Wicked Wrong: "Felicity"

Felicity

Felicity Marianne McKaughnalin was sleeping restlessly in an uncomfortable seat on a crowded flight to Ireland. She’d dozed off quite quickly with her forehead pressed against the tiny window, where slight mists of fog came and went with each heavy breath she drew. Hazy dreams of her unknown life to come and the frustrating one she’d left behind flitted through her mind, causing her eyelids to flutter. A mop of black curls had fallen across her face, shielding her from the outside world.

Felicity sighed in her sleep, shifting slightly every few minutes.
A torn envelope addressed to her, though sporting no return address or party, had fallen to her feet. Its contents, a tattered letter, lay open on her lap. A nosy flight companion seated next to Felicity couldn’t help leaning across the slumbering girl to read the exposed message. He was a balding man, round with rosy cheeks, and extremely curious at heart. His stiff suit made a rough swishing sound as he positioned himself better to read the handwritten note. He momentarily froze, hoping he hadn’t awakened the girl. It wasn’t a long letter, but the tiny cursive proved fairly difficult to read.

Lissy,
How are you? I hope things with your mother and
stepfather are going well. I miss you every day and will
call you the next time I have access to a working phone.
I would tell you where I am if I only knew. I can tell
you though, that I am somewhere in South America.
It is beautiful here and I only wish you could see it. I
hope I get to talk to you again soon and get an update on
your life.
Love,
Daddy

The curious man murmured to himself, somewhat sorry he’d read the
poor girl’s letter. A frequent business traveler, he’d been away from his
wife and young son for a full two weeks and had one more long week to
go before he would get to return home. A heavy feeling of regret settled
around his heart. The flight attendant announced their descent and the
girl begrudgingly roused from her sleep. The balding man scooped the
torn envelope from atop her feet and handed it to her.

“Here you go…Fe-lic-ity,” he said, pretending to read the name from
the envelope.

“Oh!” Lissy said, taking the envelope from his extended hand and
stifling a yawn. “Thank you,” she said, finally looking up at the stranger.
The man drew in his breath at the sight of the stunning beauty, less
than half his age. Gorgeous, wild black curls fell down her shoulders,
ending just above her lap; a peach blush warmed her cheeks; and carefully
sculpted eyebrows framed her shocking green eyes. The man swallowed
hard, quickly looking away and pretending to gather his belongings while
the poor girl groaned and shoved the letter back into the envelope.

The plane finally rolled to a stop and the passengers groggily climbed
off and began making their way through the airport. It’d been a long flight
and Lissy was wiped. Struggling through the crowd, she weaved her way
to the luggage claim to retrieve her belongings. She had only one bag
with her; additional belongings were to be shipped to her grandmother’s
house. She then headed to the front of the airport to find a taxi. Parking
herself on a bench just outside the trodden and weathered building, Lissy
smiled faintly at a small brown bird that had perched next to her and was
twittering happily. She allowed her mind to wander back over the recent
dramatic events of her life.

Two months ago exactly, Felicity’s mother, Janet, and her stepfather,
Ron, had announced the good news: Ron had finally gotten a book deal.
They’d then proceeded to tell her that they would be living life on the
road, giving talks and doing book signings. Lissy was ecstatic, reveling in
the thought of traveling the world just like her father had been doing for
so many years.

Lissy had always been more of a free spirit and wasn’t particularly
fond of the whole “high school ordeal” in general. She’d mostly kept to
herself, waiting impatiently each day for the bell to ring and release her
from the boring classes she was required to attend. She had no qualms
about leaving her school in Denver. The girls there didn’t like her—her
mother always said it was because they were jealous—and the guys only
wanted one thing. After she realized this with her first and only boyfriend,
Scott, she dumped him immediately and hadn’t dated since. A hottie from
the football team, Scott decided to start some scandalous rumors, and then
no one talked to her. No, she definitely wouldn’t miss her old school or
supposed friends…not when she was going to get to travel the world.

The euphoria was short lived, though—simply a fleeting thought
drifting on the wind. Lissy would not be going with them. Her mother
had decided that her only daughter needed some form of stability. Janet
and Ron would be traveling bohemian-style. Her father, Daniel, had been
an absentee parent after leaving her mother and Felicity when she was the
tender age of five. She hadn’t seen him since, though he called and wrote
on occasion. She was being sent to live with her grandmother in Ireland.
Heat crept into Lissy’s cheeks, tingeing them a faint pink as she
recalled the full-out tantrum she’d thrown. She’d locked herself in her
room, refusing to leave, threatening to barricade the door and starve
herself. It had been extremely immature of her, seventeen now, and had
severely upset her mother. Lissy shuddered, remembering the way her
mother’s face contorted with anger and turned an impossible red, the
likes of which she’d never seen before. Her blue eyes had taken on an eerie
sheen and, combined with her spiky blonde hair, she looked like the devil
incarnate. And so, feeling like she had as little control over her life as she
did when her father left twelve years before, there Lissy sat…on a bench…
in an unfamiliar and rainy town…somewhere in Ireland.