Chapter One
Adam suddenly stumbled along the path that took him away from his therapy sessions.
Quickly, he regained his composure as he looked around slyly to make sure no one was paying too much attention to him and his unsuspected clumsiness.
Being taller and broader than most people made him stand out like a sore thumb, even if he was standing still, let alone actually tripping in a hallway over thin air.
“I saw that, Adam,” a loud voice addressed him.
He made eye contact with the smiling face who called him out as he approached her desk. Donna was a kind woman, always wanting the best for him even when he didn’t want it for himself, “I don’t really know what happened back there?” he grinned, slightly embarrassed at having been seen, quite literally, slipping.
“I can tell you what happened,” she moved to hand him the clipboard so he could sign out. “You’re tired. That’s what it is. Have you filled out that form to win that free vacation yet? You really should.”
That was something he knew would come up since it always did for the last month, but he’d been procrastinating on the idea of acceptance. What if he applied for the vacation and they accepted him? He would have to go by himself and be all alone. Granted, that was something he was used to, being alone, but never outside of his zones of comfort.
And vacation was one of those things that were definitely outside of those parameters.
Despite the fact that it’s designed to promote a few days of comfort and relaxation, he never brought into that message. There wasn’t any way vacation could be relaxing for a person like him.
“I’ll think about it,” he muttered, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the pressure as he handed her the clipboard.
“Mmhm,” she cut her eyes at him. “You do that, but don’t think too long. I don’t want you to miss the final date for the application. Look-,” she interrupted herself, nodding her head to a direction directly behind him. “There is someone else that needs a vacation. Terrie! Come here, girl!”
Adam smiled at Donna as he gathered his things before walking off. She was such a busybody but it was the perfect personality for the sort of work she did. Her nosiness has gotten him to open up in ways even his therapist hadn’t managed yet.
As he made his way to the door, he could hear her reprimanding tone talking to the woman now at the desk. He cast a brief glance behind him, eyes peering over a thin, shabbily dressed woman standing in front of Donna. Whoever she was, she must have been far more stubborn than him because Donna seemed to be having a conniption trying to convince the woman as she did with him just moments ago.
He internally laughed, placing one foot in front of the other to carry him back into the heat of the day and towards the bus stop. Donna’s passion for wanting him to go and relax, made him think a little harder about possibly trying to fill out that application. She believed he deserved it even when he didn’t believe it for himself.
So he considered the variety of vacations as he walked down the sidewalk. The beach was nice. He never had problems with the sand, the sun, or the water. So maybe a supposed vacation located on a beachfront would be ideal. Or he could do a cabin in the woods. Complete isolation but on purpose, all with the advantage of it still being considered a vacation.
Home away from home, and always alone.
If he thought about a potential vacation in that manner, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad? All he’d have to do is wait and see if he was accepted, no harm there.
The application for the vacation, he had to admit, was never read. When he relented after three weeks of Donna practically begging him to just take the application the week prior, he threw it on his small kitchen island next to his keys as soon as he got home. It’s been lying there the entire time. So he resolved that when he walked through his doors, he’d read the form and see just what kind of vacation it was. He wasn’t so stubborn to the point that he couldn’t admit that maybe, in some way, he deserved a reward for all the hard work and consistency he’s shown in sticking to his rehabilitation program.
Though it was a difficult and sometimes strenuous process, he managed to maintain his cleanliness for 8 months. He didn’t so much as allow himself to smell liquor, let alone dabble in the heavier substances he would have gladly dove into in the past.
Yes, he was indeed guilty for not taking his situation seriously sooner, which has caused him to slowly lose the trust and support of his family, but now he was.
Now he was determined more than ever.
So maybe he has earned a change of scenery. Maybe it was something he deserved, something good he’s earned after so long of not experiencing anything even close.
He did still deserve good things, right?
The bus slowed to a stop right in front of him and he quickly boarded, thankful that it was always mostly empty after his therapy sessions ended. His long legs took him towards the back where he sat near the second door exit as he slouched into his seat.
The shabby woman from before was now outside, slowly walking down the path that led to the sidewalk.
He had to admit, Donna had a point, she did look tired.
Her face, he couldn’t see very clearly despite her cropped short haircut, but the drab way in which she walked was a dead giveaway. He was all too familiar. If she didn’t straighten up and pick up her feet, she was bound to-,
He laughed. He couldn’t help it.
She tripped right before he could finish his thought. Then, as if comically on time, she looked around to make sure no one saw. Classic.
He tried to contain the chuckle within him to not continue to draw too much attention his way from the other passengers, but it became more difficult the more he tried.
The bus put more and more distance between him and the comical sight outside, but the chuckle in his chest remained the entire way.
The ride was only fifteen minutes and then another five-minute walk before he arrived at his apartment. He quickly took that walk, feet shuffling steadily through the heat of the day to reach his apartment, then jogging up the first two flights of stairs before he was faced with his door. He never left the air conditioning on in his home to conserve money for the electric bill, but he always paid in a different way when he’d walk into what felt like a warm oven.
Quickly, he went over to switch on his window unit before making his way to the fridge to grab a cold bottle of water. He guzzled down the water before he even reached the kitchen island that held the form he was so eager to read.
Glancing over it he could clearly see that it was supposed to be an all-expenses-paid trip to a beach resort.
So he wouldn’t be isolated in the woods, which was a major selling point he was hoping for. But he’d still get a beach. It just would have to be at the expense of being surrounded by a bunch of people within the resort hotel.
He let out a tortured sigh, contemplating if that was the reward he was just thinking he deserved, being forced to be around people he doesn’t know and who don’t know him. Though, maybe that could be a positive.
There’d be no judgment calls for them to make about him.
There’d be no reason for them to grip their money pouches closer to them for fear he may steal to pay for drugs.
There’d be no awkward questions about how he’s been coping, or what he has been up to, or how long he’s been sober?
They wouldn’t think to treat him in that manner because they don’t know him. They would know next to nothing about him other than what he explicitly expressed. And all he planned on expressing was that he was a tired man deserving a break.
No harm, no foul, and no lie told.
So he filled out the application.
