<div class="floatleft">(http://www.thephotographylink.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/01jpg.jpeg)</div><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><em><strong>Maria Veronica Diaz - outside</strong></em></span></span><br/><hr/><br/><br/>"Thank you Gardner, but you really shouldn't be doing this. Tonight you are all my guests." Veronica Diaz took the glass she was offered anyway, smiling at the butler who obviously had a little trouble stepping out of his usual role on the yacht. The yacht... A gorgeous vessel out of Nicka's father's fleet. The Silver Carina lay in a small private marina near Honolulu, a magical location for what was supposed to be a fantastic voyage for Nicka's thirtieth birthday. Her father had insisted on lending her the Carina and assured her the crew was well able. The only downside, if one could call that a dowside, was that the yacht was located in this part of the world since Mr. Diaz's latest off-shore meeting. The crew had been flown from the US by the company and Nicka had personally seen to first class travel for her guests. Her selected group for this vacation was an odd combination, but she just knew they would get along well. Her brother was the first she called, naturally. It didn't matter how much of a spoiled brat he could be, she loved him with every fiber of her body and couldn't imagine doing something like this without him. He was the one who constantly told her to 'live a little'.<br/><br/>Next on her list was her favorite party animal, a fantastic young woman who definitely knew how to have fun. There was really no other Nicka would prefer alongside her in this, if she wanted this to be about good times and no worries or stress. Which brings up the third guest. Ian was there on business, to make the trip work for the company as much as possible. Nicka had agreed to this idea right away because Ian was very pleasant company, someone she had known for years and didn't mind spending more time with. Plus the poor guy had finally divorced his wife, who Nicka had personally never liked very much.<br/><br/>So that was the guest list, and a good list it was. The crew remained a mystery still. She'd never taken the Carina before and never met any of the crew except the Captain, and him she'd really only seen amongst others in a couple of her father's events for one charity or another. Since she was the one who pretty much took care of every aspect of those events, Nicka didn't have time to wonder about the handsome mister Warick. Well, until now. She had decided to invite the crew to dinner with her and her guests the night before they set sail, so to speak. She wanted to get to know them a little bit before she trusted them with her life out in the open sea.<br/><br/>Three people were there now, the butler, the deck officer and the engineer, and Nicka stood chatting with the former two, Charles and Eddie. The engineer, Robert Brighton, sat a little way off and didn't seem to like this at all. A hired local caterer had brought a huge Hawaiian feast on board along with cute dressed up servers and decorations. Obviously her father's influence, because all she asked for was a nice dinner.<br/>