The leaves on the palm trees outside his hotel window waved mockingly on the afternoon breeze. ‘Here you are in paradise’ they seemed to say, ‘but all you can do is pace about your too-large-for-one hotel room, talk on your phone, and tap on your computer.’
And the room was too large for one person, because there should have been two people in it. Except Helen had cancelled at the last minute. “Sorry Darling, but this contract’s just too important. You understand, right?”
Of course he understood. He always understood. That didn’t mean he had to like it.
And when his boss found out he wasn’t on a romantic getaway with a proposal planned at the end after all… Well, it turned out his work had some important contracts too.
A paraglider soared past, higher than the tops of the trees, the bright reds and blues of the sail vivid against the barely less bright blue sky.
Screw it. And screw his life. Not that he had one – just work. It was time to make some changes.
He shut down the laptop and, for possibly the first time in its electronic life, his phone. Then he dug out his sunglasses from the bottom of his carry-on bag and headed for the door.
Today he’d relax, have a holiday, really get into what he’d been missing. And he’d do it tomorrow, and the next day as well and hopefully, by the end of the holiday, he’d know what to say when he broke up with both Helen and his job.
The DNA of Stories 