Chapter 13

Cameron

Was it weird that I woke up before the sun and sat at my window, staring at the empty slopes? Not that weird. I used to do it all the time back home. What was weird was that the first thing I thought about when I opened my eyes was Bea. I imagined her soundly sleeping, wrapped up in her blankets in her suite, the little tufts of snow falling outside of her window. I knew how quiet it was on the other side of the glass. I used to sit there and take in the silence just before the early birds would take the slopes. It was a time for me to clear my mind, prepare for the training that I was facing, and move forward without fear or caution. It was probably my most favorite time of the day, and I often thought about it when things got hectic or out of control in my life. There was definitely no time for those kinds of things in the regular world, but as I sat there watching the sky lighten and the sun begin to peek through the crevasses of the mountain, I felt a renewed sense of self.

After the sun had come up, I jumped in the shower and went downstairs, grabbing a bagel and some coffee from the breakfast bar. I then made my way up to the fifth floor and stood out of sight, waiting for Bea to come out. My plan was to casually bump into her as if it were an accident. Like I was helping the hotel deliver a bagel to someone’s room on the fifth floor. I wasn’t sure if it would work, and most likely, she would see right through it, but I had spent enough time sitting around and thinking about her. I had to see her, even if it meant forcing fate’s hand.

I stood there for quite a while, eventually drinking most of the coffee in the cup. I leaned against the doorway, standing up straight every time I heard the creak of a door or the ding of the elevator. What if I was standing here, but she had already left her room before I got there? It would be pretty awkward for her to walk up behind me and see me creeping around her floor. I wasn’t spying on her, but I knew that it would be what it looked like from the outside perspective. I started to worry about it more and more, second-guessing myself and jumping every time the elevator made a noise. What was I doing? I was standing in the hallway of a girl I had met one time, waiting for her to come out of her room so I could ask her out. Since when did I become such a pussy that I couldn’t handle just doing it the right way?

I sighed and looked down at the cold bagel and empty coffee cup. I turned and tossed the cup in the trash and set the tray by the trashcan, holding the bagel in my hand, figuring it was probably going to be my breakfast since I had just chickened out of my plan. Besides, even if she did believe it, there was nothing saying she would actually agree to go to breakfast with me. I sighed, deciding to take the elevators on the other side of the floor since they came down near the lounge. As I started walking down the hall, Bea’s room door flew open, almost hitting me in the arm.

“Oh my Gosh,” Bea said, racing out and grabbing my arm. “I am so sorry, sir, I wasn’t…. wait a minute.”

“Oh, hey,” I said, trying to act surprised. “I was just coming up to deliver this bagel to room 514 for the kitchen.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they had some call outs this morning, and I happened to be standing there,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Interesting.” She smiled. “I wasn’t aware the maid service got room service, too.”

“What?”

“That room left early this morning.” She chuckled. “I was coming in from a morning stroll when they were leaving. The maid is in there right now, cleaning.”

Just as she said that, the door to 514 swung opened, and the maid pushed the cart out, waving at the two of us. I smiled and held up the bagel, watching as she turned and walked down toward the elevators. I put on a huge, fake grin and looked at Bea, who looked more amused than angry.

“Okay, I lied,” I said. “I wanted to see you, so I thought I could just ‘bump’ into you when you came out. It was a terrible cover… obviously. I just really wanted to take you breakfast. I didn’t think you would say yes after making the whole comment about fate.”

“So, you decided to try to cheat fate,” she said, shaking her head and smirking. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure,” I said, leaning in.

“I don’t believe in fate.” She giggled. “I just wanted to see if you would actually still be interested after I didn’t invite you back into my place. It seems that you have exceeded my expectations, and I give you extra points for the little flair you gave with that creativity.”

“I’m sorry, I, uh, I am such a nerd, and I’ll be honest, I don’t know how to do this,” I said. “I have been on the road for such a long time that actually courting someone… it’s a little…”

“Courting? In your travels, did you realize it’s not the 1700s?”

She laughed, holding her stomach and closing her eyes. I chuckled, feeling completely embarrassed. When she opened her eyes, she smiled and gave me a pitied look. She took in a deep breath, propped the door open with the stopper, and stepped out into the hallway. She reached up and pushed a piece of my hair out of my face and retracted her hand quickly, her cheeks blushing.

“Sorry, I, uh, it’s an old habit,” she said, shaking her head.

“It’s okay,” I said, laughing. “Waiting in the hall for a girl is not an old habit.”

“That’s good.” She smiled. “Otherwise, you might be branded a stalker.”

“Yeah, not what I was really going for there.” I laughed nervously.

I reached over and tossed the bagel into the trashcan in the hallway and dusted off my hands. An awkward silence fell between us, and I wanted to kick my own ass for being such a numbnuts. My whole life, I had been able to talk to people, never getting clammy or shuddery, but with this girl, I couldn’t seem to get out a sentence without pausing. I didn’t know what had come over me. It was like I was a different person, sent back to when I was an awkward teen, thinking about asking out the head cheerleader. Even then, though, when I was standing in front of her, I had all the confidence in the world. This girl just had a way of making me stumble over my words whenever I was with her. I looked up and noticed her watching me fight with myself, an amused look on her face.

“Why were you up so early?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said with blushed cheeks. “I had a dream and woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. So, I got dressed and went out to the courtyard. It was so peaceful and so quiet. I love that feeling, when it’s first thing in the morning after a big snow and the birds aren’t even awake yet. It’s beautiful and makes me wonder if there was ever a time humanity was so still and quiet.”

“I did the same thing, only from the comfort of my windows in my room.” I chuckled. “I’ve spent many a morning on the slopes, though, just listening to the silence around me, watching the snow shimmer in the reflecting light as the sky lightens. It’s almost humbling, and I am able to really clear my head.”

“It sure is beautiful,” she said, taking a deep breath and a step toward her door.

“Listen,” I said, reaching out to touch her hand. “I may have gone about this the wrong way, but the truth is, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left you right here. When I’m around you, I’m just not the guy that I had grown accustomed to being. I am shaky, stuttering, and can’t seem to put a sentence fully together to save my life. I figure, if it is something that is getting to me that bad, then I needed to just act on it. I’m not used to women getting to me like that. So, please, come to breakfast with me. Let me get to know you better and show you who I am. I know this is temporary, but I can’t really think of any other reason why I should just leave you alone.”

“Wow,” she said, smiling. “That was good. You had it together on that one.”

“You like that?”

“Yeah.” She laughed. “All right, I’ll go to breakfast with you. If you could, though, just wait here for a few and let me get out of my pj’s and brush my teeth first.”

“Okay,” I replied, just then realizing she wasn’t dressed for the day. “I’ll be right here.”

She smiled as she shut the door behind her, and I leaned back against the wall, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. Well, that didn’t quite go as I thought it would, but at least, she was going to have breakfast with me. She was a sneaky little thing, making me obsess over fate and then telling me she didn’t believe in it after all. I should have come up last night when I was yearning to, but maybe this had turned out exactly how it should. In my head though, I had a much smoother setup planned. She runs into me, laughs in a giggly way, I charm her with my smile, and off we go to have breakfast on the terrace.

First of all, she was not the kind of girl you would find giggling over a guy. Secondly, I couldn’t pull out my charm around her to save my life. And third, who would eat breakfast on the terrace when it was like fourteen degrees outside? So, I didn’t really plan this out that well, but at least, I put some kind of thought to it. These days, I’d been living my life kind of on a whim, without much thought. I thought it was important to put thought into Bea. She was special.

I was drawn from my thoughts as she walked out of the room wearing jeans, a sweater, and a pair of black and white Chuck Taylor’s. She looked beautiful and adorable at the same time. We went downstairs and got a table at the restaurant, ordering two mimosas and relaxing.

“Don’t you have a class this morning?” she asked.

“Glen is covering it for me,” I said, smiling.

“Oh, so you got your business partner in on this covert operation?” She laughed.

“Yeah, well, behind every great man is a great woman.” I chuckled.

We spent the rest of the morning talking and laughing, getting to know each other better. She had a spunk to her that I hadn’t noticed before, but it seemed to light up the entire room. When we had finished breakfast, I walked her to the elevator, pulling on my coat, ready to get up the hill to my job.

“Thank you for breakfast.” She smiled. “Hopefully, it won’t be too long until you stalk me again.”

“I mean, I can have that arranged.” I chuckled. “When will I see you again?”

“I’ll come find you for a private ski lesson.” She smirked. “I want to see if you are as good of a skier as you say you are.”

With that, she climbed into the elevator, and I stood there smiling at her until the doors had closed. I was definitely on cloud nine.