It had been a long, hot summer. Another girl and I hatched a plan to take a few days to go up to the mountains in the north. It had to be cooler there. We decided to go in late August—take 3 days off for a 5 day weekend--just us two girls and the great outdoors. All things considered, I hardly knew her. She wasn't a really close friend. Sure, we'd worked together for over 2 years, but we'd only seen each other once outside the office, and that was at the Christmas party. We got along great in the office, and I had no qualms about letting her make the arrangements.
She reserved a room in a huge 4-bedroom cabin that rented rooms out separately. We weren't there for comfort. We were there for location. It was a good rate, I thought, as we drove through the forest on our way. Who cared about the rate? I had money, and I gathered she did also. I just hoped the place was clean.
We finally cleared the last grove and there it was—magnificent. The cabin stood on an outcropping with an awesome view of Big Mountain (If I told you what mountain, you could deduce too much). Little Big Mountain loomed closer, and that was my goal for the weekend. It was a perfect location. As best I could tell, we were the only ones there. The owners had stocked the refrigerator with breakfast foods. For the rest we were on our own. The front door opened to a large sitting area with a huge, rock fireplace. The kitchen was to the right with a large breakfast counter opening into the great room and with a view of the romantic fireplace. On one side of the great room were stairs to 2 rooms, on the other side were stairs to the other 2 rooms. Our key opened a room with a view of Big Mountain, rising snow-covered in the distance. We dropped off our bags and then went out to look around. After a little exploring of the cabin and its surroundings, we decided to hit the grocery store and then find a restaurant for our first dinner. We would depart early the next morning for further explorations.
I only wished I had someone to share the romantic surrounding with. Male, that is. Such are the sacrifices of single life. It had been 4 months for me since my last breakup, and I had decided to take it slowly. I was beginning to think that 4 months was a long time to be without a guy, but that's what electronics are for.
As we were pulling out for dinner, another car pulled up. Two guys were in it. I gathered we wouldn't be the only ones here this weekend, what a bummer. I didn't spare them a second glance. It bothered me that our girls' weekend would be interrupted. We didn't stop but went to eat. They were gone by the time we returned. We unloaded our groceries and explored the house a little more. There was no TV, only a hot tub out back and a large fireplace. Embers glowed in it. Apparently the guys had lit a fire earlier and then let it die out before they left. Since there wasn't much to do, we went to bed relatively early. Shortly thereafter, we heard them return. From the sounds of it, they were in the opposite wing of the cabin. They seemed to go right to their room.
Although it was going to be quite crisp that night, the room still held the heat from the afternoon sun and it was warm inside. I wore a simple t-shirt to bed and lay on top of the covers and tried to sleep. Nothing worked. Counting sheep, jello, nothing worked. I could hear Sue breathing deeply in her bed, why couldn't I fall asleep too? Finally, 2 hours later at like midnight, I gave up. I had seen chamomile tea in the cupboards and hoped that it would do the trick for me. I tried to be quiet. Apparently, I failed and Sue stirred in her bed.
"You OK?" Sue asked dreamily.
"Yeah, I can't sleep. I'm going down for some tea," I whispered in reply.
"Mmmmm," she answered and was silent.
I considered trying to find something more decent to wear out, as my nightshirt barely covered my bare bottom, but it was dark and I didn't want to disturb Sue any further. Besides, I figured, there was no one else up. I would only be out for a few minutes and I wasn't planning on bending over.
I crept out of the room with only my nightshirt on, hoping not to disturb her any further. I turned on the light in kitchen and dimmed it a little so that it didn't hurt my eyes so much. I was relieved not to see any roaches scurrying away. I took out the Mr. Coffee and started heating some water. There was quite a selection of exotic herbal teas, but I selected chamomile. Now all I needed was some honey. I knew I had seen some in the cupboards. Chamomile tea is the only time I use honey, so I don't even have any at home. I savored the prospect of tasting it in a nice hot brew. I opened the cupboards and searched as Mr. Coffee started to rumble. I found a jar of honey in the third one, unfortunately, on the top shelf. Stretching up, I could just reach it.
"Y'all need a hand?"
I squealed and spun around to see some guy standing in the kitchen behind me.
"Sorry if I startled you," he smiled, strolling over to the get a cup. "I'm staying in the room up there, and thought I'd come down for a cup of tea to help me sleep,"
My mind was still reeling from the surprise.
"Yeah, me too," I replied motioning to the coffee maker. I suddenly realized he had probably seen my bare butt sticking out from under my nightshirt. I could feel myself blush furiously. Of all the instants to reach up, it had to be when he walked in. I stared at the ground.
"Do you mind if I boil water in a pot? I don't like the aftertaste of coffee in my tea."
"Yeah, sure," I replied. He took a step towards me and paused. I looked up at him.
"You're, ahhhh, standing in front of the pot cabinet."
"Oh," I replied and scurried away.
"Did you need to get something from up there?" he asked as he rummaged through the pots. I quickly reached back and checked the length of my shirt. Although I couldn't be sure, it had probably risen up enough when I had stretched to reach the honey.
"The honey, please." If he had seen anything, he was being a perfect gentleman and not hinting at it. He started filling the pot and acquired the honey for me, placing it by my cup. Mr. Coffee started to hiss.
"Would you like me to make water for you also?" he asked.
"Sure, that would be great," I answered, getting myself together again. I hated the aftertaste of coffee in tea also, but had just wanted to get it done quickly and quietly. He was making water anyway, and the tea would be better for it. I turned off Mr. Coffee, and we started talking.
He was wearing sweat shorts, a loose gray tee, and white socks. He stood at least a head taller than me and was a good talker. We talked about what we were doing there and what we had planned. He was also there for a few days and planned to go up Big Mountain. I conceded to myself he was cute. As we chatted he strolled over to the fireplace and tossed some kindling and a couple of logs on the embers. By the time the water was boiling, the fire was burning nicely. We made our mugs, and I added my precious honey to mine. Still chatting, we walked over to the sofa in front of the fireplace. I re-realized I was only wearing a nightshirt. This made the prospect of sitting down while holding a large steaming cup of tea quite a challenge. If I sat first, something may show, if I sat last, something might show. He sat down first and slowly leaned over to place his mug on the magazine stand next to the sofa. I took the opportunity to pull down my shirt with one hand and sit, managing to avoid spilling anything. We continued to chat and sip our teas as he produced a blanket and draped it over our legs. This was fine for sitting demurely, but I soon realized the folly of having bare feet on the cold stone floor. I had also made the error of sitting too close to the arm of the sofa, so I couldn't really tuck my legs under me without a major realignment.
As if reading my mind, his arm lifted up the blanket from underneath and said "If your feet are cold, you can put them under here."
I looked at him, trying to discern his intentions. He expression seemed altruistic, but I wasn't sure. Suddenly, I thought I saw a quick motion in the shadows. A mouse? My legs flew up under the blanket and my feet landed in his lap. I moved so fast I spilled a little of both of our teas, but nothing major. I stared into the shadows but saw nothing further. I realized his hand was on my shin. I'm not sure which of us was more surprised. I sipped my tea casually as we talked. I soon forgot about the phantom mouse and just enjoyed his conversation. We talked about hikes we had been on, good parks to visit and places to stay. His hand remained on my shin, but started slowly stoking it. I was glad I had chosen to shave my legs that morning. As the tea levels fell slowly in our mugs, his hand moved slowly up to my knee. Neither one of us chose to acknowledge this fact. I, however, was acutely aware that he was less than 18 inches of bare skin away from a very private part of me. A very private part that was beginning to clamor for attention.
Finally, our teas were finished and it was time to retire. I rose, making sure my shirt lay flat before dropping the blanket.
"Is there anything you want from the kitchen?" I asked.
"Well, there is one thing," he replied, rising.
"What's that?" I asked, stepping towards the kitchen.
"You could put the honey back."
It took a moment to process comment. I blushed as realization dawned on me. So he had seen me. I paused as I studied his face, trying to decide what to do. A soft, distant smile graced his features.
"OK," I heard someone say softly. It was me. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment before I slowly turned and walked back into the kitchen.
