Prologue

The anger of the late afternoon rain matched Everest Camara's mood. Given that the sky has opened up just about the start of her emotional state, she was inclined to think Earth was in support of her.

The last thought drew a recumbent sigh out of her glistening lips. If only it could help her.

She stared hard at the cold cup of water within her fingers' reach with unseeing eyes. Since she had received the news, her mood had become unbalanced. It was a wonder she had even managed to drive herself home in one piece.

Thinking about the news again, the emotional onslaught washed over her anew. A hole was forming in her heart, a hole yearning to be filled by revenge. The feeling of being taken for a fool and cheated had ebbed on the drive home. Now what filled her very pores was quaking anger and thirst for vengeance.

Garth Rementer was a premium jerk and asshole. His architecture firm, Arnex, couldn't have made it to where it was currently without her, and he knew it. She had been the one with him right from the beginning. They had both passed through the proverbial thick and the metaphoric thin together.

They both knew what she had gone through, all she had sacrificed to make the national contract awarded to them. The contract has been Arnex's ticket to stardom. After seeing his works, more affluent clients had come their way. The museum, the government and private individuals. And now he didn't think of all this, he didn't think twice before he chucked her out.

She clutched hard at the styrofoam and the thin cup collapsed in her fist, flooding her hand and the lily glazed-tile countertop with ice-cold water

Lay off my ass.

She knew it was because of her rejection and subsequent reproval he had wanted to be rid of her. And she knew he knew she knew. All because of something they could have resolved.

She should have insisted on partnership right from the start. Right from when she had bagged them the first contract.

The surge of depressing thoughts was getting heavier. Enough to break Everest's emotional dam. All the tears she had not shed in the office burst through now. Anger and hurt married in a quick ceremony in her heart, her stomach, her head, her soul. Her tears became a flood.

Everest Camara sat alone on an IKEA kitchen stool in her house and cried like she hadn't for aeons. Her shoulders shook convulsively as she relived all she had been through. All her efforts gone down to the sewage, just like that.

Fuck Rementer!

After a while of cathartic sobbing, she pulled out a bunch of Kleenex from the box and blew her nose noisily. She tore some more and blew her nose, then more for her eyes. Her body managed to calm after some seconds of nose-blowing and eyes scrubbing.

Everest, you shouldn't cry, she told herself. That's what he wants you to do.

Trying to think less depressing thoughts, she lifted herself wearily off the stool and went to toss the cup in the bin. Then she slid open the fridge sidebar and grabbed a bottle of cold water.

Her red-rimmed eyes flickered around the brightly lit room. She had to do something to get her mind off this. Something. Anything.

Happy thoughts.

Downing the water, she made for the gas stove. She could start cooking dinner now, maybe. Cooking did always make her feel better.

She didn't have to look around much before she decided on what to cook. There was a bag of unopened tagliatelle on the edge of the kitchen counter. She had forgotten to put it away while unpacking her shopping yesterday.

She could make a vegetable stir-fry.

While she waited for the pasta to boil, she cupped her chin and thought long term, well not very long.

She just knew she had to find something to do to take her mind off the unfortunate episode. Sure, she was going to deal with Garth, that bastard, later. But in the meantime, she had to come up with something. She couldn't sit at home moping, and she had a strong feeling inside her she wasn't ready to go on a job hunt just yet.

After all those two years of working tirelessly and for nothing, this hiatus was probably a hint for her to pick up something new for a while.

Maybe she wouldn't even have to hunt for a job anymore. Mostly dedicating her time to Arnex, she hadn't even had that much time to try out things or even spend her salary to her heart's desires. Her thought had been to accumulate her work leave for, at most, five years then take a well-deserved break, but oh well.

Since working at Arnex she hadn't even had time to go vacating. Something she had usually spent all of her university holidays doing.

A light went off in her mind. Of course, vacation!

That was the temporary solution to her problems. She could go away to a place where no one knew her for a few months and use the time to refresh her mind and get back her bearings.

Her accumulated salary sure could take care of any trip anywhere. She sat up straighter as she let ideas run through her mind. She could go somewhere sunny and get a tan. Or go somewhere with turquoise-blue waters, pebbly beaches and wooden beach houses.

She sighed in pleasure at her thoughts. Or a small modern lake house that watched over a still, clear lake. Or maybe somewhere really cold. She could spend all month skiing and extreme sporting.

Anywhere she went, she'd gain tranquillity. Her mind would lay off her plight. She wouldn't have the time to think about Garth, that bastard, and the way he had treated her. All the . . .

Realising the downslide of her thoughts, she shook her head vehemently as though she could physically clear them away and stood up abruptly. Fresh years stung the back of her bloated eyelids and she concentrated hard on keeping them in check.

The tagliatelle boiling over served as a distraction as she went to get it strained.

That's why you need that vacation as soon as possible, she thought to herself.

As she retrieved veggies to wash and chop from the fridge, she started to think of where she could go. Sure, she had a lot of ideas in her mind, but she couldn't decide on one. All she knew for sure was that it had to be somewhere far from the hustle and bustle of the city.

She made for the fridge to get frozen tomatoes, and just like that, she saw where to go. Why, it was right there in front of her staring at her in the form of a magnetic sticker on her refrigerator.

Lucerne-Alpane County.

She had gotten that sticker from a watch-and-learn at a fair and she remembered googling the place on her arrival home and being impressed.

Lucerne-Alpane County was a small town down south pictorially known for its alfalfa shrubs that had given the town part of its name. If her memory still served, it had tons of horses to practice riding, beautiful lakes and rivers to tent by, plantations and most of all, amiable people who were always open to tourists. Or so her search had said.

Just the place she needed.

A feeling of euphoria overcame her, almost choking her with the pleasant opportunities that ran amuck in her mind's eye.

So, to Lucerne-Alpane County then.