3

The morning sunlight floats in through the partly open curtains, drifting across the room before finally settling on Val's face, turning the black beneath her closed eyelids to a molten orange. Stifling a yawn, Valeria rubs a hand down her face, smiling lazily to herself.

Slowly her senses return to her drowsy body and she hears loud voices coming into the room through the closed door. Frowning, she gets up, brushing away the knots in her hair with slim fingers before tying the blonde waves in a loose braid. Val opens the door and enters the lounge, coming face to face with an angry Stella and a distraught Richard.

"—you forgetful, loathsome arse!" Stella bellows at Richard, her face almost as red as her painted nails.

Raising his hands up in defence, Richard replies, "I said I was sorry!"

Finding any traces of sleep leaving her body, jolting her mind into action, Val shoves herself in-between Richard and Stella just in time to stop the raven haired girl from lunging, seething in rage. "Woah, guys! Time out." Valeria says, hands up on both sides, nudging in as much distance as possible between the two people fighting. Once she's satisfied that Stella won't be sharpening her nails on Richard's face anytime soon, Val inquires, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I—" Richard starts, but Stella cuts him off, shooting him a dirty look.

"Allow me to explain. This idiot here," she points toward Richard, who in turn looks down, ashamed, adjusting his glasses to the bridge of his nose. "Has forgotten to book us a guide."

"I didn't know we were—" Richard begins to say, but one fearsome look from Stella effectively shuts him up.

Then directing her heated gaze toward Valeria, who in-turn suppresses the urge to wince, Stella continues, "Rich was charged with the duty of making all the bookings and buying all the tickets and such. And the genius forgot to book us a guide. And now there's no one to take us to the mountains we've flown all the way here to go to."

"Oh," says Val. The cogs in her brain immediately start turning, grasping for a solution to their problem, wanting nothing to now mar the perfect trip she's been yearning to have. "What if..." she begins, unfolding the idea taking shape in her head, "Okay, what if we book a guide now? I mean, there must be someone around here who's willing to take us, right?"

"Simmer down there, Jane Christine." Stella sighs irritably. "We've already been there, done that. Nick's out there right now, trying to find someone for us. And let's hope that he returns successful," she now looks at Richard, the latter promptly swallowing and shuffling a step back, "because if not, then I swear to God I will—"

Just then the front door opens, cutting the threatening conversation short, and reveals Nick looking more despondent than usual. He looks at each one of them separately, before frowning and shaking his head in negative.

A moment or two of silence follow before Stella is making way for attacking Richard, the latter yelping and flinching back. The chaos holds for only a few seconds though, because then there is another knock at the door, effectively shutting everyone right up.

When no one moves to answer, sceptically staring at the door, another bang soon follows, louder this time. "Hello, anyone in there?" comes through a soft, feminine voice.

Valeria is the first to shake out of her stupor. She moves to open the door, revealing a beautiful blonde standing outside.

Her smile shines brighter and more brilliantly than even the sun, her whole being emitting an ethereal kind of glow — for a moment Val thinks that her mind's playing tricks on her; she blinks and the girl has already moved past her.

Stepping into the cabin, the new girl holds out her hand to Richard, grinning at him so much that he begins to smile back. "Hello. I'm Keithia," she says. "You lot in need of a guide, I hear?"

~~~~~~~~~~

Oil sizzles in the pan. Nick dices vegetables with a practiced ease, scraping the cut and sorted bits into a bowl of eggs, cheese and spices. Whisking up the mixture, he tips the whole thing off into the pan. Inhaling the aroma of food cooking, he starts humming to himself, almost inaudibly. Having gotten used to cooking from an early age, the activity has now become something Nick rather enjoys doing. In the kitchen, he finds time flowing by quicker, his mind calming down with every sped up second ticking by.

Nicholas decides that meeting Keithia had been even more usurping than it was to have met Valeria. At least for the latter, Stella had been there, diffusing the environment for his benefit. But then Keithia, offering to help them and be their guide when she'd heard about their misfortune, had been a different matter altogether — infinitely chirpy, she had platinum blonde hair with flowers beaded through at the crown, and a shimmery golden gloss decorating her lips and above her clear, light blue eyes. Keithia was a whole other world of sunshine and rainbows, too grand for Nick to get comfortable with easily.

Thus, saying that he's feeling a tad bit overwhelmed then would be an understatement. One which had caused him to offer his culinary services to the group, promptly followed by him running off into the kitchen before anyone had had the chance to ponder his offer over.

Now, Nick balances the plates of sandwiches in his hands as he leaves the kitchen. He's just about made his way to the entrance of the lounge when Valeria hurries over to him, helping him out off one plate. He begins to muster up the hints of a smile, his tongue on the edge of forming a thank you, but by then she's already long gone, serving up the sandwiches to their friends.

Nicholas curses under his breath. At this rate, he thinks, Stella's quip to him might as well turn out to be true. And a part of him, he realises, is wishing for that to not happen.