Kissing Fire (26 page)

“Sounds good to me,” Melissa answered.

The guys weren’t saying a thing. All they were doing
was staring at Melissa’s hair. And boobs. She had some whoppers, no
doubt about it. She’d shimmy around and mush them together so they
looked like gigantic fuchsia marshmallows just waiting to be
squeezed.

“So you did good today Melissa. Guys, where are you
gonna take her tomorrow?”

No answer. Just heavy breathing. Or more like
panting. And some drooling too.

“Okay guys, look, if you three want to leave, just
say so. I’m good here. I work here. I know everyone. I can grab a
bite to eat and go home. It’s cool. Really.”

The three of them looked at me, then at each other
and they all left me sitting there. I scratched my head, still
trying to figure it all out. Here I was thinking that Melissa would
be ostracized, but no, she goes home with two guys instead. I mean
that sort of creeped me out and all, but she was a consenting adult
and who was I to interfere, right? Besides, she scared the hell out
of me, so I wasn’t going to say anything.

********

Since I went home alone that night, I decided to
rent a DVD. I stopped at one of those little rental kiosks and
picked out a romantic comedy. I needed a large laugh, because it
seemed like everyone was having fun but me.

I walked into my studio and tossed everything on the
table. I wandered into my bedroom, which really was the living room
too. My flannel jammies, the ones with the pink poodles on them
that I had recently purchased from Victoria’s Secret, were calling
out to me. They were laying on my bed so I was undressing as I
walked. Down to nothing but my panties, I was reaching for my
jammie top when something unusual caught my eye. It was Preston’s
shirt...the one I still slept with every night, hugged tightly to
my chest, tucked right beneath my nose, like a baby’s blanket.
Here’s the thing. I always, and I mean always, tucked that damn
shirt beneath my pillow every morning. The reason I knew I did it
was because I was truly embarrassed by the fact that I slept with
the damn thing. This morning, I had been extra careful, even though
I was hung over as hell, but I had taken care because Melissa was
there and I didn’t want her to know that I slept with Preston’s
shirt. There was no way in hell I wanted to hear her crap over it.
So yes, I had tucked that thing under my pillow with care before I
had even gotten out of bed.

So...how the hell did it get from under my pillow to
the top of my bed? Did it grow feet? That was highly unlikely. The
real question was, who’d been in my studio snooping around?

Quickly pulling on my jammie bottoms, I looked
around for signs of anything else. Was anything missing? I didn’t
have much. I had to buy most of my stuff after I’d arrived here
because everything was still at Justin’s. Preston had brought me a
few sweaters and things, but I had no jewelry to speak of and
nothing really of value other than my laptop and TV. They were
untouched, so who had been in here? It had to have been some
creeper snooping through my things. I decided I would call my
landlord in the morning and find out if anyone else might have a
key. Just to be safe, I dragged the couch in front of the door. I
wanted to make sure I didn’t have any unexpected intruders during
the night.

The whole thing freaked me out and had my heart
thumping for the rest of the night. The DVD was a wash. I couldn’t
focus on it long enough to enjoy it. I tried to sleep but thoughts
of the creeper and then of Preston prevented that. I chalked up one
more sleepless night in Vail.

********

The next morning, since I didn’t hear from anyone, I
just showed up at the ski school, and there they all stood waiting
for me.

“Where the heck have you been?” Melissa asked.

“Well, a phone call would’ve been nice.”

“Oh, sorry. We were a little, um, busy.”

“Oh please. Spare me the details. So what’s up for
today? Double blacks with some waist high moguls?” I asked
sarcastically.

Griffin smiled and said, “We thought we’d hold off
on that until tomorrow. But we’ll move to the black runs today. We
think she’s ready, don’t we Marley.”

“Oh, our girl is definitely ready,” the three of
them chuckled. This was going to be a long day.

“You know, why don’t we meet up around lunch?
That’ll give you all time to ski together without having to worry
about me.”

“You sure?” Melissa asked.

“Oh yeah. I’ll hit the back bowls
and then we can meet for lunch and ski together this afternoon.
Name the time and place.”

We decided on Two Elk at one thirty and I was off.
It was a beautiful day and the snow was perfect, not a powder day,
but packed and groomed. I made it to the back and did a bunch of
runs, but all the while, I felt odd, like someone was watching me.
I’d stop and look, but never saw anyone. Sure I was imagining
things, I’d point my skis down mountain and take off again. That
feeling persisted all morning, even after I met the gang for
lunch.

After lunch we skied the front side
of the mountain, but sure enough, they had Melissa skiing groomed
black runs by then. And boy what a site she was. She looked like an
enormous flaming fuchsia flower flying down the mountain. I’d never
seen anything like it. And the whoops and hollers she made as she
went were never to be heard again on the slopes of Vail, unless she
came back to make them herself. People stopped and stared at her
everywhere. It was difficult not to. She
owned
that mountain when she
skied.

That night, it was just the two of us. That was
Melissa’s choice. Griffin and Marley were still drooling over her,
but she begged off, saying she was tired and wanted to spend some
alone time with me.

We headed back to my place and I still felt like
someone was watching me. It was starting to creep me out, and I
kept jerking my head around, hunting for the source.

“What is wrong with you?” Melissa wanted to
know.

“I don’t know. I keep feeling like someone is
watching me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s me they’re looking
at. I get that all the time.”

“No, I was feeling it all day. Even when I was
alone.”

“That’s strange. Do people normally stare at
you?”

“Um, not really. I’m not what you’d call a people
magnet, Melissa.”

“Yeah, don’t take this the wrong way, but I didn’t
think so.”

What a way to make a girl feel good.

“I’ve never been one to attract a lot of attention
like that.”

“I think you just need to put on a few pounds and
that would do you,” she suggested.

“Oh, I don’t know. I’ve grown out of everything now,
several times. I can’t keep doing this because it costs a fortune
to keep buying clothes.”

“Why don’t you find a good consignment shop?”

“I guess I haven’t been anywhere long enough to
think about that.”

“So Ava, what are you going to do now?”

I stopped walking and grabbed her arm. “I’ve decided
to stay here. Permanently. I’ve always loved it, ever since I was a
small child. I love to ski. I don’t want to leave.”

She eyed me for the briefest minute and then said,
“I can see you here. You fit right in. But Ava, you need to put on
some weight and change your hair.”

“My hair? What’s wrong with my hair?”

“You need some curls. You saw how those guys went
after me. It was the hair Ava. They couldn’t get enough of it. They
rubbed themselves all over it.”

I held out my hand, palm out. “Stop. Melissa I don’t
want to hear any more. Please. That’s just too much
information.”

“Well, okay, but the hair is a man grabber. I’m
telling ya. You could go red and curly too. Just think of the
possibilities.”

Oh good lord, there wasn’t anything in this world
that would make me do that.

And she didn’t stop there. “I think you need to
dress a little flashier too. You know, grab some attention. When
you walk into a room, you want people to notice you. You need to
make an Ava statement. Right now, you just sort of blend into the
wall.”

My face must’ve looked odd, because she threw her
arm around me and said, “I’m not trying to hurt your feelings Ava.
I want to help you out of this depression you’re in. I want you
happy!”

“Melissa, I don’t think I’ll ever
be happy again. He destroyed everything that was happy for me. I
thought he was it. I thought I’d always be with him and that I’d
never have to look again. I don’t want to look because there is no
one else for me. No matter how many years pass, I’ll always feel
this way. So truthfully, I don’t
want
to be noticed when I walk into a
room. I don’t
want
to make an Ava statement. I want to slink right on into the
background and just blend in like I’m not there.”

“Ava, you can’t mean that. At least not forever
anyway. Come on, let’s go home,” she said as we walked, she with
her arm around me. I felt like a dwarf next to her, but it was okay
because for once in a long time, I felt comforted.

The last day of Melissa’s visit flew by. We skied,
then we finished early because I had booked a massage for us over
at the spa at The Vail Chalet. We were pampered and drank some wine
and then ended up at Wildflower’s for a great dinner. Ironically, I
still felt like I was being watched. Melissa asked me about it
several times and she kept an eye out for anything that looked out
of order, but we both came up with nothing.

We strolled into my apartment after midnight, so we
sat around for a couple more hours and chatted. Melissa thought I
needed to open a business in Vail where women sumo wrestlers could
come and ski during the winter months and mountain bike in the
summer. I didn’t want to burst her bubble, but I didn’t see a huge
market for that. Instead of doing that, I told her I would do a bit
of research on it. She insisted it would be a big seller. She said
we could even sponsor a sumo ski event, where they would ski in
their sumo outfits. She did add they would wear helmets for safety.
I couldn’t seem to get that visual out of my head.

We both fell asleep shortly after that, but
something awakened me a few hours later. I wasn’t sure what it was,
so I got out of bed and went into the kitchen to get a drink of
water. As I stood over the sink, I looked out at the street and
noticed a man standing directly across from my building. He was
dressed solidly in black but I couldn’t discern any of his
features. I could’ve sworn we made eye contact, but he didn’t look
away. He was too far away for me to recognize anything familiar
about him, and he wore a hat that he’d pulled down close to his
eyes. Of course, the first person I thought of was Preston, and I
immediately felt a surge of heat crawl across my skin.

But why would he be here? The answer was obvious,
but too much so. If he’d come here, why hadn’t he called? I’d
decided it wasn’t him after all. My heart fell as I realized how
badly I wanted it to be him. But what if it had been? Had I really
wanted to see him? Was I ready to talk? I clasped my hands together
and moaned. I didn’t know. I just didn’t know. Yes, I wanted him,
or at least my body did. But I’d been so hurt by that stupid lie.
Was Justin right? Would I hurt like this forever, because I was
more than ready to move past this? I was as miserable today as I
was months ago when I left him in a mess of tears. No, I didn’t cry
nearly as often, but only because I believed I’d trained my body
not to do so. Mere thoughts of him could still bring me to my
knees, just like I was feeling now.

Finishing up my glass of water, I went back to bed,
knowing thoughts of Preston would prevent me from getting any more
sleep that night. My body was on fire with just the thought of him
standing outside my apartment. If I had any kind of courage at all,
I’d throw on a jacket and run out there right now. But courage had
never been my forte, so I lay in bed and tossed and turned the
remainder of the night.

In the morning, we loaded Melissa and her belongings
in the car and I drove her to Eagle-Vail Airport. We hugged and
hugged when I left her, but I didn’t expect the surge of sadness
that invaded me when I drove away.

Christmas morning I woke up and was
saddened by having to spend it alone. I’d signed up to work the
whole day, but we weren’t expected to be very busy that night. Most
people left the slopes and headed straight to either their homes or
hotels for their holiday activities. They didn’t spend much time
drinking, eating tacos and hanging out at Tres Chicas on
Christmas.

My phone was staring me in the face and I knew I had
to do it, but my stomach turned at the thought of placing that call
home. I wanted to wish my family a Merry Christmas, but I also knew
it would kill me to do so. Mustering up the courage, I dialed their
number, praying the whole time my mom wouldn’t answer the
phone.

“Merry Christmas!” a deep voice said on the other
end of the line.

“Merry Christmas Dad.”

“Ava! What a great surprise! It’s so wonderful to
hear your voice. How are you honey?”

“Dad, I’m great!” I said, trying to force myself to
sound that way. “I’m living in Vail now.”

“That’s what Justin tells us. You know, I can just
see you there. I think that’s a perfect fit for you honey. You
always did love that place, even when you were a little kid.”

“Yeah, and I still love it. I’ve decided on doing
some consulting work for Vail resorts.” I hoped I sounded
convincing again.

“Oh honey, that’s great. I’m so proud of you. Hang
on a minute. There’s someone here that wants to speak to you.”

Please oh please don’t let it be Mom!

“Well, look at you miss ski bunny, all fancified and
all out in Vail!”