Ifindmyselfcursingthealarm, wanting to throw it through the window. Neither of us are ready to be awake yet and I had hoped we could just lie here for a while longer but my dream was interrupted by Ollie shimmying to the end of the bed trying to sneak out. I chuckled as she paused halfway through putting her pants back on, when she gave me a dirty look and complained about having the spins.
“Ollie, just get back in bed, you can help your dad in another hour,” I say, almost pleading. Trying to emulate the voice she used to use when trying to convince Cole and me to let her join our activities. I’m hoping this isn’t the formal goodbye.
“Noah, I can’t,” she replies quietly as her phone starts ringing. I look to see her dad’s name light up the screen. Service is terrible here so she lets it go to voicemail but her pace quickens as she gets ready.
“Last night was great, and it was really nice to see you again…” she starts to say, gathering her purse and phone.
“No, this is not goodbye. How much longer are you here? I want to see you again,” I reply with a hint of desperation in my voice. Hopefully, it’s not too obvious how much I want her.
“I’m here for another three days,” she says, slipping on her shoes. “Right now I have to get back to help Dad, I promised him I would. We can plan something later tonight,” she finishes.
I begrudgingly crawl out of bed and put my jeans and sweater back on since I have to drive us back to the house so she can grab her vehicle.
Ollie shuffles us out of the room and down the hall before I even have my boot entirely on. I grab her forearm and stop her while putting them on and say, “Slow down, Ollie. Your family would rather you be late than in an accident.”
She huffs a response of annoyance but slows enough that I don’t feel like I’m running behind her. We round the corner into the lobby, she continues toward the front door as I hear “I hope you had a great stay, miss!” from the front desk. She doesn’t even take a second to respond to him before walking out the front door.
“Sorry, we’re running late,” I mumble, handing the keys to the kid, who just stops and continues to look longingly at me as if waiting for a story.
“Is there anything else?” I ask, knowing Ollie is probably halfway back to Fishy’s by now.
“Did you have a good night?” he says, winking at me, like he’s my “bro” and we’ve been friends forever.
I can’t help but laugh and shake my head as I turn and walk out of the hotel not giving this kid the satisfaction of knowing he absolutely set up the night and was successful all at the same time.
The wind is blowing swiftly brushing the dusting of snow through the air and into our faces. Ollie is standing at the top of the stairs of the deck with her hands in her pockets, shoulders up to her ears bracing for the cold trek back to the bar.
“Here.” I hand her my jacket and put it over her shoulders and she shivers and looks up at me, with thanks.
“You’re going to be cold.”
“Probably but you’ll keep us both warm,” I reply, wrapping my arm around her shoulder, tucking her close to my side to step down the stairs.
By the time we get to the car, our teeth are chattering and our faces are red with wind-burn as we practically run to get the car started to warm up. There’s also been a shift in the environment and energy of the day. Ollie pulls away from my arm leaving a cold chill, and she doesn’t say anything as she gets back into the car.
I start the car and blast the heat to start warming everything up before I grab the snow brush to clean the snow and ice off the car. Looking at Ollie through the window, she has this distant, focused appearance as she stares out the passenger window. The pit in my stomach drops, wondering if she regrets last night, and then it falls even deeper with disappointment knowing that I don’t regret last night and I would do anything to have it happen again.
“Ollie, are you okay?” I ask as I get into the car
“Huh?” she replies, obviously returning to reality from whatever planet her mind wandered off to.
“Where did your mind just wander off too?”
“Oh, uh, no where,” she stumbles out, clearly embarrassed and unwilling to tell me what is going on in her head.
“Ollie, we have to talk about last night, and everything that happened.”
“No, we don’t. Last night was great but we’re both going back to our own lives. There is nothing else to talk about,” she retorts with a bite that I’m not prepared for.
“Ollie.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Noah. I had a great time, let’s just leave it at that.”
I left it at that, even though the silence is screaming louder than any words would until we reach my driveway.
Ollie’s in her car and backing out of the driveway before I even make it to the stairs. As I open the front door, the smell of coffee starts to warm my nose telling me that someone is in the kitchen. In my half-awake state, I imagine Ollie out there with a mug of coffee and a book sitting at the table, feet resting on the chair closest to her.
As I meander down the hallway, I’m greeted by Archie with his big, happy face and floppy ears. “I know, buddy, I miss her already too,” I say as I scratch his head, knowing full well that he can smell Ollie on me.
