When she woke up the next morning the weather was cold and frosty and the weather-man said there was a high chance of heavy snow later in the afternoon. She packed accordingly, adding a heavy sweater and second coat to the clothes she’d shoved in a duffle bag. Her packing complete, she made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some food that would keep well for the three hour drive up the mountain and the weekend at the cabin.
As she wandered the large department store she found herself in a section of lingerie. She had packed warm flannel pajamas for the cold December nights, but maybe Nathan would prefer if she brought a couple of “sexy” nighties along too. A particularly pretty lavender set caught her eye and she grabbed it on impulse along with a black slinky night dress in her size. Throwing them in the cart without even trying them on, Natalie hurried to the check out at the front of the store. If they fit, great. If not, Nathan would never know she had bought them.
The guy at the register was not much older than Natalie, and as he scanned the lingerie he smirked unattractively, “Big weekend with your boyfriend?”
Natalie was mortified to have been asked such a personal question, but keeping her cool responded, “My girlfriend actually, and I’m sure your manager wouldn’t be happy if I told him you were making inappropriate comments to customers instead of doing your job.”
The jerk’s mouth dropped open but nothing came out. Shaking his head in disbelief he finished tallying her things in silence and stammered out the total. When she’d put it on her credit card he asked “Do you, er, need help to your car?”
Natalie couldn’t help it, she laughed. “Help from you? You have got to be kidding me!”
Still laughing, she walked away just as he muttered “Jeeze, I have to ask that question to every customer!”
Once home, Natalie packed the food and drinks into a cooler, grabbed her duffle bag, and placed it all in the large cargo space of her Volvo wagon. She left a message on her parent’s cell phone, telling them she would be spending a few days with her best friend Stephanie. She felt a little guilty about the lie, but she knew Steph would back her up, and she could hardly tell her parents her real intention. She looked around the empty house, and satisfied she hadn’t forgotten anything, locked it and headed for Nathan’s.
As she pulled up to the large Tudor style house Natalie was surprised that Nathan’s car wasn’t the only one in the drive. Parked next to the small black Saab was Stephanie’s Toyota Corona. It was winter break, but was there some sort of assignment she was supposed to be working on with them that she forgot about? Walking in without bothering to knock, Natalie looked around the empty living room, then turned and headed up the stairs. “Maybe they’re studying upstairs in his room,” she said naively to herself as she reached the landing. But as she swung open the door, she realized that what her best friend and boyfriend were doing on Nathan’s bed wasn’t something they had covered last semester.