No Tears | NR

Chapter 3

Sæbø, Norway

The loud, piercing sound of a phone alarm going off disturbed the peace and quiet in the spacious hotel room. Yara groaned in annoyance and lifted her head, blinking rapidly to let her eyes adjust to the light in the room. Once she could keep her eyes open properly, she sat up and turned the alarm off. Then she fell back onto the bed and stared at the room's white ceiling, trying to find any motivation in the depth of her mind to get up. The woman stayed like that for a while listening to her growling stomach until she felt herself beginning to fall asleep again. She quickly got up, got dressed, had some breakfast, downed a cup of coffee, and jumped in her rental car after asking the elderly man at the reception desk where she could find a store in town.

Yara had arrived here around five in the afternoon on the previous day. She had only stopped once during her long drive to stretch her legs a little and go to the bathroom. She had also used the opportunity to grab a bite as she hadn't had a proper meal since she had left New York. Her hotel turned out to be more of a fancy motel than a typical hotel in the Norwegian town of Sæbø which was close to the western coast and right next to a fjord. Once she had arrived, she hadn't even bothered to unpack her suitcase or eat. She had simply taken a five-minute shower, brushed her teeth, and changed into the first set of clothes that she could get a hold of. Then she had gone to bed and passed out instantly. Looking back, Yara was surprised that she managed to sleep through. Usually, her nights got interrupted by nightmares. She also didn't remember setting an alarm.

Yara was amazed at the thought that she had still been in Germany two days ago. That felt like a lifetime ago. The thought of Germany reminded her of her sister. Yara's face fell instantly. The woman was used to being alone. She had been alone in one sense or another for most of her life and she had never been someone to miss people, at least not physically.

The same had even been true for her sister whom she hadn't seen for a long time with the exception of a few rare occasions where they had found each other to be in the same city for once. Yara had been perfectly content with regular phone calls to catch up and hear her voice. Something about hearing her sister's light and energetic tone had almost always lifted the woman's mood up, no matter what she had been doing before.

As bad as it might sound, Yara still didn't miss her sister in the sense that she would never be able to see her in person again. The thing that was really causing her pain was that she would never get to have a phone call with her sister again and get to hear that excited, melodic voice again. That feeling was something that she had never experienced before. She didn't just feel alone, but she felt lonely which was something that she had probably always felt, but never this intensely.

Right after her sister's death, she had found little things everywhere that would remind her of the younger woman. Each time, she felt like her heart was being been torn apart again. This had gone on for a day or two until she had had enough of the pain. Instead of letting herself feel it, Yara had suppressed it and had pushed it down until she had felt numb. The numbness filled her mind and body. She felt like she was experiencing everything around her through a layer of fog that blurred her senses.

To distract herself from her busy mind and her glim thoughts, she focussed on the street in front of her. The European village was a nice change from the metropoles that Yara was used to. It was quiet and there were barely any cars on the streets compared to Berlin or New York City. The air felt a sort of fresh and clean that couldn't be found in cities and which Yara could even sense through her numbness. Many people were already up trying to get their business done early before they had to go to work. Others had been up for hours working. Most people minded their own business. Some exchanged quiet words before parting ways and doing what they came here to do. Even though the town was already busy early in the morning, there was an aura of peace and calmness floating around it that imprinted on every person who was fortunate enough to pass through it.