An Eternal

Stella walked down the hall of the ski lodge, looking from room to room, searching for her room number. She held her phone and room key in one hand, and her suitcase in the other. She smiled as she remembered Jakob. He was quiet, and she liked that. He had a lonely air about him, that she was attracted to. She liked the way his blonde hair hung low on his shoulders, she thought it was sexy. She found her room, and slid the key into its lock, opening the door, and setting her stuff next to the bed. She sat down, and clasped her hands together. She bit her lip as she was deep in thought. Was it right of her to feel happy so soon after all that had happened to her? She should have been still grieving, and trying to find help from Dr. Conifer. She pulled a notebook out from her suitcase, and flipped through the pages, looking at the information that she had written. Dr. Conifer was not giving any speeches or classes until that weekend, so she had time to see him before then. Her phone vibrated, and she looked at the message. It was Jakob. 
“We’re meeting outside the lodge by the stairs at two. Come if you still want to.” She smiled, and texted back her confirmation. She quickly brushed out her hair, and put on some lip gloss. She smiled in the mirror, and grabbed her things. She walked down to the lobby of the lodge, and looked for Marcel and Jakob. She spotted Jakob standing by the door, wearing a light and dark blue stripped hooded jacket, with a dark toboggan hat covering the top of his head. He had his hands pushed into his pockets and he looked off into blank space, as if lost in thought. She smiled and approached him. 
“Um hey.” She said, “Jakob, right?” He snapped out of his thoughts, and said, 
“Um, yeah. Hey.” The air between them was about as thick as a brick wall. 
“Um, Marcel is going to be a bit late. He said he had something to do really fast, so we would meet him at the rental place.” Stella nodded, and said, 
“All right. That works I guess.” As they walked through the snow, Jakob’s mind flashed through old memories of Stella. He had made her smile, and cry. He couldn’t ever shake the memory of the last tear he saw her shed before she had killed herself. 
“So, are you from Montana?” She asked him. He brought his thoughts back to the present, and said, “Um, no. I’m originally from California. I move around a lot though, so I thought I should try Montana.” Stella smiled and said, 
“I kinda thought you looked like you were from there.” 
“What about you? What are you doing up here? Besides seeing Dr. Conifer.” She looked down and then up, as if questioning herself on whether she should say or not. 
“Um, I recently had to go through a whole lot of stress, and my doctors back home told me I should talk with Dr. Conifer. They said he was one of the best that there is.” 
Jakob nodded and sensed that she didn’t want to go any farther then what she was telling him, and didn’t probe any more then that. They reached the rental shop, and Jakob opened the door for her.
“Have you ever done anything like this before?” He asked, as they looked through skis and boards. 
She shook her head and said, “No. I didn’t think I would be doing anything but talking to the Doctor.” Jakob let out a slight laugh, and said, 
“Well, you cant come to a ski lodge, without doing something on the slopes. You’d have to be crazy not to.” Stella smiled slightly as Jakob pulled his phone out of his pocket. His eyebrows furrowed together as he read the message. He responded, and then closed the phone. 
“Marcel isn’t coming. He says to have fun without him, he’ll hit the slopes with us next time.” He silently cursed at Marcel, who was smiling in their room, just thinking of his plan to attempt to get his friend a girl. 
“So, do you still want to board or ski or whatever?” Stella asked Jakob. Something inside him told him to stay away from Stella, that something bad would happen if he didn’t. He didn’t listen to this feeling. 
“Sure. We’re already out here, might as well have some fun.” She smiled as he asked, “Board or skis?”
Jakob opened the door to his room, to find Marcel sitting back in a chair, with his feet propped up on a desk. He was reading a playboy magazine. 
“Had something important to do huh?” Jakob said as he pulled off his hat and plopped down on the bed. 
“Dude, you know you owe me. Stella was interested in you, and not me. Go for the girl man!” Jakob kicked off his shoes and sighed. Stella was flirting with him. He remembers the way her eyes look in longing. They were stormy grey, and shielded. She reminded him of those kind of days, where clouds completely cover the sky, but the day is still bright and warm. The same as a threat. A danger, coated in a fake cover of beauty and control. In a way she was a threat to him. Then he came across an epiphany. Was she a threat to him? Or was he the threat to her?