Finishing her short shower, Hidayah came out from the bathroom and walked towards the vanity table near the room's ceiling to floor window. As she took a seat in front of the vanity, Nazreen walked towards her.
"Come, let me help with the drying…" Nazreen took over the hairdryer from the hanger and turned it up without the hot air function. He then slowly brushed her hair up with his fingers to allow the air to blow the damp off.
Every movement of his she looked upon with warmth. Unknowingly, the corner of her lips had upturned. She was truly enjoying the quiet time with him like this. Is it wrong for her to ask for more?
"Okay, all done!" Nazreen said with a small smile on his face. When he looked into the mirror, their eyes locked on to each other. Their heart rate quickened and they held their breath in… no… more like they have forgotten how to breathe…
Tuk tuk tuk
A knock on the door woken them from their trance. Nazreen walked towards the door and open it to see one of the staff standing in front with his head lowered. "The table has been set. You may proceed to the dining room when you are ready, sir" he said.
"Thank you, we will be down shortly." With that, Nazreen closed the door and turned towards Hidayah. She was also putting up a light makeup, finishing up with lipgloss.
**********
After early lunch, the group settled down in the lounge room for tea. Hidayah and Erika were already going over the itinerary with the other ladies on one side while the men were huddled on the other side just enjoying the short respite of quietness before the women start going about with the day's activities.
"So, have you made any progress?" Anston asked Nazreen who is staring at his wife from afar. Nazreen nodded silently. When Hidayat saw, he scooted over closer and whispered, "at which stage are you in now?" smiling cheekily.
Nazreen pulled his eyes away from his wife and looked at his brother-in-law's irritating face and answered, "I am still alive now, aren't I? What do you think?"
The men laughed at his reply. Zhao Weiren, Rebecca's husband, just arrived in the lounge seeing all the men sitting in one corner laughing together, joined them. Rebecca is the twin's Aunt Yingtai's eldest daughter. Even though she and her younger brother, Levi, had grown up overseas and came back only after Levi finished his elementary school in the US, they had grown closer with the rest of the family. Zhao Weiren is also working in ARK Empire in the Technology Group while Rebecca works with her mother in the Military Hospital as a surgeon.
"What did I missed?" Zhao Weiren asked.
"Nothing much except Nazreen still has yet to do the deed…" Hidayat responded. Gosh! This cousin-in-law of his is so direct! He could not help but blush when he looked at Nazreen who is trying to strangle Hidayat.
As Hidayat's voice was a lil bit too loud, even the group of ladies busy chatting had heard him and teased Hidayah along…
"Hidayat! Loh! Jun! Jie! Do you want to die?!" Hidayah screamed. Seeing Hidayah had stood up from her seat, Hidayat quickly jumped and ran out of the room. The rest of the group laughed even louder at the twins' antics.
When Nazreen saw that Hidayah had gone off chasing her brother and remembered that she wasn't feeling well earlier, also stood up from his seat and went to stop her. Fearing that she will tire herself and will not be able to enjoy the day.
The group huddled up at the foyer about an hour after lunch to proceed with the agenda. Clarence, Hidayah's PA had arranged for the group's tour in Florence in advance. He also bought a luxury coach to accommodate the group of 17 for their stay in Florence.
When the group boarded the coach, they were impressed with the man's capability.
*Of course! The bus was customed made-to-order by Clarence. The 20-seater is equipped with an entertainment system setup. With options like DirectTV, DVD, WIFI, and HDMI plugins, you can do about anything when it comes to visual entertainment. It also comes with mega sound systems, supported by subwoofers built into the ceilings and floors. It is like being in a travelling cinema at 90km per hour. The bus is also protected with a bullet-proof exterior and reinforced glass windows. Being 45 feet long and 12 feet high, the coach's wheelbase is at a perfect length that it lets a 45-foot motorcoach make a tight turn, but it also gives it enough stability at highway speeds. And the best of all? Each seat is a leathered massage chair!*
When the tour guide introduced himself, he asked the group if they wished to have the tour in English or Italian. Almost immediately everyone replied in delight for an Italian tour so they could enjoy the tour at the purest form. It was not that they doubted the man's linguistic capability, but they would prefer to enjoy the tour in their native language.
"Don't worry, Miguel, just treat us like some college kids here to enjoy the city while we enjoy with friends and partners," Hidayat patted the man's shoulder before he settled himself on his choice of seat.
With that, their day tour to Cinque Terre starts...