EVERHEIGHTS

Criticize her all you want, she’s guilty and she knows it. What kind of person abandons her family in pursuit of ambition? An idiot, now she knows.

But that changes nothing, it only makes her feel more useless. Carla’s mood dampened as different thoughts twirled in her mind.

Steve took one glance at her and noticed, “So…, what brings you to Everheights.” He asked, wanting to liven up the atmosphere.

“What? I don’t have a right to come back?” Carla turned to him and fired unconsciously.

“No…No… that’s not what I meant… it's just that it’s been so long, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.” Carla bowed her head and adjusted her mood before looking up again. “Vacation.” She declared.

“O…h, that’s really good.” Steve glanced at her as he nodded, he had been following all her social media accounts as a fan for seven years and he knew more than anyone what exactly was going on, but of course, he was not going to come up straight and tell her that. 

“Then you have come to the right place.” He finally replied with a smile.

“What?”

“You haven’t heard?”

“Heard what? Why does it seem like there is so much I haven’t heard lately.” Carla asked with a smile.

“Probably because your grandma is growing old so she forgets to tell you these things.” Steve casually stated.

“Probably.” Carla clung to that word, after all, only she knew she never had time to call her grandma. Whenever the old woman called her, she was always saying, “Hey grandma, how are you?”

“Did you get the money I sent?”

“I really miss you too.”

“Oh, really? Look, Grandma, I have a meeting now, I will call you back in a few minutes.” 

That was how their conversations always ended and then that 'few minutes' stretched into months, that is until the next time the old woman called her again. Whenever the old woman called to ask her when she would come to visit, she always replied with a perfunctory “soon, grandma soon.”

In one word, she never called home, and no, her old woman was not a bad person. She is the loveliest person Carla has ever met. In all the world, the one person she was sure loved her, was her grandma… and maybe her parents too, but she doesn’t know since she doesn’t remember meeting them. 

Both her parents died in a plane crash when she was two. Her mother used to be a supermodel and her grandma was her number one fan, keeping clips of all the competitions and runway walks her mother had ever attended and won as a model. Now that she thought of it, her mother and grandmother’s relationship must have been really close, unlike the one she had with her now, as her grandma had made sure to attend and record all her mother’s shows, as she was a single mother. 

Carla started watching all those recorded clips when she was five and has been self-teaching and training herself to be a supermodel since she was that young under the supervision and support of her grandma. It was just that, unlike her mother, the old woman was too old and could not travel around that much anymore or she was sure she would have come looking for her since she didn’t come back home.

Having the dream of being an international model since she was a child, made her see just how backward and lacking in opportunity her small village was. It’s just too bad that even though she went out into the big world, she still could not achieve anything in the end.

“So tell me. What is the village like now?”  Carla put away her thoughts and asked.

“Oh, you will see.” Steve flashed a mysterious smile, excitement, and eagerness to show her the town brimming in his eyes, Carla felt a little puzzled.

It seems there were some benefits to staying in this small town after all. Steve’s eyes still carried the joy and excitement of a teenager who hadn’t seen the world at all, pure and fresh, without a single contamination, just like how he looked when they were in high school.

If only she had stayed here, would she still be like this? Instead of the tired and hopeless person she had become now? Wait, what was she thinking? The only person she shouldn’t have met in her life was that bastard, Zak, okay? If she didn’t meet him she would probably still be the number one most sorted-out supermodel.

“Here we are,”  Steve announced as the car rounded the bend, distracting her from her thoughts again.

The tall trees disappeared, giving way to the small town of Everheights. The once dusty road had become tarred with white paint lining the middle of the road, the houses were nearly arranged and painted with white wooden fences separating each house, giving it an artistic look.

The town center, which used to be almost nonexistent in the past, had a few more shops, a mini-mall, a restaurant, motels, trinkets, and souvenirs shops, while tourists were seen walking the streets with enthusiasm as they hurried to the next shop, eager to see and buy something new.

Carla stared wide-eyed at the small village which had now developed into a small town, a development that’s even better than that of her life.

“When did Everheights become a tourist town?” She was surprised.

“It began a few years ago, it has been developing ever since,” Steve answered with pride, the corner of his eyes fixed on her face, taking in every micro-expression, as he drove slowly. Seeing her curiosity and excitement, he took a detour, instead of driving straight down the road straight to her street, he turned left, driving straight towards the beach.

“How come I didn’t hear anything about it on the news or anywhere?” If she had heard that her small village had become something this nice, she would have come around once in a while on vacation or something. “It looks really lively.” She murmured.

“You know how the village and the people have always been, they are addicted to a low-key lifestyle. There is hardly any advert about our town on any news and the Mayor hopes to keep it so but the people who need a serene environment for mental and spiritual relaxation always come here.”  Steve explained.

“Mental and spiritual relaxation? That sounds like what I need right now.” She murmured.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. I said it was nice.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I didn’t expect a development this fast, though.”

“A hot spring was found in the mountains and an investment company came over, bought the place, and built a huge holiday resort. The whole village followed in rapid development soon after.” He explained as they drove past the beach which was filled with the laughter of happy tourists. Carla also saw a few indigenes she knew selling cold beverages at kiosks.

“It’s crazy. Many people have jobs around the tourist areas now.” Carla murmured, then glanced at Steve. “No wonder you were able to get a Porsche so fast.”

“Yeah, a few tourists loved the cars I put together in my yard and bought a few,” Steve explained with an embarrassed smile on his face.

“Good for you,” Carla replied before looking out the window again, the car had driven past the field area and was now passing through the town meadows. 

A few cattle used to graze there in the past as the well-to-do people in the village were those who had cattle and ranches. They sold pure fresh milk in the village and were patronized by almost all the villagers as it was cheaper. At that time the richest was Steve’s family who had two cows and a bull, which were also the healthiest.

Everyone rushed to them to buy milk at first but soon found that Steve’s mom never wanted to sell her family’s cow milk. She claims that their cows were like family and their milk was for the calves born to their cows, even though in the end they ended up giving out the calves as gifts to friends and never reared any till adulthood, leaving them an average family.

When Carla was younger she always wanted to understand why Steve and his parents seem to have absolutely no ambition. She just didn’t understand why they, who were well-traveled, would abandon everything and go to this backward village when someone like her wanted to leave.

Now she knew, maybe, his parents had an experience similar to hers and had realized that the peace and quietness of a small village with humble people who were honest was better than fame among people who would want to pull you down.

However, she didn’t think she would still agree to stay here if she had a chance of a comeback in the future.

As the car drove past the meadow that used to be empty, Carla was shocked at the number of cattle grazing there; over a hundred cattle were grazing in the meadow, which had now been fenced and made into a big cattle ranch. 

“Someone bought the meadow? Who owns it?”

“The same company that bought the mountains. They also rent cattle sheds to those in the village who own cattle and let them rear their cattle here in the meadow, all they have to do is pay a few amounts of money monthly to the cattle herders, and their cattle are taken care of for them. When they give birth or need to be sold, the ranch takes care of it all but only takes a 5 percent commission. It is the most lucrative investment in the town right now, anyone with a little money is running to invest money into buying cattle here as the yields are huge, especially when you don’t have to take care of the cattle yourself. Even my family’s cattle have been moved here.” Steve explained.

“What exactly is the name of this company? Why haven’t I ever heard of it?” Carla asked, puzzled. So many changes had happened in this small village and she was totally ignorant about it. This company seemed to have a lot of money but she had never heard of a new company with so much money to upgrade a village into a town in a few years.

With the move of things, this village would become a city in the next ten or so years.

“Helling Inc. I heard they own a huge company abroad.”

“Helling?” Carla rolled the name around the tip of her tongue confused, “Why haven’t I ever heard of it?” Carla asked even more confused. She had modeled for so many companies in the past and the ones she didn’t model for, she had heard of. What was the deal with this company? If it wasn’t for the fact that they had been around here for a while, she would have said it was a fake company.

Steve shrugged and said nothing as he drove past the huge meadow and across a valley of sunflowers, “They planted this too?” Carla asked with a frown.

“Yes. Tourists love to take pictures here all the time. A few people come over for their wedding photos too.” Steve said, his eyes fixed on her when he mentioned ‘wedding’. “If I remember correctly, sunflowers are your favorite. You can come here and relax anytime you want.” He added.

Carla forced a smile at him and nodded, falling silent as they drove close to home. Her heart was so shocked by the improvement of this small town that she was not sure if she would be able to hide here successfully. With the way this town was developed and the flow of people, what was the guarantee that no one would recognize her here? If a tourist recognizes her, wouldn’t that be the end of her ‘vacation lie’?

Carla pressed her throbbing temples and closed her eyes just in time to hear Steve announce, “We’re here.” 

Carla looked up, she had been lost in thoughts and didn’t even notice when they drove into her street or stopped in front of her home, and it was true, she was indeed home.

She sighed, putting the worries and fears of being recognized behind her. Right now, it was time to face her grandma.