Part I

"This is it. This is the day." Joseph Myers said to himself as he stretched his arms out. Normally on a gorgeous day like this, he would stay in bed until noon but today was different. Today was special. It was a day he had waited for so long.

He needed to be up and ready before 9 o'clock if wanted to reach the airport in time. In no way was he going to be late, he had been waiting for this since last year. He was finally going on a long deserved vacation to Thailand.

Weeks upon weeks of anticipation. Cents upon cents collected. Sights upon sights already imagined. It had to be perfect. This trip must not fall short of anything other than perfect and Joseph put in his best effort to make sure it would be so.

In one smooth motion, he threw aside the warm blanket that accompanied him all through the night and jumped out of bed. The cold air breezing in from his windows always smell so fresh in the mornings, the reason why Joseph loves to inhale so much of it to boot up his systems.

In all his giddiness, Joseph hurriedly skipped to the bathroom of his cosy apartment to get ready, catching a glimpse of the alarm clock on his bedside table along the way. 7 a.m. the clock displayed. Still perfect.

Joseph lives alone for a majority of his adulthood. He got a job offer as a software designer that pays very well and has a lot of benefits. The only downside was that the job was so demanding and craved constant attention, not unlike a whiny baby.

His parents and brother were living in a different state that was hours away. He would occasionally go back to visit them, but his job made it so that visiting them became more of a privilege. It also restricted him from making new friends or meeting new people outside of work.

This trip meant so much to Joseph because he needed a break. He needed to have his own personal space and time by himself, for himself. If he was denied this small window to rest, he might just go nuts. Nothing was going to ruin it. It has to be perfect no matter what.

There he stood in front of the mirror as he patted the hot water off of his body. Joseph smiled. That's not it, he thought. Joseph tried another smile. Not that one either. He inched closer to the mirror to better illuminate his face under the singular mirror bulb.

Joseph tried on different smiles to see which ones would fit best for selfies. He observed his dark complexion in the mirror until he found the perfect smile. "Aha! Got it!" he exclaimed. It was so childish, he laughed at himself. It had been so long since he felt this excited for anything. He felt genuinely happy.

Off to the airport he went.