Double Booked

There was never anything extraordinarily exceptional about Nora Daniels.

Her hair was limp and had never decided whether or not it wanted to be blonde or brunette. Her figure, while fit, was in no means considered sexy - narrow hips, average bust, gangling sinewy limbs. Her job title as a microbiologist was the only thing she found close to exciting in her life, but unfortunately others didn’t seem to think so and she was often considered a dull conversational partner. And most of all, her sex life was the least exceptional of them all.

All of these factors seemed to broaden themselves on Nora’s horizon as she peered into her neatly packed suitcase, which consisted mostly of blacks and whites along with any shade of gray between that. Blue jeans, she decided, didn’t count as exciting because those were a staple in any closet - rich or poor. The only counterpart to her suitcase was the subtle burst of violet that she had stuffed between a bundle of white t-shirts on a whim. The purple blouse was likely the most exciting part of Nora’s life.

But she decided that needed to change.

After an eight hour drive including three bathroom breaks and two fast food runs, Nora had arrived at her friend’s microscopic cabin nestled deep within the Black Hills of South Dakota’s scenic western region. Nora sat back on her haunches, tearing her eyes from her suitcase just long enough to take in the cabin’s honeyed wooden interior. It was calm and cozy, offering just enough windows to catch a glimpse of the sunset that allowed the hills to live up to their title. Against the sky’s warm pallet, the hills morphed into rising shadows. This, Nora determined, was a much needed change from the skyscrapers she had grown all too accustomed to.

Finally there was something in her life more exciting than a lousy piece of clothing. Nora hadn’t been on a vacation in years, and even then it had been planned and executed wholly by her parents. She needed an escape from the stark white lab room and this had served as the perfect excuse. When her friend had mentioned something about the one-bedroom cabin she and her husband rented out during the summer months, Nora had jumped a the chance and booked the first flight she could get her hands on to the Sioux Falls, SD airport. What she was going to do out in the Old West, Nora wasn’t sure. But for the first time in her life, Nora was playing things by ear and hoping for the best.

But first things first, she decided as she reached for the toiletry bag strapped to her suitcase, was a much needed shower.

---

Sidney Crosby needed to get away.

He decided the cause of his need was the fact that he always seemed to make himself available for others. His phone was always on and with him. His friends, family, and even teammates came to him for relief of their own lives’ woes. And most importantly, his vocabulary seemed to lack the word ‘no’ - a necessity when one is living a demanding lifestyle.

Yes, Sidney Crosby definitely needed to get away. And a two-week vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota sounded like the perfect remedy to his hectic life. As if dealing with a concussion that restricted him from playing the game he loved wasn’t enough, the publicity that came with his injury had become his own personal bit of hell. And as a result, he had restricted his phone from purposes not having to do with emergencies or doctors for the duration of his vacation, and that was that.

As Sidney steered his rented SUV carefully down the steep driveway leading to the cabin that would serve as his rescue shelter for the next two weeks, he observed that a light had been left on somewhere inside. But he didn’t give the light a second thought and instead shifted the vehicle into park beside the cabin and extinguished its engine. Probably left on by the renters, he decided indifferently, when they’d come to check on the place.

Tiredly, but in a timely manner, he hauled the stack of luggage from the backseat of his vehicle to just beside the front door, fumbling for the key that would allow him entrance. Though Sidney Crosby would never admit it, something about the wilderness at night made him nervous. Just because the hockey player was built like a brick wall didn’t mean he stood a chance against an attacking grizzly.

Or a snake. He hated snakes.

All thoughts of savage predators were quickly tossed from his mind, though, as she pushed back the front door and immediately spotted the open suitcase sprawled in the middle of the little living room. He froze, his hackles risen, and tried to make sense of it. All thoughts of his own luggage were abandoned as studied the lone suitcase. But all attempts to figure it out were fruitless. Could someone have left it here? Had someone broken in? Or maybe someone else was staying here, too?

Not likely, he decided, quickly storing that thought away.

All doubts were quickly washed away as he heard the rattle of a doorknob and the squeaky opening of a door. Sidney braced himself as a figure emerged, not entirely ecstatic about the thought of his well-planned vacation being crashed by a complete stranger.

So much for getting away.

---

Nora hadn’t given much thought to wandering around the cabin in the nude until she realized she wasn’t alone. She hadn’t given much thought to the possibility of not being alone, either, but that too was quickly shot to hell as she realized that she was, in fact, not alone.

“Holy sh-” she hissed, not registering whether it be a ‘he’ or ‘she’ in the cabin with her but only caring that there was something in general.

And there she was - starkly, embarrassingly, completely naked.

“Oh my, God,” a male voice - filled with just as much shock - retorted, and she briefly saw the figure shield its eyes as she reached for the nearest object that could serve as a makeshift cover-up. She found a moth-eaten towel and quickly fastened it around herself, making sure none of the moth-holes landed at a spot that would expose her personals.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded as soon as she was covered and had turned to face her intruder.

He looked at her incredulously. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Her mouth gapped and tried to determine whether or not this could be a bad dream. “I’m staying here,” Nora told him sternly, reaching for her phone that she had set on the kitchen counter. “And I suggest you scram before I’ve got the cops arresting your intruding ass-” But all hopes of that plan quickly fell through as she glanced at her phone.

No service.

Briefly, she recalled her friend telling her about ‘reception hill’ - supposedly the only area within a ten mile radius that allowed cell phone reception. She made a quick mental note to find it first thing in the morning.

The man’s mouth flapped stupidly, but no words were emitted. “I think you got the wrong place,” he suggested finally. “I’m staying here.”

Nora was about to disagree with him further, but then she began putting two-and-two together. And, judging by the look on the man’s face, so was he.

“Of course,” she breathed, running a hand exhaustedly through her tangled, wet hair. The one time she plans something a little outrageous for her taste, it goes horribly wrong. “I got double booked.”

The man looked at her. “Well?” he demanded.

“Well what?” she spat, throwing one arm in the air for emphasis while the other secured her towel against her chest. “There’s nothing we can do about it now - it’s almost ten-thirty at night.”

He looked at her, but said nothing. She was right and he knew it.

She huffed out an exasperated breath, willing her mind to think clearly. Maybe another shower would help. “You can take the couch,” she told the stranger. “Or whatever, I don’t care. As long as you leave me alone; we can figure something out tomorrow.”

As she zipped up her suitcase and moved to haul it up the stairs leading to the cabin’s one bedroom, she could hear the whoever-he-was begin to object her order. “How come you get-”

“Because I was here first,” she reasoned, hardly sparing him a look a she stomped up the staircase and out of sight.

Good night.

---

Sidney blinked. He felt the need to pinch himself, and somehow determine that what had just happened was just a dream. But the light shining down from the staircase seemed to do the job perfectly.

So much for a vacation, he grumbled silently, already fishing his pillow from the two-weeks worth of supplies that he had brought in shortly after a complete stranger had banished him to the couch. Bizarre, he decided. Completely bizarre.

He tried not to worry about the remainder of his vacation as he pulled a blanket from a nearby trunk and settled down onto his couch for the night. At this point, sleep in general sounded like heaven, whether it be on a bed or the hardwood floor. He could just get some shuteye, call his travel agent in the morning, and all would be well. He wasn’t about to let his vacation be ruined. Not if he could help it.

As all worries silently drowned from his thoughts and he never minded the fact that what he thought to be a completely empty cabin that was his for the next two weeks had in fact been inhabited by a very naked woman, Sidney became in sync with the crickets chirping quietly outside the cabin and the quiet rustle of the wind through the prairie grasses.

And soon enough, he was fast asleep.

---

Nora couldn’t concentrate on the book she held open in front of her. Not while a stranger slept one story below.

She discarded the book and rolled over to switch off her reading lamp, deciding the best thing she could do would be to forget about the fact that her very private vacation had just been crashed by a very large muscle man. Instead, she thought about how she was finally there. Away from her job. Away from home. Away from any and all worries. She was ready for her long-awaited adventure to finally begin.

And she wasn’t about to let some sack of meat stop her.