• The airport was crowded. People rushed to leave, others rushed to grab their luggage. After getting my suitcase, I ran into Katherine and her daughter one last time. We waved good bye. Her daughter was tugging on her mother’s hand, wanting to hurry to her grandparents’ house.

    I waved down a taxi. “Where to, sir?” the man asked me. He peered at me through the rear view mirror. He sat in the right seat. Of course he would sit in the right seat- I was in London. I sat in the back, to the left side. The man wore a long coat and scarf even though the weather was warm enough to be called summer.

    “I need to go here,” I murmured, handing a piece of paper to him that had the address of the hotel I was to stay in. The man nodded, shifted gears and started his drive. I took off my thick, brown hat and rain coat, placing them to the right side of the seat. Looking out of the window, I could see that the rain had picked up. The driver turned up the radio, drowning out the pit pat.

    The driver played British rock of some sort. It wasn’t familiar to me, but I never really claimed to be educated in music. Looking around, I realized that I was not familiar with anything in the UK, let alone London. I didn’t know their type of cuisine. I couldn’t fake an English accent. Or was it a British accent? Even the names of streets and buildings were unknown to me.

    The radio blasted a guitar solo. BIIIIZZERRRWEEERRRRBZZDOO hit my eardrums. I inched away from the speaker in my door. The taxi halted at a red light. “Just about two more miles,” the man informed me.

    “Thank you.” I put my jacket and hat back on, reaching inside my jeans pocket to get my wallet. As the taxi pulled up to my hotel, I pulled out his money and handed it to the man. He turned around to grab it, revealing his front side. His name was Jerry and was printed on a little sticker on his long coat.

    I retrieved my suitcase from the cab’s trunk and quickly shuffled into the hotel to avoid getting drenched. As soon as I entered the hotel, I was greeted by a, “Mr. Grant, Duke Grant?” After a reassuring nod, the man behind the front desk flashed a warm smile, “Welcome. We’re very pleased to have you. Your room is all set.” He fished something out from behind the desk. “If you would come this way,” he vanished into a back room then entered the main lobby from a door just two feet or so away from me “Please follow me and I will show you to your room. You may leave your luggage with the bellhop...” The man- the print on his name plate read (name)- looked around. His eye brows furrowed. “Barry, where the bloody ‘ell are you?” he yelled at the door that he had previously exited. I cleared my throat, uncomfortable at the sudden change in (name)’s personality.

    Just as he turned to apologize to me, the bellhop, Barry, appeared from the back room. He rushed to stand beside (name), panting, “I’m sorry, sir. The wife was chewing my ear off ‘bout me goin’ to work today,” he sneezed into a tissue that was now partially stuck to his hand. “I’m real sorry, sir. Won’t happen again.” The poor bellhop looked to me, saying, “This here’s your only bag, sir?”

    “Yes. Thank you,” I replied, reluctantly handing him my small suitcase.

    (Name), after lecturing Barry in the elevator for four stories, showed me to my room. He thanked me again for choosing the hotel I did and informed me that if I needed anything, I was to call the lobby. He handed me the key that he had taken from his desk, Barry left my bag on my bed and they shut the door behind them.

    I was left standing in the middle of the room, my infected suitcase laying on the bed to my right. The bed to the left would remain empty as always. The room was fairly nice. The wallpaper wasn’t chipped. The beds were made. Between the two beds, on a night side table, there was a lamp, a phone and an alarm clock. I picked up the phone and started dialing. Ring, ri- CLICK. Beeeep. Hi! This is Martha. I can’t get to the phone right now. If you leave your first and last name along with your home or cell number, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Talk to you later!

    “Hey, Martha. It’s Duke. I’m calling from a hotel phone… like every other time. You know, long-distance call charges and all. Just call me back when you get the chance. Or when you want to. You know. Yeah. Just give me a call on my cell. The number’s the same. And you can e-mail me. That’s the same, too. Uh, yeah. Well, I miss-“ Beep.

    I picked up the phone again. I dialed the same number. Beeep. I’m sorry. The number you’re trying to call has been disconnected. Please try again later.

    ~~~

    “Yeah, well, I’m here. So where are you?” This was my third call. The first one had been much more polite. By now, I realized that my friends had played me. I stood alone in a barren park- the meeting place is what they had called it. And I had gotten there an hour late. An hour late and nobody had come. Of course I started making calls.

    “Prissy, I’m real sorry. I gotta ton of work to do. I know you got all the time in the world now, but my Finals are comin’ up, and I didn’t study,” my friend rambled his excuse. This was the same rehearsed line that my other two friends had recited to me. “I’m real sorry, Prissy. Didn’t you get my texts?”

    I hung up. I checked my inbox. Zero messages. One voicemail.

    Good morning, sweetie. Just checking up on you. How are your Finals going? Don’t forget to call me, honey. I miss you. My mother’s recorded voice told me. My mother always had a way of calming me down. I sighed, finally feeling relaxed. I quickly dialed the hospital my mother was staying at. After asking to be directed to her room, I heard my mother’s calm voice, “Prissy?”

    “Hi, mom. I got your message. Sorry for callin’ back so late.”

    “Oh, it’s fine,” she replied quickly. “Listen, I forgot to mention it in the message, so I’m glad you called, honey, but did you hear about the virus going around?” her voice tensed, “I heard that it was spreading fast, dear. So if you have any symptoms, you must see a doctor.”

    “Alright, mom. But I’m fine,” I chuckled, “I haven’t been sick since four years ago. And even then, it was a mere cold, remember?”

    “Well…” she started, but after clearing her throat, she continued onto a brighter topic, “What time will you be over tomorrow? I told the nurses that my lovely daughter and I would be spending the whole break together.”

    “Early afternoon, hopefully. If I pack tonight, I’ll get there earlier.”

    “Then I’ll see you tomorrow, darling. Remind me to call your grandparents and Lottie when you’re over. We’re all going to have dinner together.”

    “Okay. Talk to you then.”

    “I love you, honey.”

    “Love you, too.”

    I glanced at the time before flipping my phone closed. My classes for the year were over, so I didn’t have to return very early, though I did have to pack up. If I headed back to the dorms, I would have to see my friends. My so called friends. I trudged back to my car, feeling miserable and unproductive. The parking lot was empty, so it wasn’t hard to spot my little beat up red car. I slid into the driver’s side.