Turning Pages

She was a bookworm - the ideal temperament for a desk job like hers. Any moment she wasn’t busy, she had books on her desktop, so it would always look as though she was engrossed in some office task but her head was deeply buried in literature. Those were the adventures she knew and loved, the ones she found between the covers of her books.
Neil showed her how to have her own adventures, to have her own stories to tell instead of just always reading about other people’s escapades. He was also very adventurous and daring. He went bike cycling halfway across the country, just to get away from it all and clear his head. He had quit his job the week before, said things just didn’t feel right anymore and that he needed to find himself. He was at the tail end of his one-man journey when they first met.
She found him and his tales so fascinating. His care-free, carpe diem outlook on life was so foreign yet so refreshing to her. It was like eating your favorite food for the first time: you couldn’t fathom how something so good had never been part of your life before.
Unfortunately for them, the five-year itch hit rather intensely as familiarity bred contempt between them. Neil was a smooth talker; he had the gift of the gab. He loved the attention it got him, especially from other ladies. It bugged Elizabeth but she found her concerns hard to voice. He constantly crossed the fine line that existed between friendliness and flirting, sometimes unintentionally, but other times deliberately. Until, she couldn’t believe him anymore…..and left.
In less than six months’ time, Elizabeth was packing up her things as her employer was forced to downsize. With only her personal effects and her dignity left, she gave the old place a final goodbye. After much deliberation, which were in the form of two weeks straight of tv dinners, boxed wine and an absurd amount of daytime television. Elizabeth had no choice but to move in with her small sister. She had no way to make the next month’s rent. It was a crushing defeat and resignation she had to arrive at. She was supposed to be doing better. She was supposed to be the one her sister could lean on, not vice versa. But here she was, damned if she did, damned if she didn’t.
And then, she was literally on the journey of her life. Her clothing and few personal belongings were in a bag under her chair and a smaller one in the overhead compartment. The book she was reading was open before her and her hands rested on it, but she had hardly gotten through a single page. Her attention was divided and she could barely keep her focus. She also felt a wave of queasiness wash over her and tightening knots in her belly.
A week prior, she received the letter that led to the journey she was on at that moment. It was not just the news of her great aunt Norah’s untimely demise, but of the unexpected inheritance she had left her. It was her dying wish that Elizabeth took over her book store and run it.
And so, Elizabeth was now truly on her own adventure.