Page 17 of Snowed In

“Noooo…” I say, immediately wondering if the guy who asked me if my partner was coming thought this man was my partner. Maybe I should have told him the truth. Is this my punishment for lying? “That’s not possible.”

He shrugs as if to say,well here I am, possible or not.

I wipe a hand over my face and cross the room to the phone. As with most places, ‘0’ leads me to reception. A woman answers within two rings.

“Look, there’s been a mistake. A stranger is here saying that you rented this cabin to him, too.”

There’s a moment where I hearclick clack clack click. Her voice gets quiet as she calls someone to look. Yep, there’s been a mistake. I feel a little better about that.

Another voice comes over the phone. “I’m sorry, Mr. Zanderman, you have our deepest apologies. There has certainly been a mistake and your cabin was assigned twice.”

“Fine. You’re coming to get this man?”

At the hesitation before she responds, I tense. I’m not going to like this answer.

“Unfortunately, we’re unable to. Not only has our system overbooked, but we’re sold out. Not least of all, the storm is too treacherous right now to send someone to get him. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Zanderman.”

“There’s only one bed!” I complain.

“We’re really very sorry.”

“Everyone’s sorry,” I mutter. “Fine.” Rudely, I hang up and lean back against the wall. I want to scream. I’d love to have a soccer ball to kick around as hard as I can right now.

Instead, I turn to look at Edries. He’s still vaguely familiar. Like I should know him. “Overbooked and the storm is too much right now,” I report.

He nods, not looking surprised or bothered.

“You don’t expect to share a room, do you?”

“You can take the couch,” he says.

“No. I paid for this cabin!” I say indignantly.

“I did, too,” he answers, shrugging.

God, I want to scream!

Instead, I turn and stomp like a child back to the kitchen. I’d had the foresight to turn the stove off when I walked away, so there wouldn’t be a fire that wasn’t supposed to be there. Frustrated tears sting my eyes as I turn the burner back on. This is not what I planned. This isnotwhat I wanted. What the fuck am I supposed to do?!

I hear Edries moving around. He walks by the kitchen toward the bedroom, and I want to scream at him to stay out of the bedroom. How can these people think it’s okay to tell me ‘too bad, suck it up’ when they’ve literally dumped a stranger into my cabin? That’s not fucking safe. He’s going to murder me!! That’s how these stories go.

After a few minutes, I feel his presence behind me. Lingering in the door of the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, I ask, “Are you hungry? All the meal kits I ordered were for two, so there’s plenty.”

“Yes,” he says. “Thank you.”

I nod without looking at him.

“Do you need help?”

I need a lot of things. None of which I think he can help me with, since the most important of them is for him to leave. So I shake my head.

There isn’t a dining room in this small space. Just a little two-seater table in the corner of the kitchen next to the double doors which lead to the patio out back. It was too dark when I arrived to see the view it offers, but I bet it’s beautiful.

Edries is silent and motionless as he waits. It’s unsettling. I keep imagining him with a butcher knife in his hand, ready to chase me through the house before killing me.

Yep, too many scary movies!

I was almost through making dinner when I heard him in the living room, so it doesn’t take much longer to finish, and the meals are plated. They look gourmet if I do say so myself. Win for meal kits! I bring the plates to the table before heading for the fridge.

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