July 18
To: Daddy
Gah!
Paulina Rostakova’s Adventures
JULY 18
11:32 a.m.
Row 7, Seat B on the plane to New York City (still)
“Would you like to switch seats with me?” The woman in the seat next to me must have heard me swearing under my breath, not to mention periodically rising up to twist around and glare at the seats toward the back of the plane.
“Hmm?” I stopped shaking my phone in an attempt to get my idiotic father to understand that I was an adult and capable of taking care of myself, and looked at the woman. “Oh, sorry. Have I been bothering you? No, this seat is fine. It’s just that I want to throttle my father and can’t because he’s back in California.”
“Ah.” She smiled. “I understand how family can drive you nuts. I was just in Seattle visiting family who I haven’t seen in a long time, and now I know why I moved to the other side of the world. I’m Tessa, by the way.”
“Paulie,” I said, smiling in return. “I so wish I could move away from my family, but my father has issues.”
“Oh, don’t I know it? My stepdaughter is nineteen, but her father still treats her like she’s a child. We have to remind him now and again that she’s an adult.”
“It’s like she’s living my life,” I said with a sigh. “Although I’m a lot older than nineteen. Would you excuse me? I have to go yell at a man.”
She obligingly swung her legs to the side and allowed me to crawl out from my middle seat. Although I could have charged a first-class ticket to New York City, I was trying to make a point by not relying on my father’s money to undertake this adventure. Instead, I accepted the production company’s economy-class ticket, enjoying my father’s sputtered comments about the dangers of mingling with people. I fixed my eyes on a large shape in the very last row and marched down the narrow aisle, dodging and sidestepping people’s arms and legs and two flight attendants before finally stopping next to Boris.
“It’s no good hiding behind a magazine,” I told him, plucking the flight magazine from his fingers. Boris, wearing a pair of sunglasses and a hoodie, glared back at me. “I know that you’re here, and I know what you and Dad are planning. It’s not going to work. You can’t come along with me on the race. I will tell the production people as soon as I get to New York that you are a stalker and need to be kept away at all costs.”
His jaw tightened. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me!” I shoved the magazine back at him. “If I so much as glimpse you hanging around the fringes, I will report you as a dangerous stalker. I’d advise you to take the vacation you’re supposed to be on, and forget about my father’s paranoia.” I smiled tightly. “Have a nice time in New York!”
He swore under his breath when I turned and made my way back to my seat, but we both knew that he was fighting a lost cause.
“Problem?” Tessa asked when I climbed over her legs. “I shouldn’t be so nosy, but if there’s something I can do to help you—”
“It’s just my father’s idea of protection,” I said, waving away the subject. “He doesn’t like me traveling on my own. I, on the other hand, am very excited to be going to New York. I’ve only ever been there with family.”
“It’s not my favorite city, but it does have a lot to do and see. Unfortunately, we won’t have much time to do any sightseeing.”
“We?” I asked, settling in for a pleasant chat. I hadn’t flown much—and never on my own—but I didn’t at all find Tessa the stereotypical unpleasant seatmate. The man sitting on my other side had fallen asleep as soon as the plane took off and showed no signs of waking anytime soon.
“My husband and stepdaughter are meeting me there. We’re going to be part of a special event—a road rally that’s being filmed.”
I gawked at her, an unpleasant look to be sure, but I couldn’t help myself. “You’re... you’re in the race, too?”
“Too?” Surprise lit her eyes. “You’re in it?”
“I’m one of the suffragettes,” I said, delighted.
“So is my stepdaughter!” she answered, laughing. “What a small world!”
We compared our stories. “And your stepdaughter’s name is...?”
“Melody. You’ll like her—she’s very smart, and very knowledgeable about the suffragette movement. She’s studying history at college.”
“I’m surprised she’s not part of your team.”
