My Favorite Souvenir

by Ward, Penelope

  Then I could barely move. “Oh my gosh. How do you walk with these things?”

  “That leads into your next lesson, actually. It’s called waddle walking.”

  Milo began to demonstrate what he meant. He was basically teaching me to walk like a duck.

  “So, just practice this technique,” he said. “It’s walking as if you have something between your legs.”

  Interesting visual.

  “This technique will help you get around if you lose one of your poles,” he added.

  Lifting my legs one by one, I mimicked him. It was awkward. And it certainly had been a while since I’d had anything big between my legs. Ha! My mind had been in the gutter ever since I saw Milo in his towel this morning.

  After my waddle-walking lesson, he taught me how to properly use the poles.

  Once we got moving, I did my best. “It isn’t as steep out here as I imagined it would be.”

  “That’s because it’s a bunny slope, sweetheart.”

  I’d always heard that term—bunny slope. Come to think of it, there were mostly children around. I was lamer than I thought.

  He spent a good deal of time making sure I knew how to stop and turn right and left. I struggled a bit, but managed to finally conquer those basic moves after an hour or so.

  “When do we leave the beginner slope?”

  “This is it for today. You won’t be ready for anything else. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  While that sounded kind of pathetic, I appreciated that he was being protective of me. And he was right, of course. I stood a good chance of hurting myself.

  “It must have been so exciting to be a ski instructor,” I said as I waddle walked beside him.

  “The perks were fun, but there’s also your fair share of dealing with whiny kids and adults. It’s not exactly a cake walk.”

  “The women must have loved you.”

  I immediately regretted my comment. What are you thinking, Hazel? Isn’t it bad enough you eye-fucked him when he was in that towel?

  “I actually had a girlfriend for the majority of the time I worked on the slopes,” he said.

  “Oh yeah?”

  Almost immediately after he announced that, he changed the subject— almost too quickly, which made me wonder if there was a story there.

  “Let’s teach you some more turns,” he said.

  And so he did, and I fell down over and over. But there was an upside to falling: Milo would reach out his hand and help me up. His strength with only one arm was impressive. A couple of times, I might have purposely fallen, pretending to have trouble getting up just so he could help me.

  Yes, I’d completely resorted to cheap thrills at this point. I knew nothing would be happening between Milo and me before we parted ways, so I enjoyed the innocent physical contact any way I could.

  The contrast of the bright blue sky and white snow was breathtaking, a calm before the next storm was set to roll in this afternoon. Perhaps I should have been paying more attention to where I was going instead of the sky above, because at one point, I crashed right into Milo, who had been several feet ahead of me. We toppled to the ground together. The sunlight beamed straight into his beautiful eyes.

  His concern was only for me, not himself. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m so sorry. I still have to remember to lean downhill and not backwards when I feel myself losing balance. Looking straight ahead and not at the sky would help, too.”

  Once again he helped me to a standing position. “You’ll get the hang of it. I wish we had more time. A couple days more, and I think you could’ve been great.”

  I smiled. “Have I earned my hot cocoa yet?”

  He chuckled. “That’s my cue to take you back, huh?”

  • • •

  Later on, after we returned to the hotel, a cloud of sadness lingered in the air.

  Tomorrow morning we would go to the airport together, and that would be the end of this little adventure. We’d both been able to change our flights, but even though we were going to New York City, we were still on different airlines and flying to different airports.

  We returned to our respective rooms but planned to meet down at the bar after we’d showered. I opted for a bath to soak my sore muscles after the many falls I’d endured today. Once I got dressed, I knocked on Milo’s door to see if he just wanted to walk downstairs together.

  “Come in,” he said.

  I thought the fact that he signaled me to enter would have meant he was fully dressed. But instead, I opened the door to find him shirtless, wiping a towel over his wet hair. Once again, I found it hard not to look at his gorgeous body. Seeing as though he’d caught me gawking at him this morning, I didn’t want to be caught in the act again. So I intentionally looked away from him as I spoke.

  “Is the plan still to head downstairs for a drink?” I asked, staring out the window.

  “Are you talking to a ghost outside or something?”

  He was fucking with me.

  I pretended not to understand his comment as I continued to look away. “What’s that?”

  “I’m covered. You can look at me now.”

  I turned to face him and cleared my throat.

  He smirked. “How are you feeling?”

  “Great.”

  “I thought you might be a little sore.”

  “Oh, I am, actually.”

  “You know what would be really good for that?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “The hot tub. There’s one downstairs by the indoor pool. Wanna hit it?”

  The prospect of taking a dip in the hot tub with him gave me mixed feelings.

  “You have swim trunks?” I asked.

  “No. But I was thinking you could go in alone.”

  Ah. “I did bring a bathing suit, actually.”

  “Perfect then.”

  “What are you going to do while I’m in the hot tub?”

  He shrugged. “Watch you?”

  “You’re gonna sit there and gawk at me?”

  “No.” He winked. “It would be rude to gawk at someone when they’re underdressed.”

  Nice. Real nice dig.

  I felt my face heat up. “I’ll go get my suit on.”

  Downstairs at the pool, I got right into the hot tub while Milo went to the bar to grab a beer and a drink for me. He brought me a white wine and set it on the stone tile just outside of where I was immersed in the hot, bubbly water.

  A little girl with floaties around her arms suddenly appeared and entered the hot tub. Her parents were on the other side of the pool area.

  “Hello.” I smiled.

  “Hi,” she said shyly.

  “What’s your name?” Milo asked.

  “Georgie.”

  “Nice to meet you, Georgie,” he said. “I’m Milo Hooker, and this is my sister, Maddie Hooker.”

  I chuckled at his emphasis on our fake last name. I’d almost forgotten about that.

  The little girl played quietly as I leaned my head back and let the steam penetrate by achy body.

  “Feeling better?” Milo asked, prompting me to open my eyes.

  “You weren’t kidding. This really does help sore muscles.”

  “I kind of wish I had my swim trunks now.”

  Rather than agree with that and get myself in more trouble, I asked, “What’s your prediction about our flights tomorrow? Think we’ll make it out of here?”

  He took a drink of his beer and nodded. “I do think tomorrow we’ll actually get out, although we made the right call on today.”

  “You deserve all of the credit for that decision.”

  “Well, I figured why not buy us one more day of not having to be our actual selves, right?”

  “I have to say, I’m really digging Maddie. She has no worries in the world, aside from what to order off the drink menu. She’s impulsive—and she sort of knows how to ski now.” I grinned.

  He smiled back, and then his expression turned
more serious. “You weren’t the only one in need of a change. Believe me.”

  I had to follow up on that. “So...I meant to ask. You said you’re a high school music teacher, but you’re in the midst of this trip, and now you’re going to New York. That seems like a lot of time off. How much vacation do you get?”

  He looked down at his beer. “Actually, I took a semester off from teaching.”

  “Wow. You can do that?”

  “Apparently so. They let me.”

  “You just needed a break?”

  He exhaled. “I was starting to feel like my heart wasn’t in it. And it really needs to be. So I did something people rarely do: I gave myself a break.”

  “Do you think you’ll be ready to go back after this semester?”

  “I do. So many times in life, we just keep going because we feel like the whole world will crumble if we stop moving at a pace like the Energizer bunny. But that’s not necessarily how we were meant to operate. The principal at my school really likes me, so that helps, of course. If they hadn’t allowed me the leave of absence without guaranteeing I’d still have a job, I suppose I couldn’t have taken it.”

  As much as I admired his philosophy, I was still internally scratching my head. “So, you’re…reevaluating your life with this time off?”

  “You could say that.”

  “I really envy that. It does take a lot of courage to know when to stop. I didn’t realize this trip would be sort of like that for me until I got stuck here. In just the two days we’ve been hanging out, I’ve realized so much about myself—my truest desires, how much I’ve missed living spontaneously.”

  “I’d say we accomplished a lot in a short amount of time, sis.” He winked.

  “Yeah.” I smiled.

  I knew there was so much more than met the eye with him. He’d said he lost someone. I’d never pried about that, but I certainly wondered what happened. I’d almost asked him just now, but ultimately, I didn’t want to spend our last moments together on a subject that might have been upsetting for him.

  We’d been so immersed in our conversation that we hardly paid attention to little Georgie, who continued to flap her arms to stay up in the water. A few minutes later, her parents gathered their things and came over to the hot tub.

  “Georgie, are you ready? Come on, honey. We’re going back to the room.”

  The little girl suddenly pointed to me and proclaimed, “She’s a hooker.”

  I felt a rush of blood to my head. Her parents stood frozen for a moment before hurrying little Georgie along.

  Of course, just as she’d said it, I’d been taking a long swig of my wine with my tits hanging halfway out of my bathing suit.

  Milo snorted, then lost it in laughter after they walked away.

  He rubbed his eyes. “That was a fucking perfect way to end this night.”

  With Georgie and her parents gone, the two of us were now completely alone in the pool area.

  Milo shocked me when he took off his shirt and began to undo his pants.

  “What are you doing?” I swallowed, catching myself admiring his bare chest.

  “I’m continuing our impulsive streak with a dip in the hot tub in my boxer briefs. It’s to celebrate you being mistaken for a whore.”

  I barely got a glimpse of his impressive bulge before he immersed himself in the water next to me.

  Chapter 5

  * * *

  Matteo

  I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of this sooner. Boxer briefs weren’t all that different from swim trunks.

  I took a swig of my beer and breathed in the hot steam. “This is the life, huh?”

  Maddie closed her eyes. “Sure is. I’m really glad you convinced me to stay today. Thank you again for taking me out on the slopes.”

  “It was my pleasure. It had been a really long time since I was out there. It was much needed.”

  Now wasn’t the time to bring up the reason why I hadn’t skied in so long. Although a part of me wanted to open up to her, I didn’t think it was a good idea to darken the mood tonight. We were buzzed and half naked in a hot tub. I needed to enjoy that fact and not bring real life into the fantasy we’d been enjoying for two days. You’re Milo, not Matteo, right now. Remember that.

  She chuckled. “The only bad thing about you joining me in here is that we no longer have anyone suitably dressed to fetch us more drinks.”

  “I’ll dry off and put my clothes on if I have to. Then come back in,” I said.

  “You’re such a good sport.”

  “Well, you don’t seem to mind watching me dress and undress, right?”

  Her face turned beet red. Shit. I might have pushed it too far with that one.

  “I’m just kidding, Maddie.”

  She blew out a frustrated breath. “You know what? The old me would have denied that I ogled you this morning. But given that I’m supposed to be carefree on this trip, I will say yes, I do admire your physique. But it ends there. I’m not looking for anything, certainly not sex with a virtual stranger. Or my brother. I hope you know that.”

  Ouch. Virtual stranger. I thought we were a bit beyond that.

  Things went silent.

  Well, this was a downer.

  I hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable or defensive. I was a little drunk and loose with my words.

  “I apologize for making you uncomfortable. I was just joking with you.”

  “Okay. Well, I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m just coming off a bad breakup, and maybe a part of me is a little lonely and vulnerable, but not enough to lose my inhibitions with you, in case I insinuated anything.”

  Man, she was tense all of a sudden. It sort of made me want to kiss her, take her upstairs, and help her properly unwind. But I knew none of that would be happening. Number one, she’d just closed the door. Number two, what would be the point in making a move when we were leaving each other tomorrow? Number three, she kind of hated me right now.

  Maddie was clearly not the type of girl you messed around with, despite her alleged desire to be more impulsive. Women give off signals, and from the very beginning, I knew she wasn’t the type you have a one-night stand with. She was far too complex. And far too...special. I really did hope she didn’t take the asshole back who’d hurt her.

  I felt like I was eating crow. “Okay, now that we’ve clarified that there are no expectations, can we try to relax a little before we have to leave in the morning? Can I go get us another round?”

  “I’d like that.” She offered a slight smile that didn’t quite fix the mess I’d made.

  • • •

  After we returned to our rooms, I had a hard time getting to sleep.

  And the following morning, I woke up feeling the same way: like shit.

  I’d pushed it, embarrassed her. Instead of teasing her, I should’ve told her the fucking truth: that I’d felt more alive with her on the slopes yesterday than I had in years.

  Later that morning, we met for a quiet breakfast downstairs.

  The ride to the airport was even quieter.

  When we got there, we found that both of our flights were delayed about an hour, but we were still scheduled to take off today. I was thankful for a little extra time to spend with her before we had to say goodbye.

  The mood was still somber. We were standing in front of a bookstand when I said, “We’re early. Do you feel like grabbing a coffee and sitting down somewhere together?”

  She nodded. “I’d love that.”

  We stood in line at Starbucks and fought over who would pay on our respective phone apps. I ended up winning and footing the bill.

  We then took a seat in one of the waiting areas.

  I nudged my head toward an old man sitting across from us. He wore a tweed jacket and was munching on what looked like a head of raw cabbage stuffed inside a Ziploc bag.

  “What’s his deal?” I said to her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Let’s play
a game. Tell me who you think he is and where he’s going.”

  She pursed her lips, pondering. “I think his wife just died, and he doesn’t know how to cook for himself, so he stuffs roughage into plastic bags and snacks on it for sustenance.”

  “Interesting theory. I’ll finish the story.”

  “Okay.” She laughed.

  “Archibald…” I turned to her. “That’s his name…had been struggling after his wife’s death—until he came across Irina in a mail-order-bride catalog. He’s currently on his way to Moscow to meet her.” I nodded, prompting Maddie to continue the story.

  “Much to his future chagrin,” she said. “Irina will be nothing like his late wife. She can neither cook nor keep a house. While he originally felt Irina would be the right choice for him, it turns out the entire trip was a mistake. She’s young enough to be his daughter, and they have nothing in common.” She sighed dramatically. “So, Archibald decides to return to the US alone.”

  “But not before he lets Irina go down on him behind the Kremlin.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You had to go and ruin it!”

  I laughed and pointed to a new set of targets, a woman and man who were currently ignoring each other with their heads buried in their smartphones. “What about them?”

  “They’re going to visit their daughter at college in Boston. Things have been touch and go ever since she left home. The empty-nest syndrome is hitting them hard, and they’re finding they spend more time ignoring each other than interacting.”

  I nodded. “So that’s why he’s currently sexting her here in the airport. He’s trying to spice up an otherwise dismal situation by sending her a dick pic he took moments earlier in the bathroom.”

  Maddie cracked up. “She hasn’t reacted yet because, unbeknownst to her husband, he accidentally sent the photo to his mother-in-law.”

  “Ouch!” I bent my head back in laughter. “That’s bad—but so very good. Now you’re getting the hang of this.”

  She smiled, but then a bout of silence replaced the jovial mood.

  “Milo, I have to apologize to you,” she said after a moment.

  I turned to her, perplexed. “For what?”