Holiday Delights: Volume One - The Escape Read Free

online and ordered a nice, 60-litre backpack to be
express delivered to her apartment the next day. Then, Alex helped
her choose practical pieces of clothing (“You can buy more stuff
when you get there, if you want to go somewhere nice”). Finally,
they booked her ticket – a one-way ticket to Hanoi, Vietnam (that
was the only one they could get in two days), which Alex said was
fine (“You can take a bus and travel all the way to Bali…I
think”).
    Finally, at 3 am, Alex had to do her own
packing, as she had to leave for her 6am flight. Kelsey went with
Alex down to the driveway of her apartment.
    “ See you in Bangkok!” Alex
waved goodbye as her taxi sped away.
    Kelsey went back upstairs to her place and
as soon as she closed the door behind her, she said out loud.
    “ Oh my Lord! I’m going to
Asia!!”
    *****
     
    The next two days were a blur. She didn’t
really want to sell her apartment, but she decided she would rent
it out for 6 months. It was a good thing Kelsey lived in a
sough-after neighborhood in New York and she had barely walked out
of the realtor’s office when her apartment was snapped up. Next,
she got her backpack and started packing her things, remembering
Alex’s tips.
    Finally, on a sunny Thursday morning, Kelsey
locked up her apartment, said goodbye to her doorman, and stepped
out of the comfort of her apartment building and into her new
adventure.
    *****
    Kelsey was one of those New Yorkers who
never left New York. “I can get everything here, why go anywhere
else?” The truth was, she was afraid of flying. She had taken a
plane to DC once and then she was such a nervous wreck she took the
train home. And now, sitting in at the boarding are, she couldn’t
stop her brain from thinking about how she was going to be stuck
inside this hollow metal tube with wings.
    Beads of sweat started forming on her
forehead. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. Her brain kept repeating it like a
mantra. They started calling people to board. She sat, stuck to her
seat. She took a deep breath. She imagined going back to her
apartment, having to face her-wait, Carl’s friends, because really,
ever since they were together they only hung out with his friends.
Her grip tightened on her bag. She stood up, lined up, and gave her
boarding pass to the lady at the gate.
    She stepped into the plane, and walked down
the aisle. She was looking up, searching for her seat number, not
noticing that her traveling bag, a large shoulder purse, had
slipped down her shoulder.
    “ Ow—Bloody hell, woman,
watch where you put that thing!” said an annoyed voice.
    “ What? Oh!” Kelsey gasped.
She turned back and saw the man she hit with her bag. Annoyed, blue
eyes stared up at her. “Shit! I’m so sorry! I didn’t
mean-”
    He snorted, rubbing his head. “Don’t you
ever look where you’re going?”
    “Hey, I said I’m sorry-“
    The woman behind her cleared her throat and
Kelsey stepped into her seat, which was right across the aisle from
the man. Well this is going to be awkward. She thought, settling
into her seat. Kelsey put her seatbelt on, and stared at the front
of her seat, doing her best not to look beside her. She couldn’t
help it, however, and she snuck a glance over at him. Hmmm…dark
black hair, blue eyes, maybe early 30s….not bad looking she
thought. Her eyes must have glazed over for a second because
suddenly, she realized that he was looking back at her.
    “ Can I help you?” he asked
wryly.
    Kelsey couldn’t remember what she did later
on, but she thought she let out an “eep!” and hid behind a
magazine. For all her life, Kelsey had been awkward with men.
Except for Carl, who relentlessly pursued her (at the behest of his
grandmother, who wanted to keep her investing skills in the
family). She could figure out numbers, but men always escaped her
usually razor-sharp mind.
    The flight went on without much incident.
She didn’t sleep, but then again no one slept on these long
flights. Finally, 15