Back to December

The Sugar Plum Fairy Dance

As they finally arrived at the Pennmont Motel, Aidan unhooked Samantha's arm from over his shoulders and carried her inside. He sat her in a chair and walked to the front desk.

"Hello, sir?" A man with a thick, brown mustache turned around and looked at Aidan. "I need to use your phone. And my friend over there needs a room. Could you help her out? She had a bad sprain."

The man studied the two for a moment, taking notice of their filthy clothing. "You two aren't together?" he asked.

"Well, we do know each other a bit, but no. Is that a problem?"

"Not unless you want to go to another motel. We only have one room left and the phones are down with the storm coming."

"Okay. Where's the nearest motel from here?"

"There's not another motel for miles, my friend. You'd be traveling a long way. And by then, you'd be caught in the snow."

Aidan slammed his hand on the desk and turned back to Samantha. He walked over to her and knelt beside the chair she was sitting in.

"Samantha, they have a room for you. When you're ready to pay, I'll have the guy come over to help you. I should head out though."

"Head out?" Samantha looked confused. "I thought you were staying for a while too. Didn't you book a room?"

Aidan stuck his hands in his pockets and chuckled nervously. "Not exactly. They only have one room available. I'm going to stay at the best hotel over."

Samantha turned around as the wind howled outside. "Aidan, the motel must not be anywhere close-- we're in the middle of nowhere!"

A tree branch knocked against the window, causing Aidan to look up. "I'll be alright."

"That's crazy. I think we can manage to stay in the same room, especially after last night. I almost got you killed last night. I'm not going to do that again by sending you into a storm. You're staying."

"Fine," Aidan finally agreed, "but I'm paying for the room."

"So.... this is a tiny room." Samantha sat on the tiny twin bed in their shared room of the Pennmont Motel. "This is crazy. Of all the rooms here, the only one available is this?"

Aidan stifled a laugh while looking at Samantha. "That's clearly the reason it's the only one available. We're lucky we got this."

"True. It's just a little ironic, is all."

Aidan leaned against the doorway, staring at her. "How's that exactly?" he watched Samantha as she gave a shy smile and quickly turned away. "Look, I'm gonna go get us some halfway decent food to eat before this storm really hits. I'll be right back, okay?"

Samantha nodded and Aidan turned around, closing the door behind him. His footprints led a trail in the snow as he walked back to the Motel's office and tiny gift shop. The snow was just starting to stick. Aidan walked inside and smiled to himself while looking at the tiny selection in a vending machine. He wasn't sure why he was smiling, he just was. He swiped his card and got some popcorn, two bags of hot chocolate, and two containers of instant mac n cheese. Samantha had to like that. She sure did seem hard to please.

It was crazy-- Aidan didn't plan for his trip to go anything like this, but it was actually kind of fun. He liked hanging out with Samantha so far. She was kind of frustrating to deal with, but he liked how quirky she was. She seemed like a good-hearted person. He didn't know why, but he felt somewhat connected to her.

The lights started to flicker, breaking Aidan from his thoughts. He grabbed his "dinner" and headed back towards his room with Samantha.