Chapter 5

 Mount Elizabeth was named by the English settlers for Queen Elizabeth I and was on the north side of the island which made it a twenty minute drive to work each day but with ocean views almost anywhere she cared to look Gabrielle couldn’t have chosen a better location to live.

She drove through several towns before arriving in Portsmouth where twice a week the cruise ships docked and duty free rum, jewelry and local goods could be purchased in the coastal town.

Manuevering through a well lit street of palm trees and bougainvillea for a few minutes she finally turned off onto the road that led to The Excelsior Hotel. The resort was a sprawling facility of more than four hundred acres that included a five star hotel with a luxury spa, 18 hole golf course, horseback riding, water sports and three restaurants.

The restaurant was in the main building with a stone façade reminiscent of the great houses from colonial days. Rielle was behind two other vehicles so it was a few minutes before she could give the valet her keys under and enter the hotel. She inhaled the sea air that blew in from the Caribbean Sea and could hear the sound of the waves against the sand.

On Friday night there was usually a buffet at The Poinciana that included a lively show with calypso singers, dancers and stilt walkers called mocko jumbles.  All four of the major hotels had a show and only the Turtle Bay Hotel on the western side of the island had theirs on the same night but the Excelsior was known to be the best.

~*~

She stood for a minute at the top of the steps before catching sight of her friends and in that time she garnered the attention of several pairs of interested eyes.

Georgie was indeed in her teal trapeze dress that made the most of golden skin and she wore pretty aquamarine dangle earrings.

Camille was gorgeous in an orchid pink keyhole necked dress with a silver dragon cuff on her arm and matching hoop earrings.

Andrea was a goddess in an orange sheath dress that highlighted her slim curves with chunky teardrop lucite earrings and necklace.

“Good evening Ms. Hall, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Your party is waiting at the bar.” the maitre' d told her.

 “It’s nice to see you too Milo. How is the family?” she asked referring to the English ex-pat's wife and son.

“Gwen is looking forward to having her mum come and visit us and Ben is Ben.” He said shrugging with a smile on his ruddy face as he escorted her to the girls and then to a table at the edge of the floor where they could easily see the show.

“Hey girls.” She said kissing and hugging them all in turn.

~*~

They were tall, athletic and exotic looking in their own way like a United Nations and the team had garnered a lot of publicity. The story of the young women from a tiny Caribbean island had taken the world by storm.

The media loved the island girls make good angle and the fact that they were all more than passably attractive hadn't hurt. They had been swept up in the media spotlight making the rounds on morning and late night talk shows, prime time news interviews, red carpets and even Oprah.

They had been offered lucrative endorsements for womens sneakers, athletic wear, sports drinks and even a video game. The fame had been enticing but after nearly a year the media furor had died down and life had thankfully returned to normal. 

Camille Lee was the daughter of an African-American mother and Chinese American father and from her waist length black hair to her slanted light brown eyes framed by bangs in a medium brown complexion she was a no nonsense entrepreneur who had opened her own car rental agency which had grown to three locations.

Georgiana Caldwell was the descendant of the original English settlers with a dash of African slave in the mix and with her honey blonde hair, velvety brown eyes and sun kissed skin she had gone on to work for the tourism board and was putting her degree in public relations to good use.

Andrea Blyden was a descendent of the indigenous Indians that had lived on the island and African slaves and with her degree in journalism she was a news anchor at a local television stations. She could have been a model with striking features and jet hair cut short to hug her head and deep brown eyes in a copper face.  

Rielle had an African American father and Puerto Rican mother and her sultry looks had drawn the attention of magazines all over the world. 

~*~

It was pretty ironic that she had been such a tomboy even into high school and now she had fitness and fashion magazines clamoring for her to pose for them.

She had taken advantage of a few of the opportunites presented and built her house with the money and had a little money to put aside when all was said and done.

She had also gotten offers from several men's magazines to spread more than goodwill but those offers had been politely but firmly refused without any difficulty.

Her brother had teased her mercilessly about that until it occurred to him if she accepted the offer all of his little sister would be on display for anyone to see. Rielle had taken great pleasure in pretending she would accept but it had never even crossed her mind.

~*~

They had all wanted to promote the natural beauty of their island doing several commercials that still showed internationally. That had made them local celebrities, more than enough for any of them although one of the girls Lisa Freeman had actually gone on to act in several films since the Olympics.

They also knew how to enjoy themselves and when they were seated at the table attracted plenty of attention from the other diners with their high spirits.

“So did you get to see the hottie up the hill?” Georgie asked her brown eyes sparkled as she posed the question to Rielle. 

The quartet had been friends since junior high and whether it was the movies, dinner or just sitting at one of their homes painting each other's toes they were like family and acted like it for better or worse.

That included quizzing each other on the men or as it was at the moment lack of men in their lives.