Jason

 

 

 

I wake up with a stiff neck and a pounding headache. This must have been the most uncomfortable night’s sleep I've ever had to endure. I groan as I sit up, rubbing my neck as I squint through the window. The curtains weren’t drawn closed last night before we agreed to go to sleep, and the morning view doesn't give me a lot of hope that I’ll be back on the road any time soon.

White. I see nothing but white out there, and it's still snowing, maybe even heavier than it was yesterday.

"Fuck," I growl, massaging my temple as another flash of pain stings at the side of my neck. Am I hung over? We only had that warmed wine she made. I know she mixed in a lot of extra spices, but I never expected it would have such a big effect on how I'd feel this morning.

I drag myself off the couch, realizing that I'm wearing nothing but boxer briefs. It's no wonder I'm freezing. The house was nice and warm last night, but I may have been deceived by the hot drink and the amount of alcohol in it. The fire died out during the night. I was hot and sweaty when I laid down and even refused to cover up with the blanket. Now I'm fucking glad I have it.

My eyes dart around the room, looking for my phone. It's still where I left it last night, on the coffee table in front of the sofa. I reach for it, realizing that I forgot to ask for her Wi-Fi password. I look at the screen and see the weak connection I'm left with. It's just enough to check my e-mail, quickly realizing that everybody appears to be using the weather as an excuse to stop working. I contacted my father last night, apologizing for my delay and letting him know where I was. He responded with a simple, "Stay safe," and told me not to worry, because the meetings I was afraid to miss were postponed anyway.

Great. To think that I brought all of this on myself for no reason. The excruciating drive through the night in the middle of a snow storm, the long day, waiting at the diner, spending last night on some girl's couch...

Some girl. She deserves to be labeled as more than that, even in my tense, tired state, I know that. I don't understand why revealing my identity scared her as much as it did, but I do know that it will be hard to leave this one behind. I've fucked a lot of women in my life, played with even more, and I've broken hearts left and right, never caring about the consequences.

But this one, she's different. I don't want to hurt her the same way I've hurt so many others. She has already been through so much, a lot more than I can even imagine. It's going to be tough to leave her behind once the travel conditions improve.

Whenever that will be. It takes a painfully long time to update the weather reports on my phone, but when today’s forecast appears, it’s not hopeful that I’ll be getting out of here any time soon. The airports are still closed, as are most of the roads. I could attempt driving, but do I really want to put myself through that again?

I put my phone away and rake my fingers through my hair, trying to come up with a plan. It's no use. For now, I have to stay and make the best of it.

My eyes drift toward the stairs leading up to the second floor. I haven't heard a single noise from up there since I woke up, so it's safe to assume that the little princess is still sleeping. It looks like I will have to spend another night here, a prospect that would look a lot brighter if she trusted me enough to let her in again. I don't care for the way she left things last night, and I'm not going to sit here all day with this awkward tension stretching between us.

Fucking is a much better way to spend time being pent-up with a pretty girl than to have her look at me as if I posed some kind of danger to her.

I jump up from the sofa and make my way over to the open kitchen area. No matter what, I'm sure she'll appreciate waking up to some freshly brewed coffee.

As I search through her cabinets and inspect the fridge for food, I find more than just coffee. She's either a very well-organized person, or she knew about the predicted blizzard a lot sooner than I did, and prepared accordingly. Either way, I doubt we'll go hungry.

I get the coffee going and decide to surprise her with some eggs for breakfast. Next to extolling compliments and giving mind-blowing orgasms, food is always a foolproof way to a girl's heart.

Just as I reach for one of the pans lined up on a rack next to the fridge, I'm startled by a rattling noise behind me. I flinch in surprise, only to turn around and realize that the God damned squirrel has gotten out of its cage. Why the hell would she leave the cage door open? It could have jumped on me during the night!

The animal is sitting on top of its cage, wrinkling its nose at me. It sniffles in my direction, as I stand there looking like an idiot, unsure what to do.

"Okay, buddy," I say in a low voice, raising my hand in an appeasing motion. "How about you get back into that cage and just let me do my thing here, okay?"

I feel like a moron, but that thing is making me uncomfortable. I don't understand what she sees in this little rodent. After all, it's pretty much a rat that climbs trees.

The squirrel's tail twitches nervously as it stares at me, still sniffling for God knows what, and I’m still unable to move. Its head begins bobbing up and down, and I can tell by its posture that it doesn’t plan on leaving me alone. I also notice that the bandage around its leg has loosened, and I don't think that's a good thing.

I take a step forward, approaching the cage and the nervous animal on top of it, but instead of hurrying away and hiding back in its home - as I hoped it would - the squirrel does the exact opposite and leaps off the cage, landing right on my arm. I yelp out in surprise and jump back on instinct, only worsening the situation. My panicked movement frightens the animal into digging its claws into my skin so it won't fall off. I grimace in pain, but resist the urge to wave my arm in an attempt to shake the beast off. For all I know, it would only make things even worse.

The squirrel hangs onto my arm for dear life, not making a single noise while its claws dig into my skin as it tries to get its balance. It's obviously mistaking me for a God damned tree.

"Get off of me, motherfucker!" I yell at the animal, but it only steadily and clumsily continues climbing up my arm, approaching my shoulder with alarming speed. I can't believe this is fucking happening!

And it does get worse. I hear unbridled laughter ringing out right behind me.