Page 7 of Snowed In With the Snow Queen
I sign it and then carefully write my number at the bottom, scanning it once before pulling it off the pad. It all looks legible enough.
“What did you write?” Zach asks, trying to look over my shoulder. I turn away before he can see it, heading out the door and across the parking lot. The back door to her shop has a storm door that’s unlocked. I open it, stick the note on the inner door at what I guess to be her height and then turn around to head back, only to nearly trip over a pig.
Frigg, the youngest of the pig family that roams these parts, grunts at me, then continues on to the grassy spot near Soojin’s back door. She’s followed by her mother, Porshetta, their adopted pig, Chad, and a new addition. At first, I think it’s another pig they’ve adopted but nope, definitely not a pig.
“Is that a capybara?” Eddie asks as I walk back to the club to get my keys.
“I think so.”
“Where the hell did that come from?”
I shrug. “The vape guys have been saying they’re getting a capybara forever.” The guys who own the crappy vape place at the opposite end of the parking lot from Soojin’s restaurant spent a ton of time at the Wild Hare talking to anyone who will listen about their crazy get-rich-quick schemes. The latest one was an exotic petting zoo that would star capybaras. It looks like they’d succeeded, sort of…
Eddie scans the area. “Should I call them?”
I look back at the animals. The pig family has encircled the capybara that’s laying side-by-side with Frigg.
I shake my head. “Looks like the pigs have got it covered.”
I grab my keys from the bar, wave to Zach, and head home to pretend I’m not sitting by the phone waiting for Soojin to call.
Chapter Five
Randy
Chewpawca must have gotten cold in the night, because the grumpy asshole is curled up at my side when I wake up in the dark, the sheets once again clinging to my body. Apparently it doesn’t bother him, but I can’t get far enough away from it. I hop up out of bed and don’t wait to shift, letting this pair of sweats and boxers rip at the seams as my body pushes out against the fabric.
Across the room, my phone buzzes. There’s no chance in hell it’s Soojin, but for a moment, I get my hopes up.
Hey boss, the alarm’s been going off again and Zach and I can’t get it to stop… would you be able to come take a look at it?
Have you tried hitting it five times?
Yeah. There was some weird power surge and now the entire block’s fucked up. Even Soojinis out here with us. Her alarm won’t stop either.
I sigh, then type my response before dropping the phone back on the table and finding clothes in the dresser. I’ll need to change the sheets and hit up Zelda’s to do a few loads of laundry today, but that will have to wait. I skip the coffee and hop in the truck to head down to the Wild Hare, again. I thought I was done with that place, but it doesn’t seem to be done with me.
Chapter Six
Soojin
Iwake up curled in a ball, absolutely freezing. Something feels off, but my brain isn’t quite awake enough to process it. For a moment I can’t figure out what woke me, then the electricity in my tiny studio apartment cuts back on. The collective soft hum of all the electrical devices that normally sit at the corner of my awareness starts up all at once–the fridge and the heater, then my air purifier in the corner. I sigh. I should get up, but instead, I roll over in bed and cover back up.
There will be a ton to do downstairs in the restaurant if the power was out for any length of time. I don’t open the restaurant on Mondays or Tuesdays, so fortunately, I’ll have a few days to go through all the food and get rid of what is ruined before I open after Christmas. I close my eyes and force myself to not start making a mental checklist of everything I need to do.
I’ve almost completely drifted back off when the unexpected wail of the security alarm makes me jump. My heart pounds ninety miles a minute inside my chest. I’d laugh at my silliness if it wasn’t so cold. I throw on my coat over my pajamas, grab mykeys, and head downstairs to see if I can get the stupid thing to stop.
The first and second floors of the building aren’t connected. I have to actually step outside onto a little porch with a set of stairs that ends just in front of the restaurant’s back door. It’s not convenient, but living above the restaurant saves me a ton on rent.
Outside, alarms are going off everywhere. The Wild Hare, the strip club behind me, is the loudest, but I can hear distinct alarm wails from both the vape shop and mechanic across the lot. So strange that the power fluctuations would cause them all to go off at once, but stranger things have happened, I guess.
I unlock the back door and flip on lights as I walk toward the wailing. I enter the code, hit pound, and then the off button.
The wailing continues.
I enter the code again, this time more slowly, repeating each number aloud before hitting pound and off.
Still, the wailing continues.
