Improbable Paradise

Katie groaned as she trudged up to the front desk with her two suitcases, a tiny wheel had broken and it had been a pain to carry them…and heavy. “Hello?” She put down her luggage and saw there was a bell. She hit it a few times, and then a few times more. “Hello!” When no one came to her aid, she rolled her eyes and arranged her luggage so she could sit on top of them and took out her phone. When she pulled up her email, her eyes widened at the first email. The title read, hey honey. She tentatively opened the message and took a deep breath before she decided to read it. She read slowly, slowly as if by reading it too fast it’ll all be overwhelming. Her father hasn’t contacted her in years, why now? Katie’s eyes stopped and lingered over the words ‘miss you’ and ‘hope to see you’. Before she could start spiraling, a voice awoke her from above.

“Oh, I am so sorry Miss.” Katie looked up at the apologetic voice. It was a woman in a blue blazer and matching colored skirt with a crisp white button down. Her hair was up in what looked like a painful tight bun in a shade of dull brown. “I didn’t hear you, I was in the back. Um, how can I help you?” Her voice became quizzical at the end when she saw the young woman’s face. Katie immediately stood up from her luggage and forced her deep frown into a smile. “No problem, I’m just checking into my room.”

“Of course, what is your name? I can look you up in two shakes.” the older woman said, getting behind a computer by her desk. “Stephen, Katie Stephen.” The older woman watched the screen intently until her eyes slightly widened. “Ah, there you are. Room for one. Here you go” she gave her a gold single key with her room number attached to it. “It looks like you’ll be with us for a week. I hope you enjoy your stay.” She smiled, her words practiced and refined. “Thank you.” Katie said as she took the key from her hand. “Um, can I use a bellhop? My wheel broke on the way here?” Katie asked the woman, who she noticed had a name tag that read Nancy. “Nancy,” she finished. Nancy smiled which looked more genuine and called over a tall bellhop to help her.

When they got to her room, Katie thanked the man and tipped him a ten. He took it, smiling and told her to have a nice day. She used the key to unlock her door and took her small temporary room in. After surveying everything, Katie sat down on the queen sized bed and took out her phone again, re-reading the rest of the email.

Hey Honey,

I know we haven’t spoken in a long time, but I wanted to clear the air. I know that last time we were together, we said some things that we would later regret. I know that I hurt you, I know that, but I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I miss you, kiddo. I will be in town on January 21st. I hope to see you, if you want. I will be at our favorite cafe around 10 a.m. if you still want to see me. I love you, Katie and I hope we can chat soon. There’s also something I wanted to talk to you about in person. Someone I want you to meet.

Love,

Dad

She kept pouring over each sentence until it was all she could see. It was only a paragraph, but so much weight was in it. Someone to meet? What did that mean? She could feel her mind spiraling again to the point where a dozen scenarios played out in her head at the same time. Was it a girlfriend? Or worse, a wife? The what-if’s were getting so bad that she slammed her hands, palm down on the bed as if to shout ENOUGH! “You know what? How dare he!” She got up from the bed in contempt. “How dare he ignore me for eight years and suddenly want to reach out. I will not give him another second of my thoughts.” The last time they had seen each other, he had told her he never wanted to see her again. How could a father ever say that to his only daughter? How? She deleted the email.

A thought popped into her head. She was in literal paradise, so why not go for a swim and check out the scenery? She had been on the longest flight in her life, but sleep was the last thing on her mind. She went into her suitcase and took out her bathing suit and towel. She was going to go for a swim.

***

Katie gazed out at the beach beyond her. She had never seen an ocean so blue before. The waves coming in and going out were like pure azure.The white sand curled into her toes like quicksand, until she started walking and it fell off naturally. She hummed a tune out loud, watching the beach goers laze around in the sand with their beach towels, umbrellas, and laughter. A beach ball landed in front of her feet and luckily she stopped before she could trip over it. A little girl with sandy blond hair, wearing a pink frilly swimsuit came up to her, “Sorry about that” she said, half laughing. She looked to be around eight. Points for manners, Katie thought to herself. Most kids didn’t even apologize at that age. “No worries, here you go.” Katie smiled politely and gave the girl her ball. The girl looked at Katie for a half beat too long, a thoughtful look on her face. “What’s your name?” She asked. A little surprised, she responded with, “Katie. What’s yours?” The girl smiled brightly, “Madison, but I mostly go by Maddie, only my dad calls me Madison.” The girl–-Madison, rolled her eyes at that. Katie let out a genuine laugh. So relatable.

“Are you all alone?” Madison asked. Katie nodded her head. “Yeah, I decided to go on a last minute vacation.”

“Why?” Madison tipped her head to the side in confusion.

“Um, I needed a change. Back home it is below freezing.” Also she needed a mental break from her family. “Where do you live?”

“Minnesota.”

“I live in California, but daddy is traveling for work and he brought me with him because it’s just us.”

“Oh,” Katie said. “Are you guys close?”

Madison nodded her head. “We are.”

Katie was not anticipating the twinge of jealousy she felt in her stomach. “That must be nice.”

She nodded, “Do you want to play ball with me?” She suddenly asked.

“Um, sure.” She laughed. They went to find a good spot near the ocean and passed the ball to each other. It was actually more fun than Katie thought it would be. They both were fairly competitive as they went from hitting the ball a few feet from each other to going further and further away from each other. So far, no one had let the ball hit the ground. Katie was full on laughing as she hit the ball back to Madison, feeling the force of the plastic against her balled up hands. “You're going down, kid!”

“No I'm not, grandma!”

Katie gasped dramatically in false shock, “Grandma! Okay, too far. Take this!” She pretended that the beach ball was a volleyball and when it came flying towards her she ended up spiking it, it hit the sandy floor. “Victory is mine!” She did a little dance. The ball was so close to the water that one wave swiped it right off the sandy floor and away.

“My ball!” Madison yelled.

“I have it.” Katie started going into the water before the ball got too far.

“Madison! Honey, I told you to stay in my line of sight.” Katie felt a shock in her system. That deep voice, it sounded strikingly like…

Katie turned around, dropping the ball.

Madison's dad…was her dad!?