text: She watches as the checkers of green and brown become dotted with matchbox size cars driving down the black strips of highway around the tiny boxes that she knows are houses. She watches as the plane takes its turn to begin its descent to the airport. Her excitement is contained into a bright smile as she watches the plane decend, beginning the trip that she had always dreamed of and had gotten for practicaly nothing. She had saved her money, tidbits of change and loose bills. She had often refrained from digging into that money to go out with the girls or on nights when she wanted to splurge in order to avoid cooking for one. She had sacrificed her morning lattes and had made her coffee at home. There were some funny moments when she had tried to duplicate some of her favorite morning beverages and had failed epically. Disasters that she had often posted on her social media for a laugh. She often did things like this because she liked to live life on the lighter side of things. She did her best to not get worked up over the little things because it left her drained and hating the world that she was living in. After all of her cutting out the unnecessary things out of life, she had finally saved enough to take the vacation that she had always wanted to take. Even better, she had found it for a much cheaper rate which meant that she had extra money to do some extra sightseeing while she was here. Everything had worked out better than she had hoped when she originally started looking at what she would need in order to go. As she made her way into the airport she felt as though her feet weren’t touching the floor. This was the lightest she had felt in a long time and she could feel the excitement fluttering in her stomach as she made her way through the airport to find the vehicle that was there to pick her up. It was at the entrance, marked Enchanted Getaways. She rode quietly, relaxed for the first time in a year. She heard the radio announcer start his spiel and heard him announce the next song following it up with, “You’re listening to Enchanted Getaways radio.” The next song that played was a familiar one, and she happily hummed along as it played. She was thinking about everything that she had needed to do in order to make this a reality. She would have preferred to travel with someone, but she hadn’t dated anyone in almost two years and she had worked extra hours and grabbed some shifts at the local diner in order to make this happen. She was alone. Part of her was saddened by this thought and the other part knew that it wouldn’t matter once she was lounging on the beach with a cold fruity drink in her hand. As they pulled through the entrance to the resort, she noticed the bright red, yellow, pink, and purple flowers that lined the drive with the spacious palms that dotted the landscape. She could hear the light music from the car radio as the window whirred quietly down and she breathed in the fresh air of the tropical paradise that she was going to be spending the next week relaxing in. The driver pulled to the front of the hotel that she would be staying in and climbed out of the driver’s seat. He opened her door and took her hand to help her out of the back seat. The smile that played across his lips was slightly knowing and disturbing. He nodded to her as he made his way to the back of the vehicle to get her bags. She turned slowly taking the scenery in around her. It was magical and breathtaking and everything that she had dreamed about. The colors were striking and bright. The flowers that lined There was a warm breeze blowing in from the ocean and she took a deep breath, enjoying the scents that tantalized her nose. There was such a mixture of the salty sea air, the flowers, the food, and as she walked into the hotel lobby, she felt the cool from the air conditioner hit her bare legs. The lobby was spacious and filled with potted plants, cool lights, plush furniture, and the sparkling bannister that curved up and around, surrounding the cool crisp white marble stairs. She couldn’t believe how lucky she had gotten, finding this company and this much luxury for the bargain that she had gotten it for. She had felt that the questionnaire that she had filled out was a little ridiculous, but she had filled it out enthusiastically because the price was absolutely unbelievable. She couldn’t believe her good fortune when she had stumbled across the bargain of a lifetime. She found her way to the massive front desk and informed the gentleman standing there that she was ready to check in to her room. As he handed her the key to her room, he informed her that the person she would be sharing her suite with had already checked in and was in the room. She froze. There were a million thoughts racing through her mind. The loudest one that was screaming at her was, what in the world this guy was talking about. She didn’t have anyone that she was sharing her suite with. She had booked this to get away from everyone. She questioned the clerk behind the desk about this, and he smiled as he asked her, “You scheduled a vacation with Enchanted Getaways , this is how it’s done.” “H-h-how what’s done?”, stumbled out of her mouth. “How did you book your stay with us?” “I did it online. I found it, fell in love with the price, answered some questions, and booked it.” It was in that moment that she learned that she had signed up to meet her possible soul mate. All the questions that she had answered led them to a match and then she had gone on to book the vacation of her dreams. She now understood what it meant when the box had popped up that stated, ‘ We found your match! Please continue to book your room .’ Now here she was about to go to her room and meet a complete stranger that she would be spending the next 7 days and 6 nights with in the same hotel room. Her heart was pounding as she and her bags made their way to the elevator that would take her to her room. As she exited the elevator and made her way to the door, the butterflies that had danced around her stomach and gave her a sense of excitement when her plane had landed, had now started to only flutter weakly, as they do when you sense dread. She felt as though there were a thousand that had chosen to fall and just lie there. Their wings fluttering weakly as they waited to die. They now felt heavy as any weight. They just sat there heavily weighing down in her stomach. She put her key in the slot and as the light begin blinking green, he opened the door. His hair was dark and his eyes were crystal blue. His face was round and inviting and he was smiling as he welcomed her in to the room and began showing her around the suite that she had booked just a short month ago thinking that she would be spending the week alone, enjoying the quiet and the salty sea air. She now understood how she had gotten the room for such a bargain. The man that was giving her the guided tour had been billed the other half of the room. He stopped in front of a set of French doors and his deep voice told her, “So, my name’s Mike. What’s your name?”