On the plane I remain edgy. I haven't vacationed in quite some time, and now was an especially bad time with me, seeing how we were closing a deal with a major company and my wife surprises me with these plane tickets to The Bahamas or The Caribbean, to be honest it all becomes one big blur after a while. When you're a man of my stature you grow tired of visiting such exotic places. After a while you realize that the veneer of such beautiful places has to come at a price and in the end that's all it was about. Me, I preferred being CEO to a technology company that I'd rather not name, but the point was, we were pretty well known around the world. With my brief case always in hand, I was a man of action known in my company for always being efficient and effective. But having my briefcase without using it served as somewhat different to me and overall disappointing`. Needless to say, I didn't want to be on this vacation.
My wife gives me a peck on the cheek and gets up she says she'll be back, and heads for the bathroom. I quickly check my phones emails, responding to one of my employees on advice he asked of me. I ask for the latest information that I could view on my smart phone and by the time I can look up from the phone, there's my wife, standing with hands-on-hips with that popular disapproving look that women tend to give to husbands, even if he didn't do anything wrong.
We don't talk for the last hour of the ride to The Bahamas (flight attendant clarified for me)and when we get to the hotel, I finally ask her what was wrong with what I did and why she gave me that look. She simply sat me on the bed and gave me a massage. As her fingers danced across my back, applying pressure, I realized this was one of the best massages I'd had in ages. "I just want you to relax, okay? Now Liam, I know you're a hard worker, but everybody's got to take a brake sometimes." She continued to relieve the tension in my shoulders. Then she arched her head around and gave me a kiss. Two. Three. As I held her, we continued kissing, and found ourselves lying down. We paused for a moment and she just looked at me and smiled.Her hazel eyes staring into mine, we shared a moment of silent intimacy. And then my phone vibrated on the nightstand.
A look. A stone cold look from her that clearly spoke against my thoughts. But I finally voiced myself against those once beautiful now deadly eyes. "You know I have to get that." I told her. She let one big regrettable sigh out, then got a few things, and left the hotel room, slamming the door. There was always time to make up with her, but this was crucial information. I picked up the phone and viewed the presentation from our Tech Company. It was horrible, an absolutely dreadful and sloppy presentation. I called one of the subordinates responsible for the presentation and preceded to lose my mind. For fifteen minutes I stayed pacing in my room calling the man I hardly knew or worked with everything I could fathom until eventually, I began leaving the hotel. I figured while I was on the phone, I might as well find my wife so I could get off of it and apologize to her. "My wife brought me here on surprise so I could relax for once, Dan. And as soon as I leave, I find that you're completely incapable of a simple task given to you." He pauses. "Well why are you on the phone with me?" Dan said in a voice with both criticism and an attempt at still sounding respectful. I sneered at his comment. "What was that Dan?" His voice raised a bit. "Shouldn't you be spending time with your wife wherever you are vacationing , with pay, mind you, while I sit and work my ass of, would you please mind Liam?" Walking out of the door, I covered my eyes and shook my head. "YOU REFER TO ME AS MR. JAMES WHEN YOU SPEAK TO ME DANIEL, MR. LIAM JAMES." Then after yelling I noticed two things. First of all, I had lost the call. Second of all, I was in a large cornfield, and when I turned to look at the hotel, it had disappeared.
"What the hell is going on?" I said, pushing my way past stalks of corn. I spoke to myself and only myself. I saw nobody around me. "Where the hell am I?" I said in a panicked voice as my feet began picking up and I began running through the stalks, pushing them all with force. I ran for quite some time, maybe a mile or so, before I got weak and decided that there was no way out of here by foot. So I sat down and from my briefcase that I always carried, I pulled out my laptop and checked for connection. Nothing. I pulled open my phone and tried to call somebody. Nothing. I tried my wife, Dan, even 911. Nobody was there. I found myself curled into a ball doing something I hadn't done in about 20 years. I was crying.
Waking up I found my blazer tucked under my head and that I had cried myself to sleep. I looked around to find myself still in the field. I used my cellphone as a flashlight and searched for signs of life. Nothing there once again, so I just laid down and looked at the stars. "God. I'm not in Heaven. I'm not even in Hell, it's like I'm in purgatory." I said staring at the stars. Next thing I know there's a whisper from each side of me.
"We can help"
"Yeah we can help you"
I looked left to right and to my surprise, I saw two boys I had known for a long time, lying down next to me staring at the stars as well. "Billy? Thompson? Is it really you?" They both nodded. These two where imaginary friends that I had conjured up when I was young and didn't have many friends. But now they where here, flesh and bone. They where here for me even as a hardened grumpy, aging , middle aged businessman. "What are you guys doing here?" They smiled. "We're here to make the best out of a bad situation!" Billy said. "We're going to play hide and seek." Thompson shouted out. And for the first time in a long time again, I felt another emotion I hadn't felt in a while: happiness. I only wish my wife was here. So before we went to play I picked up my laptop and wrote my wife one last letter. Then I got up and amongst the stars and the fireflies, played the greatest game of hide and go seek ever played.
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Mrs. James leaves the hotel after finding out her husband died of a heart attack in the doorway of the entrance. But this is not the only thing she finds. In a field of flowers, she swears she sees Liam James' laptop, and on it the document that reads:
I've loved you and have always loved you Babara. I wish you where here and I hope that you'll be okay.
