Jess is finally going! That New Zealand holiday is at its dawn, and all she can think of is landscapes, walks and adventures. But what she does not expect to find, is what is waiting around the corner - someone.
Someone who will turn her holiday up...
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"-yeah, they're gonna call us to board the plane in groups."
"I can't believe you're actually going! For six weeks! This is insane!"
"You know, I honestly can't tell whether my friend, who is talking over the phone from her bedroom, or me, the girl about to board the plane to New Zealand, is more excited." Jess Kieran-Lee chuckled into her phone at her friend. "I wish you were coming with me Janny."
As usual, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport was bustling with travellers. An air of expectation hung about the place - of people waiting to return home to families, to get to important meetings, or go on a well deserved, long anticipated holiday.
Janine, Jess's friend, spoke. Her muffled voice just reached Jess's ears through the phone; fighting to be heard above the din - of bags scraping, people talking, and announcements - of the airport.
"Your mother's going with you. She's always the best company."
Jess had to agree with this. Since they had lost her father three years ago, it had been just Jess and her mother. And as an only child, all the attention of her single mother had been solely hers. Sure, she complained that this also meant she got all the scoldings which would have otherwise been shared. But still, she had to admit it had its perks.
Every round of Uno, every drawn-out Monopoly game, silly rom-com and heart-warming romance, she had shared with her mother. They goofed around like, Jess thought, no other mother and daughter did.
They had spent countless hours lying on their stomachs on the living-room floor, talking for hours about all the things that had happened to Jess that day, that she needed to get out of her system - and there were usually many.
"Yeah, my mum's always great fun." She replied.
Jess grinned at her mother, sitting beside her, whose short bob of once jet black hair, now tinged with grey, shone beneath the bright airport lights. Her eyes had a sparkle in them, that Jess associated instantly with her mother's presence.
"Anyway, " Janine continued, "I'm sure once you get there you'll forget all about your best friend, all the way back in Malaysia. You'll be so caught up in the scenery and your family, and the activities..." she paused, "the people."
Jess laughed. "Oh please Janny, I know what that pause is supposed to mean!"
"Well, you never know who you'll meet over there. There could be some, exceptional humans in your uncle's neighbourhood, you really never know."
"Oh my god! How possible," Jess lowered her voice to whisper, "how possible do you think it is that even if I meet someone who is super cool, anything will fall into place?"
"Ahh well, I guess your mother has her limits. But just for the fun of it, you know?"
Jess kept herself from sighing as she thought of the way her mother reacted to these things. She knew she meant well, but she felt extremely sheltered sometimes. She supposed that was just what mothers were - not your best friend... but they were close, probably closer than best friends. "Yeah I suppose."
