Wonderful

Brianna steps up to the door and knocks lightly. She could hear faint ruffling on the other side before the door is whisked open. She sees him standing in front of her, phone glued to his ear. His black hair is wet from his shower and combed back. He’s wearing a black t-shirt, accompanied by black jeans. His grey eyes look back at her quizzically.

Brianna pushes the door and lets herself in. The door to his bathroom is open, and she walks in briefly to inspect herself in the mirror. She grabs a hand towel and wipes away the fog until she can see herself more clearly.

“Yeah, no, sorry. I just got company. I’ll call you back later tonight, okay?” he is telling the other side of his cell. Brianna looks at him quickly and smiles. She has a good idea of who he might have been talking to on the other line. Vic has never not been interested in girls ever since they met in the third grade and he was in love with her friend Susan. Brianna turns back to face the mirror. Her brown locks are in a braid under a a red hat. She can see the black turtleneck peeking out from under her red coat, belted above her waist. Her hazel eyes are gleaming in delight as she can hardly wait to go where she wants to take Vic. She straightens her hat and pulls the rope tighter on her waist before turning off the lights and walking out of the bathroom. Vic just looks at her expectantly, and she smiles widely.

“Put on your coat. Let’s go outside,” she tells him. She’s out of the hotel room before he has a chance to refuse, or ask her what exactly does she have planned. He looks for his coat and gloves, forgetting his winter hat as he always seems to do. She’s already down the hall holding the elevator open when he closes the door to his hotel room.

“Care to tell me where you’re taking me?” he asks her as he enters the elevator.

“I’m kidnapping you. Now shut up and let me think of the millions I can ask for ransom.” He laughs at this, shaking his head lightly. The bell rings to mark the level of the lobby before the doors of the elevator open. She grabs his hand and pulls him out of the elevator and out of the door of the ski resort. They don’t stop once they’re outside though; she keeps running and pulling him with her. They only stop when they arrive by the Christmas tree a few meters in front of the front door.

She stops and lets go of his hand, reaching down to grab something by the tree, her back still to him. He eyes her intently as she turns and walks toward him, carrying a thermos in each hand.

“Here,” she extends the black one to him, keeping the red for herself. He takes the drink from her, assuming it’s hot chocolate as she doesn’t drink coffee. She walks back, turning away from him again.

“So?” he asks. She turns her head and furrows her eyebrows at him. “What?” he asks exasperatedly.

“What do you mean what?”

“What do I mean....? You interrupted my phone conversation with Christy,” Bri smiles at this, realizing how she’d guessed correctly, “and whisk me away from my perfectly warm hotel room to bring me out here to drink hot chocolate? What gives?”

She narrows her eyes at him while pursing her lips. “Where are we, Vic?”

“At Shanty Creek Ski resort...”

“Right. For winter break. To spend time with our friends.” He shrugs his shoulders at her, still not comprehending. “Which, by the way, you haven’t been doing since we arrived. You’ve been chasing after Christy with your tail between your legs, and have abandoned us. Mark and Susan might appreciate you paying for this trip, Vic...But if I’d known you were just going to lust after your newest conquest and leave me to deal with the petty, not to mention constant, fights between Mark and Susan, I would have just stayed home,” she pouts at him. He looks at her as she talks, and realization hits him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t spend Christmas Eve with you, Bri. I just...”

“Decided to spend time with Christy and forget our Christmas morning breakfast? That’s fine. But, can you at least shut up and enjoy the snow with me tonight?”

He looks behind her suddenly, and he sees that it’s actually snowing outside. His mind must have glossed over that fact with the confusion of Brianna’s actions and running out in the cold. He takes a moment to really take it all in. The scenery, the snow, the plain white field in front of them. It looked spectacular under the night sky, and his mood suddenly got better. He turned to look at Brianna, face pale and flushed a bit from the cold. Smiling at how pink her nose was getting, he was glad she whisked him out here the way she did. He smiled to himself realizing that that’s what he loves most about his best friend. How she just takes you by surprise like a tornado, so fast she doesn’t give you a chance to stop and take a breath. She was mad at him, he knew, and she had merit. He’d brought them all here to spend the Holidays together after a particularly excruciating semester at uni. He met Christy the first night they arrived, and he’s been spending most--okay, all of his time with her. Even the Christmas Eve party held at the resort he’d spent sitting next to Christy for most of it; forgetting to exchange hugs at midnight with his friends.

He frowns thinking back at his actions. Brianna sees this, and starts to worry that Vic just doesn’t want to spend time with her. It’s annoying, really; this nagging feeling at the back of her head that he puts whatever girl he’s after for the month before her--his best friend of 12 years. It’s not jealousy, she tries to convince herself. She’s not Watts, and there’s really never someone who stays long enough to become her Amanda Jones. But she can’t help but hate when Vic’s eyes just glaze over whatever broad he meets that catches his attention.

“Hey, Bri...” She raises her eyebrows at him, “come here,” he motions with his head for her to come to him. She stepped close to him, and he wrapped his arms around her. “Merry Christmas, Bri,” he whispers in her ear, still holding her close. “Thanks for bringing me out here.”

“Anytime,” she whispers back. Brianna hugs him tightly, basking in the feeling of his arms around her. No, she’s not his Watts, and he’s not her Kyle. But, their embrace is definitely her kind of wonderful.