Out of This World

By Sheryl Dorion-Powers

“Need a break from the frigid Canadian temperatures? Need a pick me up?”
Janessa stopped ignoring the advertisement.
“Need a break away from it all, filled with the adventure of a lifetime? Are you still single? Out of this World Cruise Lines has just the adventure package to break you out of your winter doldrums! Check out our singles adventure packages at www.outofthisworld.ca today and have the best winter break of your life!”
Singles cruises. It sounded kind of cheesy, but the adventure part sounded like just what she needed. She definitely wanted out of her cold, lonely world for a while. Throwing caution to the wind, she booked herself a ticket, never imagining for a moment just how far her vacation would take her from the life she had once known.

• Language: English
• Publisher: World Castle Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Feb 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781956788570

Sheryl Dorion-Powers

Sheryl Doiron-Powers is a diverse Canadian writer who dabbles in many genres including horror, young adult, science fiction, creative non-fiction, and everything in between. She decided to return to school as a mature student and graduated with distinction from St. Thomas University in 2016, where she studied Communications and English. Encouraged to try her hand at writing by her professors, she entered a concentration in creative writing and has been writing ever since. She currently lives in a small community just outside of Fredericton, New Brunswick with her horror writing husband, Joe Powers. She holds her three children and five grandchildren close to her heart, even when life takes them on their own adventures hundreds of kilometers away.

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Out of this World

by

Sheryl Doiron-Powers

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

WCP Logo 7

World Castle Publishing, LLC

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © Sheryl Doiron-Powers 2022

Smashwords Edition

Paperback ISBN: 9781956788563

eBook ISBN: 9781956788570

First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, February 21, 2022

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Smashwords Licensing Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover: Karen Fuller

Editor: Maxine Bringenberg

Chapter 1

The twinkle of Samantha’s shiny new wedding band caught Janessa’s eye as she reached for the salt shaker.

So, how was Jamaica? April asked.

Even better than I thought it would be, Sam smiled.

Yeah, like Jamaica in January could ever be a bad thing, Janessa said, and rolled her eyes.

As far as honeymoons go, couldn’t ask for better. Canadian winters suck, Sam said.

Of all her friends, only Sam would be so cheesy as to get married on New Year’s Day. Although she begrudgingly admitted that the theme made for a nice wedding, Janessa had had about all the bridesmaid duties she could handle for one lifetime. What started out as the most awesome group of single friends a woman could ask for was now just a closet full of bridesmaid dresses and some occasional lunches. Up until three weeks ago, she’d still had at least Sam. One by one, her friends had all married. It wasn’t the same anymore. She was now the group spinster.

Although she was happy for her friends—really she was—the bitterness and sense of isolation that had crept in was unexpected. Regardless of the girls’ reassurances that nothing would change, it had. The others did things with their husbands now or in couplets, while she was often left out.

Any time part of the group assembled to go on their Saturday afternoon shopping therapy, Janessa ended up more agitated and depressed than if she would have just stayed at home alone. If she had to hear her friends wonder aloud one more time whether their husband would love this shirt, tie, blanket, dish set, or picture, she was going to go ballistic. Every trip ended up turning into a session of reminders that she was alone. These outings always dampened her mood and made her wonder when she would find her partner to walk with her through life. At thirty-five, she had thought she would have been settled down by now. She was as attractive as the others in the group. Sure, she had a crummy dead end job she hated, but hell, at least she was employed and made a decent living.

While she didn’t own her own home yet, she did have a well furnished apartment in a nice area of town with a great view of the bay and the mountains that lay on the other side. She was friendly and smart. Smarter than Samantha and prettier than April, she thought defensively.

She dated from time to time, but things never seemed to get much further than a few dates. Most of the single men she met in the area were as interesting as watching the snow melt. She often wondered if she was too fussy. After all, was chewing with your mouth open really a sufficient reason to stop dating someone? Occasionally, she would decide to stick it out a little longer with a man to see if he’d grow on her, but they never did. Usually, within a few weeks, she was so irritated by the guy she would just end it and the misery. Their annoying little habits always drove her batty, and she could never seem to bond with anyone she met. Maybe she was fussy after all.

It wasn’t like she was a magazine beauty or anything, but with her ash blonde hair, creamy skin, and curvy yet athletic figure, she figured she wasn’t a hardship to look at. Why she seemed to have this much difficulty finding someone suitable was beyond her. Clever, witty, and loyal, she valued her friendships and went out of her way to help anyone who needed it. She had her faults like anyone else, but she didn’t think any of them made her an unsuitable match for a reasonable person. Doubt crossed her mind from time to time, and she sometimes wondered if what she wanted from a partner was somehow unattainable, but she didn’t think she was realistic in her expectations.

And the sex…she didn’t even want to think about those encounters. She was far from promiscuous, but you would think at least one of the few partners she’d had would have been more exciting than a trip to have your teeth drilled. As sex always seemed to be the main topic at most of the ladies’ night bar hopping adventures, weekend jaunts to the cabin, and morning-after conversations, she’d expected to at least be able to answer her friends honestly for once that her date had ended in a scene fit for a steamy X-rated movie.

Janessa wondered if maybe her friends were playing up the truth a little bit about their sex lives. Anytime she was asked about her intimate encounters, she would always say they were fine and change the topic as quickly as she could. When prodded or teased about it, she would just lie and say she liked to keep her sex life and partners private.

Janessa, geesh girl, you awake? Sam just asked you for the third time if you were still dating Tom. April elbowed her gently.

Oh, sorry. I was up late working on a report half the night. Just a little zonked, Janessa said. Her cheeks flushed at the thought that her friends had somehow guessed what she was thinking. No, we only dated for about two weeks. He was intolerable. Every time you looked at him, he was biting his nails. Disgusting habit.

But I thought you said he was great? Good job, nice house, no kids. Sam raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yeah. But he always just wanted to sit around watching Family Guy. What grown man sits for hours watching a cartoon and biting his nails?"

I think your standards are too high. Sam looked to the others for confirmation.

Well, I would rather be alone than be with someone who isn’t what I want.

She’s right, Sam. No point in being in a relationship just to be in one. If you have nothing in common with the person, it’s not like it’s going to last anyway, and she’d be just wasting her time, April said, ending the debate. She patted Janessa’s hand in support and changed the topic.

Janessa went over the lunch conversation in her mind as she drove home. She knew her friends meant well, and maybe she was being a bit fussy, but she couldn’t picture herself standing at the altar with a nail biter. It was fine for them. They’d found what they were looking for. It wasn’t like she was just going to marry the first doorknob that happened to pass by just so she could say she was married.

She let herself inside her little apartment and sat at the table to take in the view of the bay and thought once again that she couldn’t have asked for a better place. The view of the sun setting between the mountains over the bay was worth every dime of the rent. No matter how dull or stressful her day was, this view always made her relax and gave her a bit of enjoyment in her otherwise less-than-ideal life.

As she enjoyed the scenery, Janessa reflected on her day-to-day life. She might be alone, but she didn’t have to be this dissatisfied with everything. Like her job, for example. She hated it. This job had to go. She couldn’t see herself working at AJC Property Management forever. The same dull routine day after day, and a never-changing monotony of data and reports that never seemed to clear from her desk, was all she had to look forward to in her career development. The pay was decent, but considering she was already department manager, it wasn’t like she could advance any further.

That was the big problem with living in any small town; you usually ended up stuck in jobs you hated because there weren’t really any other options. She’d lived in Campbellton, New Brunswick, all her life. While the tiny city had the benefits of scenic beauty, it lacked more than it offered. Winter lasted forever here, and Janessa hated winter. It was only the beginning of February, and she was sick of it already. The sun set so early it felt like she lived in a world of darkness. Drive to work in the dark. Drive home from work in the dark. Only the occasional weekend she managed to get off at work provided her with even a glimpse of the sun. With another three months before the snow melted, she couldn’t wait to see spring.

Chapter 2

By midweek, Janessa hated her job more than ever. The prison-like winter made everyone grumpy or depressed. Her team members bickered like high school brats—too much damned estrogen in one room—and head office was up her ass every chance they got. Software glitches, cranky property managers, and complaining snow removal vendors filled her days. She called April on her lunch break to see if she and Sam were still on for skiing on Saturday, only to find out that she and her husband were going shopping in Maine for the weekend. She tried to find someone to go with her, but they all had plans for the weekend. Sam and her husband were going with April and her man to Maine. Olivia and Chantal couldn’t either, as they had Mommy and Me swim lessons with the babies. Guess she was on her own…again.

She set the phone down with a frown and stared at the calendar on the wall. White sands, palm trees, a beckoning hammock, and sky blue waters tormented her from the photo. A couple held hands as they walked the beach with their sun-bronzed skin and looked into each other’s eyes with sappy smiles plastered on their faces. Janessa got up, pulled the tack that held the calendar in its place, and viciously ripped the calendar down.

She looked closely at the pair of lovers, and her frown deepened. Jamming the tack back into the cork board, she spun on her heel and threw the wretched calendar in the garbage can beside her desk. She looked into the pail with satisfaction until she noticed the couple looking up at her from within. Wrenching the calendar back out, she proceeded to rip the page into confetti. She stared at the colorful mess spread across the tops of her shoes a moment and decided that was simply not good enough; the following page was even worse. As she stormed out of the office into the print and copy room and fed the calendar through the industrial shredder, she watched with satisfaction as the pages came out in ribbons on the other side and fell into the waste basket. Pleased that they couldn’t taunt her any longer, she left the copy room and went to make her rounds through her department. Who needed a calendar nowadays anyway? Her iPhone could be programmed just how she liked it, without having to endure the sappy scenic reminders that her life sucked.

The rest of the week passed as slowly as a North Shore winter, and everything that could go wrong went dreadfully wrong. The solitary ski trip she had dreaded looked like heaven by the end of the week, and Janessa rode the chairlift up the mountain early Saturday morning with a smile. She took in the scenic beauty and felt the stress of the week begin to fade. It really was beautiful. The snow blanketed the earth and sparkled like a zillion blinking diamonds in the winter sunlight. The tips of the pines glimmered with their snow tipped frosting and decorated the mountainside, making the scene postcard-perfect.

Her first run down the intermediate slope was flawless. She felt invigorated and joyful as she reached the bottom and scissor walked her way back to the lift. This was going to be a great day after all. But the lift came to a grinding halt halfway from the top of the precipice. Her chair swung back and forth a few times before coming to a stop. She didn’t mind so much; the view was breathtaking. A trill of feminine laughter rang in her ears and broke the peace of the moment. The young couple in front of her had decided to use the opportunity to make out. Great. Just what she needed.

The next twenty minutes, as she waited for the lift to start moving again, were horrid. When she heard the woman ahead of her giggle for the fifteenth time, Janessa debated whether plummeting to her death was a reasonable approach to ending this nightmare. Thankfully, she was saved from the decision when the lift started to move again. The shine had worn off her day, and after another run down the slopes did nothing to improve her mood, she called it quits.

Janessa arrived home to several messages waiting from the office. She debated ignoring the little red blinking light but knew that would only result in more phone calls and messages. Listening to the shift supervisors relay the latest debacle, she groaned in frustration and returned the call, hoping the issue could be resolved over the phone.

Brad can’t handle it? He is the tech guru, after all. No? Well, why not? I mean, I don’t see how I could possibly add anything to the situation, as I’m not an IT professional. That is why I hired him.

Janessa paced the length of her small living room, getting more irritated by the minute.

Of course. I’ll be right there.

She ended the call and angrily tore her coat off the hanger she had just hung it on. Not only was her ski trip ruined, she was now needed urgently at work. So much for the great Saturday off she’d planned. As she headed back out the door, she decided they didn’t pay her enough. What was the point of hiring supervisors if they just called her to come in at the first sign of a problem? No one seemed capable of handling even the smallest of hiccups without her presence. She either needed a substantial raise or a new job.

Chapter 3

She was seriously contemplating a career change when she received a text from April cancelling this week’s girls’ night due to