2.

 

Ever since she was a kid, Monica had always been the type of girl to act before she had thought things through.

As she sat on the end of her bed and packed her suitcase for her trip out of town, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at herself and her reckless behavior.

“You do get yourself into some situations,” she whispered to herself as she looked down at the laptop that was open on her bed, the screen shining brightly across the piles of clothes she was loading into her case.

On display, was an email from Reggie. And it wasn’t a good one.

When she had walked out of the bar, she had expected him to be pleased for her, but it appeared that her ex-employer was suffering with her departure and he wasn’t going to let her walk away that easily.

She tried not to focus on the details of the email, but they had ranged from pleading to being downright nasty, and now she felt the urgency creeping up on her that she had to get out of town, and fast.

Reggie had always been a bit unpredictable, but she had managed to work alongside him for almost seven years without any major incidents. Monica hadn’t been totally naive, and she did have the feeling that he had maybe harbored a secret crush on her, but he had never acted on it and he had never made her feel uncomfortable.

Now that she had left, it seemed as if he was going to be the complete opposite and make a fuss until she caved and did exactly what he wanted her to do, which was go back to work. But her mind was already made up.

She was leaving town and she was going to give the blog writing a shot. She had things she wanted to do with her life, and that didn’t necessarily mean serving people drinks and listening to drunks bemoan everything that had gone wrong in theirs at two in the morning.

She closed the lid of the laptop and rubbed her temples.

When was she ever going to learn that her quick acting and little thinking attitude was a nonstop source of headaches?

She had been making decisions without thinking things through her entire life, but now, as she was getting older and finding out more about who she was, the decisions were bigger and the timings were much faster. She had gone into work that day with no intention of quitting. And then, as she watched the same people filter into the bar, order the same drinks, and start to tell the same stories, it was just as if a light had been switched on right in the center of her mind.

She was awake, she was alert, and she was done.

She wanted out.

“And now you have to deal with the consequences,” she whispered to herself. “Now you’ve got to work damned hard and make this a success, because the savings you’ve spent seven years collecting will not last forever… And you don’t want to blow them all on a pipe dream.”

She threw in the last few items of clothing and slammed the top of the case closed.

She had finished packing, and now she just had to choose where the hell she was going to go.

She wandered over to her wall and stared at the country map pinned up there in all its glory. Her incredible country was so big and vast, and she could literally go anywhere, but she made the conscious decision that she should restrict it to somewhere she could travel to within a day.

She closed her eyes and let her finger trace along the map, she swirled it around and out from her starting point which was her hometown, and when she felt as if she had moved it enough, she stopped and opened her eyes.

Her jaw almost hit the floor when she realized she had stopped in amongst some mountain ranges, but there were plenty of town names and she was sure she had even heard of some of them.

“Well,” she laughed. “You’re going to the mountains, Monica… I guess you better pack your walking boots…”

She lay back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.

What had she gotten herself into? 

 

As she disembarked the train at Grey Mountain, Monica looked back over her shoulder and suddenly felt a rush of panic. She had really done it. She had packed her bags, she had jumped on a train, and she had left town.

Now, she was five hours away in the little town of Grey Mountain, and she had no clue what she was doing. She pulled her case along beside her and hitched her purse onto her shoulder. She had been one of only a handful of people to climb off at this stop, and she was starting to feel as if she had maybe made yet another mistake. The town was clearly very small and quiet, but as she wandered down the platform and the incredible views of the landscape beyond came into focus, she couldn’t help but stop and smile.

“This is beautiful,” she whispered to herself as she looked out across the mountain and the clear blue sky that was letting the sun shine bright and down onto the snow-capped tips of the hills.

It may be scary, but she was going to have to roll with it. And it was becoming clear that she couldn’t have picked a more picturesque place to visit.

She wandered into the office at the station and looked around. It was classic small town, with a few rows of benches, only one old man sat on them who was half asleep with his head rolled back, and then a lady serving behind the counter in a booth.

Monica approached with a nervous smile and the woman turned to look back at her.

“Hi there,” she smiled brightly, “Can I help you?”

“Hi,” Monica said quietly, aware that she didn’t want to speak too loudly and wake the sleeping man on the benches behind them.

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” the woman said with a friendly eyeroll as she caught on to why Monica was keeping her voice low. “He can sleep through anything, trust me.”

She laughed and leaned forward on the counter, so it was easier for them to talk.

“New in town?” she asked.

“Erm, yes,” Monica replied. “I was just wondering if you could help me with a few recommendations, where is the best place to stay?”

The lady paused and looked as if she were considering her answer for a moment and then she nodded her head and wagged her finger.

“There are quite a few little B&B’s in town with this being a touristy area, a lot of people like to come walking up here,” she began. “But if you’re looking for something a little more alive and bustling then I would suggest our only hotel. It’s at the base of the mountain and aimed at the skiing crew, but it’s nestled amongst some bars and restaurants and there’s a few shops down there as well.”

“That sounds great!” she smiled.

“Unless you want to be completely off the grid, of course, and go for a cabin,” the woman continued. “We have plenty of those, but they are a little isolating.”

Monica thought for a moment and considered her options. The sound of the hotel in the bustling part of town sounded like so much fun, but it was sure to include a hundred distractions within that. She had come away to reconnect and to try and work, would she be self-sabotaging if she booked herself into the most happening hotel in town?

“Do you have any literature about any of the cabins?” she asked as she placed her bag down and shifted uncomfortably to her other foot.

“Sure,” the woman smiled. She was chewing gum and she kept letting it snap between her lips. She reached down into a drawer that Monica couldn’t see, and pulled out a couple of advertisements.

“If you like the look of either of them, just give the number along the bottom a call,” she said as she passed them across the counter.

Monica took them in her hands and smiled. Behind her, she heard as elaborate snore escape from the old man’s lips and nose, and the two women both smirked at each other.

“Old Fred,” the woman whispered. “He comes in here every day to watch the trains, but it always tires him out in no time.”

Monica looked back at him and could see that he had a little notebook and pen clutched between his hands. He looked so sweet and restful, if the rest of the town was like this, then she knew she had certainly come to the right place. She needed somewhere quaint, somewhere quiet, and somewhere she could really connect with.

“Thank you for the information,” Monica smiled as she picked up the number for a local taxi firm and headed toward the doorway.

“No problem,” the lady called behind her.

Grey Mountain was already shaping up to be a promising place for her, and now she had to just call a cab and make her way to the hotel. Once she had looked around town enough and got to know it a little better, then she would feel more comfortable leasing a private home for a few weeks.

She shoved the literature into the bag on her shoulder as she raised her cellphone to her ear and listened to the dial tone as she called for a cab.

Now that she had arrived, she no longer felt nervous. She felt ready to take on anything, and already she could feel the little hints of inspiration tugging away at the back of her mind.

This adventure was going to be something important, she could sense it.