Cabin Fever

The first time I met Viktor, he’d grabbed my ass nonchalantly twice within a thirty minute span. Kat had only introduced me to her boyfriend two weeks prior, and suddenly my social calendar was booming with activities such as hockey games and frequenting the bars. But when she introduced me to Viktor, she was wearing that secret smile that she wore when I was supposed to try extra hard to like someone.

He’d emitted that lazy kind of confidence even after I had scolded him, swatting his hand away hastily and hoping Kat didn’t catch me chiding her boyfriend’s friend. He’d chuckled, his eyes boring into mine. “Sorry, my hand slipped.”

Despite that very first apology, Viktor’s behavior did not stop from there. He was the type of person that, when he saw something he wanted, he went for it incessantly. The trait was admirable in an annoying kind of way.

After that initial meeting, I saw him more and more frequently. Surely, that was Marcus and Kat’s doing, since Kat had it in her head that since she was madly in love, I needed to be too. I avoided Viktor like the plague, but it grew increasingly more difficult as the weeks wore on.

Agreeing to go on a date with Viktor was the first mistake I made. Enjoying said date was the second mistake, and allowing him to kiss me was the third. After that one night he had written me off, until we were both at the same bar six days later. I’d tried to shrug him off, because honestly, being written off by him had been a blow to my ego. But somehow, that evening, I committed the fourth mistake by having a few too many drinks and allowing him to take me home.

The fifth mistake was growing accustomed to the idea of maybe growing to like Viktor, something that Kat had been over the moon about. She was on the verge of booking a chapel for our double weddings when I was smacked in the face with reality.

Viktor had told me things about him, but he never told me that he had a gorgeous, intelligent girlfriend. In fact, he didn’t tell anybody. Instead, he’d surprised us all with her when she was his guest at the following Blackhawks’ home game. She was absolutely gorgeous, and I was the mediocre shag that had tided him over until his girlfriend was within reach.

The real woman that had captivated Viktor’s attention was everything I expected he would truly want. She was attending university to be a doctor, she had a large family that she adored, and it made me absolutely angry that Viktor turned me into that girl that shagged the boyfriends of nice girls. I despised him for slaying my character and making it impossible to enjoy the company of one of the sweetest girls I’d ever met.

Neither Marcus nor Kat knew what to say to me when the situation occurred. Marcus was on the verge of spending his evenings whispering his “Hail Mary’s” and Kat was tip-toeing around me as if someone had died. Every time I tried to discuss how angry I was, everyone assessed me as if I were crazy. I was supposed to cry, but crying was the last thing I wanted to be doing. I’d much rather make Viktor cry, if he were even able to process common human emotions.

It had taken three days for Viktor to realize that there was an issue, and when he confronted me about it he thought the only problem was how upset I was. When I asked him why he did the things that he did, all he could do was shrug and say, “It’s just sex, Demi. It’s not a big deal. And what she doesn’t know, doesn’t hurt her”.

I’d chosen not to tell Kat and Marcus this; solely because I was sure that Marcus would send himself to the seminary, and Kat would probably take the whole thing a lot harder than I was. I spared them the disappointment, and seethed in the privacy of my own apartment.

And still to this day, as I sat in the cold entertainment room of the cabin, I wanted to claw Viktor’s eyes out because he was that type of guy and I had wanted him to be different.

As I shook myself from my thoughts, I contemplated giving Viktor another piece of my mind just for the hell of it. I had to find something to do, and ripping him a new one seemed much more entertaining than the re-run of “A Cinderella Story” on television. I glanced at the clock on the far wall, squinting to catch the time. My cake would be ready in five minutes.

I stood up and walked back to the kitchen, avoiding glancing into the living room altogether as I cut through. I checked on the cake through the small oven window before I grabbed the oven mittens and the cooling rack. I pulled my chocolate masterpiece from the oven with a smile of satisfaction.

“Chocolate cake? Ew.” Viktor walked by me, casting me a scowl as he pushed past me toward the fridge. 

I rolled my eyes. “Good thing it wasn’t made for you.”

He reached into the fridge with a scoff, loudly rummaging through its contents surely just for show and attention. I grabbed for the tub of frosting, frowning at the canister. Kat had purchased cream cheese, unlike my preferred and typical white frosting. Either way, it would have to do.

I spun to grab my cake, with every intent to put it in the fridge to speed up the cooling process, only to be cut off by Viktor. He slammed his water bottle onto the counter, stepping toward me until there was a thin amount of space between myself, Viktor, and the counter. I swallowed as I gazed up at him, a little intimated by his actions.

“Listen, it’s only been two days and I’ve already had it up to here with your shitty one liners and attempts at insults,” He told me calmly. I felt like I’d been slapped. “If you’re so much better than me, Demetra, then why don’t we discuss this like adults?”

“Because,” I placed my hands on his solid chest, trying to push him away with me at no avail. He smirked at my half-hearted attempt. “I don’t want to waste my breath on you anymore, Stalberg. You’re despicable. You disgust me.”

“Yeah? Why, Demi? Why do I disgust you? I didn’t trick you into bed with me. You willingly slept with me and you didn’t even bother to ask if I had a girlfriend so you’re just as shitty as I am then. Don’t be so full of yourself.”

“Don’t you dare,” I drove my fingernail into his chest angrily, attempting to shove him back again. “Dare insinuate that we are one in the same. I would never screw a guy with a girlfriend. You go around humping whatever looks your way even though you have a girlfriend. How could you do that?”

“Because,” He drawled, grabbing my wrist and yanking it off of his chest roughly. “I don’t need to explain myself to you. You didn’t know my situation, so you can shut the hell up. If I’m such a bad guy, then why do you keep coming back for more?”

“Because you won’t fucking go away!” I shouted. “I’ve begged for you to leave me alone but you still come back like a god damned fly!”

“I don’t think you want me to go away, Demi. I think you like this, fighting with me.” Viktor leaned forward, his lips tugging at a smirk. I instinctively bent backwards as far as my back would allow, glaring at him skeptically.

“You must’ve been smoking something when I wasn’t looking. That ship has long since sailed for me.” I rolled my eyes, seeing a gap underneath my arm. I quickly darted out from his trap, smiling victoriously as I grabbed my warm cake and put it in the fridge. He turned to face me, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Just admit to yourself that you like me, or at least thing I’m hot. You wouldn’t still be standing here wasting your breath on me if you hated me so bad.”

“In your wildest dreams. You disgust me, Stalberg, and that’s never going to change. I hate myself for even thinking for a second that you weren’t a scumbag like I thought you were the first night I met you.” I declared boldly, before spinning on my heel and walking out of the kitchen.

When I approached my room I shut the door behind me, making sure it was locked. With no light in the room except for the lamp on the desk, I laid down in bed and closed my eyes in hopes that the throbbing pain behind my eyes would go away.