A game of Destiny

Emma turned on the coffee maker at the usual time, fifteen minutes before six, while she took a shower and got ready. She would have her first cup of the day before leaving for work. Emma was a risk analyst at a major international company with its headquarters in Germany. She was the best at her job and had been the top-performing employee for over a year. She was relentless, strict, obsessed with cleanliness and order, a perfectionist, and… an exceptional woman. Everyone who knew her admired her, but not everyone."Where is my tie?!" Jamie, her fiancé, shouted. He stormed out of the room in his underwear and banged on the bathroom door. Emma, under the water, was focused on massaging her scalp, as she always did for a minute in the mornings. "Are you still fussing with your hair? I'm going to be late, woman," he continued pounding on the door, irritated. Emma opened her eyes and clenched her jaw, turning her gaze towards the door, visible through the water and steam-dampened glass.

Hawaii, United StatesThe honeymoon suite was one of the best in the hotel she had made a reservation at. Emma sighed as she took off the wildflower lei they had given her at the airport. She checked the itinerary, which was mostly designed for couples by default, but she decided to request a new one that would cater to her solo adventure. She wanted to do things on her own and explore each activity individually. The first one on the list was the surface diving adventure in Molokini aboard the Calypso. It promised an up-close encounter with Hawaiian green sea turtles, breakfast, and lunch served while sailing along the coast, and the catamaran even had water slides. However, Emma had no intention of going on the slides or getting close to the turtles, so she dismissed that option."There must be something else," she murmured, lowering her gaze to the itinerary list. "Scooter adventure in a submarine in Oahu, knife dancing in the welcome ceremony, hula dancing, weaving a coconut leaf h

Max paced back and forth while waiting to board the plane. Four friends watched him, starting to get nervous."What are you going to do?" Alex asked, absentmindedly biting his thumbnail while keeping his eyes on Max, who continued walking."I don't know. Coming to Hawaii to pretend I know nothing, I think it was a mistake. I should be there and confront them," Gus replied, shaking his head."Don't tell me coming and getting out of the hell you were in was a mistake. We're your friends, and at least you had some fun, right?" Max stopped walking and smiled weakly, looking at his four friends: Gustavo and Alejandro, both Americans, Viktor and Sasha, Germans who came to work with him from Berlin."Of course, he's had fun shamelessly!" They all burst into laughter, seeing their friend blush and give himself away."Shut up, you jerk," they laughed even louder in that private boarding lounge."I want to know," said the tall, well-built, elegant man, crossing one leg over his knee and leaning

Days later...Emma finally completed the purchase of her new apartment. She had used her savings to furnish it to her liking, since everything she had in her old apartment was sold along with it. She looked out of the window in her new living room, and the view was breathtaking. She crossed her arms and admired the Statue of Liberty in the distance as the incoming light bathed the entire space."Finally, a fresh start," she said after adjusting the photo frame next to the state-of-the-art, built-in television. The photo captured her graduation from university, standing alone with a serious expression she often wore in pictures. She smiled and then sighed. Her phone rang in the nearby bedroom. When she picked it up, she saw an unknown number on the screen. She squinted, thinking it could be Jamie, as she had blocked all unknown numbers, but this was a new one. "Do I have to change my number?" The unknown number persisted, so she answered, "Hello?""Can you stop blocking me? I've been t

Emma looked at herself in the new mirror she had acquired at a prestigious furniture and decor store. She noticed how little tanned she was and scolded herself for not enjoying the sun at the beach a bit more. Then she closed her eyes and smiled weakly, remembering that tall, muscular body with a German accent, full lips that had kissed every corner of her body. She let out a long, heavy sigh. "Who would have imagined that Emma Spencer would do something so crazy in her life?" She admitted to herself that she had never had so many orgasms in her sexual life as she had with Jamie during those few hours they were together. When she opened her eyes, she cleared her throat and touched her cheeks, which had turned a deep pink color, recalling how good that night with the German had been. It was impossible to have something like that again in her life. After that, she would never enter into a relationship for anything in the world. The experience with Jamie had left her with no desire to ha