Steamy Storms

Chapter 1 (Elizabeth)

"Sure, sure, just stop nagging. I will travel along." Elizabeth Cider is irritated. Pubs and stuff is not really her scene. Sitting there and chat for hours, consuming one beer or shot after the other, trying to walk straight and keep everything balanced in your head and tummy... what fun is that? She is not known as a good drinking pal and gets wasted too soon.

For a while now, Mika and her colleagues challenged her to hop along. Hop she will do, but wasting her money on drinks that lets her feel grumpy... no thanks. At one stage she joined them in the hope to meet a somebody in town. She made friends, a lot of them, but none of the local boys made her look twice. Nothing wrong with them, for sure a happy bunch of energetic guys in their twenties, playing soccer on Saturdays and party thereafter. Girls always invited, off course.

"Yay, Lizzie is here," came Mika's voice when she crawls in the pub.

Elizabeth let out a sigh and smiles. "Yeh, yeh, I'm here, for a very short while."

"Glad you made it. I ordered a beer to start with."

Elizabeth winks at Mika. "Off course. Thanks." She greets and chat to those around her, laugh at the craziness and forgets about time, she later realized. This can actually be fun. She has only one beer, in fact she is still sipping it up slowly, and it is okay. Why the hell did she always thought she must overdo it to be part of the party? She looked through the pub with appreciation to those accepting her as she is. Her eyes are drifting away to the other customers, hearing swears, talking in different pitches, and lots of laughter. What an interesting world in Kreston Peak, their medium size town on the side of the mountain. Her temporary job will have to be temporary, though. She doesn't get younger and in her late twenties, it is obvious that there is nobody interested in her in Kreston Peak. No, that's a lie. Some guys like her, actually too much. She never knows if it's her small-built body or her big boobs. Yes, she saw the staring when she joins the pool-parties. She would prefer getting attention due to her personality, but who will ever be interested in a boring city pharmacist? So yes, the truth is, she is not interested in any of these muscle monsters.

Elizabeth notices a view new faces at the counter and it seems that the blond, wild-hair guy kept all souls around him captured with whatever comes out of his mouth, followed by their rough jokes and language. Men. The group breaks up and he turns around on his friends' departure. They leave a table doped by bottles and shooter-glasses, and still he orders another beer. Can one body consume so much alcohol? Elizabeth is intrigued by mister whitehead. Why? No idea. She hears his deep calm voice when the noise lowered down at a stage, while talking to the barman. His eyes... she can't determine the color of it but he is near enough for her to recognize a depth in it. It doesn't fit his face. Not a handsome bloke, he is. Not at all, when she notices his rough skin, long hair falling over his face and a prominent nose. But his eyes... She wishes to move nearer, she needs to see what in those viewers brings the blossom to the foreground.

Elizabeth forgets all about her friends, and luckily they didn't take notice. She is shamelessly disappointed when the man stands up after paying his bill. For a millisecond, their eyes met, and then he turns around and left.

Without thinking, she found herself moving to the window. He must be a visitor in town, so also the group that was with him earlier. It is the first time in her 5 months as a citizen of Kreston Peak, that she noticed any of them. She is working in the only pharmacy in town, and none of them came by for medicine, she's sure of it.

What is mister nice-eye'sstory? Maybe a wild ranger, it looks like it. For sure a muscle miracle, not amuscle monster though. She wishes to see him without his shirt, one day. "Elizabeth Cider, are you crazy?" she mutters. She looksthrough the window and sees him leaving in a pick-up truck. Mm... hiker?Ranger? Or a hunter? What is your business here, mister soft-eyes?