Cabin In The Woods

by Kristine Robinson

  Even though she gets on my every last nerve, she is my soulmate. And a soulmate supersedes anything else. Passion or lust or any other feeling one could have for another.

  “You know exactly what I mean!” Miranda’s nose was scrunched up as she made the least attractive expression I had ever actually seen on somebodies face. I didn't think she could make herself unattractive to me. As if a Valkyrie scowled, and suddenly, was a grotesque, boar-headed, freak of nature. “You always choose your work over me! Over our relationship!”

  I groaned to myself. This is always how it is to her. There is no middle ground. Either you love me, or you hate me. Either the cup is full or it is empty. Either you put me above all else, or you don’t respect me or care for me in any way. Protecting her ego and supporting her is sometimes, an impossible task.

  “That isn’t true. And you know it,” I took a deep breath to steady myself as I tried to force myself to relax. I can’t let her words at a time like this affect me. I know she doesn’t actually mean them. I wasn’t that important to the company, as I was just an actuary, but I couldn’t take a vacation, soon I’ll get my promotion. Then I can go work anywhere, but for right now… “The company is having their busiest time of the year. I can’t just-”

  “That’s all you ever say! I can’t. Not now. Later, I swear. How dare you accuse me of being too busy for you? Do you know how much I value my work over you?” Her voice had turned into the mocking high-pitched tone she used to make fun of people.

  My lip curled in response, mirroring the ugliness which is the feelings she inspires in me. I tried to calm down, but I was so angry that I couldn’t see straight.

  Oh great! Now I’m crying! Why does this always happen?

  “You don’t understand. I’ll never get the promotion that will let us have more freedom if-“

  “No!” She glared at me heatedly. “YOU don’t understand!”

  Alright. Now I’m pissed. I will not stay quiet at this point. “I understand that you aren’t paying attention to a word I ever say if it's not exactly what you want to hear. I understand that you don’t care, and you don’t even bother to pretend to care.” I huffed. “I understand that you want me to put you above everything else. I understand that you don’t even consider the fact that, though I love you dearly, my entire life doesn’t actually revolve around you!”

  Needless to say, we didn’t really solve anything with our little spat. If anything, our argument only escalated.

  It wasn’t really her fault. It’s just… sometimes… sometimes it was really hard to try and balance being with Miranda and being who I want to be, a successful woman with a fabulous career.

  Miranda just demanded so much out of me. There is never time for a moment of peace. It is the world as she wishes it or no world at all.

  I eventually made my decision as I went to my boss. I asked to use those vacation day’s I had spent the last two years saving up. I wanted to have a grand vacation in Italy!

  I would do anything for Miranda though. And there is always next time. There will always be another vacation. Always a new destination.

  If we are being honest here, I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy when he said yes, and now I had no out. I wanted him to say no. I was too valuable to the company and they needed me. But they didn’t.

  I never get what I want.

  Little did I know that I would learn exactly what I wanted soon.

  So now, I had to go all the way to California.

  Miranda was ecstatic. That was the reason I was doing this. To make the person most important to me happy.

  Her eyes glittered when she smiled. I’d do anything to see that smile directed towards me. Even for only a moment.

  She is my soulmate after all!

  And a soulmate is more than anything else.

  Chapter 2

  Furious didn’t even begin to describe my feelings right now.

  I was a million degrees passed angry, and so far passed enraged that I don’t even have the capacity to explain how I was feeling.

  Of course, that meant I started crying again. Angry tears pouring down my soft cheeks.

  “Oh, so when something comes up in YOUR job, it’s waay too important to miss. But the second something comes up for ME, it’s fine. It doesn’t even matter? Oh no, that’s NOT how this works! We are a partnership, me and you. And without your respect, we don’t have anything.”

  Maybe I was overreacting just a tad, stomping around our home and knocking things off shelves in order for me to make my point as clear as possible. But can you really blame me? All this stink over me putting my work before her, and she has the gall – the sheer audacity! - to say to me, that she has to work and therefore can’t make the trip? How DARE she.

  I can’t stay mad at her. I’d forgive her eventually. I mean, how could I not?

  She is my soulmate. And a soulmate trumps everything else.

  But for right now.

  Soulmate or not. My hand itches to smack a bitch.

  “Sorry. I can’t come on the trip, Babe. An important project came up. I tried to say no, but they insisted.” Miranda said to me, a less than an hour before we had to leave to catch our flight with our girlfriends. She said it as if she didn’t care, so nonchalantly. As if it didn’t matter that I went through all of this because it was what she wanted.

  “No! You can’t do this to me!” I snapped.

  “You’re being overdramatic. If you just-“

  “I’m being overdramatic? Did you seriously just insinuate that I am the one being unreasonable right now?” I snarled. I had done so much for her, and to just back out.

  How much of a spineless coward does one have to be?

  "There's no time to argue. Don't you have to get going? I'll miss you." She used that tone. The tone that says ‘I won. I won and that's all that really matters. I won and you should just relax.' Well, I don't WANT to relax!

  I glared at her. I didn’t say goodbye. I rearranged my schedule for this so I am leaving, but I was much too furious with her to say goodbye.

  “Oh, Rachel!” Sarah’s sweet voice called to me when she saw me. “I’m so happy you could make it! Where- Where’s Miranda.”

  I may have just been in a bad mood, but I had never before realized how nasal and shrill her voice was. My ears felt like they were bleeding.

  I sat down on the car seat. “I don’t want to talk about it!” The tone of my voice was biting.

  This was going to be an awfully long car ride.

  Chapter 3

  So here I am, alone. Without my fiancée. I didn’t call her when I got here, I was too furious with her and her flakiness.

  Joanne could tell I was going to stew in my anger. I only know this, because she suggested we all go to the beach immediately. She dragged me into the bedroom and chose my outfit. “You will have fun. And you will enjoy yourself. And that. Is. Final.”

  She is so bossy, but she is always right.

  I hate it.

  They globbed on the sunscreen. They needed it. Their fair skin was weak against the harsh rays of the sun.

  I put on a layer myself before I left. My tawny skin wasn’t as sensitive as theirs was.

  I ran a brush through my hair a few times and sighed, giving up. My brown hair with fire red tips – It was the same shade as Miranda’s hair, as a testament to our love - was never gonna look the way I wanted it to today, it was too unruly. I put it up in a messy bun and fixed my thick glasses.

  We got to the beach and I went up to the bar, ordering a Mai Tai and sipping on the drink as I paid small amounts of attention to what was actually going on.

  I did notice when a… Well, a surfer girl walked up to Sarah and Joanne.

  I almost swallowed my tongue. Girl’s like her weren’t supposed to be real! They were supposed to be stuck on a magazine cover because they were imaginary, Photoshopped, and designed entirely for the male gaze.

  She was holding a surfboard. She had an athletic body, wearing a bik
ini. Her abs were visibly toned and I felt myself licking my lips. It’s fine to look. I’ve been told that before, back when I thought I was straight my boyfriend’s said that to me. She had breasts that made my C-cups look small, and I bet I would look even chubbier and even less passably pretty when seated next to her.

  Long dirty blonde wet hair. She had pink lips that looked soft. Most interesting, were her big beautiful doe eyes.

  When I walked to the group – to be with my friends ONLY. Get your minds out of the gutter! I mean, I have a girlfriend- fiancée. I have a fiancée. I noticed, her eyes were glittering. Yet, one eye was sapphire blue and another was emerald green.

  “Oh, so do any of you beautiful girls want to buy…” I stopped listening. Ooh, she was a saleswoman.

  “I don’t have to offer anything to you,” She flirted with me. I felt my cheeks flush a dark red. “You’re too pretty to need any of it.”

  Oh dear. I can’t even handle a little flirtation.

  “On the other hand.” She purred, smirking at my reaction. “Maybe some repellent. You’ll be batting off your suitors left and right with looks like those."

  She spent most of the night on this – we did end up buying some of the surfboard wax, and facial cream she sold.

  “Zoey was seriously flirting with you.” Sarah teased, the second we got into the cabin that night.

  The two of them were smirking knowingly at me. They were always up for some hot gossip, and neither of them would ever take no for an answer.

  “No, she wasn’t. She was trying to sell me some product. And even if she was, I have a fiancée!” I argued, wanting to nip that in the bud.

  Is it bad that I was trying to convince myself of that, more than I was trying to convince my friends?

  Either my friends didn’t care to listen or something trippy was happening because neither of them even paused for a second.

  “She was totally focused on flirting with you. And she’s rad.” Joanne piped up, ignoring the second part of my statement.

  I sighed. Honestly, I knew that Joanne and Sarah never totally liked Miranda. I didn’t know why, because Miranda was so sweet.

  Maybe it was because of how frazzled she made me. Joanne once told me that Miranda made me appreciate myself less because I had to appreciate her more. I don’t know what she meant by that, and I don’t even think I really want to know.

  Zoe kept meeting up every day for the next two weeks. She would be sweet and seductive and I would try to be cool, but I would melt. As sad as it was, she was exactly like the pretend girlfriend I had when I just realized I crushed on girls.

  “Hiya, Rachel.” I heard from an accent that was sweet and smooth like molasses purred as I went the next morning out to soak in some sun.

  I opened my eyes and looked up and there she was, in all her glory. She was wearing a different bikini today. It showed off even more of her supple skin and toned body. Her hair was pulled back into a bun that showed off her adorable pointed ears. Like an elf. It was adorable.

  No! Don’t drool! You aren’t allowed to drool.

  “So, I was wondering if you wanted to get some lessons. I do teach surfboard lessons.” Zoey offered, gesturing to the second brown and red surfboard in her hands. It had the same colorings as my hair. Was that intentional?

  “You do surfboard lessons? As a career?” I was intrigued. There wasn’t anything wrong with this. I mean, there isn’t anything wrong with having a friend.

  Yes, she is only a friend.

  ‘Besides,’ a nasty voice in my mind crooned. I didn’t like it. It was like Sarah’s voice, but without any of the sweetness. ‘It is not like Miranda called you at all. So it’s not like she is a real fiancée.’

  It’s true. Bizarrely, Miranda hasn’t even texted me once during the entire vacation so far.

  It was okay, though. I was able to spend more time with Zoey.

  “Nah. I do a bunch of different things.” She threw her head back and laughed at the thought, leaning against a coconut tree, without a care in the world. “Don’t want to focus too much on one thing. I just want to enjoy life, y’know.”

  She was the epitome of a vacation. Her life was so free and beautiful; just like she was. She is everything I want- She is everything anyone would want in a relaxing vacation.

  How does she do it? Live like… this. It's not that it's a bad way to live, but… Without a schedule, I can never accomplish anything. Without guaranteed income, I would tear my hair out with anxiety. Without a goal, I would waste away.

  “What do you do?” She asked, smiling encouragingly at me. Her eyes were filled with such interest that a lie sprung to the tip of my lips. A lie that would impress her and make her see me as better than I am.

  I bit it back and decided to tell her the truth. What’s the worst that could happen?

  Oh, right. I could be a total dork with nothing interesting to say, as per usual.

  “Oh, erm… I’m an actuary.” As the words left my mouth I cringed. She is so cool and I am so lame. “Oh yes. Cool, interesting, and beautiful person; It is soo nice to meet you! By the way, I crunch numbers for a living.”

  Nobody hears that phrase and cares to hear another word about it.

  “Really?” She sounded intrigued. “I’ve never been that great with numbers. You must be some kind of math whizz.”

  My cheeks flushed at the compliment and my entire face lit up. Nobody has ever actually appreciated my intelligence before. Most people just want me to stop talking.

  I excitedly explained to her my job, my hopes for a promotion, and my future. “When I get my promotion, I can vacation anywhere, anytime I want. As an actuary, I can work anywhere.”

  “Oh,” She actually looked interested! This has never happened to me before! How can anybody be genuinely interested in work as mundane and boring as mine is? “So, where do you plan to go? When you get your promotion.”

  At the question, I just lit up and started telling her everywhere I wished to go in a word vomit.

  “Well, Italy for starters. Tokyo definitely. I was thinking of visiting Paris.” I started babbling about my favorite vacation spots.

  “You are enchanting.” She told me, getting close enough that I could feel her breath on my lips.

  Is it so wrong, that when I am around her, I think of nothing but her? She is so amazing in so many ways. She is kind, sweet, and attentive. She makes me feel like I am more than a mousy little calculator monkey.

  That's how a lot of people make me feel after learning about my work. Including, Miranda, unfortunately.

  I know I’m not the best girlfriend. Er, Fiancée.

  My time with Zoey has proven that.

  The longer I spend with her, the less I miss Miranda.

  I loved – I mean, love - Miranda, but I was still angry with her. And I rarely think about her anymore. She still hasn’t called me once this entire vacation!

  As she spoke to me, my stomach fluttering with butterflies I couldn’t even help my own movements. I was weak.

  I needed to feel the soft touch of her lips on mine. What would they taste like? How soft would they be? Would I moan, or could I keep myself controlled?

  Pfft. I knew the answer to the last question before I even asked it.

  I could feel it itch on my mind. I needed to know the answers to the questions I asked. And so I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her down to my level. I pressed my lips to hers in a searing kiss. It burnt me deep in my belly. It awakened something deep within me, that I was unaware was even there.

  Dragging her closer to my body with my hands on her muscular shoulders, my mind was blank. Only feelings flew through me, wanting- no, needing more. The rush, the fireworks, everything. It was just too much and too little all at once.

  It didn’t embarrass me. I was sure that it would make the coldest person on the planet to melt if they felt even a quarter as good as it does to be doing this.

  This whole situation was wrong. Knowing it was a ho
rrible, awful thing to do, made it no better. Especially when the only excuse I could muster, was the flimsy premise that I could not control myself. It was as if her very presence was a drug that I could not lose my addiction to.

  I pulled away, gasping for breath. I couldn’t even remember to breathe as I had just lost so much focus. She scrambled my brain and made my nerve endings feel like they were on fire, causing a thirst that I doubt could ever truly be quenched.

  “You leave me breathless,” I felt myself quip, lips quirking up in amusement as I heard the audible groan coming from my beloved.

  “That was so awful, Rachel.” She panted, joking just as I was. She loved all my jokes. “I mean, honestly, how could you-”

  Lacking even the patience to allow her to finish her jokes, my chapped lips pressed to her soft, full lips once again and I nearly melted. They tasted like coconut milk and raspberries. A mixture that I never considered before, but I could now, not think of a single thing more delectable than that.

  Of course, I may be biased, due to the sheer perfection of the woman in my arms.

  Biased or no, she was mine. And she would remain that way for the foreseeable future. I probably should have frozen at this thought, and really thought through everything that was going on right now.

  The thought, however, fled my mind as soon as it entered. The low, guttural moan that left her mouth was delicious. It should be illegal for someone to be so unapologetically flawless.

  An electric shock went throughout my body. Fireworks exploded behind my eyelids as my eyes fell shut. My stomach was twisting in the best of ways and butterflies were fluttering throughout me.

  How? What? I thought this didn’t actually happen. I thought it was just romantic drivel designed to make people feel good. I had never actually felt fireworks with anyone.

  Not even Miranda.

  I moaned into the kiss, my arms tightening around her beautifully toned body as I bathed in the attention as it felt like someone so beautiful and perfect was… mine. As I kissed her softly, I felt only sensations and so much adrenaline going throughout my body that I would later wonder why people bothered with silly things like drugs, when something like her existed.