Page 1 of Fight Or Flight

one

Natalie Alvarez sprinted down the busy London sidewalk through opaque sheets of cold rain, dragging her suitcase through the puddles behind her. It was only three blocks from where the coach bus had parked to the tour office where she worked, but in a thin blue dress and slippery gold sandals, she might as well have had to run to Singapore.

She cursed Jess, her boss, yet again, for asking her to stop by the office after her tour. She’d spent the last thirty-six days on her nineteenth once-in-a-lifetime trip around Europe and wanted nothing more than to check her bone-tired body into a hostel and sleep for the next five days before embarking on number twenty.

She only stopped once along the way to hand a five-pound note to a poor soul sheltered under a tattered tarp on the sidewalk, but by the time she made it to the overhang of the building and pushed her way through the door, she was freezing cold and soaked through like a sewer rat. Her long, dark brown hair had fallen over her face like a curtain, dripping from theends and splashing onto her hot-pink toenails. She reached up and pulled it from her eyes, then came face to face with a crowd, staring at her, waiting.

“What—”

“Congratulations!” they shouted, drowning out her voice.

She stumbled back slightly and scanned the crowd, taking in the faces of roughly twenty colleagues: fellow tour guides, bus drivers she’d worked with over the years, and pressing through the bodies, Jess, who came forward holding a tea towel from the staff kitchen.

“She still hasn’t bought a coat or wellies,” she said with a laugh, causing a chorus of laughter to ring out behind her. Everyone she worked with knew Natalie travelled light.

None of them knew why.

Natalie took the towel and squeezed the drenched ends of her hair with it, wringing out as much rainwater as she could. “What are you all doing—”

The rest of the sentence died in her throat as Alira Keete appeared behind Jess. She stood a foot taller than most, with raven black coiled hair and tilted hazel eyes.

“Not to worry, Natalie,” Alira said in a thick Australian accent with a grin tugging at her full lips. “You won’t need a jacket or wellies where you’re going.”

Natalie gasped. “Alira, hi. I didn’t know you were in London.”

Natalie had only spoken to Alira twice during interviews through video chat. She wasn’t prepared to see her in real life.

“I wanted to meet with you in person. I spoke with Jess about your Instagram following and your travel goals. It’s quite remarkable, what you’ve been able to accomplish.”

Alira held out her hand, and Natalie shook it, trying to grasp for words. For the past ten years, Natalie had been on a mission to visit one hundred countries and all seven continents before she turned thirty. She’d documented her journey on Instagram,which had built her a huge following. Currently, she was one country and one continent short of her goal.

Guess which one.

“Thanks.”

“You must already know why we’re all here.”

Natalie smiled. “I hope so. You have good news for me?”

Alira nodded. “I came to offer you the tour guide position in Australia. It’s an East Coast tour: twenty days, Sydney to Cairns. Six days off in between.”

Natalie’s jaw dropped. She had to lock her knees in place to stop herself from falling over. Everything she’d worked toward was finally happening, and a twenty-day tour with six days off was about as good as it got.

She’d set Australia as her last destination, partly because it had been her top pick when she first made her list of countries to visit, and partly because she knew it would be oh so satisfying to tick off both columns at the same time and finally say she’d accomplished it.

“Say something,” Jess said, nudging her in the arm.

Natalie cleared her throat. “This is incredible. I’ve been applying for this position for so long now.”

Alira nodded. “It’s our most requested tour, but I know you will be perfect for it. Jess speaks highly of you. And truth be told, I once dreamed of travelling to a hundred countries and every continent, too. But life and family, and mostly love, got in the way. You’re going to be the first person I’ve ever met to accomplish it.”

“You still haven’t said yes,” Jess said out of the corner of her mouth. “You better not turn it down. I’ve already booked myself on your first tour.”

“Yes, sorry. Of course I accept,” Natalie said. “This is a dream come true.”

“Excellent. Training starts in six weeks,” Alira said.

“That means,” Jess added, “your next Europe tour will be your last. You’ll never see the world’s sexiest Venetian gelato maker again.”

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