Page 12 of Fight

Lena caught Annie’s statement as she joined the others at the table, her sandwich in hand. She and Annie were having lunch at a coffee shop and cafe in Conrad Square called The Golden Carafe.

The Golden Carafe was a gorgeous little cafe in such a beautiful setting. With the beach in the background and the bustling energy around the Square, Lena felt like she was transported back to Austria. She could envision sitting in a place like this with a sketchpad or a canvas, letting the inspiration encompass her.

“That’s a great hike. Jake and I have done it a few times. There's a really nice lake that makes for a good stopping point to camp out.” This came from Ian, who Annie had invited, along with Jake, to join them for lunch.

Ian was fine and he obviously had a thing for Annie, but his friend Jake was a grade-A asshole. In the three days that she’d been in Lake Conrad visiting Annie, he’d done nothing but make one terrible statement after another about Lena. Whether it was commenting on her choice of clothes, or what he thought she did or did not like to do, it was never-ending with this guy.

Was he a good looking guy? Yes, fine, sure. Was he a jerk, an asshole, and a douche? Yes, definitely, for sure.

“Yeah, I’m not sure that it’s the right hike for…everyone that’s going.” Speak of the devil. He sat across from her, sipping his coffee and shooting her a wary look.

“What do you mean by that?” Lena asked as she side-eyed him.

“Well,” Jake began. “It’s a strenuous hike. You can’t do it in heels.” He made an indicative motion toward Lena’s feet under the table.

Lena looked down at her straw-colored wedge heels. She wore a flowy purple and yellow sundress today and had had a fun time pretending like she was walking through Florence or Athens as she strolled through the Square this morning.

“I wouldn’t wear these shoes,” she insisted. “I do have shoes that aren’t heels.” She’d packed some tennis shoes for all the walking in nature she planned to do during her visit to Lake Conrad.

“Okay, but for this hike you would need hiking boots. Do you have something like that?” He looked at her doubtfully.

“No, but I know my body. I know my feet. I’ll be fine,” she insisted.

At the mention of her body, she saw his eyes shift down her front where her sundress revealed her decolletage. She had referred to it as such this morning while she and Annie got dressed, and she admitted she was not sorry about the favors this dress did her.

Noticing where his eyes went, Lena fought between wanting to press her chest forward so he could get a better look, and shrinking back in fear.

Finally, she cleared her throat and he looked up at her face, before shifting his eyes away quickly. “We’re doing this, Annie,” she stated firmly.

Lena had actually been a bit on the fence, but this conversation was a deciding point for her. There was no way she couldnotdo this hike now—and in her tennis shoes.

“Why don’t you guys come with us?” Annie suggested as she gave Ian a sparkling smile. “It’ll be fun! And it would mean a lot to us to have pros like you guys along to help us.”

Color started spreading up Ian’s neck as he quickly looked down at the table and then over at Jake. “We’d really like that. Right, Jake?”

Jake didn’t look nearly as sure about that. “Yep,” he finally said. “Sounds like…fun.”

Lena breathed out slowly and glared across the table before fixing a smile on her face and turning toward Annie and Ian. “Sounds amazing. Thanks so much, Ian.”

Jake didn’t have to wait long to run into Lena, and attempt to butter her up. An hour later, he stepped out of the resort and strolled a few yards into Conrad Square for coffee. He exhaled a sigh as he took in the blue sky, shining sun, and smattering of clouds overhead.

Conrad Square was the bustling center of Lake Conrad proper with restaurants, shops, ski and cycling rental options, as well as vendors to sign up for parasailing and other outdoor activities.

The square was separated from the beach by a short stone wall. On the other side of the wall, the sandy beach spread in both directions for miles. Beachgoers were sprinkled up and down the shores, sunbathing and watching kids play and shriek in the water. The crowds were light on a Monday afternoon in May, but give it a few weeks and both the Square and the shores would be packed with summer tourists. Jake knew the tourists were necessary for the town’s livelihood, but he still appreciated these quiet times when it was much easier to soak in the beauty of the lake and mountains.

The Golden Carafe was located right next to the stone wall separating the shopping area from the beach and had spread out long wooden tables shaded by giant umbrellas where patrons could sit, socialize, and enjoy the expansive view of Lake Conrad and the Sierra Nevada mountain range behind it. Mount Dalak, the tallest of the mountains in the range, rose up to kiss the clouds directly across the lake from the Square.

When Jake walked out of the restaurant sipping his fresh black coffee, he noticed a newly-familiar figure sitting at one of the wooden tables facing the water and mountains.

Jake strolled over to where Lena was crouched in deep concentration over a piece of paper as she ferociously wrote or drew something. The breeze had pulled free a few strands of hair from its complicated arrangement. She'd taken off her suit jacket and wore her purple tweed skirt with a silky gray sleeveless top tucked into it. She’d also kicked her heels off and her bare feet were crossed at the ankle, resting lightly on the sandy paver stones that lined the Square. The purple polish he’d noticed the night before flashed at him as she curled her toes in and out.

As he got closer, he could see that she was most definitelydrawingon the paper and it was a picture of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in front of her, with Mount Dalak featured largely in her view and on her picture. She was working on the peak when he walked up behind her and steeled himself.

“You know,” he said loudly. “Mt. Dalak is the highest peak in this range. It’s a beautiful, but brutal, hike.”

Lena jumped and turned around to face him. “Jesus.” She breathed out deeply with her hand on her heart, still holding her pencil. “You scared me,” she accused him with a disapproving look.

The look brought back memories of their hike from last summer. She’d cast him many accusing looks then, too, and this one was no different.

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