"Dammit!" I mutter as I hang up the call with Andrew. I couldn't really blame Andrew for ditching me after hearing what was happening with his fiancé's family, but a part of me wanted to all the same. After all, this whole stupid road trip had been his idea in the first place. I had told him that now we had turned 30 and also had legitimate income, a long road trip just didn't sound that appealing anymore, but he felt like we just had to do it one last time before he got married... especially if our first stop was Vegas. Well, there is no way I can change my plans now with less than 24 hours before I leave to meet with our key business partners. But I am definitely not looking forward to nearly forty hours of driving over the next seven days, all by myself.
Eight years ago, Andrew and I met when we were in the same recruiting class of a successful Silicon Valley start-up. We both hated our jobs and the 12-14 hour days that were expected of us. It was soul-sucking work and a couple of months later we became roommates and found ourselves spending most nights bitching about the company and how bad we wanted to leave and start our own company where we would "do it right."
Fortunately, in less than two years the company sold and although our payouts weren't huge, it was exactly the excuse we needed to finally venture out on our own. We chose Denver - partly because it wasn't Silicon Valley and partly because we saw a Warren Miller movie at a friend's house once and decided that we needed to try skiing.
It turns out that Denver was the perfect city for us. It is laid back, but with a deep talent pool, and a lot of really cool people that think the way we do. Best of all, the technology company we started has grown fast enough that we were able to completely fund it ourselves without any outside investors. We call all the shots and those shots include things like impromptu closing of the office on big powder days so we can all go skiing. I'm sure we have sacrificed some growth and profits along the way, but it has been worth it, because six years later we have a successful company and exactly the lifestyle we always dreamed of.
Every year, in early January, we take a week and visit our key suppliers and distributors, most of whom we can meet with at CES in Las Vegas. We also visit Dallas immediately afterwards for in depth planning sessions with our largest and most important distributor. It's right in the middle of ski season so we always schedule it very tight without extra play days in Vegas so we can get back home as soon as possible. However, this is Andrew's last year as a single man, so he somehow talked me into packing all of our materials into my car and driving the route again like we did the first couple years, before it was obvious that the company was actually going to make it. But now that he's cancelled, I'm going to have to do it all by myself. The first leg alone (Denver to Las Vegas) is almost 11 hours! This is going to really suck.
---
As I walk into my new house, my thoughts are consumed by what I need to do to get ready for the trip. Originally Andrew and I had planned to divide and conquer so we could meet with everyone on just one day and then have our second day in Vegas almost entirely free to party one last time. Now I'm going to have to spend the rest of the night trying to rearrange all of our meetings until both days are full. Doing this trip all by myself, I'll be lucky to have time for lunch, let alone have any real down time for having fun. It's going to be exhausting.
Five hours later and I've almost got everything rearranged. It went better than I expected, actually. Time to get some rest before the big drive.
Unexpectedly, my door bell rings. I check my watch; it's 11:14pm. Who the hell is coming by my house after 11:00pm? How many people even know this address? Andrew and I finally stopped living together after nearly eight years as roommates so he could make room for his soon-to-be bride, and I can probably count on one hand the number of people who even have my new address. Hell, I still don't have it memorized myself.
I open the door cautiously and before it's barely cracked Jenny pushes past me and bounds into the entryway. "Yeah..., this is worse than I thought. Are you trying to live like a monk or something? I mean, it's a nice place, but bare walls and no furniture? Now I know why you still haven't invited me over."
"What do you mean, 'still'?, I've only been here three days!" I protest. "And what are you doing barging in here this late at night?" I pretend to be angry, but it's not a very good impression, since I know that if anyone can cheer me up, it's Jenny. In fact, just seeing her brightens my mood considerably.
"I've been texting you for hours! I was worried something might have happened to you. I know how depressed you must be after breaking up with Andrew!" She makes a pouty face and holds her arms akimbo.
Despite her serious expression, I can't help but laugh. Jenny is a year older than me and a total knock-out. She stands 5' 7" and is thin, but in a sexy, curvy way--more of an athletic build then supermodel skin-and-bones. Aside from Andrew, Jenny is my best friend and we hit if off ever since I first bumped into her. We met my very first week in Denver when I tried skiing for the first time and I, very literally, "bumped" into her. Well, crashed into her is probably a better description of the encounter. She wasn't too upset, and seemed mostly amused to watch me try for several minutes to awkwardly stand back up on my skis after plowing her down. After mercilessly making fun of me the entire time, she took pity on me and offered to give me some free lessons. With all her gear and goggles and whatnot on, I had no idea what she looked like until we headed to the lodge together for a late lunch. I felt like I was in a Victoria's Secret commercial the moment she pulled off her helmet and her beautiful wavy blonde hair spilled out. At the moment I didn't think anything could keep me from staring into her beautiful deep blue eyes, at least not until she took off her jacket and I noticed her other, considerable assets: specifically her large D-cup breasts. They were straining against her tight thermal top and her nipples were just visible pushing against the thin fabric. To my initial horror, she noticed that I was staring, and she looked slowly and deliberately down at her chest and then slowly back up to my eyes and then asked me with a sly grin if I saw anything I was interested in. I told her I was just "admiring the slopes." We both laughed and the ensuing conversation came quickly and easily. We ended up sitting in the lodge talking for almost three hours and have been pretty inseparable ever since.
"Shut up, I didn't break up with Andrew. He's getting married!"
"Whatever, I know you're gay for Andrew. You can't hide it from me. I mean what other rich, 30-something guy who owns a successful company has a roommate? You're just jealous that he's banging some chick instead of your ass!" The familiar banter was coming back.
As she talks I smile and glance down at my phone. "Holy shit, eleven unread messages? You must be really horny for me!" I say in mock surprise.
"I'm dripping wet, but unfortunately I don't have the equipment you're looking for!"
"Damn, I was hoping you brought your dildo this time," I reply. It's been this way between us for as long as we've known each other. However, despite the initial attraction (on my part), it's never even been close to going somewhere between us. Somehow, from that first time talking to her in the ski lodge we immediately became best friends. I'm not stupid, I know she's hot, but the very idea of anything more than what we have just seems weird. And in the occasional moments when it doesn't seem weird, our friendship is just too important to risk. Although neither one of us were dating when we met, we've both been through various relationships since. In fact, she even lost a boyfriend once because he just couldn't believe that Jenny and my relationship had never been more than platonic. He made the dumb decision to demand that Jenny choose between him and our friendship. Regardless of our relationship status, we hang out constantly and most of our friends have at some point or other wondered why we've never hooked up. They probably wonder about us because the closer we have become, the less restrained we are with sexual jokes and innuendos. It seems as though Jenny and I are the only ones that don't think there is a massive amount of pent up sexual tension between us.
