a blip on the holiday horizon

a travel visa.
seemingly obvious.
our imminent trip to the far east hangs in the balance of this piece of documentation.
next monday at 6pm we are due to fly out of heathrow, hong kong bound. however, as having had no part in the booking of this trip (ross's mam is kindly taken care of the booking therefore the financing - many many thanks necessary) i've been oblivious the the fundamentals. on receiving confirmation of the trip, she was told, in writing that we didn't require travel visas.
fast forward 6 months to 1 week before travel. a letter arrives in the post. a very scary letter. a letter that states if we do not have visas we will not be allowed into the countries we are desperately looking forward to entering. this letter is dated jan 24th. had this letter arrived on time there would be no problem. the letter did not arrive on time. the letter has had everyone on the hop for the past 36 hours.
cue a rush to the post office clutching passport photos and passports, throwing them at the post office assistant and demanding they arrive at the other end of the country within 24hours. no room for lost post on this occasion thank you. ross's step father has an emergency appointment at the chinese embassy in london first thing tomorrow morning. and until then, everything hangs in the balance.
we might not be able to go.
our suitcases stare at us menacingly from the corner of the bedroom. i can't bear to look at them. all my lists, written, re-written and then written and edited again are laughing at me for imagining that things might run smoothly for once.
a small blip.
my manager at work is on standby to factor me back into the rota at a moments notice because i might not need 3 weeks off anymore!
how depressing will work be if i'm there,at work, and not in hong kong? it'll be hellish. thinking what i should/could/would be doing instead. instead of smiling at people and telling them why they should part with their cash for beautiful shoes. if we don't go i can't imagine i'll be very good at my job in those 3 long weeks.
we have our fingers crossed.
ross's mam is understandably beside herself. i'd hate to be the person from the travel company who picks up the phone when she calls to complain about this monstrous fuck up.
we have our fingers crossed and tomorrow will mostly be spent waiting for the phone call that will inevitably come.
i'm not sure i'll be able to pick up the phone......
we have our fingers crossed.