Twenty-One Night Stand ✓

30 / this is it

Maddie stood in the hall, her enormous rucksack at her feet and a bag hanging from one shoulder, and she stared into space as her mind raced over her packing list. All of her documents were safely stashed away in the belt around her waist, along with five hundred euros that her father had given her at the last minute. She had protested the gift, but he had insisted.

"Got everything?" Jung-min asked, keys in his hand.

"Yup," she said, unzipping her bumbag and showing him her passport and insurance – enough to cover her for three months, at the end of which she and Posy were due to return for Christmas before jetting off to Australia.

"What time's your flight again?"

"Half eleven," she said, and checked the sturdy, waterproof watch she had bought. It had just gone twenty-eight minutes past seven. "We need to go."

Her father hauled her rucksack onto the backseat before she could take it herself and her heart pounded as she slipped into the passenger seat, checking and rechecking that she had her passport. She had packed her bag at least three times, constantly going back to make sure she had what she needed. Just about enough clothes to last ten days, though she could stretch that to a fortnight if she couldn't find a launderette.

This was real. She took a deep breath, her chest heaving, and her father squeezed her hand.

"Excited?" he asked as he pulled out of the driveway, turning left to head towards the train station. Maddie nodded, a smile growing though butterflies were exploding out of cocoons in her stomach. Until now, everything had just been talk and preparation, but now it was happening. In twenty minutes, she would bid farewell to her father at Farnleigh station, and she wouldn't see him for three months.

"Nervous too," she said. "I've never been on a plane before. Never been abroad."

Her father smiled a wistful smile. They had never really had the time or money to leave the country. "At least you won't be alone," he said. He had taken great comfort in the fact that Maddie would be travelling with Posy: she was the definition of calm and collected in a crisis, and she knew her way around a map.

In exactly three hours, her plane to Berlin was due to leave. It wasn't too long a flight, perfect for her first time in the air, and she had read every guide to flying that she could get her hands on. Her carry-on bag was filled with everything she could need, from earplugs and a travel pillow to mints and magazines.

The station appeared on the horizon too soon, the multi-storey car park rising from the ground and the thrum of commuters rushing for trains they couldn't afford to miss. Maddie's heart clenched like a vice when her father pulled into a drop-off spot and the rumble of the engine faded. She got out, clutching her carry-on over her shoulder, and heaved her rucksack onto her shoulders.

Jung-min gave her a watery smile and pulled her into a hug. It seemed to last forever, his arms holding her safely against him as they had done so many times when she was a child. When she was a little girl and a storm raged outside, she would tuck up against his chest and he would read to her. His English had improved a lot since then, helped in part by her insisting that they read Harry Potter together.

"You're going to have an amazing time," he said, squeezing her before he let her go. "I envy you, ttal. I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too," she said, hoping that she wouldn't succumb to homesickness. She never had while she was at university: going back home had only ever been out of necessity rather than desire. "Love you, appa."

"Love you too, Maddie. Don't forget to take lots of pictures," he said, and with one last hug, he got back into the car. Maddie headed towards the station doors and waited outside until her father had left, waving her off.