Snowplows dispatched.
Expect rescue at noon.
That was only about two hours from now. I flashed back to the conversation I had yelling about wanting the snowplows to come up the mountain faster. Hell, I was willing to pay whatever it took, get a helicopter, whatever they had just so I wouldn’t be up here anymore. It was strange how much things could change in just one day.
It was over. Our weird little snowed in vacation was over. This news coming to me yesterday would have been the best thing that I had ever heard in my life.
Now, I wasn't so sure. To be honest, things had just started getting comfortable. It was probably good that this was over since we were logistically going to run out of supplies, but it wasn't awkward anymore. It wasn't uncomfortable and now that I wanted to be here, we were going home.
Home would have been better than our actual destination though since we were still here for work and that work had not yet begun. What if it got awkward again? We wouldn't be alone anymore so we would have to act like what had happened between us hadn’t taken place.
I briefly considered the alternative; letting the cat out of the bag. Was there a cat though? I felt kind of weird about that. I didn't think it needed to be a secret, but what had she told Missy and Easton about us? We weren’t a thing. We had slept together over a period of time and that was all there was to report. I felt like we weren’t in the same place as we had been at the start of this little debacle, but where was that?
Why was this bothering me so much? So what if she didn't want anything together, it wasn't like I was offering.
What would happen if I did though? I never thought of the answer because I never thought of doing it in the first place. This was completely outside of what I usually did with women, but in a strange turn of events, I really liked Maggie.
Strange, right, as if she hadn't been a mainstay in my mind since the night we spent together in New York.
I wasn't sure what to do with this new information.
I went into the shower. Let's just say that something happened. It wouldn't be strange. Maggie was a great woman. She was funny in that sharp, sarcastic way that probably scared some people, but not me. She was resourceful and with very limited ingredients, she cooked pretty well too. Add to that the fact that she was sexy and incredible in bed and where could we go wrong?
I stood under the water and ran my hands through my hair. I knew what she was like in bed, and we had spent some time together, but I didn't know the finer details of her life. I didn't know where she lived or how much she made working for Missy. I could give her whatever she wanted of course. I wanted to, that was the single perk of having as much money as I did, I got to use it to make other people happy.
Women tended to like that stuff, right? Dinners, vacations, gifts, I could upgrade her apartment if she wanted, I could pay off her tuition if she wanted to get another degree or had debt, whatever she wanted. We could be happy. She could quit her job working for Missy, no problem.
I worked a lot though. Women tended not to like that, even though it was directly proportional to how much money you made. She would be understanding though, wouldn't she? I'd make sure that whatever time I did get off, we would spend it together. That would work until it stopped working. Everything I could give her materially would stop mattering because she wouldn't be getting the attention she wanted. She’d start to resent me when I forgot birthdays and anniversaries and tried to make up for it with new jewelry.
Eventually, she’d tell me that she had found someone who could cater to her needs better than I could. It would be a guy who wasn't as rich, probably wouldn’t look like me either, but he would be there for her in ways that I couldn't be.
Just like that, I managed to shoot down what had seemed like a great idea. No matter how nice it seemed in theory, it would end up being horrible later. I couldn't let this happen. I should have known from the way I couldn't stop thinking about her that there was something different there, but I couldn't allow myself to fall completely. There was only one way that this could end.
Face it, man, she can do better.
Would it truly matter what I could give her in a relationship if neither of us would end up being happy? I would be selling her short. She would have to settle for a guy whose job was his first priority. I'd be stuck with a woman who was miserable all the time because I couldn't give her what she wanted. That wouldn’t last and when it fell apart, it would throw off the environment of the whole friend group.
My mind was swimming and the clarity I thought I was going to get coming into the shower was not coming through.
Our whole situation up to this point had not been normal. All we had done was have sex and lie about our true feelings. What would happen when we were out of this environment and back in our real lives? How did we fit together?
I wanted to know. I wanted to know so bad that it scared me a little bit. I had never wanted to stick my neck out for a woman like this before. Logically, I knew that my reason for staying away from relationships was incredibly biased but I held onto it anyway. I didn't mind being wrong about Maggie. My parents didn't have to be my single model for romantic relationships. For t
he first time, I was more curious about the future than scared of it. I wanted to give her and me both the benefit of the doubt to see whether it could work.
I got out of the shower and Maggie was still nowhere in sight. Before going downstairs, I decided to pack up my bags and carry them downstairs with me. Coming down, I heard her voice coming from the kitchen. She was on the phone.
“Food? No, we were pretty good there. No Dinner Party scenario or anything,” she was saying as I walked in. I found that she had made some coffee so helped myself.
“I’ll let you know when we get there… yeah, for sure… I get it, no need to apologize. We’re getting out of here anyway.” After a few seconds, she ended the call.
“Was that Missy?” I asked her.
“Yeah, it was her. She was just talking about the snowplows and apologizing that it took as long as it did. Apparently, conditions are a lot better now so we should have no problem getting down to Vail. Everyone’s there already, waiting for us.”
“That’s great. Is the plan still on though? Are we still coming back all the way out here to shoot?”
“She didn’t say. Basically, the original plan has already gone to hell, so we are going to meet up and regroup.” She wasn’t looking at me, she was looking down at her phone, but she wasn’t trying to read a text message or check the time. She sounded a little bit distant. Was something wrong? I had a lot on my mind too and now I was curious whether it was for the same reason.