My Way On The Highway (Incomplete, Stopped)

Chapter 10

"Mom, wait up," I said, containing my laughter as she walked with purpose towards the swim gear store. She only glanced back at me for a split second before going into the store, and I groaned as I stopped myself from trudging as I followed.

When I opened the door, a cool breeze hit me, and I looked around for any signs of my mom. There were diving gear, swimsuits, water shoes and bikinis and speedos everywhere. Yes, they both do not fall into the swimsuit category for me.

When I found her, she was standing right in front of the bikini display, and I cringed internally as she gestured for me to come over while talking to the saleslady. I certainly didn't miss the way her eyes sparkled when she noticed me. At least they were going to tell people that we were going to Asia. At least it would get everyone off our backs.

"What about these, Anna?" Mom said as she held out what looked to me like three sets of strings holding tiny pieces of cloth. I wondered what parent would be okay with their children wearing those.. things. I shuddered internally but shook my head at Mom.

"I'll just go check out the goggles and reef shoes," I said and promptly turned towards the front end of the store. When the guy working there asked if he could help, I asked for my size of the reef shoes I picked out. When he went out back to get them, I got a cool pair of goggles and flippers.

When we checked out, Mom had picked out two sets of bikinis that weren't provocative--thank God-- and board shorts. Mom was more than delighted to have had two teams following us with Dad's insistence. After Mom happily handed one of the guards the paper bag, I got a look at the amount of things we had bought.

They looked to be holding ten bags, and I only picked out around four to five of the things. I checked my watch, and it was already 30 minutes to noon. I told Mom, but she waved it off and started looking for a store again.

"But, Mom, we've been shopping for over two hours. Can't we eat now? I'm hungry," I said, keeping an eye of my surroundings to make sure no one saw or heard me whining.

"Oh, shush, Anna. If you didn't have a flight to catch, we would have taken more than five hours," she said as we walked side by side. She was almost a head shorter than I was, but she was wearing heels, so we were eye to eye when she looked at me. I gave her the best puppy dog eyes I could muster, and her expression softened.

"Alright then. Come on," she said and sighed as my eyes lit up. I felt like bouncing on my feet, but I stopped myself. I settled for grinning from ear to ear as we headed to a restaurant that served amazing pizzas. When we walked in, I could smell the different sauces and the scent of the spices mixing in the air.

I looked at their deep dishes, and I ordered one and baked zitti, with extra sauce, of course. The other pizza was tempting, but I couldn't order it without people thinking I was a pig--which I was, but they didn't need to know. It's not my fault my stomach can hold a lot of food. I could see Mom giving me a disapproving look from the corner of my eye while she looked at the food available.

"Just remember you have to eat them in the car, dear. We have to go," she said and went over to pay. I noticed the kitchen staff cramming through the door from behind the counter, watching me. One even seemed to be holding a camera. One of the people in their uniform, who looked to be the manager, was on it though, and he made them go back into the kitchen. He apologized for the inconvenience, and then we left.

"Mom, what's Bora Bora like?" I said after chewing the pizza in my mouth. I only had a few bites of pizza left, I thought and sighed in my head.

"It's beautiful, dear. The weather may be unpredictable though. It might rain all of a sudden and be hot the next few seconds. But not anything severe. The whole place is as clean as can be, and the air hasn't been tainted yet, I hope," she said.