IT COULD BE WORSE

Natasha Duncan

The main character. She is a pretty, slender and athletic woman.
She's hard-headed. For her, the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Having a child has always been in her life project. Having one with Fabio seems obvious, but she is in a phase of slight final questioning.

Childhood - Education

Natasha was born in a provincial town 30 years ago.
His father is a doctor and his mother writes children's books. She has a little sister, 4 years younger.
She went through high school, but became an excellent student once she got to college where she studied physical therapy.

Love life

She has been dating Fabio, her childhood friend, two years older, since high school. Both of their parents are friends.
In high school, she almost fell for Julian, Fabio's stalker and all-around stud.
She found Julian attractive, but didn't want to be dumped like a piece of shit once "consummated".
So she resisted! A disappointment for Julian, but the pride of Fabio, for once "winner".
Since then, she has also resisted all attempts of seduction. She is often approached by men but remains faithful to Fabio.
There is only one colleague of Fabio who has made an impression on her since they moved to Cleptown: Thomas; but she has had very little contact with him.

Active life

Fabio and Julian left high school the same year. Julian was lost to her.
When she graduated, she was hired at the city hospital of Cleptown, where Fabio was already working.
They moved into an apartment and saved up to buy a house.
They have been living together for 7 years.
There was never any question of marriage, as long as having children was not on the agenda.

Relationship with Fabio

Fabio has always been her best friend. And her boyfriend since high school.
She loves him, for his kindness, his will, his perseverance, the attention he has always had for her.
She always thought he would be a very good husband.
Of course, he has his faults, but who doesn't? However, as time goes by, everything gets a little blunted, and people change.
Fabio of course, who is a little less caring, and who has become more venal and pushy. His career as to count more than anything!
Natasha doesn't like this too much, nor the way he has taken his two second places behind a colleague in terms of sales figures.

Fabio Cuckingham...

is the perfect example of the type neither beautiful, nor ugly. He's the kind you see most...
He is not stupid at all and has a generally affable character.
On the other hand, he is envious and above all, a careerist who sometimes tends to put himself forward.

Childhood - Education

Fabio was born in the same provincial town as Natasha, 32 years ago.
After high school, he started studying economics, imposed by his father, but failed twice.
He then succeeded graduating in what he really wanted: interior designer.

Love life

He has only ever known Natasha, his childhood friend since high school. It was their parents who decided on their relationship, but he was fine with it.
He was bullied by Julian, a stalker who was hitting on Natasha in high school, but she resisted! A pride of Fabio, for once a "winner".
Fabio is not a flirt. He doesn't have much charisma, but he has always been a kind and caring companion for Natasha, with whom he has always been very much in love.
With time the routine has settled a little in the couple, but not to the point of destabilizing him. He is not naturally jealous, the episode of the stalker rejected in high school reassured him of Natasha's loyalty.

Active life

Fabio and Julian left high school the same year and Julian disappeared since then.
When he finished school, he worked for a company in his town. When Natasha finished her studies, he was hired by Alset Inc.
He is a very good technical salesman and an excellent negotiator. His boss, Noel Skum, likes him.
Apart from his co-workers and some of Natasha's acquaintances, he does not have a very active social life.
His main hobby, apart from golf which he plays regularly, is gambling. Not to the point of being sickly, but he has a famous penchant for betting and gambling.

Relationship with Natasha

She has always been his only female friend. It's like he's not interested in other women.
And she's been his girlfriend since high school.
He probably loves her very much but his being demonstrative suits Natasha very well.
He has obviously never considered anyone else as a girlfriend and considers her to be a permanent part of his life.

Thomas Hamilton...

is the handsome man of Alset Inc. Sportsman and graduate of university, he is with Fabio the best salesman of the company.
He no longer tries to take advantage of his good looks, except perhaps to get contracts when the client is a woman.
He had a rather tidy and classic life plan despite the fact that he comes from a rather rich and influential family.

Childhood - Education

He is the eldest son of a former US Navy pilot, now Florida Democratic Senator, Douglas Hamilton. He has a sister and a brother.
He first lived in Key West, while the father was still pilot, then in Miami, until the end of his studies. He graduated in architecture after a somewhat tumultuous school career.
He has always been an avid sailor, like his father and sister. They often sailed the Keys together from the house the family still owns near Key West.

Love life

He collected conquests during his teenage years, but calmed down when he met Jessica Hataway in college.
He fell in love with her and had eyes only for her. He followed her to the West Coast where they settled down and lived together for 4 years.
But Jessica's jealousy quickly proved to be very difficult to live with. Thomas tried to reassure her, but she ended up breaking up with him.

Active life

As soon as he finished his studies, knowing that Thomas was going to move to the West Coast, his father used his connections to help him find a job quickly.
Even though he didn't ask for help, Thomas met Noel Skum, the boss of Alset Inc., who had a temporary position as architect. At the end of his contract, Noel Skum offered him another contract as a technical salesman, which Thomas accepted.
Away from his hometown, apart from his co-workers, Thomas' acquaintances were mostly those of Jessica. With the breakup, the numbers got a little smaller.
Despite the practice of several sports, his main hobby remained sailing.

Relations with Natasha

At the beginning and while he was in couple with Jessica, Thomas never tried anything with Natasha. He found her very pretty, but respected her relationship with Fabio. He was not the kind of man to chase after every woman.
Two reasons made him change: his new single status, and above all, Fabio's jerk behavior.
While he hadn't been looking to meet Natasha in the city until then, after his breakup and the bet, he got caught up in the game and probably felt a little more attracted. Especially since Natasha remained simple, friendly and accessible.

At the company's end-of-year party, things got a little heated.

Noel Skum...

is the head of Alset Inc. A calm, composed man, widely regarded as fair and reasonable. He maintains cordial relationships with his employees and avoids unnecessary drama. A reassuring presence, at least professionally.

His private life, on the other hand, is very private. Little is known about his past, and even less about what occupies his time outside the office.

Officially, Noel Skum is not known to have a stable romantic relationship. Unofficially, he seems to host a steady stream of nieces who come to study in the country. One after another.

They all share striking similarities: around nineteen years old, blonde, undeniably attractive, and marked by a pronounced Eastern European accent. A coincidence, no doubt.

Naturally, no one comments. It’s his life, after all. His business.

And at Alset Inc., no one asks questions they don’t want answers to.

Anna Pornikova...

is introduced as Noel Skum’s niece, the latest one to arrive. She claims to be studying international law at a nearby university—an explanation delivered with confidence, a thick Eastern European accent, and just enough paperwork to discourage further questions.

Blonde, attractive, and visibly aware of the effect she has, Anna blends politeness with a disarming directness. She smiles easily. Watches carefully. Listens more than she speaks. Whether she is genuinely focused on her studies or merely passing time remains unclear.

Like the others before her, Anna benefits from Noel Skum’s generosity. A comfortable place to stay. Financial stability. A discreet distance maintained in public. The arrangement appears perfectly respectable—at least on the surface.

Anna has already noticed Thomas Hamilton. Not casually. Not innocently. She finds him intelligent, confident, and suitably complicated. Her interest is subtle, almost academic. A conversation here. A coincidence there. Nothing overt. Nothing that could be called deliberate.

For now.

Anna doesn’t rush. She adapts. She observes how people react to her accent, her youth, her questions. She understands that attraction doesn’t always need to be declared—sometimes it only needs to be allowed.

And whether Anna is simply curious, genuinely ambitious, or playing a longer game entirely…

is, once again, nobody’s business.

Matthew Dickson...

claims he’s from Seattle. Which is entirely possible. He’s a physiotherapist—just like Natasha—and insists he practiced for two full years before deciding that routine, marriage, and children could wait. Or be avoided altogether.

After that, things get less linear.

According to Matthew, he walked dogs in Los Angeles. Then he was hired by NASA as a “model”—or a test subject—for astronaut suits. After that came a restaurant job in Miami. And now, somehow, he’s ended up as the leisure activities manager at the hotel.

He tells these stories casually, as if they were perfectly normal career steps. He never insists too much. Never asks to be believed. Half the fun is clearly in watching people decide for themselves.

Matthew flirts the same way he lives: lightly. Creatively. Without pressure. He’s charming in an offbeat, unpredictable way, more entertaining than impressive. A little eccentric. A little unreliable. Entirely relaxed.

Nothing is ever serious with Matthew. Nothing is ever heavy. He flirts with Natasha without promises, without expectations, and without drama. And strangely enough, that’s exactly what makes him appealing.

Natasha doesn’t quite believe him.

But she doesn’t really want to.

Julian Strafford...

was Fabio's bully for the last year of high school. Mainly because he wanted to add Natasha to his list of conquests—and couldn’t tolerate that she resisted him while dating Fabio. His buddies teased him about it, which made him lose face. Unable to accept the loss of face, he resorted to blackmail—harassing Fabio and ridiculing him at every opportunity. As Fabio began to suffer seriously, Natasha finally agreed to a secret meeting with Julian so he would leave Fabio alone. Julian took her to a concert and party that night. What happened there? Only Natasha and Julian know. But Julian never bothered Fabio again...

Ten years later, Natasha and Fabio find him in the seaside resort. He is single—and still very much the same man.

Obviously, Fabio does not see his reunion of a very good eye, and even if he ignores everything of the evening between Natasha and Julian, the prospect to see this handsome man turning around his girlfriend does not please him at all. He has enough with Thomas...

Fabio is about to learn what it truly means to go from Scylla to Charybdis.

Martha et Rosalie

(aka "The happy Widows")

Martha and Rosalie have been friends for decades. Long enough to have outlived their husbands, their patience, and most social conventions. Now retired and widowed, they spend one full month every year at the same seaside hotel. It’s a tradition. A habit. Almost a professional commitment.

They can afford it. Their late husbands were diplomats—discreet, well-connected, and comfortably wealthy. Martha and Rosalie learned early how to navigate elegant dinners, polite lies, and conversations where everything important is said between the lines.

These days, they dedicate themselves to observation.

From their favorite table, they watch the guests arrive, flirt, disappoint each other, reconcile, betray, and repeat the process. They make acquaintances easily. Remember everything. Miss nothing. What looks like idle curiosity is, in fact, a very sharp form of attention.

When they’re not dissecting hotel romances, they play Scrabble and poker. And while Scrabble can still be playful, Texas Hold’em is another matter entirely. Martha and Rosalie are ruthless. Smiles included. Mercy not guaranteed.

They don’t interfere. They comment.

They don’t judge. They predict.

And more often than not, they’re right.