Bliss

Chapter 1

"This is your captain speaking. I need everyone's attention, please." He waited a few seconds. "We have a red light that we can't resolve in the air. As a result we will be making an emergency landing in Goma. It's in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The closest major city is Burundi and it's located in Tanzania. After we land I'll try and update you on how long this is going to take. I apologize for the delay. This is for your safety."

"Tanzania?" Katie turned her head to look across the aisle to look at her parents. When her parents had suggested this trip to her during her summer break from Stanford she'd jumped at it.

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One week in South Africa in their capital city followed by a week in Cairo so they could see the pyramids. It was all part of a package deal. They were actually flying as part of a group.

As a result Kate had done a lot of research on what was on where they were going. That was when she learned that South Africa actually had three capital cities. They were going to be in Cape Town for a whole week.

After that she had done a lot of research on Cairo and that was where Kate had a problem.

"MOM!?" Katie yelled and waited for her to show up.

"You bellowed?" Johanna queried since yelling nearly that loud wasn't necessary.

Katie ignored that part. "Cairo is all desert, Mom. It's going to be really hot. We'll bake!" And that was just the first problem.

"It's a tour, Katie," Johanna said patiently. "We'll never be alone and we'll have an air-conditioned coach and hotel room. The only time you'll be hot is touring the pyramids or temples that we visit. The hotel even has a pool if that will help." Johanna knew that being in Cairo was a risk for several reasons. The heat was only one of them, but they were never going to be back so it didn't matter.

"There better be." She would find a way to make her parents pay if they didn't have air-conditioning the entire way. "What about Cairo itself? I've read about attacks on tourists. Their political system is in chaos. There have been demonstrations and fights." That was the second problem with this trip.

"It's a risk, I won't deny it. However, we're a large enough group and we'll be staying in a western hotel just outside of the city so it should be safe." Johanna and Jim had talked about all this before booking it and paying the deposit let alone the final payment.

"Risk!? The Muslim Brotherhood isn't a risk, Mom. They're religious homicidal screwballs willing to die for…for…whatever it is that their willing to die for," she sputtered. "AND TAKE US WITH THEM!".

"Are you having your period, honey?" Johanna was sure she was making too much out of this. They weren't going to be anywhere near that mess.

"What!? That's beside the point." How did she know it was her period anyway? Oh, yeah, her PMS. "What part of fanatic killer Muslim Brotherhood did you miss, Mom?"

"You can stop over exaggerating or you can go back to school and spend time with that boyfriend you told us about. Maybe he'll go to Alaska where it's nice and frozen. Just the way you like it," Johanna huffed.

That had Katie hanging her head. "I dumped him. He was a thief, a cheat, and a liar. …And you're ducking the question."

"Then don't go. Even if your father and I did pay for you to go. The refrigerator's empty but you can get takeout all week. Spend all day in bed and watch TV and poison your mind with all that crap." Johanna turned to leave.

Katie groaned. Her mother was playing games with her mind. …AGAIN! And worse, she was winning. "Fine, I'll go. But if those fanatic Muslims capture me and turn me into their sex slave it's going to be all your fault." Two could play these games.

"That's nice, honey. You'll love it." Johanna wasn't biting and left her room.

"Enjoy being a sex slave trapped in some pit in Cairo. Forced to eat hummus all day. Gag me!" Suddenly this trip was looking more like a nightmare.

"YOU KNOW I COULD ORGANIZE AN ORGY PARTY WITH MY FRIENDS WHILE YOU'RE GONE!" Katie wasn't done yelling yet. All it got her was being ignored. She'd lost and was forced to admit it. "This better be the best summer vacation ever."

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"What did Katie want?" Jim inquired since all he heard was a lot of yelling that didn't make a whole lot of sense to him since he was only hearing part of it.

Jo made a face. "Katie's being dramatic. She's convinced herself that the Muslim Brotherhood is going to capture us and eat us."

"They might be wackos who are willing to die and kill each other but they aren't cannibals." Jim didn't believe that for a second and saw the look his wife was giving him. "Ohhh! I wonder where she gets that from?" He rolled his eyes and tried to keep a straight face.

"No one I know. And neither do you." He didn't if he knew what was good for him.

Jim decided to change the subject. "You're fine with us going on this vacation. It means you have to drop that Pulgatti guy. You sounded convinced that there was something there." Jim knew just how committed she was to her job and what she fought for.

"The staff can look into it and I can pick up with what they find when we get back. I tell you, Jim, something stinks in that conviction." Johanna could smell it.

"Of course you're right. A known mob enforcer who has broken more bones than half the doctors in the city had mended is convicted of a murder of an undercover FBI agent. And something stinks." Jim didn't see what she saw.

"Don't mock me. I've never been wrong yet. …I married you, didn't I?" It was her best not being wrong that she could think of.

That had Jim smiling and wrapping his arms around her. "You're just lucky that I finally got up the courage to ask you out on a date."

"I thought you were never going to ask me," Johanna said.

"Hmm, now we have a daughter with more hormones than nearly all of the women in this city combined." He was convinced their daughter was deliberately trying to drive them mad.

"It was just a phase. Just be thankful that she didn't end up pregnant or come down with an STD." Johanna couldn't believe some of the guys her daughter had dated. Some of the worst scumbags she could possibly have found.

Jim let go of his his wife and put a finger in each ear. "I'm not listening. La, la, la, la." He was not listening about his daughter having sex or worse ending up pregnant. Let alone contracting an STD.

Johanna took his fingers out of his ears. "How she didn't contract body lice from some of those guys still escapes me. Please tell me we're finally past that point." Jim had hated all of them.

"She broke up with that boyfriend she had at school. Something about him being a thief, a liar, and a cheat. So she might be smartening up when it comes to boys." Johanna saw the breakup as a good thing.

"Thank goodness!" Jim was happy. "She could do so much better if she would just try."

"Katie will find him. She's got a good head on her shoulders and she's pretty. Okay, a better head on her shoulders." Johanna was willing to admit that Katie had been a pain for a while.

"We have an early flight tomorrow, 11:15 am if my memory serves, with one stop. All nineteen hours of it." Jim was thinking they really needed to get started with their packing.

Johanna rested against her husband because of that. "Nineteen hours in a tiny little seat. Maybe we should have chosen something closer. Australia maybe?" Johanna brightened up since she was teasing.

"Oh yeah, twenty-four hours is so much shorter than nineteen hours. Excellent plan," Jim teased right back which earned him a light swat to his chest. "We could have taken that river cruise in Germany that I wanted." It was far too late now but he had suggested something a little closer.

Johanna shook her head. "Trapped on a narrow, really long boat in a tiny little room for a whole week or longer. It still sounds like a bad idea. Besides Katie wouldn't like it any better than this trip. You should hear her about the heat in Cairo." Johanna rolled her eyes at him.

"If we left it to her she would turn herself into an Eskimo, live in an igloo, and run around naked," Jim remarked only to have his wife place her fingers over his mouth.

"Not so loud, you'll give her ideas and she has enough of those already." Johanna wasn't really sure if she was teasing or not. For all she knew Katie might do just that.

"You should go get her started packing or we'll never get there. I'm going to put all our paper work and passports together and in one place so we don't leave them behind. I'll join you to help pack after that. Vacation here we come." Jim was happy to get out and see something that none of them had ever seen and might never see again.

Johanna kissed him and went to Katie's room to get her started.

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They were in Terminal A, finally walking down the concourse to their gate with an hour to wait until boarding. Jim had gotten them there early in case there was one of New York City's famous car accidents or some other stupid thing. He wasn't missing their flight. Not when they had a connecting flight in Johannesburg.

Their plane was an Airbus A340-600 and Jim and Johanna had seats next to each other in row 43, seats H and K. Katie had an aisle seat in the middle. Row 43 seat G. They had a wall right in front of them. A pair of emergency exit doors were just the other side of the wall as was a stewardess station. There were fourteen rows behind them and a number of rows in front of them.

You would think all of New York was going to Cape Town with the number of people on this flight. From where they were seated it looked like a full flight. Then the stewardess came on to tell them to please cooperate because they had a full flight.

Katie put her neck support pillow around her neck, wrapped her arms around herself, and tried to find a good position so she could go to sleep and ignore her seatmates.

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Since they were on a tour they had already met their tour guide who would be with them the entire trip. Upon finally reaching Cape Town they had a bus to take them to their hotel.

The Capital Mirage Hotel, Corner Strand and Chiappini Street, Cape Town, 8001 Cape Town, South Africa.

From the outside after the bus stopped, it looked rather modern. A white wall on one side with the hotel name on it. The other three sides were all glass and steel.

"Not bad." Johanna liked it. Since Katie was expecting to see huts or yurts this was a nice surprise.

They all gathered in the lobby while their tour guide checked them all in and handed out keys to everyone. "It's presently 2:16 in the afternoon. You have the rest of today to yourselves. Breakfast is provided by the hotel. Just show them your room cards. It's a hot breakfast. You need to be here in the lobby at 11:00 to meet our tour bus. A late lunch is included. When that's completed you have the rest of the day to yourselves. There's a lot to do in this city so enjoy."

They went to the elevator along with everyone else and eventually made it to their floor and found their room.

It had two queen sized beds that were mostly white. White pillows and gray accent pillows. The comforter was folded up and at the foot of the bed. It was a series of gray colors that matched the carpeted floor. The headboard was large and a mix of gray and black.

The drawers were white while the cabinet for hanging clothes was black. There was a small table between the bed that held a phone. The table had a glass top with narrow metal supports.

Johanna went to the glass wall to look out onto the city. Since they were on the 8th floor they actually had a view and it wasn't a parking lot. "Not bad. How's the bathroom?" They had all walked right past it.

That had Katie looking while Jim began opening suitcases. "White! Lots and lots of white. One sink. White, one really big walk-in shower. White and one white tub with white walls, white floor, and white ceiling." It was modern looking and Katie wasn't sure she liked it, but it looked clean and it wasn't outside.

Johanna searched for the brochure that was surely here that talked about this place.

"There's a rooftop bar and outdoor pool. Three restaurants. Conveniently located between Cape Town's city center and trendy De Waterkant. The Cape Quarter Lifestyle Village is just a two minute walk away with some of Cape Town's most popular restaurants and coffee shops.

"Let's see… The restaurants are a steak house, sushi, and rooftop dining a la carte," Johanna read aloud.

"Nightlife?" Katie wanted to have some fun on this trip. Not spend it looking at museums with her parents.

"Don't look at me, and if you come home drunk you're going to ruin this trip for yourself. We came here to see what we couldn't in New York or San Francisco," Johanna warned her.

"And end up chained to the bed," Jim added even if he didn't have chains and ultimately wouldn't.

"I promise." She ignored her dad. She could get drunk with friends at school. She didn't need to get drunk here. Though she did want to find a place to do some dancing. "Maybe the front desk will know."

"We have about four hours or so until dinner time. We could walk to this village and see what is there. Maybe find a restaurant that we can't resist," Johanna offered.

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"Ooo, it's a shopping complex." Johanna was sold. Jim groaned. He didn't need to go shopping for women's clothing. She found a map that told them store names but not what they had but it did show where.

"You can meet us here, babe." Johanna indicated a store that sounded like something he might like. "Katie and I will meet you there in two hours." Johanna saw her husband have a little smile; he was off the hook. "Have fun." She gave him a quick kiss and left with Katie to do some shopping or at the very least some window shopping.

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Katie and Johanna started with Loulisa East Meets West. There they found a lot of handwoven items, clothing accessories, and handcrafted jewelry. They both wandered around until Katie found a lovely large red hat that she tried on and looked in the mirror. She was really starting to like it. She thought she looked good in a hat. Right up until she saw the price and needed to figure out what that was in dollars. It went back where she found it.

Rizelli was next. They soon learned that it was a pretty good sized store. Lots of clothes, items for a home, perfume, and other things.

"Mom, shoes!" Katie was drawn to it like a moth to a flame and Johanna was right behind her.

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Katie's eyes saw something unique and picked it up. It talked about rhinestones, chains, thongs, gladiator flat sandals, and flip flops. It was totally sparkly and shiny.

"I thought you were into high heels?" Johanna asked since she didn't think she would ever wear them.

"Good point." Katie put them back and kept looking.

"What about these!" Katie found something that was really her. They had open toe and open heel. They were above the ankle and had a hidden zipper up the outside. The material was sinfully soft and they were maybe a 6 inch heel, more or less, and they were jet black.

"You do have a black dress somewhere if you brought it." Johanna liked them, too.

"I did, actually." She had planned ahead for something more formal to wear.

Then she looked at the price and did the conversation in her head. "Sixteen dollars!?" Katie felt her mouth fall open and clutched the shoes to her chest. She was so buying these. They would go with her black dress perfectly even if she had brought some strappy black high heels to wear with it.

Johanna found something she couldn't believe. "What are these?" She held them up for Katie to see. They had more colors than any color chart she could remember seeing.

"Hot pink, black, lime green, bright orange, soft blue, navy blue, soft pink, yellow, and green." Katie pointed at each color. "They're Nike." She saw the Nike swoosh.

"They have to be fakes." Johanna put them back down. They were so not her style.

Katie picked up something to show her. "Here, Mom, these are more your style."

They were gladiator sandals, open toe with laces up over the ankle and up to her upper calf.

"Oh yes, so my style. Put those things back." Her daughter was nuts but it did make both of them laugh.

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Johanna didn't find anything so they left that store with Katie's new shoes.

Tabitta Fashions was next and while it had a lot to look at nothing caught their eyes.

"Time to go find your father." Their two hours were up.

Bootlegger Coffee Company

"Thank god! Coffee!" Katie gave her shoes to her dad and got in line.

"Let me guess. Shoes." Jim was smiling since he thought he knew his women, at least to a point.

Johanna defended her. "They're perfect for the black dress she brought."

"I see your hands are empty." He was thinking that must be a first.

"Didn't really see anything. How's the coffee?" Maybe she should get a cup.

"Amazingly good, actually. You should try a cup. Then we can talk about where to eat dinner or where to go next." Jim watched her get up and get in line for a cup of coffee.

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They were back at the hotel since none of the places to eat sounded all that appetizing, especially after looking at the Italian restaurant that was located there.

"Steak it is," Jim said.

Jim and Johanna got a table while Katie took her shoes to the room and came back down.

Cattle Baron Steak House

Jim and Johanna both chose fillet while Katie chose lamb chops. Katie saw the look her parents were giving her. "The hotel has an exercise room. Besides I still want to find a place to go dancing tonight. I'll be back in time to get some sleep, I promise."

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Kate got a recommendation from the front desk. Cocoon was actually an easy walk from the hotel. Open from 10pm to 4am.