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“I guess. I mean, considering what happened…But I came up to the mountains in the first place to get away. I thought hiking would be the answer, but this is much better.” I grinned.
“Well, I can’t really take that as a compliment. I mean, the cabin is the better of two genuinely shitty options.”
I chuckled, “The mountain wasn’t supposed to be a shitty option. However, I still think this is nicer.”
“Wow. Maybe you hit your head a little harder than I thought,” he joked.
“No, seriously, Johnathan. I’ve always been a simple girl. I don’t need a lot and lately, there has been a lot to deal with.”
“What do you mean? What do you do, when you’re not…attempting to return to nature?”
“I am in college. I’m studying to be a paralegal,” I answered. “I go to NC state.”
“Damn,” Johnathan answered, “I guess you’re right. You do have an excuse to want to get away.”
“It’s not that I want to get away from anything. I can’t wait to get on with my life. I love helping people and I can’t wait to start doing what I’m going to school for…Schools not that bad. It’s just…a lot.” I simpered, “I needed a break from it all, just to recharge my batteries. While I really didn’t have anyone, who wanted to go with me, I wasn’t exactly begging anyone to come with me either. I was happy to go alone, because I thought it would help me relax.”
“What kind of high maintenance friends do you have?” He teased.
“One of the most high-maintenance…and she knows it too. She would tell you. She’s crazy, but we’ve been friends for years. If I took her along, I would have to hear her bitching about bugs, the sun, the grass, the stones, the sky and the mountain itself for a week. She isn’t an outdoors person.”
“And…no one else would go with you?”
“I wouldn’t want anyone else to go with me. My parents wouldn’t climb a mountain and my other friends, they’re school friends, you know? Not, go brave the wilderness friends.”
“There’s a difference?”
“Of course, there’s a difference,” I answered with a slight insinuation to my voice that he immediately picked up on.
“You realize, you’re talking to the guy who prefers the company of a dog, to any human beings, right?”
“Fair enough. So, you just hate everybody, huh?”
“Yeah, pretty much,” he retorted playfully, “People are stupid.”
I rolled my eyes, “So, do you think you’re better than everyone else, or what?”
“Oh, God no. I’m a dick. I wouldn’t want to be my friend either. I’m surprised poor Jake has stuck it out this long,” he insisted playfully.
“Jake loves you,” I insisted, glancing at the dog, who was now looking between us, hoping that someone would sacrifice a piece of bacon for him.
“He just loves me because I feed him,” Johnathan insisted.
“Sometimes, that’s all you need.”
“Yup, this pup is all I need,” Johnathan, insisted, giving up a piece of his bacon to an extremely happy Jake, as he pet the dogs massive head.
Jake swallowed the bacon in one bite and immediately started to scour both of our plates for another.
“That’s all you get,” Johnathan insisted, “Don’t look at her plate. She needs her strength. You’re fine.”
As though Jake understood what his owner was saying, he huffed in protest before flopping onto the floor and laying down, away from us.
“He’s never happy, that dog,” Johnathan laughed.
“But he’s so cute!” I exclaimed, wishing I had given up some of my bacon while I still had the chance.
“Ugh…He’s two-hundred pounds of pure muscle and fur… He’s not cute.”
