most of the models to shame.

Being the only one awake, I took up this opportunity to make some warm coffee and snuggle under my blanket with my novel. I loved silence. But it wasn't long before the gentle rhythm of the ship lulled me to sleep.

It was dark by the time I woke up. Somebody was knocking on our cabin door. "Hey ladies! I hope you're up. Only two hours left for the party!"

I rubbed my eyes and looked for my phone in the darkness. 7:52 PM. Sigh. I dragged my body out of the bed and turned to look at Bianca. She was still asleep. She looked so cute with the blanket all the way up to her chin. I guess she takes the phrase 'sleeping like a baby' quite literally!

I opened the cabin door to find Mark all decked up with a flashy brown shirt and glossy black pants. He even had a black headband on! My eyes refused to leave the bandana!

He noticed my look and said "I always wanted to wear one of these! I figured it will be mostly dark at the party, so I decided to give it a shot!"

I rolled my eyes and let him in. He rushed to where Bianca was asleep and yelled "Get up it's party time!!!!"

Bianca bounced up from her sleeping position and looked around frantically. "I'm up! I'm up! Please don't eat my cookies!"

She blinked her eyes open and scanned the room to find an expression-less best friend and a puzzled Mark.

"I don't even want to know!" I said waving it off. Mark looked like he wanted to laugh but was controlling himself in order to avoid getting punched.

"OK girls, I am off to check out the arcade in this place. Can you believe this? They actually have an arcade with all the classics! Just give me a buzz when you two are ready to go!" And with that, he turned and left the cabin.

"It is a good thing Mark woke us up, I went to sleep shortly after you did."

"Now that I am up, what are you wearing tonight?"

"I was thinking of wearing my purple off-shoulder hi-low dress that we bought together last month. What about you?"

"You can't go wrong with a short and black baby!"

"That is one stunning piece of fabric!" I agreed.

"Why don't you get ready first while I check out the news on my phone." Bianca suggested.

And that's just what we did. After about two hours, the three of us found ourselves in front of the large auditorium near the front end of the ship.

Once we entered the arena, the crew handed us our neon accessories and we blended right in.

There was a large interactive LED dance floor right in the middle of the auditorium which was checkered with a wide range of colors.

There were neon tapes all around to guide you to the different attractions in the room. Right in the middle of the dance floor, an acrobat was swinging from a large loop that was connected to the ceiling.

The waitresses were circulating drinks in LED trays.

There was a gin and tonic jello pyramid that was placed near the bar.

They had even decorated the deck area following the party theme.

The three of us headed straight to the bar grabbing some jello shots on the way.

"I don't know about you guys but I am totally getting wasted tonight!" Bianca declared.

"I second that! I would love to try out the new mystery drink that is being served here. I heard someone back there claiming that it tastes incredible!" Mark added.

"And I would like to burn up the dance floor!" I said as I tried to twirl in the middle of the bar. While I was at it, I stumbled on the carpet under me and was about to take a nasty fall. Just when my face was about to hit the floor, a strong arm grabbed my waist and pulled me up onto a hard body.

I put my hand on his cheek and while turning my neck around I said "Thanks Mark, you saved my nos-" and I gasped! It was Him! Ian was firmly holding my back against his rock-hard chest. I met his eyes and then shamelessly looked down at his lips and a million thoughts went through my mind. He looked back at me and asked "Are you alright?" "Y-yes, thank you, Ian, I mean Mr. Salvatore, I mean.." "Just Ian is fine." "Yes, I am fine Ian. Th-thanks." I mumbled.

He cautiously released my waist and I quickly turned around to look at him. When I looked up at him, his vision took my breath away! He was wearing a simple but elegant grey jacket with a white v-neck t-shirt inside and blue jeans. His hair was messy and he had the most magnificent smirk on his face. He truly was exceptionally handsome and I couldn't stop staring into his brilliant blue orbs.

He took a deep breath and said "Enjoy the rest of the evening, Miss.." "Rachel Karen Thompson" I yelled nervously "Miss Rachel Karen Thompson" he said with amusement and with a nod he turned around to leave.

Just before he did, Bianca stood next to me and yelled, "Ian, you know she is crazy about you!" "I know," he said with a wink and disappeared into the crowd.

"Oh my goodness Bianca! What did you just do?!" I was beyond shocked!

"Girl, you can thank me later!" she dismissed.

I went to the bar and asked for a double shot of tequila and gulped both of them down in one go. Despite the burning sensation in my throat, I calmed down a little.

After a few more rounds of drinking, we all decided to hit the dance floor. The DJ was playing one of my favorite party songs and I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss dancing on that one.

I don't like to brag but I am a good dancer! I believe that you will truly enjoy dancing if you know the right moves.

As the song ended, the DJ made an announcement on his microphone "Ladies & gentlemen, today's party has been specially brought to you by the creators of an upcoming Hollywood movie, The Eternals starring none other than Ian Salvatore, Angelina Jodie, and Halle Bailey."

Just then, Ian came up onto a platform near the dance floor with a microphone in one hand. As soon as a spotlight came upon him, you could hear a mixture of shrieks and cheers from all corners of the room.

"Hello everybody, this is me, Ian. I hope all of you have a great time tonight! Have fun & stay safe all of you! And do watch our movie, The Eternals airing on October 2nd this year! Thank you, guys! I love you all!" and with this, he turned around and left with a bodyguard.

A wave of people tried to follow him to get a picture or an autograph or to get one last glimpse. But he had exited the hall within seconds. No one had expected him to be here and everyone everywhere spoke about him throughout the night.

The rest of the night was uneventful. We spent over an hour on the dance floor and finally called quits.