Catherine's Journey Begins
As she sipped on her lukewarm Earl Grey tea, while the chairwoman of her current volunteer quest droned on about the increasing need of money, time and efforts to help with the city ' s increasing number of homeless citizens, she dipped her finger in the tiny China tea cup and stirred the tepid liquid. Her mind was numbed by the same speech she had heard on many occasions for all the numerous charitable organizations she participated with over the years.
She looked out the large arched window of the library of one of the elite social clubs of Manhattan and wondered why she, Catherine James, was now wasting away days away with other women that had nothing better to do with their time than attend charity meetings, or go to yoga and Pilates, or other ridiculous pursuits that still left one wanting and yearning for something more. For Catherine, she longed for a true romantic adventure that one only read about in novels. The kind of adventure that once read, every man and woman would never want to put the book down and demand for more.
As she sat there she pondered the idea of cashing in some of those now very valuable stocks she won in her divorce and board a plane for parts unknown, to return a time of only her choosing. For Catherine, whose Filipino and Chinese heritage made her look nearly 30 years younger than what anyone would have guessed, the idea of turning back the clock and embarking on an exotic journey had been in her mind for a very long time, especially since her last trip to Japan, whose culture fascinated her and left her yearning for much more. Unfortunately, her ten days were all to brief, after which returned to her then husband, her perfect and loving children, taking care of all of them and keeping up appearances.
However, with her recent divorce, and the graduation of the last of her children from high school, she knew, as she sat there, the time was now for that long awaited adventure. As the Chairwoman finally brought her speech to an end, the lovely Catherine stood up, put on her coat and said her goodbyes to the women she now realized she could no longer identify with, as they now to her were living out meaningless existences, the thought of which made her quickly head for the door.