The rickety old car had hit a large bump in the uneven dirt road, causing me to ungracefully spill my poorly sealed hazelnut latte. To my dismay, it had sloshed out from the small hole in the apparently useless to-go cup lid, and straight onto my white, lemon print, peplum blouse. I was already in an irritated mood, but that was really just the cherry topping the sundae of indignation.

"Oh jeeez! Now that really sucks, now doesn't it?" Becca, the bitching blatherskite whom I'd been trapped in this godforsaken vehicle with for the past three hours, mentioned as if I didn't already know. "Your shirt's ruined!" She tucked her curly copper-red hair behind her ear.

I narrowed my chestnut brown eyes at her, readying to unleash a stream of witty retorts like the lexical winds of armageddon, but I sucked in a deep calming breath instead. "Yes. I can see that. And yes it does, in fact, suck." I replied a little too brusquely, while stiffly gesturing down towards my soiled shirt, forcing a smile onto my face.

So far I'd been trying really hard to keep the peace and not tell this girl off. We were going to be working together over the next three months, and I didn't want any conflict between us. Unfortunately, that was already proving to be rather difficult. Within the few hours I'd known her, all she'd done was complain about anything she possibly could, talk obsessively about herself, and provide me with a string of backhanded compliments.

"At least you didn't ruin a good shirt." She added, with her caviling bright blue eyes scanning over my top.

I sighed and looked out the window, earning a sympathetic glance from the driver up front, who I didn't think knew a single word of English. Lucky guy. His short grey hair fluttered beneath his black flat cap, catching on the slight breeze created by the half-open window. He reached out his aged sunspot-covered hand and turned up the volume on the radio.

I smiled at the kindly old man to show my gratitude, then continued watching the beautiful Moldavian countryside speed by. My cherry red nail polish matched the lipstick stains on my cup, as I absentmindedly swirled my suntanned finger over its smooth lid. The mid-August sun was blazing over lush rolling hills of vibrant green and far-off expanses of deep forestland. Simmental cows grazed within large pastures, while an osprey gracefully glided across the crystal clear blue sky.

Our destination wasn't the usual type of place people would choose to go while visiting Moldavia. It was a very small town, deep within the hinterland of the country. Far away from any "normal" civilization. The only reason Becca and I were going was because we had both signed up for a work exchange program offered by one of the local vineyards. I honestly have no idea what made me decide to sign up. It had been a very bizarre, spur-of-the-moment, change to my summer plans, which I had felt strangely compelled to do. 

Originally, I had saved up enough money to go on a summer trip to Sicily, with the idea of traveling to many different seaside vineyards. My parents owned a popular Italian-style restaurant, and I had been hoping to make some new wine connections for them as well. It would have been a dream vacation, and helped out my parent's business at the same time. A perfect win-win.

And now I'm mentally smacking myself over the head with a goddamn two-by-four for coming to this bullamakanka of a place instead...

"Good thing I don't drink this stuff, or I might have ended up looking like you! I'm allergic to hazelnuts, you know." Becca's nasally voice pulled me away from my very brief moment of peace, as she annoyingly flicked the side of my cup.

"Yes, I know. It's on the list of allergies you gave me." I held up the absurdly long list of all her allergies that she'd given me immediately after we met. At least I have a list of things to poison her with...

The landscape soon changed, bringing long rows of vines stretching over gently curved hills into view. Fat juicy grapes dangled down from the green spiraled tendrils and lobed leaves like brilliant clusters of purply garnets and pale jade. The driver took a turn down a windy dirt driveway, with the tires creating a massive dust cloud behind us.

A quaint stone cottage appeared out from behind a few lofty oaks. Tendrils of ivy stretched across the grey outer stone walls, arching over the circular windows and rounded wooden door. The trees provided shade to the luscious green grass and a plethora of beautiful blooms adorning the split-rail fenced lawn. An overabundance of hooded indigo flowers quivered, while thickly lining the entire home like a vibrant ring of color. The place, though small and in the middle of nowhere, was quite charming and overall rather cute. The car slowly rolled to a stop, right in front of the cottage. Well, I guess this is it...

"Multumesc." I tried to say thank you to the driver, hoping that he could understand me through what was probably a horribly thick North American accent. 

I pathetically fumbled over the door handle for a second, then scrambled out of that deplorable car as quickly as possible. If I had to be trapped in there for even a moment longer, my head might have literally exploded like a microwaved egg. My cherry red flip-flops clicked against my heels, as I stalked around the navy blue vehicle to grab my suitcase out of the trunk. 

I had only just clicked open the back hood when Becca's brightly colored head popped around the corner. "The place looks really small, doesn't it? I hope we won't have to share a room." She groused.

"I hope so too." I replied, gritting my teeth in aggravation... Believe me, I really hope so too. 

As soon as we both pulled our luggage out, the driver hastily sped off without a single backward glance, leaving us eerily stranded in front of the cottage. Becca had three large bags, while I only had a single medium-sized one. She whined and complained about her load, swindling me into leaving my latte in the middle of the driveway, so I could carry the heaviest bag for her.

Just trying to be nice here... 

I huffed and puffed, struggling to carry what seemed like a suitcase full of damn rocks up to the front door. My heavy breathing drowned out the sound of the wind rustling through the trees in the forest line. As I snailed closer to the cottage, I noticed that the indigo flowers surrounding the home were wolfsbane. Little yellow bees buzzed all around them, while they gently swayed in the breeze. If hummingbirds lived in Europe, I'm sure they would have been happily buzzing around them too. 

"Phew!" I exhaustedly dropped her bag once I got to the first stone step leading up to the door. I tucked a loose strand of my dark brunette hair behind my ear and wiped some sweat from my brow.

"Oh jeez. Are you that out of shape? Really?" Becca judgmentally criticized from the step above me. 

Not even a thank you? Really?

I resisted the urge to angrily bring her bag back out into the driveway. "No, I'll have you know that I exercise daily. Your bag was just extremely heavy, and it's also very hot out." I ignored her look of distain, then walked past her up to the cute little door... Fucking bitch.

I lifted my hand up and was just about to knock, when the door abruptly swung wide open, causing me to nearly leap right out of my skin. A large male hand wearing three thick silver rings swiftly snatched mine right out of the air and held it firm. 

What the!?

"My, my... Why, hello there." A deep masculine voice flirtatiously drawled in a thick Moldavian accent.