Page 60 of Only One Tour Bus

“What are we supposed to do now?”

“Our job. Like always.”

“No, thanks.”

“What do you mean? Are you going to leave me alone with these eejits?” He looks genuinely worried, which is at least a change from grumpy.

“No, not like that. This is potentially my last trip through Europe for the foreseeable future, since I won’t exactly be able to afford international travel whilst unemployed and I probably won’t even be living on this continent. So, I’m going to make the best of it.”

He’s taken aback for a minute, but he recovers. “We’re back to Wee Sunshine, then? Your foray into negative emotions didn’t last long.” He scratches his head at my rapid change in emotions.

“You’re right. Sort of. If one of us is going to be fired, then one of us is going to be fired. I can’t change that. But I can make this trip the⁠—”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Don’t say it.”

“…the best trip ever!” I grab Callum’s arm and drag him toward the palace in front of us. “Let them eat cake!”

“First of all, aren’t we the ‘them’ in this scenario? Secondly, that wasn’t a wee outline for how to live one’s life. I’m sure Marie Antionette certainly regretted her pleasure-first outlook. Thirdly, she didn’t even say that.”

“Come eat cake with me at Versailles, Callum.” Sometimes I just have to ignore him when he’s in one of his moods.

He rolls his eyes at me but doesn’t dig his large feet into the ground. Because let’s face it, if he wanted to protest, there’s nothing I could do to move him. Not only is he large, I’m still weak from being sick.

“Grand. Let’s have some cake,” he mutters.

CHAPTER 26

CALLUM

I’m not as disappointed at today’s news as I should be. I mean, I might be fired. The only reason I took this job was the inconvenient need for rent money and food money and money in general, frankly.

I dropped my dream job after not giving it a real go, in order to accept this job that fell in my lap. A mate from uni who went on to teach history in a secondary school worked with Expedition Tours to offer some trips for his students, and he told me there was a job open.

It was supposed to be a small break from the professor rejections, but here I am, five years later, and the break has gone on longer than I expected.

So I’m not as sad as I should be to hear I might not have this job, aside from the general concern of how to pay rent while I look for other employment. And that I’m too far removed from my PhD program to be competitive if I apply for professor jobs now.

But hearing that Asha might not be in Edinburgh, might not be traveling around Europe for me to run into her, that feels worse than the potential job loss.

“This was a great idea.” Asha moans while taking a bite of cake, sitting in the Angelina Tea Room. After we spent a small fortune I don’t have on about three Ladurée macarons for each of us and a slice of cake to share.

I look around to see if anyone else thought the moan was borderline pornographic, but everyone else is continuing on with their meal, so it might be because I have sex and Asha on the mind.

“What are you going to do if you’re the one who gets fired?” she asks.

I choke on my own bite of the admittedly lovely cake at the question. “I thought the Best Trip Ever would involve more ignoring the bad things that could put a damper on said trip,” I say after drinking some water to help with my choking.

“Just because I choose to look on the bright side doesn’t mean I ignore the bad side.”

“And just what is the bright side here?”

“Well, I can apply to other tour guide positions. And maybe that company will be more open to listening to some ideas I have for tours. Bright side, found.” She makes a check in the air with her fork.

“What ideas?” The usually gregarious woman turns suddenly shy and quiet at my words, taking another bite to avoid answering. Then another. “What’d I say?”

“Nothing. I just think it’s a crowded field right now on the tour front. And I know people still like the giant tours that cram in a lot of places for a reasonable price, without any planning or stress. But I think they would be ready for niche ones, too. Tours they can’t get anywhere else. Like tours based around Regency romance in England, Agatha Christie, history of the English country house, or history of soccer, shopping, pasta, or even a history of tourism tour. That one’s meta.”

“Those are good ideas.”