The door slammed shut with a loud bang as she shook the snow off her shoulders. Her fingers were like a bright red tomato from the cold, and her scarf was soaked with half-melted snow, dragging on her neck like an anchor. She took it off and let it slip to the floor, as she hung her thick winter coat by the door. Her hands were still stiff as she entered the kitchen and started boiling some water to make herself a hot cup of camomile tea. The snowstorm continued raging outside, and the wind howling past the window could make even a stone statue shudder. With her camomile tea in hand, Heather walked into her living room, sat down on the couch, and turned on the TV.
The television set sprung to life, filling the dim room with flickering lights, and breaking the sound of the howling wind. Heather grabbed a blanket from the basket next to the sofa and nestled herself into a cozy blanket burrito that made her feel like she was a kid again, safe and warm with her blanky. She grabbed the TV remote and started switching through channels, not looking for something in particular, but more something to take her mind off of things. She felt like watching something that would make her feel warm- A Christmas movie maybe, or something set on a tropical island paradise. She already loathed the thought of having to go back out into the cold the next morning to get to work.
She continued switching channels for a couple of minutes and stopped on the news for a few seconds. A reporter was screaming into his microphone trying to outyell the wind and snow as he warned people to stay inside, but he was thoroughly failing. All Heather could make out was
"
sta.....inside........unprece...ted.....owstorm......ealing with....... ly conditions."
Heather had always pitied those poor weather reporters, always sent out into the worst conditions, while telling everyone else to get inside and stay safe. It felt so unfair. They were freezing their asses off, while their boss was at home, probably enjoying a nice family dinner.
She switched channels again, and landed on the hallmark channel, crashing right into the middle of some Christmas movie. The perfect kind of movie to just turn off your brain and feel jolly. So, she nestled deeper into her couch and started nipping on her tea, blowing on it now and then so she wouldnยดt burn her tongue.
The movie was almost over, and her cup long since empty, when a banging at the door disturbed Heather, who had fallen asleep on the couch. The banging repeated, and she got up from the couch to see what was up. She approached the door with caution, eyeing the bat she had in the corner right next to the door. They knocked again, and Heather cautiously opened the door, just a crack, so she could see who was outside.
There on her steps stood a man, not much older than 32 she guessed, blowing into his ungloved hands to keep them warm. His face was partially hidden underneath the hood of his coat, but she could see a beautiful row of gleaming white teeth as he smiled at her. A pained smile, but a smile nonetheless.
"Good evening, Ma'am. I seem to have gotten myself into some trouble. My car broke down just down the road, and I'm half near freezin' to death out here. I wouldn't want to intrude, but I would certainly appreciate it if you could take me in until the snowstorm lets up."
Heather looked at him warily, trying to make out from his eyes if he was telling the truth. She scanned the rest of her front yard to see if she could make out anyone else, but he seemed to be alone. Then again, you couldn't see much more than 15 yards into the night. She wrapped her fingers around the bat and opened the door some more.
"What is your name?" she asked
"Pine, Ma'am, Pine Daniels. Pleased to meet you."
"Alright Pine, you can come on in, but no funny business"
"Of course, I wouldn't dare, especially with you holdin' that bat"
He cracked another smile, and Heather opened the door for him. The light from the hallway illuminated the steps to her front door and cast a long shadow behind Pine Daniels, who left behind the flurry of snow for the warm hallway. Heather kicked aside the scarf lying next to the door and gave Pine a good look up and down as he took off his coat.
The poor man was soaked. Snow had caked up on the fur lining of his hood, and he was shivering like a wet cat. He was pretty tall, maybe half a foot taller than Heather, and he had short brown hair. He was wearing a sweater and jeans, both drenched from the snow.
"You must be freezing, let me get you something hot to drink. Tea, coffee, or hot chocolate?"
"A hot chocolate sounds delightful Ma'am. Thank you very much"
"You don't have to keep calling me Ma'am."
Heather laughed, as she walked into the kitchen and started making two hot chocolates.
"Do you mind if I take off my boots?" Pine yelled from the hall.
"No, go ahead! And I'll go and grab you a towel so you can dry off a little. Wouldn't want you getting sick now, would we? You go ahead and make yourself comfortable in the living room. It`s the first door on the right."
Pine made his way to the living room, as Heather quickly ran upstairs to grab a towel. While she was up there, she thought she might as well check in her closet if she had a change of clothes for him. She Rifled through a stack of old sweaters until she found one that she thought would fit him. An old College sweater an ex-boyfriend had left behind. It was a little worn out and faded, and you could barely make out the college anymore, but it sure was warm. She also found a pair of basketball shorts and grabbed them on the way out. She made her way back down the stairs and walked into the living room. Pine was standing near the radiator, warming his hands.
"I got you that towel, and a change of clothes if you want."
She said as she put the clothes down on the back of the sofa.
"I'm gonna go check on the hot chocolate"
And went back to grab the steaming mugs and some Christmas cookies she had baked a couple of days earlier. The Smell of the hot chocolate made her feel more at ease, a sweet and soothing smell that felt like melting away your troubles. She walked back into the living room and found Pine in the middle of changing. He had his back turned to her, and was taking off his wet and soggy sweater. His back was Glistening in the light, a shadow dancing over his muscular back like a dark hand caressing his skin. The muscles in his shoulders rippled as he pulled his sweater over his head and draped it over the radiator. Heather held her breath for a second, as she watched intently. He pulled the new sweater over his head and turned around.
"Thank you kindly for this change of clothes, I greatly appreciate it."
"Oh, it was the least I could do. Now sit down and grab yourself something to warm up. I'm sure you'll be able to get your car fixed up tomorrow when the snow lets up."