by Amy McAdams
Romance: One Fine Holiday
Amy McAdams
Romance: One Fine Holiday
Amy McAdams
Copyright © 2014
Published by Run Free Publishing
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Would you give it all away for the man of your dreams?
This story is dedicated to my wonderful friends, who have always been there for me and have supported me through thick and thin.
Romance: One Fine Holiday
Amy McAdams
Chapter 1
This moment has been the focus of my last six months.
And it has been six long months.
In that time I have worked a lot of late nights, been dumped by my long-term but unemployed boyfriend, and was the passenger in a minor car accident.
Through all that, the thought of this moment has gotten me through.
There have not been many highlights in the past six months. In fact, there have not been many highlights in the past five years. Life has been slowly chugging past, and I have forgotten how to enjoy it.
Since graduating law school top of my class, I have been employed at one of New York’s finest law firms. I fought so hard to win this position and I was over the moon when I was given the nod. It was everything that I dreamed of through school.
But what they fail to tell you at law school, or in the job interviews for that matter, is that you are not signing up for a job. You’re signing up for a life.
They take it all.
They take your lunch hours, your nights, your weekends and your holidays. Work consumes every part of your life until you are thinking about it on the train, in your bed and at your family Christmas lunch.
And if you’re not thinking about it, you are left behind.
Nobody cares if you’re left behind in my world. The firm chews through the lives of employees and spits them out the other end. Not one of my colleagues will stop to help if I fall behind in work. Nope. You’re kicked off the team the second you fall behind. But that’s the price I pay for the privilege of working for one of the most respected law firms in the country.
I have made the commitment that I will forget about work over the next week.
I will forget about the constant stream of emails. I will forget about the endless piles of work. I will forget about my clients and their worries.
It is the first time in five years that I have taken a one week break. Before now, I never had the time for a holiday.
My now ex-boyfriend, Nick, was a jerk. If he wasn’t drinking, he was complaining about how hard the world was. He was able to keep down a job for around two weeks at a time, and then he wouldn’t show up again. He said that the jobs were bad for his soul.
We dated for seven years. Seven years of my life was wasted on him!
We met as students in college. He was a philosophy major and I was a law student. As a student, I was smitten by him. He seemed so worldly and smart.
So wonderful and funny.
As a young woman still finding my way in the world, I fell in love. Nick was my first real love. My only love.
I was geeky, but hard-working throughout school. I never had the pleasure of being the object of attraction for men, and so when a skinny, long-haired, older and wise philosophy student showed interest in me – wow! I was hooked.
My parents never liked Nick. In fact, my father hated him. My mother thought he was scruffy but she would support me even if I started dating a frog. She would support me through anything.
My parents raised me to be an independent woman. They taught me how to be smart. They showed me how to be successful. And I am all that and more.
But I’m lonely.
Nick and I had been distant for over a year. We barely talked, and when we did, he would shout about how my job was corrupt and a part of the evil corporate beast.
He sapped my confidence bit by bit over the past year. I was never overly confident but now, I doubt myself even when ordering coffee. I feel down more times than most.
Nick would tell me how bad my clothes were and explain how dumb I was. He would yell that because I hadn’t read all the works of the philosopher Nietzsche then I couldn’t possibly understand the world.
I held onto that relationship because it was all I had to stop me from being alone at night.
He used to make me feel good. He used to make me feel sexy. But after the years past, he would belittle me constantly. He would tell me that I wasn’t doing enough to look attractive for him. He would call me ugly and then make comments about how good other girls looked.
I felt worthless when I was with him.
Thankfully, he ended the relationship. Well, he ended it when he decided to sleep with another girl in our bed. I later found out that it wasn’t the first time he cheated on me.
He began to tell me how many other women he slept with, but I stopped him. I didn’t want to know. I already felt bad enough.
Over the next week I want to forget about all that.
I want to leave it all behind.
The next week is about me, my two closest friends and a tropical holiday resort.
Mel and Kate have been my closest friends since our school days. We have always been there for each other, and although our lives have taken different paths, we will always remain close friends.
This trip is our collective celebration of hitting our thirtieth birthdays. It is our chance to leave our lives behind and disappear together for a week.
It is our time to forget.
Chapter 2
“Ella!”
“Mel!” I shout in surprise.
We embrace with the emotion of two best friends who have not laid eyes on each other for over a year. It feels good to hold her again.
“It is so great to see you in person, Ella,” Mel smiles.
I can feel the tears in my eyes welling up. Although I still talk to Mel on the phone every fortnight, I have not found time in my busy work schedule to see her.
Mel moved out of the city to her husband’s small farm, where he runs cattle and sheep. I never imagined Mel leaving the city but she said she would move anywhere for her man.
And a farm wouldn’t be a bad place to raise her three rowdy boys.
We hold onto our hug for a long time – it feels so nice to embrace this beautiful woman.
When we finish hugging, I can see the tears in her eyes, which only makes my tears flow stronger. With emotion flowing out of us, we embrace again.
I would usually be embarrassed by this amount of public affection, but at an airport, people are used to this. There are people hugging and crying all over this place.
“Have you seen Kate yet?” I ask.
“Not yet. She said we would see her at the boarding gate.”
Kate is our other best friend who is coming on this trip. She is the loud, opinionated and brave one of the three of us, and she always sends Mel and I into fits of laughter with her lack of fear.
“When was the last time you saw Kate?” Mel asks, as we drag our bags towards the boarding gate of the international airport.
“It must be at least eighteen months since I have seen her. That’s when she left New York,” I try to remember the last lunch I had with Kate, “You?”
“Two years.”
“Two years?”
“Yep. Ever since I moved out to the farm, life has been all about family. When you have kids, they take over your life. Eve
rything I do now is about them. But I really, really miss you guys.”
I smile, “I really, really miss you too.”
“Excuse me, ladies,” the voice comes from over my shoulder, “Can you please tell me the boarding gate for a plane to the Bahamas?”
“Kate!” Mel and I yell collectively.
Our hug is more like a football tackle. We are filled with emotion and it is so wonderful to have these two people back in my arms.
“The two most beautiful women in the world,” Kate comments as a tear drops down her cheek, “It is so good to see you.”
Truth is, Kate is the beautiful one of the group.
She spent time modelling in her early twenties when we all left high school but has since gone on to start a successful photography company, moving from New York to Florida to chase her dream.
Tall, blonde and very pretty, Kate was always the one to fill our group with confidence. She is a no-nonsense, straight-talker but she is also very confident and very fun.
Wow, I have missed these women.
“Looking good Kate,” Mel comments.
“So are you.”
“Thanks, but I’ve pushed out three boys!” Mel laughs.
The laughter only makes us hug again and it feels magical.
I squeeze the ladies tight as it has been so long since we have all been together. Life throws up a lot of challenges but none more so than trying to stay in contact with your best friends from school as lives travel in different directions.
“A week in the Bahamans…”
“Oh yes! All sun, surf and sand!”
“Not for me,” I state, and the girls look at me confused, “For me it will be Margaritas, Daiquiris and Pina Coladas!”
We laugh heartily, “And hopefully some nice men to look at.”
“Don’t get a lot of good looking men out where I am,” Mel comments, “It’s mostly country lads.”
“Travis was always a good looker,” I comment, referring to Mel’s husband.
“I love him to bits but Travis has gotten older, and he’s put on a few kilos.”
“Haven’t we all,” I add, jiggling the small layer of flab on my side.
“Don’t be silly,” Kate adds, “Women are supposed to be a little bit curvy. We are in our thirties now - we don’t want to look like a twelve year old girl. We want to look like women. And real, sexy women have curves!”
“I’m not thirty yet,” Mel states, “My birthday is not until next month, remember.”
Although we all grew up together, we have branched off to different life stages. Even though Mel is the youngest, she is the most advanced in life of the three of us.
She is married to a nice man, has given birth to three energetic boys, and owns a house in the country. Life is good for Mel.
As it happens, none of our birthdays occur on this trip. Kate, the eldest, had her birthday two months ago and mine was three weeks ago.
Not that I would have noticed. I was in the middle of a case and worked through the night. I received a ten minute phone call from my parents but that was it for me. No cake and no celebration.
And that’s ok.
I’m using this one week trip as my celebration that my twenties are over. Hopefully, that also means all my stupid life decisions are behind me.
We had to juggle my busy work schedule, Mel’s home life and Kate business needs to book the right time for the trip.
But we always make time for each other.
No matter what is happening, we are there for each other - through thick and thin, through disagreements and fights and through love and lost. Although we might not see each other as regularly as we would like, we still talk a lot and whenever trouble pops up, we are there for each other.
They have listened to me cry about Nick many times over the past year, and I could hear the joy in their voices when I told them that it was finally over.
“Yes!” Mel yells as we start to walk onto the plane, “I’m free.”
That sort of boisterous enthusiasm could only come from a woman who knows the confines of handling three young boys - day in, day out.
“Woo!” Kate and I join in the excitement.
“Where are you sitting?” I ask.
“Does it matter?! I’m free!” Mel begins to dance an embarrassing little happy dance on the plane, “And look, it says we are going to the Bahamas.”
“Yes Mamas – we’re going to the Bahamas!” the enthusiasm is infectious.
I don’t think I’ve been this excited since we went on our first school camp together all those years ago…
Chapter 3
“Are you coping since Nick left?” Kate asks as we snuggle into our plane seats.
“I’ve been too busy at work to notice that he’s not there.”
“You need to slow down, Ella. You need to give yourself a chance to enjoy life and find the right man to sit by your side.”
“I don’t need a man right now. I’m… happy.”
My statement is unconvincing and I know that Kate can see right through it, but I am determined not to bring this holiday down. I don’t want to talk about how many things are missing in my life right now.
I am going to enjoy myself and forget about my life for a week.
“Happy?” Kate questions.
I don’t respond and she can tell that I don’t want to talk about it yet.
“You always said that you would love an island man?” Mel quips.
“I would,” I smile, “I would love a man that is fit and strong but relaxed and calm. I would love a man that could catch his own fish and cook it on an open fire. I would love that whole tropical lifestyle.”
“Then we should find you a man this week!”
“No thanks,” I decline the offer, “The island man is only a dream. A man like that could never survive in New York.”
“We’ll have to leave you on the island then.”
“Can’t do that,” I shake my head.
“Why not?”
“New York is my home. Although the busy place wears me down sometimes, it’s what I know and love. I could never leave it.”
“Not even for the perfect man?”
I shake my head.
“How’s your man, Kate? The model?”
“Drew is good. He is very good. He is always travelling around the world, hitting the next runway, but he is good. And we just got a dog.”
“A dog? Ooohh, the next step is marriage.”
“Not just yet, but hopefully soon. I think he’s the one.”
“The dog or the man?” Mel laughs.
Kate smiles, “Speaking of pets, how are yours, Mel?”
“They’re not pets, they’re animals. I can’t say I keep a few hundred head of sheep as pets. I wouldn’t remember all their names! I struggle to get the names of my own children right!”
“And the apartment Ella? How’s that going?”
“Nude man still lives over the street.”
“Nude man?” Mel questions, “Oh, do tell. I haven’t heard about nude man.”
“Out my bedroom window,” I explain, “I can see straight into the apartment across the street. And the man there… he walks around butt-naked most nights of the week.”
“That’s not the full story though is it, Ella?” Kate states.
I have told Kate about nude man numerous times before. Sometimes I will be talking on the phone to Kate and I will catch a glimpse of him across the way. Kate knows when this happens because I always lose my thoughts when I see him.
“Well,” I continue, “He also looks very fit. And I mean very fit. He has a washboard set of abs.”
“And…” Kate encourages me to tell the whole story.
“And… he is… um… huge, if you know what I mean!” I giggle.
The girls burst out laughing together.
The rest of the plane trip is one big catch-up, listening to each other talk about how our lives have changed over the years.
Chapter 4
The warm tropical air wraps around my body like a warm blanket, and my worries drift away in the sunshine.
The resort we are staying at is the only resort on the island however there are a few locals that live around the other side. Travelling here by boat, I spotted one large mansion and numerous little houses on the locals side of the island.
That must be amazing to live on an island like this.
We arrived on the island wide-eyed and in awe. We feel secluded in our section of the island. We agreed to spend a little bit extra on the resort so we could have the ideal getaway. It is the perfect birthday present for us.
The main island with numerous restaurants is only a ten minute boat ride away, but it feels like a world away. Out here in our resort, there are no children, no sleazy men and no rowdy teenagers. This is the resort for those who want to relax.
After a night of laughing in the resort bar, we crash to our rooms early. As I start to fall asleep, I can’t resist the urge to check my emails on my phone.
Damn you work, I can’t let go.
I open up my emails to see hundreds of unread messages already and a number of them are about C.J Rowan.
He is one of the firm’s richest clients and I am one of many who have been working on his files. He is only new to the firm this year, but he has already developed a reputation.
No-one has actually met him, and he likes to send long-winded emails that are cryptic in their questions. I had to re-read one of his emails six times before I understood what he was requesting.
Although I am only assisting on this file, it was stated very clearly to me that we need to do everything we can to hold onto this client. The potential for business to the firm is huge.
If I can help keep this one client, it can set-up my career.
It is an opportunity to good to miss.
With the desire to do my job well hanging over my head, I read over the emails long into the night.