Tears of our Ruins

Who is this Mystery Woman

CORA

I laugh as Ava sticks me in another awkward position. "Don't move! That's perfect. Give a sultry look out in the distance." She snaps a bunch of pictures. "That's gorgeous, Cora!"

I quickly slip into my thick coat and run to look at the pictures she took on her tiny viewer screen. "Wow! These might be my favorite."

That says a lot. Our original two month journey grew to six months. Six fun months of traveling around the world with Ava. This has been exactly what I needed. I feel alive again. It's been a perfect distraction. Ava has an entire unique portfolio of these amazing photographs she has taken of me. We're doing absolutely nothing with those pictures. Of course dad is still throwing his money away, funding this. He's bitching less, but he's constantly asking when I'll be home. I feel guilty. The brief visit home for Christmas wasn't enough for any of us. I miss them too. I've put him through a lot all these years and now I'm asking this of him. It seems like a waste of time and money. I see that, but I'm not complaining. It's been so fun and I feel like I've found myself, somewhat anyway.

Right now, we're in Sweden and it's freezing. I just posed in a skimpy, for me, teal bikini against the snow and ice sculptures that make up the IceHotel in Jukkasjärvi. It's damn cold but the pictures are gorgeous. I'm wearing tall furry white boots with the bikini. My curls are a dark shade of teal with my black roots peeking out and softly merging with the teal. My makeup has flowers that match my tattoos running from my eyes and around my temples. The black outlines of the delicate flowers that wrap around my wrist and branch off up my forearm really standout in contrast to the surroundings.

"I might have frostbite on my nipples, but so worth it," I laugh.

Ava's huge smile turns into a frown as she studies the picture. She gives me a look as she turns to me. "I still say you build up your social media and post these pictures. They would be a big hit. Credit me as the photographer and it would help me out too." She looks so hopeful. She brings this up often. I feel bad. They're amazing and I hate that I'm stopping her from showing off her work. I just don't want the publicity. What if someone figures out it's me? What will happen then? It'll be a shit show. My return hasn't been leaked. If I were a nobody, nobody would care if I disappeared and then returned home. Because I'm a McKenzie though, it'll be a huge story. So what will these pictures do then? I hate the press and being a celebrity kid just throws you into it.

"I don't know," I sigh. "I still don't think I want to be in the spotlight like that. You can use them, maybe. They're your pictures. Just keep me anonymous. Would that work?"

She gives me a judging look then smiles. "Assuming people wouldn't recognize you." That's the problem.

"They might not. I have zero social media presence and everyone thinks I'm missing still. They only have the one recent picture of me from my disappearance," I laugh. Though that picture made its rounds.

"Well that's true. Start a fake account. We can come up with a new name or something clever."

"Coco." The name is out before I even realize it.

"Coco? Isn't that what Elliot calls you?" I nod and my heart hurts at the mention of his name.

"I like it. I say we do it." My heart is now pounding in my chest. Is it at the mention of Elliot or is it because I'm watching Ava create an account under the name CoCo? She looks at me, asking for permission. I chew on my bottom lip as I nod. Her face beams as she posts a few of my pictures in the red gown from the Parthenon in Greece and tags herself. I take a deep breath. It'll be alright. It'll all be alright.

CORA

We're cuddled next to the fireplace in a homey coffee shop. Ava's going over the details for our final trip which is to Finland. We're shootings at the Sibelius Monument and Suomenlinna. I'm sad that this is almost over, but I'm exhausted. I'm ready to go home. I miss my parents and they're definitely missing me. We never got a chance to make up for lost time before I ran off with Ava. I never expected this trip to grow like this and I feel a bit guilty.