She was supposed to meet up with Lucas.

Azura had been walking around slowly, processing the talk she had with Doctor Jensen, and hadn’t really been in the mood to face Lucas yet. So much had been said and done. That deep, hidden anger she knew was there had surfaced, scared her, and made her feel completely distanced from herself. Worst of all, whatever the Doctor was doing to her made her feel like losing control, while at the same time talking about things she had never shared with anyone. Losing control was not something she liked, it was the only thing she had left, or what she thought she had left.

It was nearing dinnertime when Azura found herself standing in front of the climbing hall. It was one of the tallest buildings in the city, overlooking Main Street. Painted in diverse colors, above the main entrance was a huge spray-painted image of a rocky skyline, with a climber hanging on a big overhang against a sunset. While she admired the artistic style of the layout, a short, blonde woman walking out of the front door caught her attention.

"Rose! wait up!" Azura shouted a bit too loud.

She ran towards the smaller startled woman and gave her a hug which Rose returned before she let go. Rose genuinely looked surprised and peeked at the climbing hall then back to the black-haired woman in front of her.

"What are you doing here, Azu?”

"Lucas demanded I would climb today… Said it would do wonders for my hangover, but to be honest, that’s been gone ever since I met up with Doctor Jensen. You just came back from work?"

Rose let out a sigh and nodded her head. “Yep… Morning shift was good, first half of the afternoon was good, things got awkward when Lucas showed up. Now I’m starving and I don’t want to cook dinner.”

“Well,” Azura placed a hand on her stomach. “I could do with some food as well. Maybe… We could go somewhere and get some before I go climbing?” She hesitantly spoke.

"Yes, please!" She jumped with joy as if a little kid who had just received a gift. "I know just the place! They have the best Thai food ever!"

Azura couldn’t help but laugh at Rose's enthusiasm. It was contagious, to say the least, and it was just the thing she needed to get really onboard with the idea. They both started walking as Rose led the way. It was only a few minutes walk before they arrived at a small restaurant called Songkhla. The kitchen was right through the door, and they had to go up a tiny set of stairs to reach the actual restaurant area. There were only 10 tables and it felt kind of cramped together but cozy at the same time.

"So... How's Lucas doing?" Rose twiddled with her fingers as she glanced at Azura. It was clear it was the one question she had been dying to ask.

"That jackass?” Azura softly tapped her fingers on the table while talking. “It's hard to tell... He was drinking yesterday and I joined in, getting drunk myself. I think you’ve spent more quality time with him at work today than I have."

Rose's eyes grew big as Azura talked about getting drunk. She started fiddling more with her fingers and seemed to sink even lower in her chair.

"Did you guys...like did something happen?"

"Oh, God, no!" Azura made the most disgusting face possible. "What I meant was, we didn't have much of an actual normal conversation. All he said was that he messed up and that you guys just didn't match."

Azura placed her hand on Rose's and looked at her with concern in her eyes. They were disrupted by the waitress, so they ordered some food before continuing their talk.

"What happened yesterday Rose? I thought you guys had a good thing going on."

Rose sighed and started to fumble with her napkin instead. "I thought so too, but yesterday we got into another little fight. We had them often, mostly about really unimportant stuff, but it was getting frustrating. We're both hot-headed and it was leading nowhere. I don't know exactly how it happened but eventually, the fight got so bad Lucas just said that maybe we would be better off if we just broke things off. I agreed. I was so done with him at that moment! Especially since he wanted to just throw in the towel so quickly. I agreed... He grabbed some whiskey, sat down on the couch, and just stopped talking. Can you believe that?"

Azura let out a small snicker as Rose told her how he had just stopped talking. A typical man with no desire to talk things over or express his emotions, she thought to herself.

"Yeah laugh about it. The jackass, as you so nicely put it, just stopped talking and pretended I wasn't even there! Real mature... I just screamed I was done with him and stomped out. It was not my proudest moment."

"The way you left him is the way I found him,” Azura flawlessly continued. “The only difference was he eventually talked to me...a bit...but I wasn't in the mood to talk a lot myself so we just drank the whiskey. A lot of it, so this morning was a lot of fun. He actually made fun of my hangover so I stomped out as well eventually. I think he has a way of pissing women off. A knack."

Now it was time for Rose to snicker. She raised her glass and Azura did the same.

"To single life with no guys around to harass us poor girls!" Rose cried out and clinked their glasses together.

"To whatever you just said." Azura giggled.

The waitress brought them their food and they started eating. A spicy red curry made Azura's mouth burn, but it was just too good to stop eating. The women kept on chatting during the whole dinner, and when they finished, Rose paid for both of them and they headed out.

"You probably should get going. Lucas is probably wondering where you are." Rose prodded Azura in the shoulder.

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"Yeah, I know. I never expected to stay at Dr. Jensen’s for so long though. I had actually wanted to be at the hall this afternoon."

"Don't worry about it. It was quite hectic there this afternoon so he probably has more time for you now."

Azura nodded and gave Rose a goodbye hug.

"Take care and we'll talk soon okay?"

They parted ways and Azura headed towards the climbing hall. It had turned dark already and the streets were quieter than before, now that the regular stores had all closed down for the day. It was not long before Azura found herself in front of the big building again and with a deep breath, she pushed the front door open to find herself in a small hallway with a display of climbing gear on her right. She continued on through another door and found herself in the main climbing area.

It was impressive. The walls reached up to twenty meters at the highest point with diverse obstacles scattered around. There was one big wall that sported a hefty overhang all the way up. Azura spotted a slab wall, her favorite, and one she always called a chimney.

"There she is! Finally decided to show up, Sunshine?" Azura flashed Lucas the finger and gave him a cheeky smile.

"I know all your dirty little secrets now, Jackass. So don't start a fight you can't win." She winked and laughed as he pretended to cower in fear.

"You know I'm just teasing you right? You just make it so easy." They sat down at the bar and Azura plonked her bag next to her on the floor.

"I know, Jackass. Don't worry, I'll do the same to you." He tugged at her ponytail softly and got up from the stool.

"Let's get you some gear and you can change. Oh, and are you going to call me jackass this entire time?"

"Yes." She replied without batting an eye. He raised an eyebrow and just shook his head.

"Alright then, Sunshine. I already like it when you're grumpy from drinking too much." He got up and pointed to the dressing room. Azura headed off and he walked toward the small indoor shop they had to grab some stuff.

She had changed into a bright green tank top and a comfy pair of yoga pants. When she returned, Lucas handed her a brand new harness and a belaying device.

"What's your shoe size?" He had grabbed some boxes with different types of climbing shoes.

She stared at the new stuff he got her before answering. "This is all brand new! I don't have the money to pay for it yet."

"Don't worry, it's a gift. Now, what’s your shoe size?"

"Seven and a half. Are you sure about this?"

Lucas grabbed a pair of shoes and handed them to her. She tried them on and winced as they were a little too small.

"If it hurts, it's good. They are supposed to be a little on the small size. How do they feel?" He completely ignored her question.

"They're fine. This will work." She tested them and took them off again to spare her feet. She put on the harness while Lucas cleaned up around them. He soon returned and walked to the bar again and gestured to Azura to join him.

"I want you to meet my best friend and our neighbor. In my dad’s old house right next to us, he lives there with his wife. He owns this place as well.” He turned to the bar and yelled out.

"Hey, Jeff! Come meet little Sunshine over here!"

Azura gave him a little push as he renamed her. He just smirked and soon the biggest guy she had ever seen emerged from the office behind the bar. He was well over two meters tall, she estimated, and he was packed full of muscle. Even Lucas seemed short when he was standing next to this guy. Jeff carried a huge smile on his face with one of the warmest looks she had ever seen. A classic teddy bear guy she thought to herself.

"So, Azura, meet Jeffrey, but you can call him Jeff. He's big but gentle, just ask his wife. And Jeff, this is my new roommate, Azura. Since this morning, also known as Little Miss Sunshine." Azura and Jeff shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Jeff. Jackass over here just told me you actually live in his dad's old home." Jeffrey roared with laughter when she called Lucas a jackass.

"It's good to meet you too Azura, and yes, I moved in two months ago. Lucas didn't want to live there himself after his dad passed and I was in need of a bigger house with my wife. The office is the only area that's still untouched."

"Yeah, sorry about that man," Lucas answered. "I do plan on cleaning it all up, but I want to have the time to do so. My old man and his father have done so much research, I want to read through it all to know what I can throw away and what I want to keep."

"No problem. We have enough space. Even when Sheila gets pregnant there's room enough. But I'll leave you guys to it for now, I have some more work to do."

Jeffrey went back to the office and Lucas and Azura went to the wall. After making sure she still remembered the basics of climbing together, they started. Azura started off with the more simple routes at first, to get accustomed to her new shoes and harness. Soon she went for some more challenging ones, while Lucas was on one of the highest climbing levels already.

Azura noticed she was not used to climbing this much. It had been over a year and a half since she last climbed and her arms and fingers barely had any strength left in them. She rubbed her forearms and shook them loose after and during each climb.

"One more, Jackass... Then I'm done." She bent over with her hands on her knees catching her breath for a moment. Lucas searched for another route and waited for her to join him.

"That's fair. But to really make it hurt good, you're going to do a route that's just above your grade."

She groaned as he pointed to a black route. It was a slight overhang with a corner element in it. The grips were small and it had some challenging traverses. Azura clipped herself in and waited for Lucas to attach himself with a belay as well. He nodded at her as they checked each other and she started to climb.

It was a technical route where every step you made counted, there was no room for errors or wrong footing on this one. Azura had already started to notice her body was resisting when she tried to stretch out her left side. As she got higher she had slipped but Lucas urged her to continue on until she was no longer able to hold on.

Almost at the top, she had to reach out with her left hand while putting all of her weight on her left foot. Her right hand needed to stay at the wall for balance while her right foot had nothing to stand on. As she carefully lifted her left arm she felt her body pull back.

"Come one, stretch, Sunshine! You're almost there. Just reach out!"

She heard Lucas yell at her from down below as she tried again, but a sharp pain at the left side of her abdomen made her flinch and lose balance. She grabbed her stomach as she hung in the rope, biting away the pain.

"Hey, one last time, Sunshine. You can do it!" Azura glared down and grabbed hold of the wall again.

"Just lower me already, I can't make the stretch. I'm done!" She yelled back down. Lucas shook his head and left her hanging.

"One last shot, Sunshine! Then we'll call it a day!" Azura groaned and tried to take position again, but it was useless. The moment she lifted up her left arm, her side started to tug and pull and began to hurt again.

"No, Jackass! In case you forgot, I have a huge scar which prevents me from doing so!" She snapped at him.

It felt like the whole climbing hall had stopped talking and stared at them as she hung there. In reality that wasn’t the case, but she certainly got Lucas's attention. He remained quiet and quickly lowered her to the floor.

"Let me take a look at it." Was the only thing he said when she touched down.