Page 80 of The Suite Life
‘You tease but you’re not wrong,’ she replies with a smile.
It’s cute, that she still finds his little quirks charming, after all these years.
As I continue styling, my mum glances at me through the mirror.
‘Are you okay, Gigi?’ she asks me. ‘You seem a bit off tonight.’
‘Oh, I’m fine,’ I insist. ‘Just, you know, the chaos of the wedding and stuff.’
‘Ahh,’ she says, with an all-knowing look on her face. ‘Your date…’
I shake my head. Well, she can read my mind, no one needs to say anything out loud.
She doesn’t press me further on the details, which I appreciate.
‘Are you okay with that, darling?’ she asks.
‘I am,’ I reply, surprisingly at peace with the decision. ‘And, you know, Donnie is coming to the wedding, so it’s not like I’ll be knocking around on my own.’
Her eyes light up at the mention of Donnie.
‘Well, I think that’s wonderful,’ she says. ‘Donnie seems like a great man. I’m sure you’ll have a fantastic time with him, even without a formal date.’
I agree wholeheartedly.
‘You know what, Mum, I think you’re right,’ I reply. ‘I’ll probably enjoy myself more with Donnie than with a date. He’s kind, funny, and we have a lot in common. And we already know how to have a laugh together, so I can’t imagine anything being boring, with him by my side.’
‘It sounds as though you may have found your perfect wedding date after all then,’ she points out, flashing me a smile that speaks volumes.
‘Yeah,’ I admit, a smile spreading across my face too as the realisation hits me head-on.
Donnie really is the perfect wedding date for me. Everything is so much fun when he’s around. He’s a good person, he really makes me laugh, and most of all he seems to really care about me.
Now that I think about it, he might not just be the perfect wedding date for me, he might be the one for me.
I can’t believe it has taken me this long to realise it.
38
Outdoor nightclubs are better than indoor nightclubs in so many ways. Even the nicest indoor clubs get warm, have sticky floors, and stink of sweat and booze. Outdoor clubs, on the other hand, not only get to breathe, and are cooled by the sea air, but the gorgeous Maui backdrop only adds to the atmosphere.
Coloured lights are flashing all around us, and thumping music reverberates through the night air. I can feel the bass in my chest, rumbling through the furniture, making my entire body tingle.
The VIP area is all ours tonight – because of course it is, people still think I’m G.G. Marsden, so the special treatment is coming in thick and fast.
Champagne flutes clink as a waiter materialises, presenting us with another bottle of bubbly. It’s nice being able to share this with Lucy and our friends. If hotel staff thinking I’m more of a big deal than I am means that Lucy and Rick get an absolute dream of a night out, then I’m all for it. Nathan and Sunshine are here, along with Nina and her boyfriend Calvin, who has finally joined us. Alfie’s wife has arrived for the wedding, but neither of them are party animals, so they’ve headed to bed already.Donnie is here too, now that he’s basically part of the wedding, and even Gary Garrie has popped under the red rope after spotting us (I told the bouncers he could) to raise a few glasses with us, like we’re old friends, not just fellow Brits at the same resort.
The party is in full swing. Lucy and Rick, the newly-weds-to-be, are tearing up the dance floor together. Nina’s boyfriend has had far too much to drink, far too quickly, so she’s taking him to bed. Oh, and Nathan and Sunshine have clearly reconciled, the two of them are sitting in the corner, trapped in a PDA, her serpent-like arms and legs wrapped around him possessively. But do I care? No, I don’t, because I’ve been hanging out with Donnie all night.
We’re tucked away in our own little corner, in our own little world.
Donnie is just so easy to get on with. The conversation is effortless, and he makes me laugh – the kind of laughter that makes your stomach ache and your cheeks hurt.
I catch him stealing glances at me, and every time our eyes meet, we burst into laughter again.
‘You’re being so goofy,’ he tells me. ‘It’s cute.’
I feel my cheeks warming.
