Seeing Red

The start of it all

I was on my way to the airport, excited by the new change in scenery but terrified of how far away from home I'm going to be. I checked my bags, all of them were here, thanked the taxi driver and lugged my bags into the terminal.

"Hello Harry, I'm at the airport the queue for checking in is so long!"

"First of all, call me Harriet or dear sister thanks to whom you are not homeless." The sweet voice on the other end of the phone huffed.

"Harriet, thanks so much! I seriously don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for you."

"Stop getting sappy Tara! Get on the flight and get to me as soon as you can, I miss you!"

"Oh my goodness, did Harriet Fae just admit to missing me?"

"I had a moment of weakness! Forget it, I hate having to make space for you in my apartment I hope you get stuck at the airport okay bye!" She ended the call.

I checked in my luggage and waited at the gates for a while, the gates were finally open and I was on my flight to Nice, it wasn't the final destination though! Monte Carlo, Monaco is where I'm headed to.

Let me introduce myself, I'm Tara Fae, daughter of Lillian and Albert Fae, two very successful entrepreneurs and the older sister of Harriet Fae, a new up and coming chef. She's been living in Monaco two years, working with chefs at Le Louis XV Alain Ducasse.

Contrary to these successful people, I have nothing. At the age of 24, I have two failed business ideas and recently laid off from my job as an HR consultant . I really didn't enjoy being one, when my boss called me to hand my resignation in I thought I'd tear up but instead I let out a sigh of relief!

But that, put my parents in great stress. I couldn't afford renting my own place and so I lived at their place, couch surfing for hours and watching races on the weekends.

My mother, was tired of seeing me laze around all day and threatened to throw me out if I couldn't find a job, she wasn't giving me more funds to start another business and watch it crash and burn.

Little did I know she was dead serious, she called up my sister and arranged for me to be able to go live with her, figure out what I want to do and then create a plan of action.

Here I was! On my way to her, with no clue where this was heading. All I was excited for was the fact the Monaco Grand Prix was a week away, I could probably watch it from her apartment's balcony.

After God knows how many hours of sitting in an airplane, I was here! At the airport in Nice, waiting to be picked up by Harriet.

She walked towards me with a big grin on her face, she looked beautiful! The Monaco sun had done her well, her tall and petite frame made her look like a supermodel.

"Harryyyyyyy!" I ran towards her to give her a hug.

"No ew! Don't touch me! You have airplane filth all over you!" She placed her hands out to block me.

"Well, not a good way to welcome me." I sniffed.

"Such a drama queen, no one's going to hire you, grab your bags the car's that way." She pointed to the parking lot.

"You have a car?" I asked her.

"No, I don't. It's a rental, I don't need one." She walked ahead of me.

We got into the car and started our drive to Monaco, the highway along the coastline was stunning! The water had sparkles of the setting sun, I turned on the radio. Kick start my heart blared on the speakers, just like that we were singing along.

"This brings back memories! Remember when we would go on long drives?" She smiled.

"Of course I do! Simpler times I miss them so much." I sighed.

"I have the week off from work, you see next week we get super busy."

"The Monaco Grand Prix! I'm so so so excited! I'm going to camp in your balcony."

"It's honestly my least favourite time of the year, the city gets so crowded! It's impossible to function!"

"You never liked Formula one you don't have to make excuses." I teased her.

"Fine then, I'll tell Gabriel to cancel our spot at the Grand hotel." She smirked evilly.

"WHAT!?"

"My friend Gabriel, he's working at the grand hotel, he saved us a spot at the balcony I'll tell him to let it go if you continue bullying me."

"Okay okay! I never said anything! Did I mention how much I love you my dear sister?"

"Oh shut up will you!" She laughed.

We reached the district of Monte Carlo after an hour, I was smitten, the lights, the architecture, the people it was all so beautiful! The place had an old world charm to it.

She parked the car and we walked past the casino, that was home to the restaurant she worked at. There was a proud smile on her face as we walked by it, I was so happy for her, she really was the talented child of the family.

"So this building is where I've been living for two years! It's absolutely beautiful!" She smiled as we climbed the stairs.

I liked the architecture, it was dated but alluring. The space seemed tight to me but it made sense, Monaco was a small district and real estate was expensive! The fact she was able to rent an apartment surprised me.

I took a shower and changed into pyjamas while she cooked us a meal to eat as we watched crappy reality TV.

"So what's the plan for this week?" I asked her.

"I'll take you around the whole of Monaco! You're going to love it!"

"Sounds like a plan!"

"And then you start job search."

"I can't speak French or Italian, oops."

"What's your dream Tara? To remain unemployed forever? Why are you making this so difficult!"

"Oh my gosh, you sound just like mum." I teased her, her words did hurt me a little I wasn't going to lie.

It's not that I have no ambitions, I don't have direction. Whatever I do, ends up disastrous. All I've ever wanted was to run my own business, my first idea was a clothing line well, I lost a lot of money. I didn't make a cent. I decided to pursue my second idea, which related to books. That didn't work out either.

I started working at an HR consultancy, I wouldn't say I hated the job I just didn't like the amount of lying it involved. Giving people a false sense of security and lying through my teeth just didn't suit me and so I was fired.

I cleaned up after dinner and decided to hit the hay, it had been a long day. I said goodnight to Harriet and walked into the small room she had cleaned out for me.

"Tara, do you hate me?" She stood meekly at the door.

"Well I don't exactly love you either, but for what it's worth, you are my pillar of strength." I smiled at her.

"And then I say such horrible comments about you, I'm-"

"It's okay! Now you go to sleep! We have a country-city whatever the fuck this place is , to explore!"

"Good night Tara." She walked away.

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, boy I was exhausted! The strange and new environment didn't seem to bother my body at all, it just wanted to rest.