Page 36 of To Hell With It
‘It is a stupid idea.’
‘It’s a brilliant idea. You’re scared, I get that, but think about it, Pearl, it’s like it was meant to happen, Jack turning up, leaving you a note, Mr O’Callaghan dying … you can’t get more fate than that!’
‘If Jack wanted to see me again he’d have texted me by now.’
‘He’s probably on the plane and can’t. I bet he’ll be in touch when he gets back. Look, it says here you can get an open ticket for eighteen hundred euros and with one stop at Kuala Lumpur.’
She turned my laptop to face me.
‘I could buy a car for that.’
‘You don’t drive.’
‘And where the hell isKoalaLumpur?’ I exaggerated the Koala bit.
‘KWAA-LUH-LUUM-PAH you eejit, and it’s in Malaysia. You don’t even have to leave the airport, it’s a few hours to wait and then you can get your connecting flight.’
‘What’s an open ticket anyway?’
‘It means you can be flexible with when you come back, in case you decide to go somewhere else in New Zealand.’
‘Why would I go somewhere else?’
‘You just might, I don’t know. But what I’m saying is it’s better to have an open ticket so that you’re not tied to dates.’
‘Una,’ I said sternly. ‘I haven’t been abroad since I was eight and that was with my parents. I can’t even leave my own house without having some sort of bloody meltdown and that’s just to get to the shop and then to meet you. How the hell do you think I am going to fly to New Zealand, on my own, find Jack, find somewhere to stay, and then get home?’
‘I will help you.’
‘How? You’d be here and I’d be there.’
‘We can text.’
‘There’s an eleven-hour time difference.’
‘I’ll keep my phone on loud.’
‘You sleep through your own alarm.’
‘I’ll keep it on vibrate by my head then, that’ll wake me up.’
‘I’m not going, Una.’
‘This one says you could fly in a week.’ She ignored me.
‘I’m not going.’
‘It’s two-hundred euros cheaper if you fly midweek.’
‘Una.’
‘I’ll email it to you.’
‘No, thank you.’
‘I’ll make a list of things you’ll need and we’ll get you sorted.’
‘No.’
