"Helene, wake up. The plane is just about to land. You have to buckle
your seat belt now." The girl awoke from her sleep. She lazily fastened
her seat belt and glanced out of
the small plane window. Her first glimpse of England was breathtaking.
She had never been out of state let alone out of the country. This trip
gave her a new sense of
indepence.
"Kris, how long have I been asleep?" Helene inquired.
Her travel mate replied, " Almost the entire six hours. It's about
7:30 p.m. London time. Can you believe it girls, here we are in Merry
ol' England. Home of Big Ben, the
Tower of Londe-"
"Don't you ever shut-up?" said a small redhead sitting in the seat
in front of the two girls. "This trip is supposed to be a vacation. do
you think you can lay off the sightseeing
for awhile. I mean we haven't even landed yet and you are already
talking about this and that. Geez." The redhead turned back around,
fastened her safety belt and continued
reading A Dummies Guide to British Royalty.
"Kris, don't worry, Tina is just in a really pissy mood. Six hours
on a plane can make a person just a little MOODY!" Helene always had a
way of straightening out any
animosity between her two best friends. She new her role on this trip
was to play mediator, but somehow that didn't seem to bother her. This
was her hard earned vacation, and
she was determined to enjoy every single moment of it.
As the plane approached the airport, the captain came on the
intercom wishing everyone a wonderful stay in the grand country of Great
Britain. Finally the plane landed and
the three friends left the plane. They hurried to gather their things
from the conveyor belt and catch a taxi to the hotel. "Helene, run and
grab a cab. We'll get your stuff. Hurry
before they're all taken. As much as Heathrow seems like a nice place, I
have no desire to spend the night here."
"Fine, I'm on it. You two be careful with my stuff, and make sure
you get everything THIS time. I really don't want to have another
incident like we had in Mexico."
"Don't sweat it," Tina reassured "But just in case, you do have your
passport on you right?" Her impish grin was offset by her fire red hair
which somehow made her look
more mischievous than usual.
"Just go Helen, ILL get your things" said Kris.
"Thank you. Now I'm Off" Helen said. Tina and Kris couldn't help
but laugh as they watched their friend run through the crowds of
Heathrow.
"Hey Tina, do you think she'll actually get a taxi."
"Not a chance," Tina replied still grinning.
***
"This is absolutely impossible, " Helene said as she stopped to
catch her breath. "Where the hell is the exit?" She paused for a moment
and decided to ask an old woman for
directions to an exit. "Excuse me ma'am, i was wondering if you would so
kind as to tell me where i might find an exit?"
"Right, right" said the kindly old woman. Her accent was almost too
thick to understand. "You're not from around here are you. I can tell
these things. You sound like an
American. Am I right?" She didn't wait for a response from Helene and
continued. "Well my dear, to get to the nearest exit, you go straight
down there and make a left. You
can't miss it."
"Thank you" said Helene
"Good luck dear, you'll need." By the time the old woman had gotten
out the rest of her sentence, Helene was almost too far away to hear.
What she did hear she ignored
and continued running. She made the left, and could see the outside
world through the clear glass doors, when suddenly she crashed into a
person. He stood about 6' or 6'1,
and had the most amazing blue eyes and sandy blonde hair.
"Excuse me" he said. His manner was so polite and almost regal. "I
didn't mean to bump into you like that. Let me help you up." He extended
his hand and Helene accepted it.
"Thank you," said Helene, "I swear, I'm not usually this clumsy. I
was just rushing to catch a cab. Are you hurt?"
"No, no. Not a scratch on me, and I can see that I can say the same
for you. Lucky no one was hurt. I'm sorry i didn't catch you name."
Helene was taken aback by the man's astonishing good looks, but as
she glanced up at a wall clock, she realized that it was already 9:15,
and that she was running late.
"I-I-I'm late. I have to go, I'm sorry. It was nice...um...bumping into
you." With that rushed goodbye, Helene continued her trek to hail down a
taxi as the man watched on saying softy to himself, "My name is William."
***
"So finally she arrives. You'd think she's royalty or something."
Tina said jokingly. "Seriously what took you so long? We've been waiting
here in the dark with all our stuff
trying to catch a cab, and you couldn't even join us?" Tina outstretched
her arms and hailed the first taxi that came by. Their driver, a
middle-aged man, helped the girls with
their belongings and into the cab. Kris informed him of their hotel
location and they were off.
"I don't get it. You guys were still getting the stuff when I left
you. How in the world did you get out here before me. I mean granted i
couldn't find the exit and i bumped into
this guy, but that couldn't have delayed me more than, like, five or six
minutes" Helene whined.
"You met a guy Helen? Do tell. Was he handsome, was he British?"
Kris inquired longingly. "Did he have a hot friend?"
"Of course he was British, genius. Hello, we are IN Britain. Anyway,
I only bumped into him. I didn't even catch his name. He was Hot though.
He kinda looked like Prince William, only cuter.
* * *
'Ding, ding,' - That stupid telephone is enough enough to wake the
dead, thought Helene, she placed her pillow over her head to try and
block out the high pitched
whine, but it wouldn't stop. "Fine I'll get it," complained Helene as
she rolled over to reach for the phone. "Hello?"
"Good morning miss, this is your courtesy wake-up call requested by
the charming young redhead i believe is staying with you. It is now 5:30
and breakkie will be served in
an hour."
"Five-thirty. Ahh man. I'm gonna kill Tina!" Helene threw her pillow
in the direction of Tina's bed and watched as it landed comfortably on
the foot of her bed. "Hey,
wake-up both of you. If I can't go back to sleep, neither can you! I
mean it. WAKE UP NOW!"
"Helen what's your problem? What time is it?" Kris asked while
glancing at the time on her wrist watch. "Five thirty?! Helen are you
crazy? Don't you realize that we are
going to have a serious case of jet lag. What ever possessed you to wake
us up?"
"Why don't you ask her?" Helen said as she pointed at Tina. "She's
the one that requested the courtesy wake-up call. Anyhow, breakfast will
be served in an hour. I'm hitting
the shower. Try and wake up sleeping beauty over there if you can."
***
Around sevenish the three headed down to the dining room. There laid
before them was a feast fit for a king, but not an American. "I got such
a good night's sleep last night.
How about the rest of you?" Kris and Helene both shot horrible glares at
Tina, who just looked at the both of them as innocently as she could.
"Wow, will you get a load of that
spread? There must be over a million calories in that plate of sausages
alone. i can eat this stuff."
"Oh just shut up and eat," Kris commanded. "We have a long day ahead
of us, and I plan on seeing a great deal of London. Who wants to join
me?" Kris looked at Tina,
but since she hadn't really decided on what she wanted to do, declined.
"Come on Helen. It'll be fun. I promise. I don't wanna go by myself.
PLEASE?"
"Sorry Kris, i think that I'm just going to relax and kickback
today. Maybe read a book or visit Hyde Park. I don't know."
"Fine. I'll catch you two on the flip side. Later" With that, the
trio had been reduced to a duo. It wasn't much longer when Helene found
herself alone in the dining room
surrounded by the carnage that was once breakfast. She gazed out of the
wide pane glass windows and was entranced by the huslte-and-bustle of
the city of London. The view
provided her with a wonderful look at Buckingham Palace.
It's such a nice day today. She thought. It would almost be a shame
to waste it inside. I never finished reading Wuthering Heights, maybe I
could read it in Hyde
Park.
"Excuse me me dear, but are you finished with your meal?" Helene
found herself looking into the same pair of old eyes that she had met at
Heathrow the night before. "You
see, it's time that I clean up, but i can't do that unless you're
finished. Now dear, are you finished?"
"Yes, I'm done. If you don't mind me asking, have we met before?
It's just that you look a great deal like a person I met yesterday at
the airport. I mean, do I look familiar to
you? At all?"
"No" replied the woman, I think I would have remembered meeting a
pretty lass like yourself. I may be along in years, but me mem'ry still
serves me quite well."
"I didn't mean to imply that your...senile, or old in anyway." Helen
said in an almost apologetic tone. "It's just that you seem so familiar.
Anyway, I am sorry to have bothered
you." The old woman continued to clear off the table without
acknowledging Helene's apology. This left Helene feeling somewhat
unsettled though because she knew that she
was going to encounter this woman many more times in the near future.
"Well, I'm off to Hyde Park now. I suppose I'll catch you later. By the
way, can you tell me how to get
to Hyde Park from here?"
The old woman set down her collected dishes and said, ""Well my
dear, it's very nearby. To get to Hyde Park, you go straight down
Pennington for three blocks and make
a left at the stop light. You can't miss it."
"Excuse me?" Helene remarked. She was convinced now more than ever
that this was the same women from the airport. She would have to wait
though, Wuthering Heights beckoned her.
