1999, June 2nd

  William woke up to find Eve already dressed and sitting on the balcony, looking out at the Macroplaza with a cup of coffee in hand. The morning sun cast a warm glow across the city.

  He sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"

  "Eight thirty," she said without turning around. "I already ordered breakfast. It'll be here in ten minutes."

  He groaned and dragged himself to the bathroom. When he emerged, feeling slightly more human, there was a knock at the door. Eve opened it to reveal a hotel staff member with a breakfast cart. Once they were alone again, William poured himself coffee and took a sip. It was perfect. He started to feel like a person again.

  Eve watched him with an amused expression. "You know, for someone who's supposed to be a genius, you're remarkably useless in the morning."

  "Not my fault," he muttered as he sipped the coffee. "You know I can't do early mornings without coffee."

  "That's why I ordered them." She looked smug. It made him want to punch her in the face.

  His eyebrow twitched, "You look real punchable right now."

  She awwed and pushed her cheeks to make her look even cuter. "You wanna punch this cute kissable face? Unfair."

  "You're right. Your face looks too cute. That's why I'll punch you in the gut."

  "My plan's ruined. Here, take this." She handed him his coat.

  He grabbed it, confused, "What's this for?"

  "For you to wear, obviously. We're going out soon."

  "Why? It's gonna be like 30 degrees outside. Is this the surprise you were talking about?" William asked as he took off his shirt and folded it.

  "Yeah."

  He smiled, "I'll look forward to it then."

  After breakfast, they left the hotel. Eve flagged down a taxi and gave the driver directions in Spanish. William tried to catch what she said, but she spoke too quickly for him to follow completely. Something about 'cerro' and 'teleférico'.

  The taxi drove through downtown Monterrey, past the Macroplaza, and headed toward the mountains that ringed the city. William recognized the distinctive saddle-shaped peak of Cerro de la Silla in the distance.

  After about twenty minutes, they arrived at a station for a cable car system. William looked up at the mountains, then back at Eve.

  "We're going up there?"

  "Yep." She paid the driver and got out. "Come on."

  They bought tickets and got into one of the cable cars. As it began to ascend, Monterrey spread out below them. The city looked different from above. It was as if the city was built of miniatures before their eyes.

  Eve watched his face. "Worth getting up early for?"

  He had to admit it was impressive. "Where exactly are we going?"

  "Chipinque Ecological Park. It's in the Sierra Madre mountains." She leaned against the window. "I thought we could do some hiking."

  William blinked. "Hiking?"

  "Don't look so surprised. We spar almost every day. You can handle a hike."

  "Yeah, I definitely could. But I didn't expect..."

  "That I'd plan something active instead of more business meetings?" Eve smiled. "We've been working nonstop for months, Will. Yesterday was all business. Today is for us."

  "That's true. That's true. One must balance work and life."

  She rolled her eyes, "So wise. This is coming from the guy who once coded for 36 hours straight when he was 16. Yeah, right."

  He shook his head sagely, "You wouldn't understand my wisdom, Eve. Just because one doesn't follow it, doesn't mean it's false."

  She scoffed, "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

  "I sleep great, thank you very much. At least until you wake me up early."

  The cable car reached the top station, and they stepped out into cooler mountain air. The temperature had dropped noticeably. William pulled on his coat.

  "See?" Eve said smugly. "Told you you'd need it."

  "Yeah, yeah. You were right. Happy?"

  "Very." She grinned.

  The park entrance was a short walk away. Pine and oak trees covered the mountainside, and the air smelled clean and fresh. A map at the entrance showed various hiking trails of different difficulties.

  Eve studied it. "There's a trail that leads to a lookout point. It's about two hours round trip. Moderate difficulty."

  "Sounds good."

  They started up the trail. It was well-maintained but steep in places, winding through the forest. Birds called from the trees, and occasionally they'd catch glimpses of the city far below through gaps in the canopy.

  William found his rhythm quickly. The trail wasn't too challenging, just enough to get his blood pumping. Eve moved ahead of him with easy confidence, occasionally stopping to wait when the path got particularly steep.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "You know," William said as they paused at a switchback, "I'm starting to think you have ulterior motives."

  "Oh?"

  "You're figuring out if I can keep up with you on uneven ground." He grinned. "This is basically a combat assessment."

  Eve laughed. "You caught me. Next, I'm planning to push you off a cliff and take over the company."

  "I knew it. That's why you brought me all the way to Mexico. So that nobody could find my body! What a cruel girlfriend I have."

  "Exactly. The perfect crime." She took a drink from her water bottle. "But seriously, I just thought it would be nice to do something different. We're always in offices, hotel rooms, or restaurants. When was the last time we were just... outside?"

  He thought about it. "The HEMA club has an outdoor section."

  "That doesn't count, though. That's still structured training, no?" She started walking again. "I mean, just being outside for the sake of it."

  "Fair point." He caught up to her. "This is pretty nice, I guess."

  "'I guess'? Wow, such enthusiasm."

  "I'm trying to maintain my cool, mysterious image."

  "What image? You literally complained about waking up early for ten minutes straight."

  "That's different. Morning doesn't count. Nobody will ever see my morning complaints other than you anyway."

  Eve blushed a little, but didn't comment on it. They continued climbing. The trail grew steeper, and conversation became sporadic as they focused on the path. After about forty-five minutes, they reached a clearing with a wooden lookout platform.

  The view was spectacular. Monterrey sprawled out in the valley below, surrounded by dramatic mountain peaks. Cerro de la Silla dominated the eastern skyline, its distinctive shape even more pronounced from this angle.

  Eve walked to the railing and leaned against it. "Worth the climb?"

  William joined her, looking out at the city. "Yeah. I'll admit, this is pretty damn cool."

  They stood in silence for a while, just taking in the view. A breeze moved through the trees behind them, carrying the scent of pine.

  "You know," Eve said quietly, "sometimes I forget there's more to life than work."

  William glanced at her. "That's rich coming from you. You're the one who works sixteen-hour days."

  "Exactly. That's why I need reminders like this." She turned to face him. "We're building something incredible, Will. But if we're not careful, we'll burn out before we finish."

  "Is this your way of telling me to take more breaks?"

  "Maybe." She smiled. "Or maybe I just wanted to spend a day with you without talking about acquisitions or quarterly projections or taxes. Those dreadful taxes."

  He chuckled. "Alright, alright. I'll take some breaks to spend more time with you, how about that?" He kissed her forehead. "There, you happy? Mission accomplished." He looked back at the view. "Though I have to say, your idea of a vacation still involves flying to Mexico for business meetings."

  Eve laughed. "Fair point. But we got this hike out of it, didn't we?"

  "And the wine two days ago."

  "And the wine," she agreed. "See? I'm capable of fun."

  "Debatable."

  She punched his arm. "Ass."

  They stayed at the lookout for another fifteen minutes before starting back down. The descent was easier, though they had to watch their footing on the loose rocks. Eve nearly slipped once, and William caught her arm.

  "Careful. Can't have you breaking an ankle before the Japan trip."

  "My hero," she said dryly, but didn't let go of his arm right away.

  Back at the base of the mountain, they found a small restaurant near the cable car station. It was a local place, not touristy at all, with maybe six tables and a menu handwritten on a chalkboard.

  They ordered cabrito, roasted goat, a regional specialty with fresh tortillas and salsa. The food was excellent, simple, and perfectly prepared.

  "So," William said as he tore off a piece of tortilla, "what's the plan for Japan?"

  "Business talk already? We haven't even been back an hour."

  "Just curious about the schedule."

  Eve sighed. "Fine. We tour the facility in Yokohama on the 4th. It's the QA plant, so it's smaller than the Monterrey one but more technically sophisticated." She took a bite of cabrito. "Then we have to go to Malaysia. We were originally going to visit the facility in Guadalajara, but I found out that Monterrey has Sierra Madre mountains, so I had to come here with you to have some fun."

  He smiled and shook his head, "I'm glad. And after that?"

  "Malaysia on the 8th, Taiwan on the 11th. Then home."

  William did the math. "That's a lot of flying."

  "Welcome to international business." She smiled. "But I built in downtime in each city. We're not just going to work the entire time."

  "More surprise activities?"

  "Maybe." Her eyes glinted with mischief. "I haven't decided yet."

  "Great. Can't wait to find out what other mountains you want me to climb."

  "Oh come on, you enjoyed this one."

  "I did," he admitted. "But next time, maybe something with less vertical elevation?"

  "We'll see."

  After lunch, they took the cable car back down to the city. The afternoon was hot, and they returned to the hotel to rest and cool off.

  As soon as they got back, William threw his coat onto the bed, jumped on it, took his shoes off, and sprawled. As for Eve, she elegantly took off her coat and hung it on a chair. She sat down on a chair in her long-sleeved white shirt and pants and pulled out some documents.

  "You know," William said, staring at the ceiling, "you really are terrible at taking breaks."

  "Says the man who coded for thirty-six hours straight."

  "That was different. I was hyperfocused."

  "Sure." She didn't look up from her papers. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

  He threw a pillow at her. She caught it without looking and threw it back, hitting him square in the face.

  "Ow."

  "Don't start pillow fights you can't finish."

  William sat up, rubbing his face. "Seriously though. What made you plan today?"

  Eve set down her pen and turned to face him. "I just realized we've been so focused on the company that we haven't really lived. Like, we work together, we eat together, we sleep in the same bed sometimes." She paused. "But we don't really do things just for fun anymore as we used to."

  "We spar."

  "Sparring is training. That's different." She tucked a strand of white hair behind her ear. "I wanted to do something that was just us. Just something we'd both enjoy."

  He smiled, "I did enjoy that."

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah." He got up and walked over to her chair. "Thanks for planning it."

  Eve stood up, and before she could say anything, he pulled her into a hug. She made a small, surprised sound before relaxing and resting her head against his chest.

  "We should do this more often," she said, her voice muffled.

  "What, hug?"

  "No, idiot. Take time off. Do fun things. Stop working ourselves to death."

  "Agreed." He rested his chin on top of her head. "Though maybe next time we can do something that doesn't involve climbing mountains."

  "Where's your sense of adventure?"

  "I left it at the top of the mountain."

  She laughed and pulled back to look at him. "Fine. Next time will be easier."

  "Beach?"

  "Maybe. We'll see." She poked his chest. "Now let me finish these documents, so we're actually prepared for Japan."

  "Slave driver."

  "You love it."

  They ordered room service for dinner. It was nothing fancy, just burgers and fries, and found a movie on the hotel TV. It was some action film dubbed in Spanish with hilariously bad voice acting.

  "Why does the macho guy sound like he's doing a car commercial?" William said, trying not to laugh.

  "I don't know, but it's amazing." Eve was laughing so hard she nearly spilled her soda. "Listen to that delivery. 'I will save you, mi amor.' He sounds so bored."

  "Maybe he is. Maybe this is his twentieth action movie this month."

  "Poor guy. Living the dream."

  They watched the rest of the movie, making fun of the dubbing and the over-the-top action sequences. It was stupid and fun and exactly what they both needed.

  Later, as they were getting ready for bed, Eve paused in the bathroom doorway.

  "Hey, Will?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Thanks for coming with me today. I know you probably would've been fine just staying in and reading."

  He shook his head. "Nah. Today was perfect. I needed it too."

  She smiled. "Good. Now get some sleep. Early flight tomorrow."

  "Yes, boss."

  She threw a towel at him. He caught it, grinning.

  https://ko-fi.com/williamnaing