Emmerson swiped at her phone and punched the screen with her fingertip in frustration. Her roommates' best friend had spent three solid hours convincing Emmerson to come with her and her boyfriend and her boyfriend's friend for a weekend up at a cabin in the mountains for Holiday break. Promised it wasn't a hookup thing at all, that they were just going to hang out with a few other people and play a few card games and have a few drinks. Supposedly Emmerson was the only single person Lily, her roommates best friend, knew.
Emmerson was a little livid. She had been ready to go at 4 when Lily had told her they would pick her up.
It was Phil alone who showed up, Lily's boyfriend. Lily was running late, more people were going to be at the cabin. He had a hundred excuses and Emmerson had almost turned around and gone back to her apartment. He promised her that Lily would bet there thirty minutes behind them and Emmerson wondered if Lily had led him to believe they were better friends than they were.
Lily was Russo's, her roommate's, friend, not hers. Russo was about as opposite from Emmerson as there was. Tall, wild, carefree, always laughing and always partying. Emmersons idea of a good time was a few friends sitting around a gaming table and a good glass of wine. Lily was a lot like Russo, even if she looked more emo/goth than Russo did. If they hadn't both needed roommates in this economy, they never would have met at all.
Emmerson was afraid that Phil was going to be a skeez on the drive, but he was simply polite and disinterested as he carefully navigated the falling now and icy roads. That suited her fine and made her feel a little more at ease, even if she was still pissed at Lily for making her ride with him alone.
"How much further?" she asked, looking at the setting sun.
"Not far now, just up the mountain a bit. We'll be there before it's really dark."
She looked over at him because he had seemed a little nervous. Why would he be nervous? "Cool... what was Lily's number? I want to text her and see how far behind us she is."
"It's programmed in my phone and that's in the back in my bag. She just had to stay after and help the new girl with her stuff, she is close behind with a few of the other people coming. You would have ridden with them if they'd had another seat, you know?"
"Uh... sure. I guess. So this dude you are trying to set me up with. He knows it's not a date or a hookup, right?"
"Trent, yeah, he knows. He's a good guy, just didn't want him to be left out. You know?"
She didn't answer, she went back to reading a book on her phone.
When he pulled up to the old cabin at the end of a long, wooded lane, she was confused. There were no cars. None at all.
"Guess we got here first," he said lightly. "I will grab your bag first, then I am gonna call Lily, ok?" he said quickly, getting out and grabbing her bag. He hurried it inside while she was still getting out of the car. He was coming back out before she made it halfway to the door. "Hey, uhh, come on in."
She blinked at him, wondering why he was acting strange, then looked past him to the man in the cabin. Tall and slender, a little geeky looking, but with a sour expression. He looked her over with interest as she came in and she felt herself deflating. He definitely thought this was a date.
"Em, this is Trent. Trent, this is Emmerson. Uhh, I am going to get my phone and Trent said the icemaker isn't working so I am going to run down to the little gas station and get some ice. Cool? I will be right back, Trent can show you which room to put your stuff in in a sec. Uhh... need anything else, Trent?" he asked, still acting tense.
"Yeah man," Trent said calmly. "I'll walk you out."
She went to the window as Trent walked Phil out to his car and the two stood talking for a minute. Trent pulled out his wallet and handed Phil quite a bit of money. From where she was, it looked like a ridiculous amount.
Trent strolled back in as Phil pulled out and Emmerson backed up to the far wall. He stopped as he shut the door and slid the bolt, looking her over from across the room.
"Hey. You're pretty hot."
She stared at him a moment, trying not to shake. "Phil isn't coming back... is he?" she asked softly.
"Course he is. Sunday night. Want a drink? I brought wine. Emmerson. That's a cool name."
She watched him move to the little kitchen area and get a bottle of wine from the fridge. She swallowed hard, glancing at the door, then looked down at her phone and hit the contacts. She scrolled quickly until her best friend appeared near the bottom.
"What do you do, Emmerson?" Trent asked, starting across the room with the wine and two cups.
She looked up at him, lowering her phone as she hit the call button. She waited a moment, giving Will time to answer. "So this is all a setup?" she said finally, moving down the wall, away from Trent, speaking loudly. She kept the phone at her side and turned. "He what? Brings girls out here to this cabin for you? And just leaves them here?"
"Well. Not me. Not all the time. He's done it for me before, but it can be any number of dudes. He said you liked white," he said, pouring a glass of wine and offering it to her.
"I'm not drinking that, are you crazy?"
"It's not drugged. Not at all, see?" he said, sipping it. He held it out to her again.
"I am not drinking any wine! What the hell is wrong with you? You need to call him back and have him take me home. Now."
Trent smiled condescendingly. "No, Em. Come sit down with me. Let's talk. You can put the phone down by the way, the signal is jammed."
She looked and the 'call failed' message was just fading.
She jerked as Trents hand closed around her wrist. "Let go of me!" she yelled, digging in and trying to pull away.
He laughed as he dragged her to the couch by her arm. She struggled the whole way, but since she didn't weigh 85 pounds, he had no trouble with her. He pulled her to the couch next to him as he sat down and put the drinks down. "Let's talk, Emmy."
"Emmerson!"
"Your family calls you Emmy, your friends call you Emmy. I will call you Emmy too."
"How the fuck do you know what my family calls me?" she demanded, fear spiking in her gut.
He smirked at her. "The first time, I let Phil pick. It was fun and all, but she wasn't my type. This time I did a little looking around first. Some investigating... but turns out it was Phil that led me to you after all. Seen a pic of you in the background of a selfie he posted with him and his girlfriend. Everything I like. Tiny, feisty, hot, smart. Found some of those out later, it was your size and looks that drew me to you. Shallow for a guy who looks like me, I know. You know we work for the same company? You work logistics, I work numbers. 17th floor. Never seen you though. Guess you don't leave the 3rd floor much?"
She glared at him, still tugging at her wrist. "If you know me, then you know I will fucking kill you before I let you rape me," she said darkly.
