January 2020.
To say Anya Taylor-Joy and I are close would be an understatement. She was the one who had started the Lodge. Without her, and the encounter we had that day, I probably would have been the only person to ever set foot in the house. If she hadn't made such a specific request with Maisie and Sophie, the connections between girls would not have started to be made, and things wouldn't have escalated to the point of having several dozen girls at the house at one time. I owed her for that, for starters, because the entire thing changed my entire life.
But we were close for reasons beyond that. From the first time we were together, there was a very obvious connection between us. That's why things advanced so fast, but over time it hasn't diminished at all. Anya is away for filming regularly, but whenever she has free time she stays at the Lodge with me. I basically consider my bedroom to be half her's at this point, as several drawers are filled with her things, many outfits are hung up in my closet, and the bathroom is completely stocked with everything she uses for skincare, baths, relaxation etc. She rarely wore makeup outside anything professional, but she kept a stash of that as well. She was the closest thing to a live-in girlfriend she could be while being away.
We always had fun together at the Lodge, as I was something of a homebody, and most of Anya's interests could be fulfilled while staying at the Lodge. We'd watch movies, swim, cook, drink, all that. If we felt the need to stretch our legs we'd go for a hike in the nearby hills through the woods. The most careless and reckless we'd ever been was when we were hiking through the woods and fucked out in the open.
Although everything at the Lodge was well and good, Anya had I had gotten to talking in early December (on the phone unfortunately, as she was away at the time). We discussed how winters in California never really felt like actual winters. No snow, no cold, nothing to really differentiate one season from the next. That was when the question was thrown out, why don't we just go somewhere with those things? It was decided almost instantly.
We both talked about what we wanted. Basically the idea was, what if we could do everything we did at the Lodge, but somewhere with an entire different setting? What would we want? What would we need? We came to an agreement that the ideal place would be someplace isolated in the mountains. There would be snow and scenery. We just needed to find the place. Which I did the next day.
I found a house for rent up in Canada. It ticked off every box we had. Tucked into the mountains, overlooking a big snowy forest valley. It was just a bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen, but it also had a balcony out the back that had a hot tub built into it. There was also a separate whirlpool bathtub. I texted the listing to Anya, who responded immediately with a "YES!" so I booked it.
The only problem was travel. The place was far enough out in the middle of nowhere that not only did we have to take a flight to get close to it, we had to then rent a car and drive for at least a couple hours (if the weather was on our side). Anya was all for it, and so was I. But of course, this trip operating on the same logic as the Lodge itself, we had to take specific precautions for the trip.
I was in line at the airport, alone. Anya and I couldn't arrive together, or wait in line together, or anything like that. LAX was the biggest nest of scummy paparazzi there was. They literally patrolled the terminals at LAX keeping an eye out for famous faces. The 'secret' celebrity entrances were a thing, but even with them, Anya and I didn't want to be seen together at all, unless we were in private. That part was made easier by the fact that Anya and I were meeting on the plane. She was travelling from elsewhere she was working, so she would be landing on a connecting flight, we would get on the same plane, and then when the plane landed we would meet up and stealthily leave together.
Once I had gone through security and made it to my terminal, I looked around for her, but didn't yet see her. I sat in the waiting area with my backpack, and sent her a quick text.
"I'm at the gate. How about you?"
Her response was first a picture. Her face, with her wonderful red lips turned up into a sweet smile. "Landed and we're taxiing to the gate, so I should be there soon."
I sat in my chair anxiously awaiting her arrival. We weren't taking a private plane, so the waiting area began to fill up with people. Both of us were flying first class, and although we were sitting next to each other, we technically weren't supposed to know each other at that point. It was a good excuse to put my acting skills to the test.
Roughly 15 minutes later, I looked up from my phone to see a familiar head of blonde hair that was slightly curled towards the ends. There she was. I allowed myself to look at her as she approached, and I know she was looking at me. Her eyes were locked right on me. But instead of charging at each other and me catching her as she jumped on me like usual, we just looked for a moment. Anya cracked the tiniest smirk before we broke our eye contact.
I put my phone back in my pocket and then looked around. Anya shuffled the bag she had draped over her shoulders and did the same. I quickly remembered that airports are terrible, and realized there were no seats left at our gate. Grabbing my stuff, I quickly stood up. With just the quickest glance, I looked at Anya gestured to my chair.
"Here you go," I said quickly as I started to walk.
"Oh, thanks," Anya said as she walked past me and then sat down where I was. I continued walking and went back into the terminal area. There was plenty of time before boarding, and I knew I'd be too tempted to just sit and stare at her the entire time if I was waiting in the terminal. Instead I walked to one of the shops, and felt my phone vibrate on the way.
Anya: "You're so sweet."
To Anya: "You looked like you needed to sit. Do you want anything from the shop?"
Anya: "Gummy worms."
To Anya: "You got it. See you on the plane."
Anya: *emoji of a pair of kissy lips*
I went to the shop and grabbed a few snacks for the plane and the drive. After killing enough time I went back to the gate, and arrived just as the agent up front was announcing the start of boarding. Of course First Class was the first one announced, so Anya stood up with a few other people and headed up front. Lots of stares as she got up to move, and I couldn't blame them. Despite being dressed down, Anya still looked amazing. She was wearing a casual black long-sleeve shirt that was tucked into a dark blue skirt. Underneath she was wearing a pair of thicker black tights, obviously preparing for the winter we were heading into as opposed to Los Angeles'. She had a thick pair of combat boots tied off, and was also carrying her coat under one arm, the same one she always wore, leather with a thick fur lining.
Anya got in line with the few other First Class passengers, and then I got into the back of the line for that as well, maneuvering past people that were already lining up even though their boarding group hadn't been called yet. I went through the line and boarded the plane, following Anya's golden hair down the jetway behind a few other people.
Upon entering the plane, I was directed to the left through a curtain into the First Class section. I smirked with satisfaction and entered the area. There were first a couple rows of seats that were side by side, and then the single 'pod' seats that gave someone their own little area with a wall separating them further towards the front. Everyone in front of me had already taken their seats, all of them in their own little pods. The spacious side by side seats in the back were seemingly reserved for Anya and I alone.
She was already sitting when I approached, so I just walked up and pointed to the empty seat next to her.
