Christmas Gone Crazy – Extract Three

“Buckle your seat belts. We are about to land in Zurich,” came the announcement as the plane suddenly started its downward descent into a very sparkly city, nestled between some beautiful hills.

Fiona winked at me as we both noticed the old man dribbling and snoring beside us. Before long we were on the ground, out in the bracing air, on our way into a terminal again, listening to endless Christmas songs, played over tannoys. The airport was cute, dressed in tinsel, replica Christmas trees, baubles aplenty and glowing colourful lights which added a sort of warmth to the incredibly cold arrivals lounge.

 

We eventually emerged from security and managed to book an Uber to a cheap nearby hotel that our boss had reserved for us. Switzerland is one of the most expensive places on Earth and yet we somehow managed to find ourselves in the tackiest hotel I had ever come across. Sitting in my room, swigging a whisky and reflecting on the journey, I peaked out of the curtain and wondered what tomorrow would bring. Fiona had been good company but I still found myself with a sense of loneliness. A cheesy European film sent me to sleep slowly as I tried to stop myself dwelling on the past.

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When I went to the toilet in the morning, the door handle came off in my hand. I swore and tried my hardest to fix it back on again before meeting Fiona in the breakfast bar, for some eggs and bacon to start the day. She said she had slept well despite the lack of pillows. We compared notes on our rooms and were both equally unimpressed.

“Thanks again Lauren, for finding the cheapest place to stay,” she said with disgust.

“Well at least we can decide where to stay, when we arrive in the mountains. She just said find somewhere appropriate and use the company card.”

Fiona nodded. “Let’s max it out.”

“Haha, somehow I bet it has a built in limit. Or if not, then I bet any extra will be deducted from our wages,” I sniggered, pouring myself a second coffee.

 

Even the breakfast room had a tint of Christmas. There were clumps of mistletoe arranged oddly around the room and tinsel hung randomly between light fixtures. Of course, the ambience wouldn’t have been complete without some festive tunes being piped in. But in this instance, they were all in German. German songs with bells and choirs. The melodies gave away the spirit of Christmas but none of them sounded anything like Jingle bells or Little Donkey.

The fact that she seemed more like my sister every time I set eyes on her made Fiona become quite an odd character in my eyes. It felt as though I had known her all my life, yet so much about her was still mysterious. I only really knew the headlines. Today, I was going to have to travel with her again and work closely to produce a film about some psychotic guy who had claimed a mountain village as his own. I was going to need all my wits about me to get through this without problems. I really hoped she turned out to be useful and not a hindrance like my last two camera operators.

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