Chapter 3
Amanda
Wow! New Zealand! I was finally going to see the majestic landscape and beautiful places my imagination had built up for so many years. If only I didn’t have Calvin to thank for it, this would be a hundred percent win.
The pilot came over the intercom and told us we’d be landing soon.
After sleeping for most of the flight, now I was all pent-up energy. The plane touched down on Queenstown soil, and I couldn’t stop bouncing in my seat. Out the window was the green, lush world of springtime in the southern hemisphere.
Too bad I’d have to share it with the likes of Calvin Turner, carousing lecher. Never mind that I’d slept on his shoulder—make that drooled on his shoulder—most of the way across the Pacific.
Or that I’d had another one of those illicit dreams about kissing him. This time we were in the mist from the waterfall at the palace in Rivendell, and he was decked out in a long, flowing robe of iridescent blue, the same color as his eyes—until my boss Georgia Grimes stepped in with a disapproving grin saying, You’ll never get a creative team assignment if you make out with show ponies. At which point Calvin had morphed into a pony and I woke up with a jerk.
Calvin being the jerk.
Sort of. He’d been pretty nice by carrying my luggage earlier. And by taking me on this desperately needed vacation. Otherwise, during the Blanik Building move, I would’ve ended up sitting at home, staring at my popcorn ceiling worrying about whether they’d select me for the creative team or whether I’d be overlooked again.
“You can go on ahead of me.” I shooed Calvin toward the aisle. “I’m stopping off in the restroom.”
“Wouldn’t you rather use the restroom in the airport? Plane bathrooms are tiny.”
No way was I setting foot on the soil of Middle Earth without having everything perfect. Just for Calvin. “I’ll be right there with a surprise. You be waiting for me, sweetie.”
A goofy grin lifted one side of his mouth. He did have a fetching smile—even if he was a serial dater.
“I hope it’s a good surprise.” The grin turned wolfish.
Blast him. He could ruin any moment. “Get out of here.”
I wedged myself and my tote bag into the inhumanly small room. With serious effort, and one small jab in my eye, I managed to don not only the full-length silver dress with the bell sleeves but also my multi-pointed crown. Ah, drama club memories. In the stainless-steel mirror, I arranged my hair into long, queenly waves around my shoulders.
There. Perfect. Now to watch Calvin’s expression. He wanted a Serious Girlfriend? I’d give him one. Someone seriously crazy in love with him.
Emphasis on crazy.
I had two large suitcases chock-full of crazy, borrowed from my cosplaying cousin Tessa. They were perfect retribution. Not that I wasn’t grateful for his offer of a vacation from SolutionX—I’d needed one for ages but my workload never allowed—but Calvin deserved a little something served up especially for him in return for all the times he either ignored me or antagonized me.
Tolkien might say that history was about to become legend.
“Wow, you look just like her.” The male flight attendant’s eyes popped. “So regal.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you ready to disembark now?” a female attendant spoke with forced patience. “You’re the last one aboard. We’re ready to clean for the next passengers.”
I looked behind me at the empty plane. Oops. Since elf queens don’t blanch, I simply gave them my most aristocratic nod. “You may commence.”
I swept down the jetway, like the queen of the elves herself.
Frankly, the dress-up kind of helped. It would take a total alter-ego to make this convincing girlfriend of Calvin thing happen. He could be such a toad. Good-looking but distinctly toad-like.
A toad my Dream Self apparently wanted to kiss in hopes he’d turn into a prince.
My Awake Self knew he would not.
As I emerged, Calvin rushed up to me, horror in his eyes. “Are you a nutcase?” He held open his jacket, hugging me close and hiding me from staring crowds—and filling my senses with his very nice aftershave.
I wriggled out of his grasp. “Hello. This is New Zealand, land of all things Lord of the Rings. Look around you.” I waved grandly at the expanse of the baggage claim where everyone else was—