We carefully went over to the top of the hill, where an instructor stood giving tips to those that were unsure of how it was done and giving out details about the slopes we stood on. Everything sounded foreign to me and I could barely take it all in, without getting dizzy with what all could happen to me. For starters, I could wreck on the slopes and topple down the hill to my death.
At first, we stood back and watched a couple of other people go. I looked down the hill and it really wasn’t all that high up. I took a few short breaths, then knew it was time for us to take our turn. Cody seemed like a champ, unafraid of anything. Myself on the other hand, I didn’t look all that great on skis. At least, I didn’t feel great as I looked down and considered all the possible outcomes of me taking off.
Matt kept encouraging me. “You look great, Tasha!” he said. “You can do this.”
After the fourth time of him reassuring me, I gave him a death stare and he quieted down. I turned ahead and did just like the instructor said, swishing off, and there was no stopping me. I started screaming like a little girl as I attempted to keep my balance just like the woman directed me. Even though the actual slope seemed like it would only take a couple of minutes to maneuver, that was the longest two minutes of my life. When I finally reached the bottom of the hill, I couldn’t remember how to stop and wound up falling down to stop myself. I just laid there, staring up at the bright sky, glad I made it alive. When I heard the sweet sound of my name, I knew I was okay.
“Tasha, are you alright?” I looked to my right and saw Cody, seemingly concerned about me.
I nodded and laughed. “I fine buddy. Just had a hard landing.”
The next thing I knew Matt had reached the bottom and was by my side. “You sure you’re alright?” he asked, helping me up.
I brushed off my knees and nodded. “I’m fine.” I shook myself off and the three of us laughed.
“Falling down is all a part of learning the slopes. I don’t know anyone who has come out here and hasn’t fallen at one point. The best part about it is the more you do it, the better you get at it, and before you know anything you’ll be half as good as I am,” Matt bragged.
“Gee thanks,” I said and laughed. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind as my bones begin to crack once I thaw out.” As hard as I fell, I was still having the time of my life, and it was the best feeling to be experiencing it with Matt and Cody.
***
“What’s Cody doing?” I asked as I shuddered in front of the fireplace later that evening.
“He’s taking a nice, long, hot bath,” Matt answered and looked at me with concern in his eyes. “Would you like for me to run you one, too? You look like you could use a relaxing, steamy bath.”
“Maybe later. Right now, this fire is really way too inviting to get up and move from this spot. I think I may start freezing again if I move from in front of it,” I said, and Matt laughed.
“Yeah…I know what you mean.” He leaned back into the couch and glanced at me. “You really overcame your fears out there today. You’re the strongest woman I know.”
“Well, I’m really not all that strong, but thanks.” I giggled, then Matt reached out and touched my hand and our eyes met.
“So, tell me something about yourself,” he said.
I really didn’t know what I could tell him that he didn’t already know. We had been talking since I started working for him and definitely when things started heating up with us. “What do you want to know?” I a
sked.
His brow quirked up and he seemed to ponder that, then asked a question. “When you came to the house looking for a job and gave your resume, I noticed it said that you were a writer at Colorful Times magazine. What happened to make you leave?” I took in a deep breath and wanted to forget he ever asked the question. He caught on to my angst and said, “If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. I just figured that being a babysitter was a lot different than being a writer.”
I nodded slightly. “It is, but there’s really not a lot to tell about Colorful Times. In fact, I tried to block that part of my memory from my mind.”
“Oh? What happened?” he asked.
The lawyer in Matt wouldn’t let me get away with keeping that part of my life away from him. He was so comforting and easy to talk to that I didn’t really feel I needed to shy away from the truth with him either, so I let it out there. “Well, it all started when I wrote this piece for the magazine.” I heaved a sigh before I continued. “It was really a great piece, the best I’ve ever written, and everyone thought so, including my boss, Melinda Lory.” My left eye began twitching when I said her name, and I noticed a shift in Matt’s attitude, as well. I could sense he knew the name, which wouldn’t be a surprise since he was a celebrity lawyer. Everyone knew loud mouth Melinda. “She thought it was such a great piece that she decided to promote Nina after Nina tweaked the story and turned it in as her own.”
Matt’s jaw dropped and for a few seconds he just sat there with is mouth open in shock.
“Yeah…” I said faintly.
“So, she stole the article from you and passed it off as her own?”
I nodded, and the pit in my stomach was still just as hollow as the day it happened. “Melinda fired me, because my column was losing viewership. The reason I had lower views was because Nina kept getting my ideas to print before I could get them up. But still, Melinda promoted Nina who had been stealing my work, and I was left without a job. And that’s the way my writer story goes. The end.”
“That’s bullshit, Tasha,” he said, startling me with the roar in his angry voice. “As a lawyer, I can assure you everything that went down with Melinda at Colorful Times is unlawful. You do realize that you could sue their ass for wrongful termination and copyright infringement, right?”
I had to admit that the thought had crossed my mind a time or two. I did know what they did to me wasn’t legal by any means, and I could prove that the story was stolen, but I wasn’t too sure I wanted to put the energy into it. After all, time had passed where I licked my wounds, healed, and was happy. Maybe I wasn’t making the pay I used to, but it wasn’t always about money. “I’m not interested in suing anyone, at least not now,” I said finally.
He groaned. “But Tasha, if you sue, then you could own the company. If they wanted to still work there, then you would be their boss.”