by Aqua Allsopp
Carmen just shook her head, smiling. “Fine. I am hungry, so that sounds good.”
Bobbi just squealed and grabbed Carmen’s arm as Carmen grabbed her coat on the way out the door. “We are going to be the best friends. We can drive them all crazy together. It will be so much fun!”
Carmen stood in her small living room and took another deep breath. She had enjoyed herself for the first time in a long time with Bobbi, she was so bubbly who couldn’t help but like her? She moved over to the stove and began a fire. Soon the room warmed up and the stove crackled merrily, the glow lighting the room softly. Carmen sat on the couch for a few minutes soaking up the warmth. Her mind started to wander as she sat there, thinking of where life had led her in the past few years. There had been the marriage three years ago, a time when everything in her life was perfect and good. She had been so in love and so happy. She had a career, a husband, a beautiful house and good friends. Until it all began to crumble around her. Shaking her head, she got up to get ready for bed. I am not going back there. It is too painful, and I am out of that. I have moved on, hopefully away from all of it with no more sad reminders. Carmen got on her pajamas after a nice warm shower and settled into bed. Soon, she was asleep.
Carmen jerked awake and sat up in the bed. Was someone screaming? She listened, her heart beating out of her chest, her breath ragged. No, there was no more noise, just the silence of the night. She covered her face in her hands, knowing that the scream she heard had been hers. Oh, God, make these nightmares stop already! I am so over this! She got up and padded out to her tiny kitchen to heat some water for tea. She stoked the fire and sat in front of it until the shaking stopped. Carmen finished her tea, put more wood on the fire and went back to bed. It took a long time for her to go back to sleep, not unusual after a nightmare. Many nights she couldn’t go to sleep at all.
Chapter 3
Carmen heard a pounding on the door. She rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. It was eight in the morning.
“Just a minute,” she hollered as she grabbed her robe and went to the door. There standing in her doorway was Tristan, a huge grin on his face.
“Hi. Sorry to wake you up.” Not really. You even look good in the morning. Wow. “I was sent over by the boss lady to fix your squeaky door. She’s a stickler about these things.” Tristan smiled again.
“Uhm…. I told her yesterday that I liked the squeak. It allows me to know if someone is opening my door. I’m just funny like that.” Carmen shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “So, you can go now. Thanks, but I don’t need your help.” Carmen turned to shut the door, but it was stopped by a large hand. She turned back with her icicle purple eyes and glared at him
“Yes?” she said curtly.
Tristan smiled. “I was wondering if you would like to take a tour of Aspen this afternoon? I could show you some of the better places for tourists to go and maybe take you out for an early supper?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. In case you hadn’t noticed, Mr. Carter, I like to keep to myself, do my job and come home. Since I am new, you probably didn’t know that, but now you do. Good day.” Carmen shut the door in his face.
Tristan stood there for a minute, wondering if this was a challenge or if he should be offended. He decided the latter was true and stomped off. Fine, I can leave you alone, Ice Queen. Won’t be bothering you again, unless my bosses require me to talk to your prickly self. He went about his never-ending list with gusto, getting more done that morning than he had in weeks.
Carmen stood behind the door, listening to Tristan walk off in the crunchy snow. What is it about men? Why do they think that because you might have looks, that you are a push-over? I knew he was a typical male. Only out to get what he wants then toss you to the side when he gets bored. Well, I’ll just ignore you and do the work I was hired to do.
She got dressed and decided to walk around the rest of town as Bobbi and she were unable to do that the night before. She was glad that her last job had left her with enough money to get some cold weather gear, as it was only twenty degrees out this morning. The high would be around thirty. She stepped out into the crisp air, her feet crunching in the snow as she walked over to the employee entrance to meet with Louise and sign her paperwork. She entered the kitchen. Bobbi saw her immediately and beamed her signature smile at Carmen.
“Oh, yeah. You need coffee and one of these marvelous muffins Hank is famous for.” Bobbi dished them up and handed them to Carmen.
Carmen looked at the huge muffin on the dish and up at Bobbi. “These are gigantic! I can’t eat a whole one.”
“Sure, you can. Just try. You’re so skinny, you look like a zipper when you turn sideways. You know it’s true.” Bobbi pushed her toward the employee dining room. Carmen started to sit down, then noticed the time. She headed to the office for her appointment, coffee in tow.
She had a nice conversation with Louise, then headed out from there to take in more of the town. Aspen was a bit bigger than she had first thought, but had a small-town feel, with friendly shopkeepers and a sense that everyone looked out for the locals. It felt good after some of the places she had been before.
Carmen bought a few things at the second-hand store to put in her tiny house, some ski pants and a lightweight coat to wear skiing, some other clothes for after work. She hadn’t bought much in the way of clothes before, but wanted to splurge a little, as she was getting free room and board, something she didn’t have at her last job. The second-hand shop had a number of high-end clothing that she figured came from the affluent community around Aspen. Several still had on the store tags. Very nice.
Carmen stopped at the market down the street from The Lodge and bought some groceries as well. She had free meals, but liked to snack and besides, those late-night excursions to the kitchen required something special to boost her morale. She put everything in her bags and carried them the short walk to her house.
It was so very nice to walk down the street and see people enjoying themselves shopping or taking in the sites. People headed on their way to play in the snow or just sat on a bench watching others go by. She felt more at peace than she had in a long time. Her musings were suddenly broken by a voice at her side. She didn’t even have to turn her head to know who it was.
“Hey, want some help with those?” Tristan wore that stupid grin on his face, as if nothing had gone on between them already that day.
“No, thanks. I’m just fine. Don’t you have some repairs or something to do?” Carmen’s voice sounded a little snippy even to her, but she didn’t care. The man was a pest, to say the least.
“Okay. I was just walking by and thought you could use another arm or two. Sorry, I guess I’ll be on my way.” He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, leaving her there, as he disappeared into the shoppers on the walkway.
And good riddance to you. Short of just being outright rude to him, Carmen had never had to go too long without a guy taking her hints, which in this case were broad enough that the guy should get a clue. He must be desperate for company if he can’t see that I don’t care for his.
Carmen finally reached her cabin and quickly unlocked the door and slammed it shut behind her. She needed to be alone. Taking off her coat, she set about putting away her finds for the day. She flipped through her mail and found that it was mostly junk, as she had only sent a letter to her big sister telling her that she was ok and working. She did that everywhere she went, so that someone knew where she was. She didn’t let her mom know because her mom was not known for her discretion and there were certain people that Carmen preferred knew nothing about where she had gone.
Carmen sat down to read her letter. Carol had written that everyone was doing well. She had sent a couple of pictures of the boys, who were growing like weeds. Carmen set the letter in her lap as she took in familiar faces from the photos. Her mom looked good, but she could see a distant sadness even behind the smile. Carmen sighed. She hadn’t wanted to drop off the face of the eart
h but knew that her family would be safer with her out of the picture.
Shrugging off her despondency, Carmen hung the set of pictures she had bought and hung up her new clothes. In the morning, she planned on hitting the slopes for a few runs. There were some intermediate runs that she knew she could ace as she had always been a strong skier. She wanted to rent a snowboard after a few trips up and down the mountains. In her former life, as she liked to call it, she had been fairly good on a snowboard but hadn’t done a lot of practice. Before her dad had passed away, he had taught her to ski, hike, fish and enjoy the outdoors. Carmen wished he were here to show her snowboarding. She knew he would be great at it as he had always been an exceptional athlete. She missed him tons. Okay sad sack, enough already. Get out of the blues and get busy doing something to get your mind off the past. Carmen put her coat back on and trudged across the lot to the Lodge for some early supper.
Chapter 4
Tristan was drinking a cup of coffee in his cabin, standing there looking out his front window when he saw Carmen crossing the lot toward the employee entrance. I don’t what I did to that girl to get her panties in a bunch, but she has it bad for men. I have never met a woman so afraid or whatever to even talk to a man. And she can put a guy down in about three seconds flat. I have gotten nicer brush-offs at the local bars. I thought I was fairly good looking, and polite, but not apparently in her eyes. But you know what? That just makes her a challenge. I am quite good at challenges. Watch out, Ice Queen, you may have met your match.
He set down his cup, slipped on his coat, and headed over to the lodge himself. I’m just hungry and ready for a little more ice.
Carmen had just gotten her meal and was sitting down at a table when Tristan walked in. She deliberately sat with her back to the door. Tristan would have none of it. He got his food and immediately walked right over the same table and sat down. He never said a word, simply nodded when she looked at him and proceeded to dig into his food with gusto. He sighed deeply and groaned.
“That Hank may be a bit rough around the edges, but the man can make a stew that will calm a bear on a rampage. It is so good.”
Carmen nodded her head in agreement.
“Guess I don’t have to work tomorrow. I think I’ll head up and cut a few runs. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Not going anywhere with you, for sure. I haven’t decided yet, thank you.”
“Huh. You just can’t be polite, can you? All I asked was what you were doing. I will send you an engraved invitation if I want to do anything with you. Is that acceptable?” Tristan could feel his ire building and he didn’t know why. He was only going to heckle her a bit, but she had his hackles rising.
“As I have explained before, Mr. Carter, I enjoy my solitude when I am not working. But, thank you for asking. Is that polite enough?” Carmen’s face was turning red as she tried to be nice to this annoying man. She flashed him a smirky smile in response.
“Yeah. I gotcha. No being nice to fellow employees, even though I saw you with Bobbi the other night. Guess that only applies to male employees, is that right? I mean, there is no difference between being nice to a man or a woman, but discrimination can be selective at times, I suppose.” Tristan was building up to a yell, he could feel it. What a snob!
“No, I do not segregate or discriminate. I don’t want to be around men, except to work with them. PERIOD!” Carmen yelled it out as she emphasized the words slowly, thinking maybe he was slow and needed it spelled out.
“WOW! You made it perfectly clear. If you need anything, just let Louise know and she can pass it on. I won’t bother you again.” Tristan gobbled down the last few bites of his meal, shoved his chair back, and left the room.
Carmen sat there for a minute composing herself, then left as well.
Tristan went and got his ski gear on and headed out for the last two runs down the slopes. He needed to burn off the energy he built up dealing with that woman. He didn’t even want to say her name to himself, as it just made him mad. I have to be polite to her at work, but nothing else. I will avoid her like the plague otherwise. Guess that means the Saturday night bar hop will no longer be an option for me. Tristan had reached the ski lift and jumped on after waving at Jim, the lift operator. He pulled the bar over the seat and settled in for the ride up the mountain. The sun was setting over the top of the hill and cast a bluish shadow down the elevation. Night would be falling soon but Tristan didn’t worry too much. He knew these runs like the back of his hands and could probably ski them with his eyes closed. He swooshed down the hill, his skis blowing up the powder behind him as he sped down the slope. Because it was close to the last runs of the day there was hardly anyone out and he could pick up speed as he went. The expert slope was fast today and he lost himself in the movement of his hips and poles as he leaned into the curves. When he reached the bottom, he was more like his true self, calm and put together. He went back to the lift for one more run.
“Oh, man. I was just gonna shut her down. There’s nobody up there now.”
“Come on, It’s me, your old buddy, Tristan. One more run. Had a sticky run-in with another staffer at work and need to blow it off. I’ll even shut her down for you. Go on home once I reach the top.”
Jim smiled and nodded. “You’re the bomb, man. I’ll get you up there and close her up. Make sure everything is kosher before you go though.”
“No worries. Have a good night. See you later.”
Tristan made his second run, feeling one hundred percent better when he reached the bottom. He closed and locked the lift hut for Jim, and headed back to his cabin, ready to relax and go to bed.
Tristan’s sleep was restless that night as he tossed and turned, finally getting to sleep about one in the morning. He had a funny dream, not really a nightmare, but there was an avalanche on the mountain. People were lost, then uncovered, but there was someone that hadn’t been found yet. Everyone was searching for this one person. He went over to a spot that hadn’t been searched yet and began to dig. He found a hand, then an arm, and soon he had uncovered a shoulder. Others came and began to help, Soon the person was uncovered, and it was Carmen, her eyes closed, her frozen body stiff and unmoving. Tristan woke up in a cold sweat. That is the most bizarre dream I have ever had, and so real. What did I eat? He sat there for a minute getting his bearings, then got up to use the toilet. He laid back down in bed thinking about what he had seen. Probably just because the woman irritates me so much that I secretly wish for her to get hurt or something. He rolled over and finally went back to sleep.
Chapter 5
There had been more snow during the night. Carmen observed the pristine covering while she drank her first cup of coffee. Today would be a good day to go checkout the slopes. I can hardly wait to get rid of some of this energy bursting inside me. Like it or not, Carmen had found herself mysteriously drawn to that pesky man, Tristan Carter. She did not want to get involved, as it messed things up when she had to move on which she invariably would have to do this time more than likely. She felt herself liking his blunt ways, the way he showed up unexpectedly out of the blue. His good looks were also a factor. She had not had someone in her life in a positive way for so long…well, it just wasn’t practical. Period.
Carmen brushed off those fantasies and got ready to head out for some skiing. She went up to the Lodge to rent some skis but was told that they were “on the house” due to her employee status. The caveat was that she had to bring them back in one piece. She smiled at Gus, the attendant, and told him that the skis were probably safe with her, as she didn’t take much risk on new slopes that she didn’t know. Gus nodded sagely and got the equipment for her. Skis over her shoulders, she headed out.
The lifts were fairly busy today. Everyone was trying to get some last-minute skiing in on a Sunday before heading back to civilization. She waited her turn patiently. Jim saw her and came up to say hello.
“I know I’m being kind of forward, but are you the new waitress at The Lo
dge?”
“Yeah, I am. I’m Carmen.” She held out her had to shake Jim’s.
Jim took her hand in a firm handshake. “Glad to meet you. Nice day for some runs. Slopes have a good powder from the snow last night, and are fairly quick, so be careful.”
“Thanks for the update. I have done a bit of skiing before, so thought I’d try the intermediates first, get a feel for how the runs lay.”
“Good idea. Well, got to get back to work. This kid they stuck me with has no brains or common sense. I can’t trust him alone for too long. Talk later.” Jim headed back for the shack to make sure his lifts were still running.
Carmen took her seat on the two-man lift with a guy who liked to talk and thought he was quite the lady’s man. She knew his life history and had been propositioned by the time they reached the top to disembark. She smiled at him and focused on her skis until he finally left. Oh my, there are some real bozos in this town. Phew. She headed over to the top of the runs, where signs marked which slopes catered to the abilities of the skier. She chose North Star which seemed fairly easy. She steadied herself at the top of the run, took a deep breath and pushed off with her poles. She loved the feel of the skis gliding her over the snow. The swishing sound when they moved from side to side down the slopes was like a sidewinder snake crossing a hill. Others were on the slope, but each one was lost in their own thoughts as they glided down as well. The powder blew up around her and made a trail behind. Soon, she had reached the bottom and skied over to the lift to go again, this time on a more difficult course to try her skills on.
Jim came back out. “Well, what did you think?”
“The runs are great, and the powder is fabulous. I had forgotten how much I love to ski. It feels so good to get out there again.”
“Cool, well, have fun and remember that Walsh, Hyrup’s and Kristi all close at three. The get too soft and the danger of avalanche increases after that if they aren’t groomed right.”