It was Friday afternoon. Nick got home from work two hours earlier than usual and stripped out of his suit. Finally, the weekend! The week had been rough, and he was more than ready for some de-stressing. Too bad he had to do it alone.
He'd packed his camping gear in his car the night before. After changing into comfortable jeans and a T-shirt, he hit the road and headed north to the location of his favorite camping area. He'd discovered the campground years earlier, and it remained his favorite place to go when he needed to relax and recharge.
Unfortunately, plenty of other people had a similar idea. The highway was jammed with people heading for their weekend destinations. Good thing Nick had decided to leave work early; if the roads were this crowded now, what would they be like two hours from now? He didn't even want to think about it. He just turned up his radio and concentrated on getting through the traffic.
After driving for what seemed like days, he arrived at his destination. He parked by his usual campsite and stood by his car for a few minutes, getting his bearings. After a little while, he unloaded his car and set up his tent. With years of practice behind him, it didn't take long to get his site arranged. He built a small campfire and sat down beside it to fix something to eat.
"Why are you so stupid?"
Nick looked over at the next campsite. A man who looked to be in his late twenties was glaring at a woman who looked slightly younger. "I'm not stupid," she protested.
"Right. You can't even set up the goddamn tent!"
Their tent was lopsided; a deep breath would probably have knocked it over. "It isn't my fault," she said. "You said you knew how to do it!"
"So did you, you dumb cow. What the fuck." He sat on the hood of one of the two cars next to their site. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this." He glanced at Nick. Nick quickly looked away.
"This was supposed to be a relaxing trip," the woman said. "Our chance to reconnect, you said."
"Reconnect?" The guy jumped off the car hood and got right up in the woman's face. "Reconnect? Yeah, right! You dumb bitch, I don't even like you, never mind love you! You think I want to be stuck in the woods with such a fucking moron?"
"Stop it!" The woman burst into tears.
"Fuck you, you goddamn cow!" He grabbed hold of the tent and yanked it down.
Sobbing, the woman ran up the dirt road toward the bathrooms. Nick thought she slowed slightly as she passed his site, but dismissed it as his imagination. He watched her, though. How could the other guy freak out at such a lovely young woman? She had brownish-blonde hair, up in a bun, and was about five foot six. She looked to be medium build, but wore a bulky sweatshirt that hid her figure.
Once she was out of sight, the guy picked some stuff up off the ground and tossed it into the car he'd sat on. He kicked at the tent that lay crumpled on the ground, then got into the car and took off, well above the fifteen mile an hour speed limit the campground had imposed.
Nick went back to cooking hot dogs over his campfire, and didn't notice the young woman returning from the bathrooms until a voice behind him made him jump. "Where did he go?"
Nick turned to see the woman from the next campsite. "He took off in his car," he said.
"No." She shook her head vehemently. "No, he can't have left. This was supposed to be a romantic trip. It's our first weekend away. We were going to... We had plans. He must be coming back."
"He took some things with him."
When Nick saw the tears trickle from her eyes, he could have kicked himself. She didn't need to hear that her man probably wasn't coming back. She needed to hear something comforting. "Um, I'm sorry," Nick said. "Maybe he was just going to pick something up at the store or something." Even to himself, he sounded lame.
"No, he's gone," she said. "I should have known. He didn't want to go camping anyway. He only came to make me happy, and he complained about it the entire drive up. He's not much of an outdoor person." She looked at her campsite. "Guess I'll have to start over with the tent. We've already paid for the site; I might as well stay."
"I'll help you," Nick offered.
"Thanks." She held out her hand. "I'm Alicia."
"I'm Nick." He took her hand. "Nice to meet you, though I wish it were under better circumstances."
"Likewise."
They went over to her site, and Nick helped her set up her tent. With two people who knew what they were doing working together, it only took a few minutes. "Thanks." Alicia brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Tim insisted on setting it up himself; he wouldn't let me show him how to do it. Stupid macho pride."
