1.1 I'll Have It All My Way

The tall cypress trees cast long shadows as the sun rises in the East. It's summer, and the cicadas waste no time in their search for a mate. Their melodious chirping fills the air.

Monte Vista's stone walls, which have kept out intruders for centuries, welcome the warm rays into the city and let them envelop the ancient buildings.

I watch in awe as the long shadows recede, letting the sunlight bathe my new home in its glow.

 My name is Gloria Dutiel and so far, my life hasn't been going as I'd hoped. Sure, I've achieved my goal of perfecting both my painting and writing skills, but that came at a steep price...

I don't want to dwell on the past, however. This is the start of my new life, and this time, things will go my way!

 When I step inside my new house, I find out why it was so affordable. All the plumbing is broken and the entire place flooded!

I take one look at the mess and turn around. I'll deal with this later. I have spent enough time cleaning up messes and repairing broken objects. This is the beginning of my new life!

 To my delight, I find that there is a book store within walking distance from my new home! I've been wanting to buy a new book on logical thinking, so I head inside.

 When I emerge, it hits me. I know what I want to do.

 I hail a taxi and let it take me outside the city walls, across the beautiful sprawling landscape.

I have never been a bold person - preferring to think and plan thoroughly before I act - but today, I feel daring. I will simply walk into the hospital and ask for a job!

I am in luck - they hire me right there on the spot! As I step outside, I take a moment to appreciate the beautiful large pool surrounded by ancient structures and fields of red poppies.

While I was gone, some strangers gathered at my front door. I ignore the llama and the weird metallic device and let the helpful repairwoman in.

She immediately gets to work, repairing all my plumbing free of charge. Seeing someone wield a wrench this skilfully makes me want to use my own handiness skill as well! I set to upgrade the cheap old stove. This should improve the quality of the meals cooked on it!

 And so the afternoon goes by. Looking at the bare walls, I decide to hang some of the paintings I've been lugging around. First I put up three, then five, then fifteen of them! There, much nicer.

 As the warm sun finally begins to set behind the rolling hills, we are done with our work and the repairwoman leaves.

 All of the sudden, I find myself alone in my new house. I have always been a bit of a loner, but having just spent a long time constantly surrounded by people, it feels weird being all alone. I whip out my phone and call the local chess league to send over one of their members. I don't want to brag, but I feel pretty confident that I can win a ranked match. After all, my logic skill is almost at its maximum!

I stare out the window, eagerly awaiting my opponent's arrival.

With a firm handshake, she introduces herself as Giovanna Costa.

I usher her inside, but she pauses for a moment to touch her belly and then exclaims, "I'm pregnant!"

I don't quite know what to say to that, so we sit down and begin our game.

 "Nice place," Giovanna remarks dryly.

 The old Gloria might have been flustered by this sarcastic remark, but now I reply as smoothly as I can, "Yeah, well, I bought this house not knowing that all the plumbing was broken. And now I'm left to sort out this mess... I haven't gotten around to it yet. I hope you don't mind."

"It's okay, kid," she says, "I imagine you don't have much time for chores, what with all the books you're writing."

At first I'm taken aback by her remark. Yes, a couple of my books have been published - and quite successfully - but I had no idea they'd be known here as well. Turns out they are. Giovanna says she devoured my romance novels and is eagerly awaiting the next one. I blush at her compliments.

All this chatting must have distracted me, because Giovanna wins the game with am impressive maneuver I have never seen before. I am duly impressed.

Giovanna doesn't rub her victory in and instead gives me a friendly shaka bra while wishing me better luck next time.

"Seriously though, it's a nice house you've got here," she says again. Maybe she isn't being sarcastic!

Now that I've had a taste of it, I really want to improve my standing in the local chess league, so I ask Giovanna for a rematch. Fortunately, she agrees.

I have never been good at small talk, but I attempt it anyway in an effort to be as friendly as Giovanna has been.

"So, you're having a baby," I begin, not quite knowing how to continue. When she looks at me with a quizzical smile, prompting me to continue, I quickly search for something else to say. "Uhm... I mean... uh... are you excited?"

She lets out a short laugh. "Excited is not the word." She smiles wryly at my questioning gaze. "I've done this twice before, kid. Been there, done that. I'm looking forward to when the swelling in my feet goes down and my back stops aching, but that's about it."

Night falls over Monte Vista while we pour over the chessboard.

Again, Giovanna wins. It's starting to get annoying. I'm supposed to be a genius, for Plumbob's sake!

Apparently Giovanna notices my foul mood - maybe the energetic way in which I cleared the chess pieces off the board was less than subtle - because she gets up and says, "Come on kid, enough chess for today. You look like you need to blow off some steam. Take me to your bedroom."

 I am baffled by her request, but do as she says and lead her upstairs.

 "Well, this is it," I say as I enter the room. I'm feeling a bit self-conscious about the haphazard way in which I put up all the paintings. This afternoon I was more concerned with satisfying my need to hang them all and didn't pay much attention to the arrangement.

 I turn around to face Giovanna and - wham! - she smacks me in the face with a pillow.

 I grab another pillow off the bed and hit her right back. This is surprisingly fun! I can't remember the last time I've let loose and acted like a child again. Come to think of it - have I ever?

 "Stop, enough," I gasp. "Let's take a break. I'm starving!" My stomach grumbles noisily in assent.

 "There's that smile again," Giovanna grins. "Pillow fighting. Works every time!"

We head downstairs and I pull out some ingredients from the fridge. I want to try my hand at a local specialty - Goopy Carbonara.

 While I cook, Giovanna practices her moves on the chess board. No wonder she managed to beat me twice - that woman is obsessed!

"Grab a plate and follow me," I call to Giovanna, but she seems too absorbed to even hear me.

 I make my way out onto the small balcony out back. Everything is still wet from the rain, but I can't resist eating my first meal in Monte Vista on my adorable little balcony. I'm just a hopeless romantic at heart.

Giovanna doesn't join me, which is just as well. She's nice, but I've always enjoyed solitude. This place is too romantic to keep all to yourself though, a tiny voice in the back of my mind whispers.

 Giovanna is leaving when I bring my empty plate downstairs. "Didn't you want dinner?" I ask her.

"Can't," she calls back. "Gotta run. Husband and kids are waiting. See ya!" And she's gone.

 Suddenly very sleepy, I trudge back upstairs and put on my nightgown. And that was the first day of my new life, I think to myself.

I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow.