When an icy blizzard blows into rural Colorado at the start of blizzard season, everything that could go wrong for Sierra St. Vincent goes wrong. A naturally stubborn woman with a blurry past, she wants nothing more than to get in her career and spe...
I swiveled around in my chair with a sigh. It's late. How did I let time get away from me that fast? The tick of the clock and the waterfall Sierra insisted I use are the only sounds I hear.
My thoughts travel back to this afternoon for lunch.
"Hey y'all! I brought lunch!" Sierra, Mia, and Scarlett with her pregnant belly and Roman in tow burst into our private meeting.
I watched my cousin, Stone lift his son up in his arms and kiss his Bond on the cheek. Mia sat next to Stone with her hand on his. I sighed. A pang of unjustifiable jealousy caught me off guard.
Scarlett went over contracts with Royce while he tried to convince her to join us.
Sierra helped one of our secretaries set up the hot soup. I always looked forward to her meals.
"Aye! Save me some! I'll be right back." I couldn't take the scene in front of me any longer. I waited until they were done to come back.
"We're on the way out so I packed it up for you." Mia handed me the steaming mini crockpot. Suddenly I felt guilty for avoiding them. Mia and Sierra didn't mean any harm.
Bringing myself back to the present, I sighed again. I packed up my briefcase and headed home. To my cold home.
Light snow danced around me. Another night alone. I need a vacation...
I stand by the fire. It's three am. The clock is ticking. I take a sip of my liquor of choice. I'm shirtless in just some low-rise underwear. Then I allow my thoughts to go to her. The her I haven't met yet.
I don't know what you look like. If you're tall or short. I think of the day I'll meet you. Look you in the eyes and fall in love for real. I want to know everything. I think about what you like, dislikes, your life experiences...everything. I accept you just as you are.
I think of the night I'll make love to you. Making love like I never have before, for no other woman. The way you like it. I want to hold you close to me, smell your hair, count your freckles.
I'm tired of this cold feeling in my heart. I'll keep searching the earth for you. For I am nothing without you.
I need a vacation...
Meanwhile,
Jai Lawson turned in her last time sheet of her career. She twisted her lips in disappointment. Much like her entire life, reaction to her goals and expectations were met with indifference.
Jai has stood by and watched her male counterparts meet this day with fanfare, celebration and acknowledgment. She shakes her head. Told myself I wouldn't be comparing to other people.
She turns in her belongings and got in the Lyft to the airport. Never looking back at the misogynistic, ignorant and sexist place known as NASCAR.
Her flight is delayed and after three connecting flights, she is in the icy tundra that is Colorado in the winter. It's not Florida this time of year.
Jai steps out of her cab and into the winter wonderland of her hometown, Ice Cliff, Colorado. She is upset that her mother still works at the worn-down diner in the heart of town. Jai has sent her mother much money over the years to make sure she didn't have to work unless she wanted.
"Is that my baby!" Her mother bounds down the steps in her waitress uniform. "Finally done playing with cars!" She kisses all over her. A pang of hurt courses through her.
"Ma! Don't do this!" She laughs off. The elders in town came outside to hug her as she walked in the warm diner. Her mother made her some food she hadn't eaten in years. Even when she took breaks during the holidays to go home.
"Are you here permanently?"
"Maybe. I don't know-"
"Oh good! That means a man! Grandbabies!"
But that's not what I said, she thought. Jai sat in her mother's kitchen a little frustrated a few days later. Old Man Jenkins had been calling around for somebody to give his truck, that's older than her by the way, an oil change and tire rotation. Her mother recommends that she does it.
So, he pulled up at 6 am this morning with the truck and she woke her up. I am on vacation, she ranted in her head. Meaning I have no supplies. But Old Man Jenkins was her grandfather's best friend. And she always rode for family.
Jai leaves the kitchen to put on her workman's jumpsuit and timbs. She pulls her long back length hair up in its signature ponytail.
"Aight, I got it now Old Man. Gimme bout two hours and some change, since I don't have any supplies and the hardware store isn't open. Ma will call you from the diner when I'm done."
"Thank ya baby. You such a lifesaver." The old man leads himself out of the home with his cane. His granddaughter arrives shortly after to take him home.
She sighs again and gets in her pickup truck, hoping to be the first person at the store. Jai is interested in how the store is stocked and finds herself just moving around, deep in her thoughts about cars and what she could do next.
"Need some help, miss?" the store clerk interrupts her process.
Jai frowns for a moment. "No. I don't need any help. I'm fine. Thank you."
"I'm sure a lady as pretty as you don't know nuthin bout cars. Ya boyfriend sent you in here." Ugh, he was almost cute too, she thought.
Deciding to play along, Jai batted her eyes at the man. "He surely did. Now I need your help...get me a broom and a dustpan."
"Yeah?"
"And sweep them cobwebs while I carry this out to me truck." She stomps away. A tall, muscular man, no less than 6'3" stood at the counter with his items. Jai allowed her eyes to rake over his body without him even seeing her. Her mouth hangs just for a moment and then she snaps back in reality. She clears her throat and waited behind him.
He paid for his items and turned to leave. The two make eye contact for just a moment. Jai had already forgotten him by the time he reached the door.
Why must men be so sexist? This is the very reason I keep my interests and my life away from people as it is.
Don't get me wrong, I want a family. A husband. Someone to love me...I want that.
But men can't accept that I can do something very few can...
Gotta get outta here. I can't crash under the pressure. Crashing is not an option.
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