Holiday Delights: Volume One - The Escape

Holiday Delights

Volume One – The
Escape

By Ana Vela

© 2015

All rights reserved. No part
of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or
other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses
permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are
either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a
fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

~Volume One – The Escape~

In one day, Kelsey
Truman's life was turned upside down: She was fired from the job
she loved and she caught her fiancé, Carl, cheating on
her.

Nursing her broken heart
and bruised ego, the normally shy, reserved financial analyst
decided to leave what was left of her life and go on an
around-the-world tour with her best friend. It’s just the change
she needs!

She first jets off to Southeast Asia, where her adventures
begin…

What will this crazy, sexy
trip have in store for her? And who is this mysterious man she
seems to keep running into…?

~Volume One – The
Escape~

Kelsey Truman shook her
wet raincoat as she walked through the double glass doors of the
Vanderbilt building and headed to the elevators. “Damn rain!” she
exclaimed, pressing the button for the 17
^th
floor furiously. The
elevator gave that familiar “ding” sound and Kelsey stepped into
the empty elevator.

On this dreary Monday morning, Kelsey was
late. She always arrived at the office at least 30 minutes before
everyone else, but today was a fluke. She woke up late – after her
fiancé, Carl, cancelled their date because of a cold, she decided
to go out late with her best friend, Alex, who was leaving the next
day another one of her long trips. Normally, Kelsey hated staying
out late, but it might be months before she saw Alex again. They
stayed out late and she stumbled home at 3 am after a night of
Jaeger bombs and karaoke in Chinatown.

Normally, she could make it to work in no
time if she took a cab. However, a freak rainstorm appeared out of
nowhere, surprising thousands of New Yorkers, causing traffic jams
and lines for the buses and subways. She checked her watch – 10:31
am.

“
Misfortune always comes
in threes…”, she muttered to no one in particular. At least that’s
what her dad always said. Or perhaps it’s time to buy a lottery
ticket, she thought. At least that’s what her mom said – if you’re
having a series of bad luck, then it should turn around for the
better and there’s nothing like winning millions of dollars to make
even the worst days turn great. Unfortunately, Kelsey’s mom never
won the lottery, but her dad always made sure to guard himself
against the other two misfortunes he knew were coming his
way.

Kelsey’s thoughts were
interrupted by the opening of the doors to the
16
^th
floor, occupied by her company, Synergy Hedge Funds. Kelsey
worked her way from executive assistant to Senior Analyst in a mere
3 years, and the youngest at 25 years old. She simply was a whiz
with numbers and always made the company money. Four years later,
she was in charge of their charitable trust accounts, managing the
money of some of New York’s elite. Kelsey walked sheepishly to her
office, ignoring the stares and looks from people around her. As
she approached her assistant, Julia, she tried to put on a smile,
but it did not reach her light blue eyes.

“
Julia!” she said to the
young girl. “Could you have the Devonshire account reports to my
office, please?” She had been working for months on trying to
acquire Devonshire Trusts and Foundation and she had a feeling she
was about to land it.

Julie stared at her, wanting to say
something else. “But…but…”

“
Thanks!” she yanked the
door to her office open, saying a silent prayer of thanks that no
one else noticed she was late. She walked in, but stopped at the
site that greeted her. “What the – “

There were boxes everywhere and two security
guards with their arms crossed on either side of her desk as her
supervisor, Martin Finklestein, rummaged through her drawers.

“
What are you doing,
Marty?” she asked.

Marty looked up at her with a smug look.

“
Well, well, you’re
finally here.”

Kelsey’s eyebrows shot up.

“
Marty…What is going on
here?”

“
Harummph!” he answered,
sat down on her chair and put his feet up on her beautiful, oak
table. “I regret to inform you, Kelsey, that your services are no
longer needed here at Synergy.”

“
What?!” she exclaimed,
“that’s…that’s…!” she was too timid, too shocked to get her words
out. “What is the meaning of this? I’ll call Frank-“

“
Frank was let go of the
board too, Kelsey,” he said somberly. “They had an emergency
meeting over the weekend and decided he’s no longer fit to run this
company.”

Kelsey couldn’t believe it. Frank Langer,
her mentor and CEO of Synergy, was…fired?

“
That’s preposterous! Yes,
things haven’t been going well, but that’s the economy!”

“
Well, try telling that to
the board,” he said. “They replaced him with Sid Teller and his
first order of business was to clean out the trash”

Kelsey’s blood boiled. Sid Teller was a
spineless and brainless man who would run Synergy and its clients
to the ground.

“
Well, the board members
are a bunch of idiots!” she said in a shaky voice.

Marty stood up, carrying the boxes.

“
Nevertheless, Sid said
you are out. Clean out your personal belongings and these men will
escort you out. You have 15 minutes.”

What personal belongings, Kelsey thought.
Everything in her office was work. She never displayed any personal
items or knickknacks. Of course, not wanting to give Marty the
satisfaction, she grabbed the first thing she could think of – a
“World’s Best Daughter” mug from her mom, a gift for her first day
at work.

“
I’m done,” she said and
let the two burly men escort her.

*****

Kelsey was in shock. As she walked out into
the rain, her raincoat forgotten, holding her cup, she started to
walk. Her sensible pumps click-clacked on the wet pavement,
occasionally splashing a puddle or two. Her dark blonde hair, now
even mousier than before, had come loose from its bun and stuck to
her head. She could hardly see through her contacts but she didn’t
care.

Like a Zombie, she walked up and down the
streets of lower Manhattan. She didn’t know how long she was
walking and she didn’t even notice how wet or cold she was. She
walked for hours. Her prim and proper black suit pants were soaked
through. Misfortune always comes in threes, she kept repeating like
a mantra.

Finally, somewhere between Canal and Houston
St., she snapped back into reality. She hailed a passing cab.

“
Prince Street!” she said
to the surly cab driver, who wasn’t very happy she was dripping all
over his leather interior.

Kelsey ignored him and sat back as the cab
started moving. She would go to Carl. First, stop at the soup place
and get some hot chicken noodle soup for his cold and her wounded
ego. Then hot sex and then cuddling. Or maybe cuddling first, then
sex…well, they would decide when she got there.

*****

Kelsey walked up the steep steps up Carl’s
building. Literally, Carl’s building, as he occupied the top
apartment of one the family’s many properties. The Van Dorens were
one of New York’s elite, headed by Carl’s grandmother, Eleanor. The
family owned VD Real Estate Holdings, one of the largest property
developers in the state and was rich as King Solomon. Kelsey met
Carl because she personally oversaw the investments of the Van
Doren Foundation, ensuring they had enough money to fund charity
balls and galas for as long as they wished.

She had been invited by the John Van Doren
to one of those balls and she met his son, Carl. He was handsome,
with blonde hair and green eyes, tall, and very rich, and yet he
chased after her. Her, the girl from Jersey – a nobody. She wasn’t
even gorgeous, with her dirty blonde hair and slightly pudgy frame.
After much playing hard to get, she went out with him and a year
later, Carl popped the question with a gorgeous, three-and-a-half
carat ring from Tiffany’s. Everyone in the family, including the
usually stoic Eleanor, seemed to have approved of the match.

Balancing the bag of food in one hand, she
fished her keys out of her bag and slipped it into the door,
pushing it open. She peeked in.

“
Hello?”

She wondered why it was so quiet and dark.
The raging storm outside continued and the apartment lights were
off. She looked down the hall towards the bedroom and saw the lamps
on. She walked down and heard the shower running, and then turning
off. And then giggling. In fact, two voices giggling, one
high-pitched and screechy, the other, low and distinctly male.

Kelsey approached the door cautiously,
gripped the handle until her knuckles were white, and then pulled
the door open. Inside, Carl was in the shower, pumping furiously
against a very wet and very naked brunette that was pinned up
against the wall.

“
What the fuck – holy
shit! Kelsey!” Carl stopped, disentangled himself from the
brunette, slipping, sending him and the brunette to the floor.
“Owwwwwww!” he screamed, but quickly stood, up, chasing after
Kelsey, who had run out the door.

“
Kelsey! Stop!” A naked
Carl ran out of the apartment and caught up with Kelsey by the
stairwell.

“
Let go of me! You…
you….asshole!” Kelsey screamed, her blue eyes blazing in anger. But
she didn’t cry. In her fury, Kelsey tossed the bag at him and hot
soup spilled over Carl’s naked chest.

“
Yeeeooow! Fuck! Kelsey,
that’s fucking hot! I think I have to go to the
hospital!”

“
Well, you deserve it, you
lying, cheating…BASTARD!” she screamed at him. “How long has this
been going on? Is this why you cancelled last night?”

“
Kelsey, for god’s sake,
calm down!” he said, momentarily forgetting about being doused with
hot soup. “Look, it’s not what you think-“

“
Not what I think? You
were…you had your…you were fucking her!”

“
Listen, baby,” he cooed,
“you’re right, it’s just fucking, that’s all. I’m a guy, sometimes
we need a little…more…a little variety”

Kelsey couldn’t believe her ears.

“
But we’re
engaged!”

“
Yes, and once we’re
married it won’t matter” he said. “Beside, that was grandma’s idea!
We couldn’t well have you doing investments for anyone
else-“

He was interrupted by the door opening from
behind. A tall, gorgeous brunette stepped out, wearing a sexy
strappy dress. Kelsey did not recognize her clothed. The woman
slinked towards them, and then eyed Kelsey.

“
This is your fiancé,
Carl?” she asked in a haughty voice. “Honey, you better lay off the
donuts. No wonder Carl is always sniffing around other
girls!”

She went livid.

“
Fuck you! Fuck you Carl!
And your family too! I fucking HATE you and you can go and crawl
into a hole and die!”

And with that, she ran down the stairs, once
again, running out into the stormy New York streets. Yes,
misfortune does come in threes and even if she won a hundred
lotteries, Kelsey wasn’t sure that would help her.

*****

Kelsey jumped into a cab and raced home to
her apartment. She was shaking as she put her key in the lock and
walked into her apartment.

“
What the- Kelsey! Oh my
God, what happened?”

Alex, her best friend, jumped up from the
couch, where she was watching TV. Tall, redheaded, green-eyed Alex
Benton was a nomad. She traveled around the world from one place to
another, sometimes stopping by the States to visit friends and
family, crashing on various couches. With her good looks and tall
frame, she could have easily been a model, but she had preferred
the high-pressure PR world of New York.