Peter and Mira are hiking up a mountain. It’s a sunny and hot day, much too warm for a hike with 1000 meters of vertical gain.

The first part of their hike is very busy because it’s easy. A trail in the woods with steady ground and only a moderate elevation, with trees protecting them from the sun.

They meet a small group of hikers, three young guys and three young women, all around 25 years old. They greet each other, as is usual in the Bavarian Alps. One of the women, tall, with short black hair, dressed in shorts and a tank top showing much of her cleavage, immediately catches Peter’s attention. “How difficult is the ascent?” Peter asks, smiling at the woman.

The woman doesn’t smile back and just answers briefly: “If you are fit, not too difficult.”

“You look very fit,” one of the male hikers says, smiling at Mira. “You look as if you exercise a lot. My compliments. Your boyfriend can be very proud of you. And your boyfriend’s face is somehow familiar to me.”

“Yes, his name is Peter; he is a successful entrepreneur. You probably know him from TV or a newspaper article.”

“Great to meet you, Peter”, the male hiker says. “I admire how you built your company from the ground up.” But Peter is not listening, smiling at another good-looking woman in the group of hikers instead. Unsuccessfully, he doesn’t get a smile back.

“Thanks for the compliment,” Mira says. She smiles at the hiker. “I love your blue eyes and your smile.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Peter says. And looking at Mira with a sour face: “Let’s go.”

Peter and Mira continue their hike; the hiking group's footsteps fade away. Peter is not sure if it’s just his imagination when he hears a male voice in the group: “With money, you can buy any woman. Without money, such a woman would never, ever be with him — short, bald, and overweight. And for sure, at least 15 years younger.”

Peter puts his arms around Mira’s waist; he loves to touch her soft skin, and it turns him on how sexily she is dressed today — in just shorts and a crop top. But Mira pulls away from him.

“What is wrong, Mira? Not only am I not allowed to have sex with you anymore, but I’m not even allowed to touch you?” Peter’s voice is shaking with anger.

“Sorry, Peter, but I haven’t found you particularly attractive lately. You don’t turn me on. Sorry, but I’m just being honest. I cannot sleep with someone I don’t feel attracted to.”

Peter feels the rage rising within him. An incredible rage against Mira, but also against himself for not being able to break up with her.

“Do you know what, Mira? You are the most arrogant and selfish person I have ever met in my life. You don’t have a problem living off my money and basking in the glow of my career. And you call that honesty. After our hike today, I will kick you out of my house and my life, and also cut you out of my will, too. You are probably cheating on me anyway. With a girlfriend like you, who needs enemies?”

“I don’t understand why you are so angry, Peter. I’m just being honest. And I’m not cheating on you. It’s not my fault that every male friend hits on me. I’m just friends with them. And you work so much and don’t have time for me; am I supposed to sit at home bored, watching your work?”

Peter is so furious now that he would love to slap Mira in the face.

“You complain about me working so much? How do you think all this luxury is paid for? Does it fall from the sky? Let me tell you something: I would be much better off with a girlfriend with a fraction of your beauty who treated me with more respect and was into sleeping with me. And after today's hike, I will finally end this. I know that I have tried it seven times before, but this time I will manage it. And now I will go back to the car. ”

“Calm down, Peter. You love me and would never break up with me, wouldn’t you?” Mira’s voice is calm, and she is smiling at Peter. “Please come on; we have had such a pleasant time hiking together. And tonight we can have sex, I promise. Shake on it. And now please be reasonable and let’s continue the hike.”

The way up the mountain gets steeper and the terrain more difficult, with loose stones on the path instead of solid ground and many rocks along the way. They have to scramble now to continue. Peter’s legs and arms are burning.

Mira is making progress much faster than Peter, stopping from time to time and looking back at Peter with an annoyed expression.

“Are you a bit out of shape, darling? Maybe you should come running with me from time to time instead of smoking and drinking beer. Then you might actually turn me on again.”

“Say one more word, and I’ll push you down this mountain, understood? Shut your mouth.”

“Okay, darling, I’ll keep my mouth shut if you cannot take the truth. I’m just honest. By the way, in about 10 minutes, we’ll arrive at a mountain hut; there we can take a break.”

Peter is so exhausted that he would love to just stop and sit down, like a dog that refuses to keep walking. But his pride keeps him going, and he can finally see the mountain hut.

“I need at least a 30-minute break now,” Peter pants.

Mira smirks at him. “With my ex-boyfriend, I used to hike this way with no break. But he was fitter than you. The place looks very busy, though; we might need to join someone at their table.”

Peter is dying to sit down and is looking for a table outside to smoke a cigarette, but all the tables are taken. When he turns around to look for Mira, he sees her already sitting at a table with only one more person.

It’s clear why Mira would choose this table, Peter thinks. He sees a man, about 30 years old, very fit, with short blonde hair, wearing a muscle shirt and denim shorts.

This person is smiling at Mira with a flirty look, and Mira is smiling back with an even more flirtatious one. Peter feels the jealousy and anger rising within him. Mira flirts with everyone but me; I really need to break up with her.

“Sit down, darling. I have just met Rob, a fellow hiker. Rob, this is Peter, my boyfriend. You might know him from TV; he is a famous entrepreneur.

“Nice to meet you, Peter. It’s an honor. I have to admit I’m not very interested in business; I spend most of my time working out. But it’s surely important to have people like you who are really ambitious. And as I can see, one advantage of being successful is having a beautiful girlfriend.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Rob,” Mira says in a soft voice.

“Why don’t you get us three beers before you smoke your cigarette, darling?” Mira asks. “Walking twice is good for the figure.”

Why am I so stupid, still being with this woman? She treats me like an idiot.

But he gets up and walks into the hut to the counter. There is a long queue, so he takes 20 minutes to get back.

When he is back on his way to their table, he sees Mira and Rob sitting side by side, looking together at Mira’s phone. Rob has placed one arm around Mira’s back, pulling it away fast when he spots Peter coming back.

As Mira is still sitting side by side with Rob, Peter needs to sit down opposite them.

“Thank you, darling,” Mira says. “Cheers.”

Peter feels the urge just to get up and leave Mira and Rob sitting there and start the descent alone, exhausted as he is. But he says nothing and starts drinking his beer fast, looking at his phone. His facial expression is a mix of despair and anger.

Rob has finished his beer. “I think I will continue my hike now; I have some more vertical meters to gain today compared to your route. Have a good hike and nice to meet you.”

Rob walks away, Mira glancing a last look at him.

“Wow, what a sexy body; he must spend a lot of time working out. And he told me he finds me quite sexy as well. It’s nice to see that I can still turn heads, even with attractive men.”

“Fuck you, Mira”, Peter says.

To his surprise, Mira pulls Peter close to her and kisses him passionately.

“Don’t be angry, darling.” Tonight we can have sex; you really deserve it after this hard hike.

Peter and Mira leave the mountain hut, and the path now becomes extremely narrow and steep. To the right of the path, the abyss is really deep, about 200 meters. One wrong step and you fall to your death. Peter is breathing heavily, but the promise of sex tonight after a long time keeps him going instead of just turning back. Maybe Mira is not so bad after all, just a piece of work, he thinks. And I will never, ever find such a beautiful woman again. Maybe I’m taking this too personally.

“Darling, soon we will have made it to the top,” Mira says. “There’s a junction just ahead, and then it’s only 20 minutes more to go.”

“Thank God, I can barely feel my legs anymore,” Peter replies, pulling Mira to himself and giving her a deep, passionate kiss. “You have such a sexy body, I cannot stop looking at you.”

Mira smiles. “Don’t underestimate me. I am not only beautiful, but I am also pretty smart.”

Peter says nothing. So far, in his time with Mira, he hadn’t ever thought of her as especially smart, but he doesn’t want to start any new fight. He can’t wait to touch her body again; the “Look, but don’t touch” period has lasted too long.

“Peter, I need to fix my shoes. Give me a second and just walk ahead; I will catch up with you soon.”

Peter walks ahead, slowly. He is almost at the junction when, to his surprise, Rob appears in his sight from the left path where it crosses the junction.

He looks back, and Mira is suddenly very close behind him; he didn’t notice her catching up with him. She looks at him with an ice-cold expression, an expression he has never seen on her before.

“I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that your suffering with this hike is over now. The bad news is that you won’t have sex with me tonight. In fact, you won’t have any sex in your life anymore, not even with yourself.”

“I really should have kicked you out of my life a long time ago, Mira,” Peter gasps, terror in his eyes.

“Yes, you definitely should have”, Mira said. “And in case you are wondering, I have known Rob for more than one year. With him, I have had the best sex of my life. The situation was perfect for me: I had you for my status and Rob for other pleasant things. But you have nothing better to do than destroy this. I’m sorry, but I cannot afford to have you break up with me.”

“What is your plan? To push me down? You will never get away with this.”

“We think we can. There are no witnesses here, so why should an overweight, older man not slip by chance and fall to his death?”

“You are completely crazy”, Peter shouts, and with his last strength, he suddenly turns around, jumps, and tries to push Mira. But Mira has anticipated this and is still fit, so she just needs to make a large step back. A second later, Peter can feel Rob’s iron grip.

“Whatever amount of money Mira promised you, I will pay you double. Let me live, and I’ll pay you twice the amount.”

“Sorry, Peter, but it’s too late for this. You bought Mira with your money, and now your money will buy you your own death. You were with the wrong woman at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

This is the last thing Peter hears. A slight nudge by Rob is enough to send him falling.

Mira kisses Rob passionately. “Now you must leave before I call the emergency services. I can’t wait to see you again soon.”

“I love you, Mira.” Rob turns around and starts walking slowly and casually. So he doesn’t notice Mira walking behind him. The last thing he feels is a strong shove, and then he is falling.

“Sorry, Rob, but I cannot tolerate any accomplice,” Mira murmurs. “We ran into the guy I was flirting with by chance, and my jealous, overweight boyfriend had nothing better to do than start a fight with him, and they both fell while fighting. What a pity.”

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