“Of course! I wish I could come too, I’m dying to see New York. You’ll have to tell me every detail when you get back!” She grins and I send her a weak smile in return.
Guess I’m heading home to pack.
* * *
“I still can’t believeyou’re doing this.” Steph hauls my suitcase from the car and hands it to me.
“You don’t have to sound so surprised,” I respond, trying to quell the nerves clawing through my gut as we head across the parking lot at Auckland International Airport. She insisted on taking the afternoon off work to drive me up here. I get the sense she was worried I might not go through with it if she wasn’t here to push me through the gate.
“I’m sorry if we were a bit harsh the other night,” Steph says. “It’s just… sometimes I worry you’re letting life pass you by, Harri.”
I sigh. “You might have had a point. I could probably make some changes.”
I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past forty-eight hours. Between the conversation in the bar and Paula’s words, it’s become painfully obvious to me that my life needs jazzing up. Nothing too outrageous—it’s not like I’m about to sign up for skydiving or shag a bloke on a cricket pitch—but it wouldn’t hurt to get out of my routine. I know I’m at the crucial point of the hero’s journey—the point that all characters in my favorite fantasy stories come to, where they have to decide if they’ll accept the quest—and I’m accepting my quest with enthusiasm. Well, maybe notenthusiasm, given I did fly into a panic after Paula gave me the green light and I haven’t slept since, but I’m accepting it, and that’s what counts.
Of course, accepting it and feeling okay about it are two different things. But… baby steps.
“Well, this trip is an excellent start,” Steph says as we enter through the glass doors. “And it kind of gave me an idea.”
We step onto the airport concourse and my anxiety level ratchets up a notch. It’s teeming with people and I don’t have the first clue where to go. I’ve never even set foot in here.
Steph catches my bemused expression and guides me towards the check-in line. “So, I had an idea…” she repeats, eying me expectantly.
I stand my suitcase as we join the line and turn to her. “What?”
“You said you want to make some changes, right?”
I nod.
“And you’re going all the way to New York. Besides Alex, no one even knows you there.”
“Uh-huh.” I turn my attention back to the line in front of me. God knows what she’s rambling on about now.
“So why not play a little game? Participate in an experiment?”
“Sure.” I inch forward in the line, only half-listening. The guy in front of me has a curved neck pillow dangling from his bag. Should I have bought one of those?
“You could try out what it’s like to be more adventurous.”
I glance at Steph again. “Adventurous?”
“Yeah. I want you to have a blast over there. It’s a different environment, miles away from home, so why not have fun with it? Take a few risks, be more outgoing?”
I blink. “You want me to go to New York and pretend to be someone else?”
“No, not someone else. Still you, just more bold. Kind of like… Harriet 2.0.”
I can’t help but chuckle at her words.Harriet 2.0.
“Here.” She digs into her bag and pulls out a small package. “I got you a going-away present.”
I smile, touched. “Aw, you didn’t need to do that.” I take the gift and unwrap it to find a lipstick, which she knows I don’t wear. I give her an odd look.
“I thought it could help you be more confident.”
“A lipstick?”
“Open it.”
