Finally Us

The Quiet Jungle

Ross Lynch was stinky; and not a normal type of stinky. This was the kind of stinky that he wasn't sure just one shower would get out. It was the smell of rotten pork mixed with bananas and peppers and he was sure he even saw one of the elephants turn up their nose and start walking in the other direction from where he came from. While Laura had opted to head into the local town, along with his camera, to soak up more culture, as she told him earlier, he had headed to a private cooking lesson where he had prepared most of the perfect meal for him and Laura later tonight. Sajja, the chef that was way too fun in the kitchen, had showed him all the basics, plus more on how to make almost everything.

They had blessed the knives and the butcher block and all the other instruments they were about to use, and he had washed his hands up to his elbows - something that never ever happened with a Lynch. He had sliced and brushed, cut and sorted, mashed and squeezed and in the end, had three main dishes that not only he couldn't wait to eat, but he couldn't wait to see how she liked them. There were mushrooms and bamboo and vegetables galore in all of the dishes and Sajja had promised a surprise dessert that he was really excited about. Sajja had also gave him a heads up about the wines they had in stock, recommending the white shiraz and the reserve chenin blanc for the meals they had prepared. While Laura wasn't the biggest fan of white wine, he was going to have to make her try it.

Turning on the shower as soon as he stepped inside the tent, Ross stripped of the clothes he was wearing and dunked himself in the falling water. He didn't care if it was still ice cold, he needed the stink to be gone. He wasn't sure that Laura would even want to be around him for more than two minutes if this stink was going to stick with him. He certainly wouldn't. He could smell the peppers and the bananas and the pork...don't even get him started on the pork. He could eat it, but cooking with it like that for more than a half hour was probably not worth it. But then again, he had made the switch for the cooking class so he could make the same thing when they were back home instead of going to a Thai restaurant. Sighing, he silently smacked himself about that and continued to wash up again.

He wasn't sure when she would be back, but he did remind her before he left and she left that their time for the massages was at two...which looking at the clock on the bedside table just now, was only an hour away. He considered himself a guy's guy in every sense of the definition, however, he wouldn't pass up a chance for a massage. After traveling the world with his brothers, they were always traveling and some times when there was only one night between having a concert in two cities hundreds of miles apart, stress was inevitable. It was actually in Asia when Rydel had dragged him and Rocky to the spa in one of their hotels and made them get a massage with her and after that, he was hooked. Not only because of the gorgeous masseuse who had her hands all over his body, but mostly because of how good it actually felt. He remembered playing his guitar better than ever in the concerts that had followed and don't get him started on how many encores followed.

When Ross had made the reservations for everything, he kept the exact massage open, so she could chose what she wanted. He, on the other hand, he knew exactly what he wanted and he was counting down the minutes until he'd be on a flat table and letting all the stress disappear from his body. Pulling the bathrobe hanging on the hook, Ross covered his wet body and turned off the shower head, and just in time too as he heard a few knocks on the post outside. Dragging his fingers through his still wet hair, he tied it shut and was just a little surprised to see Dara and the masseuses standing behind her.

"Hi, Mr. Lynch. Sorry to disturb. Just wanted to introduce you to Anna and Kalaya, the masseuses for you and Ms. Marano."

Ross made his pleasantries with the two women before they started to set up and as they were doing that, he finished cleaning himself up, still praying that the smell was off his body now.