Chapped Lips and Cold Kisses

Mela slept the entire flight. Essie was too tired to notice the change in her friend’s love life, which Mela was thankful for. The flight from Helsinki to New York was 14 long hours, and when they finally landed in New York City, Mela was glad to have her feet back on the ground. Essie was looking every which way at all the new sights. The airport was extremely crowded with people speaking every language imaginable.

“Essie, we’re not in Finland anymore.” Mela whispered in her ear as we walked to the baggage claim.

“Oh, Mela this is so scary yet so amazing at the same time,” She grabbed Mela’s hand as they walked through the throng of busy people. “We’re gonna get lost in here.”

Essie talked to the man sitting next to them on the plane and he told her it took a long time for baggage to come out since there were so many planes coming in, so her and Mela decided to go to Starbucks for a little pick-me-up. They sat down on barstools while they drank their coffee.

“I can’t believe I’m actually in New York,” Essie said in awe, wide-eyed as she watched all the commotion around them.

Mela thought it was cute how excited Essie was so she sent a beaming smile back to her. The last time Mela was in New York was when she was about 15 and her dad had some obscure show in a back alley somewhere. Needless to say, she hated it. She wanted to love it this time for Essie and because if things went well at the audition on Monday, she may be here for a while.

They waited about 20 minutes before they went to get their bags. Luckily, they were just in time for the conveyer belt to be spitting the bags from Helsinki.

Two hours later and they were at their hotel. The traffic was crazy. They spent most of the two hours sitting in traffic. Essie had never seen anything like it in Helsinki, and she thought the traffic was bad there. Mela was ready to collapse into bed as soon as they got settled, but Essie was still on a traveler’s high and wanted to explore the hotel. There wasn’t much to explore; there was a restaurant in the hotel and of course Essie had to get some American food. Mela was too tired to eat but sat at the table with Essie.

“Can we go to bed now?” Mela groaned as Essie finished her sandwich. “We have all day tomorrow to explore.”

“You’re a party pooper Mela. But I suppose that we can go to bed. We’re going to see all the sights tomorrow though.”

“We will I promise.” Mela looked around the restaurant to make sure no one was looking at them and took a sip of Essie’s Jack and Coke. She wasn’t old enough to drink in the states, but Essie was. Mela had been drinking in Finland since she was 15, so she could handle it. When in rome, you follow the rules. Mela downed the rest of the drink and left a tip for the waiter. “Let’s go.”

Mela thought about calling Ville when they got back to the hotel room, but she didn’t want Essie to hear. She still hadn’t noticed the change in her friend and Mela wanted to keep it that way for a while. Instead she sent him an email that said, “We landed and we’re safe in the hotel. Wish you were here. Love, Mela.”

They both climbed into the king sized bed and Essie was out in a minute. Yes, they were sharing a bed. Mela was in charge of making all plans and had a bit of a language barrier when booking the room. Mela quickly called her dad to let him know that they’d arrived safely, he was high or drunk or both and completely incoherent. She laid down next to Essie and it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep. It would be a busy day tomorrow.