Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Olivia's pov:

I spent most of my time trying to hear some relaxing music on my phone, while taking some naps in between. Music was something that helped calm me down whenever I was distressed so it was the perfect time to get into my saved playlist.

Despite having my music and sleep to distract me, it still was not enough! The flight was a total of 14 hours and we were still 5 hours into the flight! I honestly never wanted time to fly so fast! I was desperate to jump out of the plane if anything goes wrong.

A brief moment later, the air hostess came around with big steel trolleys and started to serve people. After eating some lunch which was really some baked dry salmon, a bland salad and a cake which tasted like bitter chocolate. I was never fascinated by airplane food in my life! I always wondered how they tasted so bad.

Anyways, after eating my rancid meal, I reclined my seat and went off to sleep to again avoid any confrontation with anyone. I spent most of my energy trying to shy away from even looking at Sam in the eye. Looking at Sam made my heart skip a beat.

Imagine if a fight would have taken place midflight? That would be so embarrassing and traumatic.

Jessica's pov:

After trying my best to avoid any eye contact with Olivia, I was so relieved when I saw her doze off! Jack too was asleep at the seat to the right of me. It was perfect timing as I had to talk with Sam at any cost.

I took my earphones out off my ears and leaned towards the left to call Sam! I tried to avoid making too much noise as the bucket of my seatbelt rocked a bit. After I adjusted the buckle as it made too much of clang sound, I began to whisper Sam's name "Sammm!" as I wanted to speak with him. Each time I called him, I had to lower my voice gently and steadily.

Since he was asleep, he did not hear my whispers and hence did not respond to me! And after multiple attempts of trying to wake him up by quietly calling out to him, I got very pissed off! That guy refused to wake up and I was on a time crunch! Either Olivia or Jack could wake up any moment. I needed to clarify and ask Sam something immediately!

That's when I decided to not hold back anymore and right away gave him a tight pinch on his shoulder! And that's when he decided to immediately get off from his deep slumber and wake up. I would not say that what I did was a mean thing to do. Come on, under the circumstances that I was in, I had no choice but to do that!

"What was that for? It stings, Jessica!" Sam whispered in my ears while rubbing his shoulder in pain. I could not help myself but give out a small quiet chuckle.

"Ok listen up!" That's when I got a bit more serious, remembering that the other two could wake up at any moment.

"We need to find a way to stop this madness and stop hurting Olivia! That poor girl does not deserve any of this, Sam!" I expressed my concerns trying to be as quiet as possible, but I was getting very annoyed at the situation Jack put us in even though I could not blame him that much. I felt as if he was not in his senses when he made that decision. It was not like him to do such a thing.

Sam lowered his head and had a sad look painted all over his face. He looked at Olivia who was still peacefully sleeping, with his glistening eyes. She had gone through a lot because of us and our own personal problems with Jack. It was so not fair!

"I know! We have to make it up to Olivia soon. But now, we have to think about Jack first! He's like family to us and we need to prioritize him first!" Sam advised.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I understood what he was saying but I could not deal with the fact that Olivia had to bear the burden of our problems any longer. She really did not deserve any of this!

I expressed the same to Sam who went deep into his thoughts after.

"Maybe during this vacation something good might happen? I don't know but I'm keeping my hopes high! Who knows, Jack could change his mind soon?" he replied.

I nodded as he went to read a magazine.

I was still very skeptical about the whole situation. What Jack did was so random! I mean I knew there are some issues that needs to be treated but I knew him for years! This was a step he would never take. But then again, I had to listen to the doctor and not say anything to him. I should give him his space for some time.

I was glad that Doctor Liam was accompanying us to Australia to treat Jack and have a vacation simultaneously. I mean it was very weird, but I guess it's better to be on the safe side.

I pulled a shopping magazine from the pouch of the seat in front of me and unwrapped the plastic outer covering before beginning to read it. My eyes were immediately getting mesmerized by the clothing section. But the prices made my wallet scream!

Olivia's pov:

After the sleeping throughout most of the flight, I was briefly awoken up to another bland meal for dinner. I myself did not know how I managed to eat everything up.

Right after that, I wanted to fall asleep again, but I lost my sleep once the air hostess began announcing loudly over the intercom that we had officially landed in Sydney, Australia!

I stretched my arms and my feet and quickly unfastened my seat belt to get my luggage from the overhead compartment.

I took my bag pack out and while putting the straps on me, I saw Sam, Jessica and Jack just standing there facing me.

I felt very uncomfortable at that moment like as if the whole awkward flight felt like a breeze compared to this situation. I had no idea what to do.

After standing in my spot with a question mark visible on my face, I was quick to realize how dumb I looked.

I realized that all of they were waiting to take their own luggage from the same compartment.

I apologized very quietly under my breath and proceeded to exit the plane feeling very embarrassed. I did not look back and just kept on moving forward.

I caught up to Nikita who was standing at the luggage belt waiting for our suitcases to arrive from the plane. I was super tired after running the whole way there.

"Where have you been? You know how long I had to wait here for you?" Nikita asked me with a concerned almost annoyed face.

I was catching my breath, but I simultaneously responded and asked, "I'm so sorry! How long have you been waiting?"

I was so scared of her answer. If she were waiting for like a good fifteen minutes, I would feel terrible.

She really was an amazing friend. I mean she was the only one who stuck by my side during these horrible times. Disappointing her would make me feel so awful.

"I waited a solid five minutes! Standing in these heels made it seem like forever! Now tell me why you were so late?" she asked.

I did not question her as I agreed that the heels made it very uncomfortable to stand. I could not let Nikita know of the situation that I had to go through so I rubbed it off saying it was a long story as I did not want to explain my embarrassment in detail.

Thankfully, she did not care that much to know and went back to checking the belt for our suitcases.

20 minutes later, we finally got our stuff and exited the airport. Throughout this journey I came to know two things about Nikita. One, she is caring and two, she is impatient!

I mean as we were waiting for our suitcases, she was constantly tapping her feet on the shiny marble floor and swearing at the luggage belt for revolving so slow. So, you can see what I meant by 'impatient'.

As we stepped out of the airport, we inhaled the fresh air of the Australia! It felt so good to be here!

It was warm but not that warm as it was the winter season currently in Australia. I would've never called this winter as it wasn't as cold as it was back home. I would usually freeze to death during the entire winter season. But here it felt like a very normal summer day.

The Vidcon team members who came with us on this trip made us stand outside the airport in the Australian sun for some time.

Everyone were busy chatting with others and I could tell everyone looked excited for this trip. I mean it was very sweet of Erica to do this for us.

15 minutes later, I saw two huge buses arrive. They were covered with the YouTube logo. I guess they were for us.

Just as the buses parked near the airport, Erica arrived and stood in between us and the buses.

"Welcome to Sydney, Australia! I am sure all of you are excited for this trip! So, for today we are going to have kind of like a lazy day. Please split up into 2 groups and hop on to these buses and we'll head on to the resort!" Erica announced.

By looking at everyone's faces, I could tell how excited but tired everyone were, so having a day of rest was very much needed.

As per Erica's instructions, we spilt into 2 groups and went to our buses.

I, of course, went with Nikita to the first bus since she was basically the only friend, I had on this trip apart from a few acquaintances.

Just as I stepped into the bus, my eyes saw Sam and the rest sitting together in the same bus. Why did they always have to be wherever I was?

Anyways, since we were free to choose any seat we liked, I didn't have to sit anywhere near them and have an awful trip again like the flight.

I sat with Nikita at the front while Sam and the rest sat in the back row.

The engine of the bus started, and we were off to our resort!

I swear I have never seen such a beautiful place like Sydney! The sun's light radiated from the bright green trees which were covered in a range of multicolored flowers. It felt like I was in paradise!

Everything just felt so peaceful which was what I desperately needed.

In about 30 mins we reached out resort! I was expecting it to be much longer, but it did not! Things were already seeming better.

The bus ride was pretty amazing for me, well not so much for Nikita though as the humidity was frizzing up her hair. Let's just say she was not happy.

After stepping out of the bus, I was struck by the beauty of the resort's entrance! It looked so exotic! It looked like a grand palace with a huge fountain in the middle with sparkling water flowing so gently.

Wow I literally have never seen such a beautiful place in a while. The calm breeze filled our ears. Nature is truly a gift!

All of us cleared security and check in our rooms. I looked at my key card which read 'room 200'.

I was guided to my room by one of the hotel staff. Once we reached my room, he dropped off my luggage and left after I gave him a good tip. As soon as I got to my room, I turned around to close my door and instead stood in horror to see Sam taking his luggage inside the room right next to mine!

This vacation can't really get much worse, can it?