Amelia

Amelia Thomas turned to her cousin Sophia Jones after clearing formalities at Stockholm’s Bromma airport.

“It’s about eight kilometres to the city Soph. Dad has us booked in at concessional rates for Travel Agencies at Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel and it is very convenient for our sightseeing trip. I’ve always wanted to travel around Sweden but unfortunately, we only have a week so will have to fit in as much as possible to see around this area. We need to search for the airport shuttle service to take us to the hotel. If you enjoy this trip with me maybe we can backpack around Sweden on a later visit if that’s a possibility. We can investigate that at the tourist centre.”

Sophia Jones was wide eyed at her change of scenery. She’d never been out of England before, so the cultural difference was a bit overwhelming. It shouldn’t have been as London was a melting pot of nations and a cacophony of languages could be heard as one rode the subways or walked the streets.

Amelia and Sophia were cousins. Amelia’s mother Agnes and Sophia’s mother Mildred were sisters and had married husbands who were close friends. Mildred the oldest had married Trevor Jones and two years later Agnes married William.

Both Trevor and William had been friends from childhood days progressing through their education years together and culminating in their years through their Economics BSc together at UCL London.

 William had then joined his father’s expanding travel agency business which now was represented in all the major cities of the UK. After Agnes death he’d poured his soul into that business and his father seeing his son’s capacity stepped aside and went into retirement to enjoy travelling the world with his wife while health and age permitted.

Trevor did further studies in investment banking prior to joining his family firm of investment bankers.

The two men Trevor and William had met the Sheffield sisters Mildred and Agnes during college years and the relationships had blossomed into eventual marriages.

The girls Amelia and Sophia had been in and out of each other’s homes since childhood and had attended the best schools together. Aunt Mildred was more like a mother to Agnes than aunt as Agnes had been left by necessity at the Jones home in her early childhood when her father had to travel abroad on business. Amelia treated her cousins Adam, Sophia, and John more like siblings as she’d spent so many years living or visiting their home which happened to be near where Amelia lived.

Sophia had completed her undergraduate education and was in the valley of decision as to what profession she was interested in pursuing and which university she’d choose to complete that course. Amelia had known from childhood she was destined to take over Thomas Travels and could hardly wait for that day when her father would deem her ready to take over. She’d travelled abroad and around the UK familiarizing herself with her future destiny whenever she could with her father and made sure she drank in every bit of knowledge she could acquire in her schooling and travels in preparation. This trip to Stockholm was William’s reward for his daughter’s diligence and interest in the family business and recognition of her maturity. She’d chosen her cousin Sophia to accompany her at the suggestion of her father who knew Sophia had never been out of the country before. It was all at the expense of Thomas Travels and William had pulled out all stops to make this trip a success and indirectly honour Mildred for her part in providing a substitute mother during his daughter’s childhood years by including Sophia.

Sophia now came out of the fog of cultural adjustment to address her cousin.

“This is wonderful Amee. It was so good of your dad to give me this opportunity to come with you. I’ve been jealous of all your overseas trips all these years and now I get an opportunity to come with you. She hugged her cousin and planted a kiss on each cheek.”

Amelia blushed with pleasure and hugged her back.

“I’m glad dad suggested it Soph. This looks like the shuttle pickup area and that looks like the shuttle to downtown hotels ready to receive us.”

The young women dragged their luggage into the holding compartment on the bus and approached the driver showing printouts of their online prepaid passes. He smiled and indicated they should be seated. Soon they were on their way to the city the shuttle having filled up rapidly after their entry and after a few stops were deposited at Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel. Amelia was used to travelling and staying at up market hotels abroad, so it was a breeze going through check in and being escorted to their room. Sophia’s reaction was quite different as she followed her cousin wide eyed marvelling at her cousin’s skill in negotiating all the routines with ease. Because Thomas Travels was widely known around Europe, and this was a VIP booking William made the hotel pulled out all stops to impress the two young women. This was after all the famous travel agency boss’s daughter, and they wanted to get a good review from her agency at the time of her leaving the hotel.

It was on the day after their arrival, and they presented themselves in the lobby to look at tour suggestions. A young man approached them. In accented English he introduced himself.

“Hi, my name is Niels Larsen and I’m a tour guide. Is there anything I can do to be of assistance? Most Swedes are fluent in English as its taught from elementary school levels but many like to steer you into purchases they get a commission from. I do not engage in practices like that.”

Amelia looked him over suspiciously. She’d come across many self-promoting touts in her travels and was not easily fooled. He was casually dressed and didn’t look like the usual sophisticated tour promoters she was familiar with from her world travels. He was good looking, and she saw her cousin eyeing him off appreciatively. Amelia gave her a poke from behind and Sophia turned and read the message in her cousin’s eyes saying I know what’s going through your head. Sophia blushed and moved away to inspect brochures on the table leaving her cousin to handle this handsome hulk.

Amelia returned her attention to the young man and studied him carefully. She was quite adept at sizing people up and most of the time her first impressions were accurate.

“You’re not a tour guide, are you?”

She was not sure of her character diagnosis this time but waited for his response. She’d read his response to gain more insight into him.

Niels laughed.

“I’m new at it that’s true. But I’ve read every brochure in this hotel and memorized it as I followed their directions around Stockholm to get experience so I think I could give you a good tour. Why don’t you try me out and just pay me what you think its worth at the end of your tour.”

“How much do you usually charge tourists per hour?”

“That would be your decision. If you think the tour was worth nothing to you then you pay me nothing. If you are benefited, you pay me whatever you think I’m worth.”

Amelia shrugged.

“OK let’s start with old town tour.”

She collected Sophia and the three of them exited the hotel.

To be continued

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