The Vacation

The Beach and Sam

Waking up in the hotel room, she looked around for signs of familiarity. She found none. She half-hoped to find Derek in the bath and went to check. When she didn't find him, she didn't know whether to laugh at her stupidity or cry because Derek wasn't there. Slowly she picked up the phone from its cradle and ordered breakfast. Having had the chance to go to the veranda, between a bath and sitting down for breakfast, she look at the beach outside. She was always going to regret not forcing Derek to come here more often. He truly had missed out on an amazing view to say the least. Eating her breakfast when she called her daughters, she quite rued that they were sad. She almost felt guilty for leaving them, of abandoning them to cope with their father's death and of herself having run away-incapable of dealing with the burden. But, well, everyone has their own coping mechanism. Travelling and/or reading and/or writing was hers, stuffing donuts was her elder daughter Angel's, getting up in the middle of the night and bawling was her younger one Shania's. And having crazy sex was Derek's; at least it used to be when they were younger. But it was just a new day now and it wouldn't do to get stuck in the past. She needed to plan the day, make new memories.

Walking out decidedly in the sun, basking in it with Erich Segal made her feel better soon enough. After a while she turned the book on her stomach and paused for a moment because it was her favourite part of the book. Before she knew it, she had dozed off. It was really irritating how often this has been happening over the last few months. She hadn't woken up properly when she felt a shadow over her eyes, opening them she saw the young boy she was supposedly stalking. She couldn't look at him and not smile; he was literally beaming at her.

"You were right. Burnett's awesome! I didn't sleep a wink last night", he proclaimed, almost proudly.

"You didn't sleep last night? The entire night? There was a time when I could that too", she still was smiling, relishing the fact that she could it with someone who wasn't making her feel guilty, unlike her daughters.

"You can't do that? I always thought that being old meant all kinds of freedom. What good is it if you can't even read at night when you want to?"

"Hey mister! Stop making me feel jealous! I can still read books at night. I just go to bed early, that's all. And actually it's better because the next morning my daughters fuss over me as if I have a 'Handle with Care' sign on me."

He laughed that beautiful laugh of his, "Now I know why Mom starts smiling when I'm extra caring. Now she can wave that good-bye."

"Hey! Don't be rude, those occasional 'fussing-s' are all we hope for. You can't deny us those."

"I guess. Anyway it's a thing of the past. Now I hardly talk to her. I 'fussed' over her when I was a kid, unfortunately I grew up."

"I didn't catch your name. Is there something wrong with your mother and you?"

"My name's Sam. And no, there's nothing wrong with my Mom and I."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interfere. It's just that it's usually easier to talk to a stranger about your burden, that's all. Again I'm sorry if you..."

"...no it's nothing like that. My Mom and I recently had a fight. We stopped talking after Megan happened...it's not really helping the case with my mother. Oh! Megan is my 3-year old girlfriend...I mean she's been my girlfriend for three years, she's not three years old herself." 

"I figured that by myself funnily enough", she smiled again. It was one of Derek's tricks: listen to others when your luggage becomes too heavy to carry.

"Yeah, I guess...so, I'm a stranger too. Tell me about yourself."

"Nothing to tell about me as such."