England or Bust
Authors: Georgiana Louis
Eside Media Pty Ltd
trading as Steam eReads
Copyright © Georgiana Louis 2013
First Published 2013
ISBN 978-0-9923850-5-7
Except for use in any review, no part of this book may be used,
reproduced, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form, or by any
means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise)
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade
or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are
either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual events, locales, organisations, or persons living or
dead is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.
Cover Art by Niina Cord /
http://www.niinascoverdesign.weebly.com
Find out more about the author and upcoming books online at
One
December 1
st
Michelle groaned aloud as her eyes confirmed the fear that had been formulating in her brain. She’d been hoping that she was dreaming, or hadn’t understood the Airline staff correctly. But what she had been told, was indeed correct.
Her flight to London had just been cancelled!
“Are you serious?” she asked no one in particular as she stood in the centre of the airport, staring up at the flashing screen. The screen that was decorated in the first array of Christmas decorations for the Season. Red and green tinsel, so tacky.
Anger and frustration combined, causing hot tears to gather in her eyes. She had planned everything so well, she had almost been free.
Almost.
She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand, feeling helpless and alone - not an unusual state for her as of last week – but a state she wanted to leave behind in Australia, never to be seen again.
“Can I help you?” An elderly woman with black hair shot through with grey, who obviously worked for the airline, reached out a hand and laid it on Michelle’s arm. The pressure was a welcome distraction and she inhaled deeply.
Clearing her throat, Michelle turned towards the woman. “I, ahh… I was supposed to be leaving for England today, but they’ve my flight.”
The woman with kind brown eyes nodded. “I know sweetheart, there is a huge storm moving over the city. They have grounded all flights for the next twelve hours. Would you like me to organize a taxi to take you home, or would you like a hotel voucher?”
Michelle looked around the airport and her breath hitched in her chest. It was going to be chaos soon and she needed to find somewhere quiet. “I don’t have anywhere to go, so a hotel voucher would be lovely.”
The lady smiled kindly again and pointed to an area to their right. “Take everything over to the British Airways desk over there and tell them Maria sent you to get a hotel voucher for tonight. I’d do it quickly though.”
Michelle looked around at the people gathering in the foyer. Angry and confused voices rose high around them and she realized the lady was right. She needed to move fast.
“Thank you so much.”
“Good luck.” The woman, who was as close to a fairy godmother to Michelle as she had ever come across, wandered away.
Michelle hurried over to the desk and waited behind two other people. She jiggled and fiddled, visions of herself sleeping in a chair overnight making her bite her lip.
The people moved away and she stepped up.
“Hello, my name is Michelle Smith. Maria told me to come here and ask for a hotel voucher as my flight has been cancelled.”
The male clerk looked surprised and his eyes darted around the room at the growing crowd.
“Could I have your passport and plane tickets?”
Michelle handed over her plane tickets and took a deep breath. She was still okay. She would get to England soon enough. She had to remember that and not let the panic overwhelm her.
The man printed out several tickets then placed them on the counter top.
“Here is the voucher and your new flight details. Assuming the weather gets better and doesn’t get any worse, your new flight leaves in twelve hours.” The man handed her the voucher and tickets with a smile and she couldn’t help but smile back.
Michelle took all of the tickets gratefully. The hotel voucher would buy her a few hours of peace and much needed moments of reprieve until she could get away.
She moved out of the queue and stood, wavering like a tree in the wind. Picking up the papers, she stared down at them. Her eyes blurred due to lack of sleep, then she closed them.
Breathe, just breathe.
Michelle heard her mother’s voice inside her head and it was enough to keep her calm.
What was the first thing she wanted to do? Food, she needed food. Then she would retire to the hotel to wait out the storm.
She forced her legs to move and started walking towards the food court.
“Food, food…” she muttered to herself. There were several fast food outlets and a small old fashioned American diner.
Definitely the diner. She needed some real food and a glass of wine to settle her frayed nerves. Maybe two.
She slipped into a booth just as the overhead speaker announced an entire airport shut down.
Just in the nick of time!
The noise of groaning people in the restaurant almost overwhelmed Michelle’s over sensitive senses and she cringed in discomfort. She bent down and retrieved her phone from her bag so that she could play one of the many games she had. That would calm her down.
“Can I get you something Ma’am?” A young, tall waiter stood by her table and Michelle blinked as though he were an apparition. She really did need to get her head back into the real world.
“Ahh, yes.” She opened the menu and ordered the first thing she saw. “An old American hamburger please.”
“A drink Ma’am?”
Definitely!
“Yes, a glass… actually make it a bottle of the….” Michelle scanned the very short wine list, “Penfolds Shiraz please.”
The waiter nodded and took the menus from her hands and a heavy sigh escaped her lips. So much for her tight budget, this would just have to be part of her contingency plan. A girl had to make exceptions when the heavens opened up and produced such a massive storm.
“Excuse me. Would you mind if I sat with you? Everywhere else is full.”
Michelle jumped, startled by the sound of a man’s deep voice. Then she looked up into the prettiest blue eyes she had ever seen. Having spent a week in a jaded stupor with her damaged heart ripped in two, she still saw the beauty in front of her. Her lower belly tightened in appreciation.
Yes, she was going to need that bottle of wine.
“Yeeesss… yes of course,” Michelle stuttered, looking around the restaurant to see it was no lie. Since she had arrived, the place was now full to brimming. Clearly everyone had had the same idea as her, yet she had made it into the restaurant first. Wow. Since when was she lucky?
“I’m Robert McLennan. Rob.”
The gorgeous man, who was probably in his mid-thirties, held his hand out to her across the table.
Michelle eyed it for a moment before placing her hand in his. Hot awareness tingled along her palm and blood flooded her cheeks.
“Michelle Smith.”
Rob smiled at her as he sat down and called to one of the waiters. “Could I get a menu please?”
The waiter walked back to his computer, picked up a menu and put it down in front of Rob on his way to attend another customer. The under-staffed employees were flying around the room. It was obvious the managers hadn’t anticipated the airport shut down. No one had.
“Not the healthiest selection in the world, is it? What did you order?” Rob’s voice was clear and cut through Michelle’s musings on the staff. He looked up from his menu, his expression open his eyes bright and happy.
Michelle felt tendrils of light filter through her. She had been so unhappy lately, revelling in the blackness of her despair. Now, just looking at the man in front of her, that unhappiness was breaking apart. She mourned its loss.
“A burger and a bottle of red.”
Just as she spoke a waitress arrived with her wine and two glasses. “One glass or two Ma’am?”
Michelle shrugged and looked over at the interloper opposite her. “Would you like to join me?”
Rob nodded and the waitress began pouring their drinks. “Why not? I’ll buy the next one.”
A rough laugh erupted out of Michelle’s throat. She coughed; the feeling and sound foreign to her.
“Next bottle? You really think we’ll be getting through two bottles?”
Rob lifted his glass in the air and smiled that smile. The one that made her belly clench tight with awareness. She picked up her glass in a hurry.
“Well, what else is there to do while we wait for the storm to pass?”
Michelle’s eyes dropped to Rob’s full lips and she swallowed the saliva that had pooled in her mouth. She shouldn’t even be thinking about how good those lips would feel, but she was.
She nodded. “I suppose you’re right.”
“How strange is it to be caught in this sort of storm in December though? I thought we left winter months ago.”
Michelle nodded again, unable to match the happy, chatty tone of the person sitting opposite her.
“To fate.” Rob said and clinked his glass with hers.
Another of those strange laughs bubbled up inside Michelle and she drank down a sip of her wine in a hurry. Why was she so nervous?
She forced herself to speak. “Fate? Really?”
Rob laughed and ordered the same burger she had, then looked back at her.
“Yeah, why not? We could have been on a plane crashing into the ocean at this moment. I’m definitely one to believe in whatever happens, happens for a reason.”
Michelle’s chest squeezed tight. “Really?” Her words choked out, tears welling in her eyes. She dropped her head and went to clasp her hands in her lap, but Rob reached out and gripped one of them in his.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Michelle wanted to pull her hand away, her senses recoiling from the touch of a man she barely knew.
“Tell me what’s wrong.” Rob used his thumb to caress the back of her hand, which once again calmed her nerves down. As he felt her relax, he withdrew his hand.
The loss of that warmth made a pained sound rise in her throat and she grabbed her hand back quickly. What was wrong with her?
“Nothing’s wrong.” She picked up her glass and swallowed twice, most of the wine disappearing down her throat.
Rob waited until she set her glass down, then filled it up again.
“All right. Where are you going and why?”
Michelle twirled the glass in her fingers, the red wine seeping into her blood stream and causing a hot flush on her usually pale cheeks.
“I am moving to England, permanently. I have a few cousins over there - I need a change.”
Rob moved their drinks out of the way as the food arrived. In front of Michelle sat one of the biggest burgers she had ever seen. Yellow melted cheese oozed over the red meat. The egg, lettuce and tomato was threatening to slide out of the bun and onto the plate.
“Wow.” Rob breathed and picked up his burger with both hands.
He opened his mouth wide and took a massive bite, moaning in appreciation as he put it back down again.
Michelle watched him acting without fear or thought. He was so artless, so hungry for every little pleasure. Her cheeks flushed again at the thought.
In all her twenty five years, she had only ever had two lovers and both were long term relationships. She had never really enjoyed love making. Whether her lovers were selfish (well her last one definitely had been), or she hadn’t learnt to enjoy it, she didn’t know. Either way her starved body was aching for a real man’s touch.
A man like the one sitting opposite her.
She buried her red cheeks in her glass of wine once again. Was it the horrible year that she had had? Or the unusual circumstances of being stranded for the next twelve hours? Either way, something was happening to her.
“Try the burger Michelle. It’s really good.” Rob brought the burger back up to his mouth and took another huge bite.
Michelle picked up her knife to cut hers in half. She needed to slice it into more manageable pieces if she was even going to attempt to eat such a monster.
“No, just pick it up.” Rob said even though he still had a full mouth.
Was he kidding?
Michelle eyed the burger once again and put both hands around it. She was about to make a fool of herself in front of this gorgeous stranger.
“Here goes nothing…”