Chapter 246 - Bahamas Work Holiday (1)

Everything happened so suddenly. First, Wilmer came home. Then, they were told that school was cancelled for a few days and there was a job for them in the Bahamas. Alex and Scarlet were taken back to start packing for the working holiday to the Caribbean and Claire planned an entire entourage of security to follow them. The girls weren't given details because Orita spent that few days with Wilmer. Their mother cried buckets and the girls could only watch from afar how she hogged their father all to herself. Alex and Scarlet didn't intrude on the couple's reunion because they knew that there would be plenty of chances in the future.

Scarlet had a feeling this was related to Anastasia's movement but she couldn't confirm it because there were so many things to prepare for the impromptu trip. Scarlet made sure to pack her laptop so that she could still do her school assignments while she was there. She was missing a few classes but that didn't really matter. Scarlet was way ahead of the curriculum.

"Make sure to pack one for the red carpet and one glamorous beachwear!" Orita reminded. "Don't forget care products, makeup and styling tools. We don't have stylists there to help with anything but the cameraman won't care about that so bring everything."

Alex followed her mother's instructions and Scarlet panicked. Unlike her sister, Scarlet didn't have much to wear for the beach because her work didn't require her to be a swimsuit model. Hence, she was dragged shopping by Alex who hunted for the best swimsuit within New York City for her shy sister who couldn't look at a regular bikini without turning into a mortifying shade of red.

After many rejections and several objections, Scarlet and Alex settled on a similar type of swimsuit in black just so that the photographs would see them as sisters from the same family but different personalities. Even for a family interview, Alex didn't want to give the media any openings to attack Scarlet and question her belonging to the Wilde family.

They opted for a round-neck sleeveless top designed one-piece swimsuit. Scarlet's choice looked more modest with the sheer black fabric covering her chest and abdomen areas even though it brought out a slightly suggestive charm to her teenage innocent look. On the other hand, Alex's choice looked more risque. The swimsuit followed the same concept but where Scarlet's swimsuit was full coverage, Alex's swimsuit left nothing to the imagination where it was exposed. Her cleavage was spilling from the centre and the sides of her waist were there for all to see her hourglass figure.

After shopping for a good swimwear, the girls packed up and were on a private plane all the way to the Bahamas. Orita was thrilled to spend some quality time with daughters even if she was reluctant to part with her husband so soon. Still, the heiress understood why this was necessary. Wilmer's return home could mean one of two things. He was coming home because Anastasia was targeting them or he was coming home because Anastasia had been dealt with. From the lack of news, Orita could only guess that it was the former. Her husband had a war to fight and she didn't want to become his baggage. It was why she didn't question it when Jenna and Claire came with such a sudden proposal and arranged for a trip to the Bahamas with an exclusive interview on a yacht with her daughters.

It wasn't a very long flight and the girls decided to play a game of Uno with Orita and Claire. Jenna was exhausted after making so many plans so she decided to take a short nap. Orita found herself triple reversing Alex while Scarlet was the first to call 'uno'. Claire wasn't doing so well with more than twenty cards on her hand. The head maid wasn't too good at deciding what card to use so she kept drawing cards at every turn whenever someone threw a draw function.

The holiday plan was simple. After touching down, the girls were going to check into their hotel. Jenna had reserved an entire resort just for them to relax on a private beach for the night. The interview will happen the next day on a yacht while the girls had a day off by the sea. As far as Claire and Jenna were concerned, the trip might be extended depending on the lunch talks that Jasper had scheduled with Wilmer. They would know about it two days later and the lady butler hoped that things would turn out well so that the girls wouldn't be suspicious.

"Uno!" Alex called and Scarlet who had won earlier congratulated her sister. Now, it was up to Orita and Claire to finish first before the loser was determined. To spice up the game, Orita proposed a deal with Claire and her daughter.

"If anyone loses, they have to accompany me for a full day of spa and shopping!"

Scarlet was thankful she already won when she heard her mother say that. Alex didn't mind. She was already winning and accompanying her mother for spa and shopping wasn't torture for her. Claire grit her teeth. She had over thirty cards on hand and hated the idea of spa and shopping.

"If anyone loses, they have to accompany me for a day of extreme sports including bungee jumping, cliff diving and diving with sharks."

At this, both Alex and Orita shuddered in fear but Scarlet slightly regretted not being in the game. The activities that Claire proposed sounded like fun. As an actress, one of the joys of acting in historical dramas were the wire ropes and stunts. Scarlet enjoyed the gymnastic and martial art classes she was signed up for in preparation for the films more than the time she spent in the makeup rooms.

With their free time on the line, the mother and daughter combo worked hard to win against Claire while the head maid was catching up quickly after Scarlet helped her out by explaining the tips and tricks she could use. Claire didn't understand the rules of uno very well because nobody explained anything to her in the beginning. However, after she knew what could be done, both mother and daughter were sitting at the edges of their seats.

After being made to draw fourteen cards in a row, Claire and Orita now had the same number of cards at hand while Alex won her game. Relieved that she was now safe, Alex joined Scarlet to enjoy their mother and Claire's battle.

Both ladies were engrossed with the current battle, trying to read each other's minds. Scarlet held her breath after taking a peek at both their cards. Claire was going to win at this rate and Scarlet didn't know how her mother was going to survive an extreme sports adventure with Claire if Orita lost.

"Draw four," Orita threw her card down.

Claire rejected that offer."Draw four more plus give me yellow."

Alex and Scarlet swallowed when Orita added two more to that number, making it ten. Claire wasn't going to back down and threw all her draw cards on top of that making it sixteen in total. It was a gamble but Scarlet knew that it was a pay off since Orita only had three more cards.

Orita screamed in frustration when she was given sixteen cards by a very apologetic Alex. Now, Claire had the upper hand and Orita was desperate to clear her hand. Alex watched as Claire started to dominate the playing field nearing the end of the game. Scarlet shuffled the playing cards because they were running out of new cards to draw and Orita wanted to scream. Why didn't she have any green coloured cards?!

Claire knew that Orita didn't have any green cards so she quickly took the opportunity to skip all of Orita's turn to get rid of her remaining power cards while she planned for her victory. Alex and Scarlet held their breaths when Claire said uno. Right now, Orita had two choices. She could play her wild card and demand a colour to hope that Claire didn't have that colour as her last card or play a green card that she finally drew.

Claire was nervous but kept it from showing on her face. After playing so many green cards and taking a huge gamble, she hoped that Orita was at least psychologically affected to think that her last card was also green and change the card instead of continuing the green streak. Alex and Scarlet were excited to see that the last card was yellow.

Orita made up her mind. That green card might save her now but who knows about the later turns? If she messed up now and let Claire win because she threw her only green card, she was going to regret this. There was no way she would willingly accompany her head maid for an extreme sports vacation. She didn't want to get tanned and Orita didn't like to sweat.

"Wild card. Give me yellow!" Orita said with finality as she threw the card down. Alex took a peek at her mother's cards and realised that two-thirds of them were yellow. Scarlet groaned when Claire smirked and threw her last card down, declaring herself a victor.

Orita screamed in regret and Alex patted her mother on the back when that happened. Claire cackled madly and told them to clean up because the plane would be landing soon. Seeing the look of despair on Orita's face, Scarlet asked Claire if she could replace her mother and accompany her for the extreme sports instead.

Hearing that her daughter wanted to substitute her, Orita quickly jumped at the opportunity and Alex tried to have nothing to do with it.

"If I cannot get out of this, Alex will have to come with me!"

Hearing the heiress dragging her into the mess, Alex quickly tried to convince Claire to let her mother off the hook since Scarlet offered. The actress giggled at the chaos and the head maid sighed, giving in to her employer.

"Alright, alright... If Scarlet comes with me, both of you can indulge in the spa and shopping as you wanted."

Cheers were heard and the girls packed up quickly before the pilot announced that they should buckle up for the landing.