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A Journey Like No Other  by
Amiee Koos |
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Chapter 1 - Get Ya There Travel |
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Chapter 2 A New Day Immediately she turned the television on to break her paranoia of the deafening silence. She went to the hallway to check for voice messages; the phone display had the same red zero it usually had on it. After changing into sweatpants and a t-shirt, Olivia sat down on the couch with her veggie lo mein. She had thought about putting it on a dish and eating like a civilized person, and then she figured that would only create a dish for her to have to wash later. Flipping through the channels, Olivia finally found something to watch on the TV. It was seven o’clock and 7th Heaven was just coming on. Olivia always found this show to be uplifting and inspiring. It never failed, when life threw the Camdens a curve ball, they always seemed to hit a grand slam. Sometimes Olivia would sit with Brian and watch this show. She felt that he secretly hated it, but would watch it anyway to make her happy -- there were plenty of shows she watched with him that she truly despised! While watching the show, Olivia couldn’t help but think about her cancelled dinner plans. “Could he be seeing someone else? Or am I just totally paranoid and my imagination is getting the best of me?” Olivia thought to herself. After nearly five years together and no mention of marriage or long-term future, Olivia couldn’t stop thinking about the relationship. She finished her dinner and relaxed on the couch watching TV. With the loud ringing of the phone, Olivia opened her eyes. She looked at the clock, “1:13am? Who would be calling at this hour?” she thought. In a groggy voice she answered, “hello?” “Hey sweetie, how are you? Sorry to call so late, but I just got home, and thought we could talk for a few minutes.” She certainly wasn’t expecting to hear from Brian tonight, but there he was on the other end of the phone. “You just finished work now? It’s 1am, did you get everything done?” Olivia asked. “Well, I think I have a good case, and all my files are in order, so…I was thinking tomorrow night, well actually tonight, perhaps we can have that dinner we keep talking about?” Brian responded. All at once, Olivia felt relieved that he wasn’t breaking up with her, but on the other hand, maybe he wanted to do it in person? “That would be great, you pick the place and tell me where to meet you.” Answered Olivia. Brian said, “You got it, okay, I’m going to let you get back to sleep now, sweet dreams, goodnight.” “Sweet dreams to you too, see you tomorrow, goodnight.” Olivia hung up the phone, and easily fell back to sleep. The next morning, Olivia picked out a nice black skirt and blouse to wear. She wouldn’t be going home before dinner, so she wanted to look nice. Even after five years, she always tried to look nice for Brian when they were going out somewhere. She walked down the street and absorbed the warm rays of the sun. It had been a few days since the sun had been out, and Olivia was loving it. She walked into her office and was greeted by Keith. “Good Morning Olivia, feeling better today?” With a smile on her face she said, “yes, so much better, the sun is out, and all is right with the world!” He returned the smile and walked into his office. Olivia walked around making sure everyone was in and ready to start the day. She walked back to her desk, and began piecing together the trip she was working on yesterday for the high school students. Before she knew it, it was noon. Keith came over to her desk, and advised that he needed to speak to her in his office. She always hated when her boss requested her presence in his office, it usually just lead to more work ending up on her desk! She grabbed her notepad and a pen, and followed him. “You look awfully dressed up today, you’re not going on a job interview are you?” Keith asked her joking around. “No, not today, but Brian and I are finally going to dinner tonight to discuss plans for our 5th anniversary.” Olivia replied. Keith nodded in approval, “that’s great to hear, good luck!” Now wondering why she was in Keith’s office, she said, “So, what did you need to see me about?” “Well Olivia, at dinner last night, I was discussing business, and turns out this buddy of mine has some great contacts in Europe. I want to send you on a business trip for a week to go meet with them.” Keith explained. “Wow, really? Sounds like something I can handle! Where will I be going? Oh, and when?” “I’m glad you’re so excited about it! You leave exactly three weeks from today. I’ll need you to fly into Paris, and from there go to Antwerp, Amsterdam, Munich and some of the smaller towns around Munich.” The look of excitement now escaped from Olivia’s face. “What’s wrong Liv? A moment ago you were quite excited.” Asked Keith. “Keith, is there anyway to move the date back a bit, or reschedule? My anniversary is in exactly three weeks and five days and I can’t even imagine missing it.” Keith sits back in his chair and says “I really wish the dates were flexible, but I need you to go, and these suppliers are only available for that week. I’m sorry, but perhaps you can celebrate early with Brian? I’ll have the itinerary to you later this afternoon.” Olivia stood up and thanked Keith for the opportunity. She walked out of his office, her head now spinning, trying to think of what she was going to tell Brian. All Olivia could think was “Sure, I finally get him to have dinner, and now I have to tell him I’m going to be away for our anniversary.” She went back to her desk and stared at her computer. While she knew this trip would be a great opportunity to learn more about these destinations, she also knew that missing their anniversary would hurt Brian. On the other hand, five years is a long time to be with someone, and Brian is a very understanding person. Olivia was praying that she would be having dinner with the understanding Brian, and that he wouldn't get too upset with the situation. With many thoughts running through her mind, Olivia tried to focus on her work and get through the rest of the day. |
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What do you think will happen next? |
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