“And yet you don’t think they are capable of tampering with a car to off you? Do you think they’ll let you reappear now? If you show up in a swarm of ‘here I am,’ what realistically will they do? That thought scares me. They offed you for threatening his position. What will they do for creating a mass scandal and implicating more of them and damaging the entire company?”“Arrgghhhhh.” I let out a strangled noise of despair and throw my blankets off. Exhaling heavily, getting up to pace around while stretching out my arms, and crick my neck from side to side to work out the knots. Frustrated, weighted with pressure, and so tired I can’t think straight.This is my family, husband, and entire existence, even though what she’s saying makes perfect sense… It’s crazy and sounds like a movie plot. I just can’t.“Let’s just say that IF, and it’s a big IF…..Jyeon did w

TWO YEARS LATER “Good morning, Anna.” The bright, cheery voice of Barbara, the mail woman as she passes me in the street, brightens my morning. “Morning.” I’m practically skipping today. Wearing a new cornflour blue summer dress on the hottest day of the season so far and in a blindingly happy mood. Nothing could dampen my spirits today since I woke up from a scarce night of no nightmares and felt incredibly refreshed for once. It’s funny how that alone can change my entire day. The village is bustling, bright, and early, with most fishing crews already coming in to offload, and the har

“It’s so busy I think I might pass out. We just got a table of six guys up to the second floor for dinner, and we’re running out of side dishes.” Greta comes sweeping into the kitchen where I’m heating chicken wings in a flash fry for an order and leans over me to stick a paper tab on the order line over my head. The new group seems to have enormous appetites and is going for a four-course in one sitting.“All six want the scallop starter…” that’s easy for me to handle alone.” she is red-faced and sweaty and makes to start pulling out the necessary ingredients to get on it. Even with both of us cooking and serving, we still struggle to keep waiting time down. We should start thinking of a kitchen part-timer if this summer keeps progressing like this.“I don’t think we can take many more people in if this keeps up. How many boats have docked today?” I’m feeling the pressure after boats

“Unfucking believable. Of all the places for him to show up….. this is insane. Do you think he bought it? That you’re my sister? When you left, he was weird, but he didn’t ask anything else. I managed to usher him to his seat, but he was zoned out the entire time.” Greta is pacing back and forth in the kitchen, like an erratic wound up chicken in a coop while I’m trying to cook the dishes in our order queue and not have an almighty mental breakdown. Tasks keep me sane, focusing on doing something, and yet not. Trying to keep my hands busy and not freak out the way Greta is. I go over and over it in my head and keep shaking myself mentally. After all this time, I honestly cannot believe this isn’t a dream that he’s here. In our village, in the Tarry Shack. “I don’t know; I honestly do not know.” I think I’m in shock and knowing he’s up there, right now, has me shaking all over and my pulse at

 “You were right about hiring the Emmerson twins; I feel like I have barely worked today even though we were swamped for lunch and dinner.” Greta is helping me stack up the chairs on the tables so we can mop the floors as the girls downstairs see off the last of our diners. Today has felt more normal after a rough few days, and I’m starting to unwind once more. My stress levels have been insane, and Greta has finally calmed down.Jyeon and his friends left, finally. It’s the morning after the storm, without coming back. I heaved a sigh of relief but then had nightmares the last three days that made me feel like hell. I kept going back into the accident, the water, the night I crashed. Remembering his last words to me that he never wanted me in his life again, and the pain of seeing him with that girl. It’s all come back to wound me all over again now that I’m an emotionally susceptible mess who cries at the drop of a hat. I hat