AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I left the party early to get rest for the next day. Ben looked at me apologetically as I went, but I was doing my best to forget everything that had happened.
The hotel room was absolutely helping me forget, though. It was a real log cabin that gave me the feeling of being a person who actually lived near these magnificent mountains. It helped fuel my desire for escapism. As I entered, I was immediately enticed by the gigantic fireplace in the middle of the cabin. My bed was facing the vast window that showed the beautiful mountain peaks. It could not have been more beautiful.
I never slept as peacefully as I did that night, and I needed that more than anything.
The next morning, a very loud knock echoed throughout my cabin, jolting me awake. Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was the view outside. The sunlight made the snow glisten without melting it. Every single glance I took around the place felt like I was living in a painting, and I could not get enough of it. Another very loud knock brought me back, though, and I ran up to the door, thinking I was already late. I opened the door and was greeted by none other than my cameraman.
“Oh, it’s you,” I said, not keeping my disappointment in check.
“Excuse me?” Mark asked, still nonchalant as ever, but I could tell that he was slightly offended. “It’s nice to see you too, work buddy. Damn, woman, not even a hello?”
I put my hands up, trying to calm him down even though he didn’t look like he was angry at all, but maybe he was. I honestly couldn’t tell eighty percent of the time. Mark was a very hard guy to read. But he was a damn good cameraman, so I couldn’t really complain.
“I’m sorry, I was just jet-legged and sleep-deprived, that’s all,” I explained, even though my real reason was that I kind of wanted to see Ben first thing in the morning. He’d have a steaming hot cup of coffee for each of us. We’d take them back to bed and snuggle close and…
I had to get my shit together.
“Yeah, I heard about the little welcoming party they held last night. Hanging out with the rich people, eh?” Again, I wasn’t really sure how he really felt about that. I personally felt a bit annoyed to remember that party again, but it was a new day, and I could start over again.
“Well, we’re heading out in about thirty minutes. So get ready. I’ll come by then.”
“Wait, what time is it?” I asked, knowing damn well that I absolutely overslept, but I just needed to hear it from someone else.
“Damn, you really party that hard, did you? It’s almost noon. The crew’s been here for a couple of hours. Get dressed, Olivia, unless you wanna film in your pajamas.” Mark left me in my cabin, stunned.
“Shit!” I yelled and immediately ran to get myself ready. I enjoyed my sleep at this log cabin a little too much, I guess.
It was always a stressful time for me only to have such a limited time to get ready in the morning—well, afternoon. It was already bad enough that I was going to be surrounded by rich people who were laughing at me last night, but I was also going to be on camera. And this was going to be the next story after the roller coaster one that went viral.
It was just dawning on me while I was doing my make-up in the vanity mirror that there was way more pressure riding on my shoulders this time around. Before, the only person I had to seek the approval of was Ben Oviatt, which was already a pretty tall order. Now, a lot of people knew me, though I hadn’t really gotten the full grasp of how much they knew. Admittedly, I was trying to stay away from any of the comments on the story, because I wasn’t sure if I was ready to read all of that. Still, reading them or not, I had to do this story, and I had to make sure to nail it.
I just needed to remember what Lucy told me. It was just a story, but I still had to make it feel like it mattered. I had to exude that energy so I could get other people excited.
Mark came by my cabin once again, and I was ready in record time, thankfully. As I walked out of the door, I noticed that it was both hot and cold at the same time. Of course, the snow was pretty much all around us, but the heat of the sun warmed my skin. I was wearing some layers, but I felt like I could lose one or two. As we walked to the location, I was immediately skeptical of the idea for the story.
“Wait, why are we set up on the kiddie sled slopes?” I asked Mark, slightly panicked, as we trudged through the snow.
The other crew members were hard at work setting up sound and camera at the bottom of one slope. Next to them were some kids having the time of their lives on their sleds. Meanwhile, as I was looking around, I spotted a few adults skiing and snowboarding. I recognized a few people I met yesterday. And they were all watching.
“This won’t work at all. I’ll be a joke,” I said, stopping in my tracks.
Mark stopped as well after taking a couple of more steps, looking back at me.
“What do you mean? We can’t record you skiing down the big slopes. You said on your report that you don't know how to,” he pointed out. I pressed my lips together tightly.
“Yeah, but… think of how this looks! I’ll be evenmoreof a laughingstock if I do the story like this.” With a huff, I began to walk briskly toward the crew.
As I was trudging away, I heard Mark’s voice. “What do you mean,moreof a laughingstock?” But I didn’t answer him. I had no time.
A couple of steps away from the crew, I was about to call out to them, but before I could, I was stopped again.
“What are you doing?” Ben’s familiar voice from behind stopped me, frozen. “Is there a problem?”
I turned around to face him, expecting him to look completely hungover with dark bags under his eyes and a pale face. Oh, boy, how I was so wrong. That man was radiant even after a night of partying. His body wasn’t covered up by many layers as he was only wearing a dry-fit long-sleeved shirt that hugged his musclestightly. He had a light jacket that hung open.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure why he was here in the first place, but I just accepted that he was very naturally hands-on and meticulous, which meant that when he was given the chance to oversee his reporters, he would take it. That seemed like it was in his character.
“I…” I paused for a second, still frozen, but it wasn’t because of the snow. Hell, the snow should be melting based on the temperature of my skin. “I was just going to suggest moving over to that slope instead.” I pointed to one of the larger, legitimate ski slopes.
