Beyond the Mountains

Chapter One

Greetings, readers and writers!

Congrats, you've stumbled on my story. It's going to be a ride (or at least I hope so) filled with magic, romance, and with any luck, tears. Thank you for joining me on this ride - let's hit it!

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"To be fair, I always thought he was a piece of shit."

Hazel tipped back the shot glass, grimacing at the taste of whiskey. She shook her head and dropped the glass back on the table, narrowing her eyes at Brynn. "You couldn't have told me that before I found him balls deep in my cousin?"

Brynn gave an exaggerated shudder and took a long draw of the tequila in her glass, mumbling out, "Why climb the same tree, man? Pick a different tree."

"Would you have listened if we said something sooner?" Hazel shifted her eyes to Jaslyn. Jaslyn gave her a pointed look, eyebrows raised. Lifting the hand holding her glass, she pointed accusingly and said, "I love you, but you're stubborn. You dig in your heels on the weirdest things. Imagine if we told you that Sean gave us bad vibes when we met him. You'd already been seeing him for weeks at that point."

"Also a red flag!" Brynn piped in before going back to her drink.

Hazel groaned, forehead smacking the table. Shifting to where she could see the other two women, she honestly replied, "Probably not." Hazel squeezed her eyes shut and willed the burning sensation behind her eyelids to go away. It's just the whiskey, she told herself. Just the whiskey.

The day started out well enough. Having a career in graphic design meant most days, she got to spend her mornings at home in her pajamas. Others, like this morning, Hazel would need to emerge from her cozy little apartment for a face to face consultation. Clients wanted to see an in-progress product; asking questions and suggesting alternatives. The alternatives were rarely included in the final product, but Hazel had to grin her customer service smile and at least listen.

Today turned out to be a customer service smile day when the owner of a small flower shop kept suggesting conflicting themes for her logo and pamphlet. So needless to say, by the time the consultation was over, she needed a glass of wine and a hug.

The detour from the apartment Hazel rented to the one her boyfriend, Sean, rented was small enough that she didn't even think twice about making it.

Using the spare key Sean gave her a few months back, Hazel opened the door and let it click shut behind her. She gripped the bag holding wine and toed her shoes off.

Music drifted from Sean's room, a commonplace occurrence, and she smiled. "Good. I'd hoped he would be here." Setting down the bag on the counter, Hazel made her way to the bedroom, ready for a good afternoon of cuddling and making out. She needed every ounce of dopamine she could get after dealing with the clients she'd been forced to sit across from all day.

Hazel swung open the door. And stopped dead in her tracks. Music drowned out her entrance but there was no mistaking the vibrant red hair laying on the bed, Sean kneeling between her legs.

"Jessica?!"

Hazels' cousin yelped, sitting up. Sean threw himself off the naked woman and turned to stare at the doorway, his eyes wide. They both seemed to be at a loss for words, which Hazel assumed would be rather normal for the current situation. She really didn't know what to say either.

Frozen, Hazel looked between the two adults who felt the need to sneak around behind her back. Clearing her throat, Hazel stepped over to the bluetooth speaker playing and turned it off.

Silence tore through the room and Hazel took a long breath. "Well," she started, "I suppose I don't need to ask what's going on here." Ignoring the adults strewn across the bed, Hazel threw open the closet door. Yanking the hoodies she left there off the hangers, she turned and walked out the door, calling out, "The key's on the counter, asshole." The metal clanged against the countertop as Hazel dropped the key and picked up the bag with the wine instead.