I'm writing a novel in diary form. Basically, the novel is about a girl who is forced to live with her dad on his boat. He sails around the coastal cities in Mexico, and he's a drug mule for a "bad guy" named Mr. X. Mr. X doesn't like that my MC is in the picture, and has threatened to kill her if the dad doesn't remove her from the picture. She's just been beaten up by some hit-men. The main climax in the story is when my MC finds out her dad is a drug mule and they come up with a plan for getting away from Mr. X (the dad has been trying to leave the "business" but is worried about his safety as well as his daughter's safety if he does, since Mr. X won't let him quit). The last 10k or so will be basically the resolution (trying to get away but being boarded by Mr. X's hit-men, and discovering that they "broke" his boat so they are trapped. The dad's partner turns out to be an undercover cop and busts Mr. X while letting MC's dad go free... blah blah blah they move to Ireland and start a new life under new identities).

Right now I'm at 34k and I need to fill a few thousand words with "in between" plot. Once I get to the meaty part of the story, it will only be 5k-10k before I finish it. With it being in diary form, I'm having a hard time with filler, and have already had her and her boyfriend have "issues" twice. I have no idea what to write as filler that won't take too much away from the story.

Any ideas?