I sat there looking around the room at all the women that were coming into the bar. There were some hot ones, but every time I started to check one out, Bea would pop into my mind. Her fair skin, striking eyes, and perfect body were giving me chills down my spine. All I wanted to do was go knock on her door with champagne and strawberries, but I knew that she wouldn’t appreciate it. This girl was different than any other girl I had ever met. She was more down to earth and appreciated something like getting to learn how to ski. I had never felt appreciated before, except by the women I pleasured late at night in the resorts I stayed in. This was a completely different kind of feeling. She actually listened to what I was saying when I was talking, and she could tell that I was doing the same thing. That, in itself, was a huge deal since I was usually zoned out half way, just waiting for the moment where the woman would invite me back to her place.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get her off my mind. I could see Glen watching me struggle, his eyebrows furrowed together. It was like the wires weren’t connecting in my brain, and I was having a very difficult time being the carefree guy I usually was. There had never been a girl that had caught my attention to the point where I was no longer able to just let it go when I got turned down. Normally, I would just brush it off, figuring there were plenty more where she came from, but not with Bea. This was something completely different. I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn’t even realize a tall, hot brunette had walked up to us. I shook my head as Glen elbowed me.
“Huh?”
“I said, ‘hi, I’m Sylvia.’” She giggled. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over and sit with us, or I could buy you a drink, and we could talk.”
“I, uh, I have a drink,” I said, sounding completely idiotic. “I mean, thank you, Cynthia.”
“Sylvia,” Glen said, clearing his throat.
“I mean Sylvia,” I corrected myself. “Thank you, but I am going to just spend the evening with my best friend tonight.”
“All right,” she said, slightly snobbish.
She turned and walked away, going back to her friends and whispering. They all looked over at me with nasty looks, and I turned back to the bar, not giving two shits whatsoever. I had never turned down a girl like that before, especially not one as hot as her, but my head was somewhere on the fifth floor, floating around the suite with Bea. How was I supposed to hit on someone else when I couldn’t even keep my mind on them for more than thirty seconds? This chick had really gotten into my head.
I looked up at the bartender and nodded, signaling for another beer. When he came back, I ordered two shots of whiskey and passed one to Glen. He raised an eyebrow at me and picked up the shot, throwing it back and slamming it down on the bar at the same time as me. I breathed deeply, feeling the warm liquid flow down my throat and into my chest. I needed to calm the hell down. That was what I needed to do.
“So, what’s going on?” Glen asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You just turned down a hot girl and then pounded down whiskey like you were soothing the pain.” He chuckled. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I just don’t feel like dealing with women tonight. My head is swimming, and my mind is way too busy for me to be attentive enough to score with some girl. I’d rather just relax and then go up and get a good night’s sleep before we have to start all over again tomorrow, but with a ton of classes.”
“Oh, because for a second there, I thought maybe this Bea chick had turned you off to all the others,” he said with a smirk.
“Don’t be crazy,” I said, shaking my head. “I just need a break. That’s all. I mean, my manhood is going to be exhausted if I keep this up, and that isn’t going to bode well for me if I actually do land Bea.”
Glen looked over and shook his head, smiling as if he knew something I didn’t. I rolled my eyes and went back to watching Sport’s Center on the muted television. When I was done with my beer, I paid the tab and stretched high in my chair. If I was going to sit around and watch television, I might as well do it in my room with sound and a fire.
“All right,” I said, yawning. “I’m going to call it a night.”
“Bro, it’s like eight,” he said, laughing.
“I know, I’m just not feeling it,” I said, standing up. “I’ll see you on the hill in the morning.”
“All right,” he said. “Try not to think about your new girlfriend too much. It makes you grumpy.”
“Try to get laid, you might actually get back in touch with reality,” I snapped back, smiling as I walked away.
I took the elevator up to my floor, staring at the fifth-floor button. All I would have to do is press it, and I could show up at her room with a cheesy smile. I shook my head, practicing restraint, and got out on my floor and made my way to my room. Inside, the fire had been started by the maid, and I changed my clothes, putting on flannel pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt. I sat down in the chair and flipped on the television, going from station to station, trying to find something other than Christmas movies to bide my time. I settled on the Hunger Games, but only made it halfway through before I started to yawn.
I turned off the television and the lights and climbed into my bed, pulling the covers up to my chin and turning over on my back. I stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows of the flames dance across the ceiling of my bedroom. There was no denying it. My mind was hellbent on staying completely focused on Bea. She was so beautiful and so sexy that I couldn’t help but want her. This want, however, was different than the others. It was like it went beyond physical attraction, and I found myself thinking about just sitting around talking to her and finding out more and more about her.
This was so stupid. I couldn’t go and get attached to some girl at the resort when we were both headed in different directions after the new year. I was going to upstate New York, and she was going back to her home somewhere in Colorado, making anything more than just a few hot nights almost entirely impossible. But there was no denying it. I wasn’t going to be able to stay there, knowing she was so close, and not see her again. I needed to come up with a way to “run into her” without her knowing that it was completely planned. I wanted her to think that it was fate bringing us together, even though I didn’t believe in fate.
I sat there for most of the night thinking about Bea, formulating a plan to get close to her once again.
Chapter 12
Bea
After gorging ourselves on room service, including an excess of desserts, we polished off another bottle of wine, and I wandered back to my bedroom, passing out face down in the bed. The only thing I remembered from falling asleep was wrapping the huge, down comforter around my body and sighing as sleep took me. It was not without dreams, though.
I opened my eyes to find myself standing in an embankment of snow, wearing nothing more than a flowing, white silk gown. My feet were bare, and the wind blew my hair around me wildly, but I didn’t feel a bit of the cold. I stepped forward, looking through the swirling snow and out over the edge. I gasped, realizing I was at the top of Mount Denali, looking out over the beautiful landscape of Alaska. Above me, the night sky was alive, moving and glimmering from the colorful waves of the Aurora Borealis. I couldn’t believe how beautiful everything was, and I reached out, touching a fluttering cloud as it passed by the mountain top. I took in a deep breath and turned back to where I came from, wondering what I was doing all alone on top of this mountain. It was the same feeling I often had standing in my living room back in Colorado, looking out at the world from behind my windows, feeling completely alone.