Fighting You

Stone Isle

       "Aunt Ruth I'm so sorry. Mindy is having some trouble keeping up in the kitchen. Breakfast orders are just piling up and I've got to help her out. Would you mind driving to church by yourself for today?" Natalie asked her aunt.

         

          Natalie's head chef, Maria had retired and after spending a month on interviewing prospective chefs, she had found her replacement , Mindy. Mindy was a bit shy and a soft spoken girl. She was a good cook no doubt but not having worked in a B&B before she was having some trouble catching up. Natalie was confident that given sometime Mindy would get into the flow of things. This year's peak season was almost coming to an end and after a week most of her customers would be saying goodbye.

        "Of course not dear! I maybe old but not old enough that I can't drive myself around."

         At 50, Ruth Thompson was still full of energy and enthusiasm. Age did not nothing to dampen her spirits. She kept the B&B alive with her attitude and zeal. The guests always found her company entertaining.

           Ruth was her mother's sister and had single-handedly brought up Natalie after Natalie's mom died at childbirth. They didn't have secrets between them. When Natalie told Ruth about her first kiss, her aunt did not reprimand her. Instead she told her about her first boyfriend and they talked about boys all night long. From then on she knew she could share anything with Ruth.

          "Do you want me to get any grocery on my way back?" Ruth asked. "Nope. Jack will be stopping by later with all the grocery. We're good."

            "Alright then, I better be on my way. See ya later hon." and she left. Natalie stood at the door waving at her aunt and watching her aunt drive away. "Hmm-mm.." she sighed. Peak season in Stone Isle had always been busy.

            Stone Isle was an enchanting place . The island with its crystal clear beaches and pleasant weather attracted tourists from various spheres of life. You would find businessmen trying to get away from the humdrum of city life, there were painters trying to recreate the beauty of the island on their canvas, the photographers who could never get enough of the scenic beauty of the island.

          Then there were the locals of Stone Isle. The good-natured and friendly country people welcomed the tourists and always looked out for each other. She knew most of them and they were like her family. Relationships and connections in Stone Isle ran deep and most of the folks here knew her since she had been a toddler.

            On turning eighteen, she and her high school sweetheart, Mark had got engaged. She was ecstatic and gloriously happy. She loved reading romantic novels and was a hardcore romantic herself. Mark was her Prince Charming. Her love story was finally coming true with her and Mark finding their happily ever after. She believed with Mark by her side they would face the world together and promised to herself that she would never let anything break them apart.

          That was until she caught Mark in bed with another woman. Her whole world came crumbling down that day. Maybe it would have hurt less if Mark had not been so casual about it.

           "It was just a one night Natalie. I think you are over-reacting. After-all I am marrying you right? C,Mon..You love me. Let's just forget this ever happened and move on." She could not believe it. This was not what happened in her novels. People in love did not cheat on each other. How could he break her heart this way and be so casual about it. How could he ask her to move on and pretend everything was perfect? Did she ever knew Mark at all?

         "You want me to forget this ever happened? You haven't even apologized once for what you did Mark. I don't think you even regret it. I will not marry a low-life,cheating scumbag like you!" She threw their engagement ring on his stunned face and walked out.

         That night she cried her heart out and promised to never trust someone else with her heart ever again. She threw away all her romance novels out the next day and decided to give her life a new start. She did not need a man in her life. She could live her life alone and be independant. True love was just a myth to fool naive girls like her. She could get all the love she needed from her family and friends. She would never be vulnerable again.

       That was a long,long time ago. She had moved on and come a long way since that episode. She now owned a nice little inn in her town. She named it "The Stonehedge". Her inn was her world. She had started from scratch and the inn was her pride. Stonehedge had two floors. The staff quarters was located on the backside. Currently Mindy stayed there. The inn had five spacious rooms on each floor. Natalie and her aunt occupied a room each on the top floor. Everything was going well in her life but there was still something missing.

         "Natalie! A minute please....Ann has dropped the dishes again!" Mindy bellowed.

          She shook herself out of her thoughts.

         Oh no,not again. Someday she would be firing Ann. If only she didn't love Ann so much. Ann's waitress skills were next to nil and she had a thing of dropping everything handed to her.

         "Ann! You are gonna be fired!" Natalie screamed back,knowing full well she would never be able to do that. And she went back into the the circus that was her kitchen!

 *****Please do let me know what you guys think..All suggestions are welcomed:)****