Member-only story
Trashley: Part Twenty
The Wickedly Talented Mr. Ripley
I started planning an elaborate trip to Europe after Ashley suggested we go there for two weeks over Christmas. I must’ve been a travel agent in a past life because I poured all of my spare time into researching train routes and flights between countries, reading restaurant reviews, making reservations, and comparing hotels to Airbnbs.
Ashley booked suites at the Four Seasons in Paris and Milan that were easily two to four thousand dollars a night. This was nothing like my work trip to Spain, this was a rich person’s trip, and we weren’t concerned about the cost of anything. Ashley wanted to enjoy a dinner cruise down the Seine for New Year’s Eve, so I bought non-refundable tickets because I’m stupid. And I missed traveling; the Pandemic had robbed me of seeing the world, and for that, I will never forgive it.
Ashley told me her work would start flying her internationally now that the Pandemic was winding down, and said I could join her. My MTV job would be remote for the next eight months, so I was all about it. All I want to do is write and read and travel and eat and drink and be on my iPad. And I’m lucky because I can do these things anywhere.
Ashley sounded well-traveled too, even though some of her stories were too insane to believe.
