Moments That Change Lives

“Yes. Yes. She’s one of the first tour guides employed. Her resume is flawless and her knowledge of the rain forest is impeccable.” Oliver threw a look at the hands of the watch when the door opened with a thud and a young woman stormed in.

As if invisible gears in Henry’s neck span, he turned his head to look at the figure who entered almost with the speed of light.

“There she is… Mira Glass, this is our client Henry Masters,” Oliver said obviously relieved that his tour guide didn’t let him down.

Henry’s black eyes carefully checked her out. She was a beautiful woman, a great one for a tour guide. She can easily land a contract with Victoria Secret, he thought. Her body was in perfect shape, her hair styled by the latest trends. And she looked like a tough nut to crack. It was there in her eyes. Fierceness and strength beyond what he could imagine in a woman. Also there was a spark in them that told so much about her, about everything she had been through.

He stood up and put his hand in the air. Mira accepted it and said, “Pleased to meet you, sir. I guess we’ll spend quite a lot of time together in the next few days.” Her face was a stone obliterated from every emotion.

“The pleasure is all mine. Can I call you Mira?”

“Yes, sir.”

“If we established the first name basis, please call me Henry as well,” he said; his words were accompanied by one of his trademark chuckles.

Her expression didn’t even slightly change. “That would be difficult, sir. It’s against my ethics.”

“But I insist, Mira. It will help me get attached to this place. And besides, you cannot resist a gentleman’s plea.” He pushed on while the manager was just looking from one of them to the other, carefully observing their conversation.

“Fine, if it will satisfy you,” she spoke. “When should we start?” It was the first time she flashed him a smile showing her pearl-like white teeth.

He felt something strange inside his body. Something he hadn’t felt in such a long time. It was the great satisfaction to have a woman smile at him. “Well, I guess I’ll sit this day in the hotel. How about tomorrow?”

“Perfect,” Mira replied. “I’ll call you in the morning. You can’t miss the dawn breaking on the rain forest.”

With that they parted – Mira went to her side and he said his regards with the travel agency’s manager and went to his hotel with a broad ear-to-ear smile.

*****

Mira felt the tiredness taking its toll on her. This was supposed to be her free day and in a second it had been transformed into one of the busiest. She let go of her hairband and smoothed her long hair. When she went to place it on the drawer she noticed something weird. On it was a glass vase full of roses. And there was a message attached to it.

Mira,

I’m so incredibly sorry that I hurt your feelings today. Believe me, that it wasn’t my intention. From the bottom of my heart I hope that you’re going to like the roses. I found them as beautiful as you.

Please forgive me,

Your Raoul.

Just in the moment she stopped reading she looked up only to see Raoul standing before her with his head down and his hands behind his back.

“Aww, Raoul! It’s me who should apologize,” she said and threw herself into his embrace.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Mira felt something stuck in her throat. He expressed his love toward her and she just stood there with her lips sealed. He loves you, you stupid girl. Say that you love him as well, her inner voice murmured into her ear. She loved him, right? Of course she did. She wouldn’t torture herself with that anymore.

She took a deep breath, her hands getting sweaty and her mind out of thoughts. “Mhm,” was all that came out. No, I love you, too. Just one mhm. She mentally hit herself in the face.

“Should we do something?” Raoul broke the hug.

“Err… I dunno. Netflix?”

“Awesome idea. I’ll bring the snacks and the drink,” he said with a cheer and went out of her apartment.

Mira slowly came to the couch and plopped down like a heavy sack of potatoes. The remote was in her hand as she was searching for something interesting on the TV, but she found nothing. Finally, she settled on a nature documentary movie about the cheetah.

Sitting there, she felt sleep creeping into her body and softly taking control over it until it came to her eyes. They closed themselves as if by a press of a button and Mira was sent into the land of the dreams.

She was sleeping restlessly – her eyes opened a few times during the night only to close after a couple of seconds. She noticed that she was lying in her familiar bed with her soft feather-filled pillow beneath her head. Raoul had probably seen her huddled on the couch and taken her to her bed. He’s such a dear, she thought and drifted off into a haze of overlapping dreams, strange faces, events that would never take place, people she would never see.

A severe backache pulled her back from her sleep and made her eyes shoot open almost in an instant. It was dawn, she registered. The sun’s rays came slanted from the blinds, but still she had to put her hand over her eyes. They were going straight to her head making it hurt.

“Ugh, what time is it?” Her voice was raspy from not using it.

As she groped for her phone lying peacefully on her nightstand, she started remembering bits and pieces of her crazy dreams the previous night. She thought she had seen Henry there. Her new client had been coming closer and closer to her to which she had taken a few steps back. Then she had been at an arms distance and Henry had finally caught her. His hand had been on her waist while the other one had been exploring the features on her brown face. All of a sudden, his face, she reckoned, had transformed into Raoul’s and they had kissed passionately. There had been tongues involved. When Mira had placed her hands to her lover’s face, it had been again Henry Masters. And that was all she managed to recall. Mira guessed that extreme weariness resulted in dreams that were pure nuts.

Her green wallpaper hit her, yet her eyes detected the white numbers on the top of the screen. 7:34.

“Shit!” She shouted out loud, standing on her feet. She felt dizzy for a moment; her brains were a broth swimming in the inside of the skull.

She was late for the first walk with her new billionaire client. He would rat her out the same instant she wouldn’t appear and that was why she had to hurry. And fast.

Mira spotted a pair of jeans and immediately grabbed them. There was a cotton white button-down shirt donned on the back of a chair which she briefly put on over her bra, fumbling with the buttons for a long time. Shower was definitely out of the picture. On her way out of the apartment, she picked up a bag while at the same time she tied the laces on her olive boots. She only hoped that the keys from the jeep were in the bag or else she was dead.