I didn’t have a specific place where my Perfect Day would occur. I just knew it would be somewhere that it got cold. I wanted to be wearing a cozy sweater and warm jacket. It didn’t need to be freezing, but I imagined the weather would be chilly enough to make my cheeks red. I’d be in a small town. The kind of town where people knew you. Where you’d walk past a store and the owner would pop their head out the door trying to lure you inside to see the latest jewelry they got in stock, or to try a new recipe they were testing. At some point, I’d get a hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows, using the heat from the cup to keep my hands warm. I’d walk down a street lined with twinkly lights and garlands draped between lampposts. Everyone I walked past would say hello. When it got just cold enough, that’s when I’d walk past the bookshop. It would smell like cider inside and sure enough, there would be a little beverage cart near the door with cups and a cheery sign that would read HELP YOURSELF. I’d switch out my hot chocolate for a cider and wander around the store. It would be large but full of books and leather chairs and maybe even a cat lounging on some shelves. Every book I wanted to buy would be in stock and I’d find a few more that I hadn’t even known I wanted. But the thing that made it the Perfect Day would be that when I went to check out, the salesperson would recognize me. It’s you, they’d say, and then point to a shelf where my book was prominently displayed. Would you mind signing some copies? they’d ask. We’re big fans of your work.

That, I think, would truly be the Perfect Day.

xoChani

Chapter 21

Chapter
21

MY HEAD HURT AND MY tongue was fuzzy. I felt queasy and I knew that if I tried to go back to bed, all I’d get was a few hours of weird, uneasy sleep and possibly bad dreams mixed in as well. I’d feel gross and tired and I knew that I was going to be spending the rest of this day lying in bed.

Then I realized I wasn’t home. And it wasn’t daytime.

It was dark, but there was light coming through the floor-length curtains—enough for me to get a decent view of where I was. A bedroom. A big bedroom. The bed was ridiculously large. I’d never been in a king-sized bed before but this seemed even more massive than that. Like I could start rolling to one side and it would be morning before I got to the edge. The sheets were really nice—soft and luxurious. They smelled good too.