Destination India. Katy Colins

knees and stared at her. ‘What do you mean Marie?’

      ‘I mean, I left my bag at the table when you two were talking, well, arguing – remember? Then you both left it unattended after your fight,’ she whispered, biting her bottom lip.

      ‘What? Well then it could have been anyone in there, couldn’t it?’ I said, feeling faint with the worry bubbling up inside of me. Marie wouldn’t sabotage this trip, would she? Would she?

      ‘Excuse me, Miss Green?’ Check-in lady barked, pulling me back to the immediate crisis we were dealing with. ‘I need you to go through security right now; your flight will be boarding imminently. Miss Robinson, if you don’t have your passport then you will be unable to fly today.’

      I held up a hand to stall for time. ‘Maybe it’s still at the flat? Maybe it fell out of your bag in the pub? Maybe someone’s handed it in? Maybe it’s in the taxi?’ I was clutching at straws and I knew it.

      Shelley shook her head sadly. ‘I had it last night and now I don’t.’

      ‘And you didn’t think to check you still had it this morning?’ I was half screeching now as waves of hysteria washed over me. Shelley had to come with me; I couldn’t do this trip alone.

      ‘I’m so sorry, Georgia. You’re going to have to go without me.’

      ‘Miss Green, please, if you do not go straight to security I will have to let them know to close the flight without you, without either of you.’

      ‘OK!’ I snapped. ‘Sorry. I’m sorry. It’s just I can’t believe Marie would do something like that.’

      Shelley sniffed loudly. ‘I can. She was so pissed off with you. Maybe this way you would finally remember her and not leave her out in the future.’

      I shook my head violently. ‘No, Marie would never do something so crazy and spiteful as this. No way.’

      ‘Excuse me, Miss Green.’ The check-in lady seethed. ‘Are you travelling today or not?’

      ‘Is there another flight, maybe a later one that we could get booked onto?’ The woman huffed but looked down at her screen and started angrily tapping at her keyboard.

      Shelley turned to me. ‘I really hope you’re right about Marie. At least this way I can go back to yours, do a proper search for it, head to the pub and ask them, call the taxi firm and …’ She trailed off listing all the options we had for her to make this trip and for my best friend not to be responsible for this fuck-up.

      ‘Yes, good idea. Retrace your steps, find your passport, then fly out later to join me.’

      ‘Sorry,’ the check in lady interrupted, not looking sorry in the slightest. ‘The later flight is all booked up. The next available flight I could get you on would be next Thursday but it’s coming up at almost double the cost of the flight you had booked today. That is, if you find your passport by then.’

      My heart sank.

      Shelley’s face drained of colour. ‘Well that’s that then.’ She sighed, blinking away tears. ‘We’ll have to leave it. I’m so sorry. Will you be OK going by yourself?’

      I didn’t have time to answer as the check-in lady had now stood up and logged off her computer. ‘Miss Green, please follow me or neither of you will be heading to India.’

      ‘I’m going to have to be.’ I sniffed and quickly pulled Shelley into a hug. ‘Call me as soon as you find your passport.’

      She nodded. ‘Be safe, Georgia, and good luck!’ she called behind me as I raced to keep up with the woman striding ahead in her shiny black court shoes.

      This would be fine. Fine. I swallowed back the bile that burned my throat. Wouldn’t it?

      I was rushed through security, raced down the never-ending bright corridors and half tumbled into my seat, wheezing and out of breath. I nervously stared out of the small aircraft window as they ran through the safety announcement, hoping beyond hope that Shelley would miraculously turn up and take the seat next to me. However, once the doors were pulled shut there was no chance. I was now on my own. There was no turning back.

      All the other passengers around me were excitedly chatting about their travels, the friends and family they were meeting or the places they were going, but all I could think was how I was going to survive. I let myself cry thinking of what lay ahead of me, ignoring the strange looks I was receiving. How was I going to face travelling round this enormous country by myself? Being spontaneous comes with its downsides. This was all Shelley’s idea and now she wasn’t even here to help me.

      I thought back to the way Marie had looked at me last night, how hurt and angry she was. She couldn’t have hidden Shelley’s passport; she would never do something so spiteful and stupid, would she? A small voice piped up in my head: She would if she wanted to teach you a lesson, let you be this fearless backpacker that she thinks you are.

      But the truth is, I’m not fearless at all.