A Fortunate Blizzard Ch. 01

"Umm," I managed as I forced myself to not gape at any of my three guests. I stood there for a few seconds, without much to say until I remembered Nicole's sprang ankle and offered, "Want some ice for the ankle?"

Nicole made a tired shake of her head. "I've had enough ice for a long time." In her stocking feet, she tentatively tested putting some weight on her injured foot. "I've had worse, I'll get over it," she announced. Sitting back down, she turned to me and asked, "You said you've got a phone?"

"Sure," I answered as I got up to retrieve the cordless from the nearby charging station. Still chilled from the walk back without my coat, I stopped at the thermostat and kicked it up a bit. Time to put the house's old furnace to work. Retrieving the phone, I did a quick test to confirm that indeed there was a dial tone. It wouldn't be the first time we had lost phone or internet during a blizzard. But my luck was holding. Thinking about it, if anything, my fortunes had radically changed for the better in the space of half an hour. I had resigned myself to a boring night stuck in the house alone. Now I had three attractive ladies as house guests, including my crush from high school.

Turning back to the kitchen table, I found Nicole in the middle of an explanation of how we'd first met. It was a story I had forgotten all about. When we were both kids in elementary school, I had helped her track down her lost dog. Her new puppy Buster had gotten away from her and had taken off. Nicole had been running around looking for him when I'd seen her at the school's playground. She had been so upset, worried about the dog, and what her parents would say. They had only reluctantly given her the puppy, concerned she was not old enough for the responsibility of a pet. Her tears had me immediately offered my help, and we soon found her dog hiding under a nearby house's porch.

At the end of Nicole's story, Kelsea gave me a winning smile. "Well, Josh, it seems like you're destined to be saving Nicole when she needs you."

"Uh, yeah," I sputtered as I did my best to not blush from Kelsea's praise. I offered the phone to Nicole, and I noticed she also had a hint of red on her cheeks. She took the handset and then quickly looked away, embarrassed. As she stated dialing information for a towing service, I returned my attention to Kelsea and Zoey. The two were gazing about the kitchen, obviously curious about me and where I had grown up.

"This ez a farmhouse?" asked Zoey. "Your family are farmers?"

"Nope. My parents fixed this place up," I explained. "My dad is an architect and my mom was a photographer. But she's mostly retired now."

Zoey's face lit up in interest. "Ah, photography! What type of pictures doze she take? Ez she around? I'd love to talk to her."

"Oh, um, actually, it's just me. My parents and sister are away for the weekend."

"Ah, all by yourself," put in Kelsea. She was giving me a careful look up and down. Not exactly flirting but was showing signs of interest in me.

I decided to not read too much into Kelsea's glances just yet. I had been basically ogling all of three of them since they had taken off their coats. Turnabout from their side was fair play. But no reason I couldn't continue a be a gracious host and see what would come of Kelsea's attention. "Just me," I confirmed and then offered, "Food or something to drink?"

"Oh, perfect! I'm starved," gushed Kelsea. "What do you have?"

"Plenty of leftovers from Christmas." I got up and checked the fridge. "Baked ham, turkey, potatoes, stuffing." I pushed a few Tupperware containers around. "Some sort of casserole thing my sister made. I have to warn you, it was kinda gross."

"Skip that," answered Kelsea. "But I'll take some of the turkey and potatoes."

"As will I," added Zoey.

"Sure thing," I said as I began to pull out the pan with the sixteen-pound turkey from my family's Christmas dinner. It had been a complete overkill for our needs, but dad had gotten it as a present from work. Nobody can say no to a free turkey. And I had plenty for the four of us. As I got a knife and fork to work on the bird, Zoey came up to lend a hand. I showed her the cupboard where the plates and glasses were stored. Soon she was setting the table for a meal.

"Josh," she asked as I pulled a large slice of white meat from the remains of the turkey's breast. "Do you mind if I open this?"

I turned from the pan to find Zoey holding an unopened bottle of wine. It was a fancy Chardonnay my aunt had gifted for Christmas. I paused for a moment. Per strict instructions left by my dad before my parents had gone to Chicago, I was not supposed to get into any of alcohol while they were gone.

Zoey apparently could easily read my hesitation and brushed up against me, giving me a heart-stopping smile. Letting her free hand give mine a gentle squeeze, she pleaded, "Es would be very nice after everything we've been through to have a little something to relax."

I gave a hard swallow and simply convinced myself these were unusual and extreme circumstances. My dad would surely understand. "Go ahead," I replied with a strangled smile of my own.

The bottle was quickly opened, and glasses on the table were soon filled with the sparkling clear liquid. Between myself and the microwave, I reheated four plates of Christmas leftovers. I brought the dishes, full of steaming hot turkey and potatoes to my guests, just as Nicole hung up the phone with an unhappy sigh.

"Well, that was a big waste of time," she announced as she sat the cordless receiver down and refocused her attention on the wine glass before her. "I called three different towing services and all of them said the best they could do to get my car out would be tomorrow morning. With the highway shutdown and accidents all over the place, they're swamped."

I frowned at her news. "I didn't know I-94 was closed." I glanced to the outside through the kitchen window to the blowing storm. "It's even worse than it looks out there."

"It is," confirmed Kelsea. "There was some big accident on the highway. But it wasn't bad when we first started out. We figured we could beat the storm. If we hadn't made that detour to the mall first..."

"...And Nikky got lost," added Zoey.

Nicole gave her two friends the stink eye. "First, I did not get lost. I was trying to get around the traffic caused by the highway being shut down. That's why we ended up way out here. And second, I needed those pumps at the mall. They would have gone great with this dress."

A couldn't entirely hide my laugh. Throughout high school, Nicole's had always been big on the latest fashions - dresses, shoes, purses. You name it, she had to have it. Not that I wasn't complaining. Her shoe shopping had inadvertently resulted in her now sitting at my kitchen table. Which raised a question running in the back of my mind since I saw how they were dressed.

"So, where were you three off to? Nobody gets this dressed up for the Oakwood Mall," I said as I put a voiced to my curiosity.

"Some guy named Jimmy was supposed to have a big party tonight," answered Kelsea as she poured herself a second glass of wine.

"You were not invited?" asked Zoey with a slightly confused frown. "Nikki said he waz a former classmate."

I turned to Nicole with a shake of my head. "You mean Jimmy Brenner? That idiot?"

Jim Brenner had been our high school's All-American football quarterback. He had a great arm, and in our senior year, our team almost made it to the state championship. In our last game, we'd lost by a single field goal. There had been big things in store for Jimmy. Full ride scholarship to Wisconsin State to play ball. There were rumors that the Pros were sniffing around him for recruitment. Unfortunately, Jimmy had the common sense of a two-by-four. He did not even make it a full semester at state. Kicked out on drug charges and rumors about an assault on one of the Badger's cheerleaders. Last I heard he was selling cars at one of his dad's dealerships.

Nicole's cheeks reddened at my condemnation. "He's not an idiot," she pushed back automatically. She paused with a sigh. There really was not a way to deny the truth of Jimmy. "Okay, he's not brightest. But his parents have a big house out in Altoona. And they're out of town this weekend."

"And so is our boy Josh," interjected Kelsea as she gave me a sly grin. "Seems like his parent's got a pretty big house as well, and he's all alone."

"Too true," agreed Zoey. But the blonde still gave a questioning look to Nicole. "But why wazn't Josh invited? You said everyone from your high school waz going to be there."

Nicole was embarrassed by the question. She did not have a ready answer. Although it would have been unlikely I would have gone had I been invited, it still stung a little I had not even been told of Jimmy's party. After watching Nicole flounder for a few seconds, I stepped in to take some of the heat off my former classmate. "Nah, Jimmy and I weren't in the same social circles back in high school. We hardly ever crossed paths. I mean, I couldn't throw a football worth damn, and Jimmy couldn't count past twenty."

This brought a snort of laughter from everyone at the table. We went back to our meal, and soon our plates were cleaned and the bottle of Chardonnay was nearly empty. I was never much for wine, but my Aunt had chosen well. It was excellent, and I felt an ever so gentle warm buzz beginning in my head. For the next half hour, our conversation was light and carefree as Nicole and I retold stories from our years in high school to Kelsea and Zoey. And we caught up since our graduation. Laughter flowed freely around the table. I also learned a bit more about Nicole's two friends. Zoey was an exchange student from Marseille, France, and Kelsea was an Art History major originally from Ohio. All three of the women attended Duke University. Soon we turned to a joking mockery of each other's respective colleges.

"Duke sucks," I announced with glee when Kelsea revealed she was a member of Duke's gymnastics team.

"Where are you going then?" she inquired with a defensive sniff.

"Virginia Tech," I proudly answered.

Nicole's face turned to a sneer. "Oh, a Hokie? Really, Josh? You can do better than that."

"Better than the cheating Blue Devils," I shot back, eager to defend my university from our most bitter rival.

"Pfft," she snorted. "Typical response from your sucky football team."

"Well, I didn't go to VT for the football team. And careful," I warned with a humorous smile, "I can throw you back into the storm."

"Nicole, be nice to our pathetic Hokie friend, I don't want to freeze in your car," laughed Kelsea as she got in on the fun.

"What's your major?" asked Nicole as she took a sip from her glass.

"Leaning towards civil engineering. Kinda following in my dad's footsteps. He's a VT grad as well."

"He's still at that architect firm downtown?"

"Yep," I confirmed. "Been there twenty years now."

"So, Josh, got a girlfriend back at your loser... sorry... totally awesome university." probed Kelsea as she finished her food and focused her mischievous dark eyes on me.

Her question threw me for a moment. I wasn't sure if this was more teasing, or if she was genuinely curious. I found myself having to force down a biting response. Guess being dumped by Heather was still leaving a fresh scar. "Nah," I finally said, "not seeing anyone at the moment."

Zoey finished off the bottle of wine, and her glass had room to spare. She interrupted our banter with a more pressing question. "Do you have any more?"

"Hmm, maybe, let me check," I responded as I got up and headed toward the pantry. I knew my dad had a couple of beers in the fridge, but I was figuring Zoey was hoping for another bottle of Chardonnay. The storeroom was really just an extended closet. As I searched, I felt someone come up behind me. Again I found Zoey, willing to help. Not that our pantry was so big it required two people to go through its contents. But I was enjoying being close to the leggy blonde. Twice we brushed up against each other as moved about. We were close enough I could smell her perfume. Sweet and floral.

As she turned to reach up to the top shelf, my eyes lingered on her legs and how her short dress rode up a little to reveal the edge of her garter belt. She caught me looking and gave me a coy smile. Zoey did nothing to pull her dress back down and instead slowly spun in a circle to provide me with a better view. I felt my mouth go dry. I did another hard swallow and sputtered out a question to try to distract myself and the sudden growing tightness in my pants.

"How did I meet Nikki and Kelsea?" she repeated. "Well, I'm here for a full school year through my University in Paris. Duke's campus es...enormous. I waz so lost my first week there. But then I meet Kelsea in History class. We were friends right away. Her and Nikki's sorority sort of adopted me ez their own."

"How do you like it here? Umm...America, I mean."

"It ez different than I expected. Some good, some bad." She gave me another flirtatious smile. "Like tonight, these winter storms of yours are dreadful. But now...much improved."

Inside the closet, we were close. Our faces inches apart. I could practically feel the warmth of Zoey's body. If I had been a bit braver, just a little bit more confidence, I would have kissed her. I was sure she would have reciprocated. But as we stood there, seconds passed, and the moment was lost.

Zoey shifted, drew back an inch or two from me, and her eyes focused on the shelf above my head. "What es that?" she asked as she pointed upwards.

I turned around and followed her indicated direction. The top shelf was full of containers of different kinds of pasta and old cans of various vegetables. Stuff we did not use very often. At first, I did not see what Zoey was talking about, but as my gaze followed over endless boxes of dry pasta shells, I noticed a single clear bottle behind some of the cans. Reaching for it, my hand wrapped around the top. Pulling it down, revealed it to be a glass flask of Peppermint Schnapps.

"Score," I said with some surprise. My parents weren't heavy drinkers. Beyond the beer my dad kept and the premixed frozen margaritas my mother preferred; they didn't keep hard liquor in the house. Even if they did, they wouldn't hide it on the top shelf of the pantry. I wondered if it might have been Lisa's. My sister had a tendency to hide her vices from my parents. Given the layer of dust on the bottle, it looked like it had been up there for a while.

"Nice," agreed Zoey. "Too bad we don't have anything to mix with et."

"Hang on a sec," I replied and reached upward and began to probe around. My hand clasped on something roundish and made from hard plastic. Retrieving the item revealed it to be a half-empty bottle of Vodka.

"Double score," I exclaimed.

Zoey laid a hand on mine and let it linger. "Ah, we shall celebrate well tonight."

"Hey," came a voice from the Kitchen, it sounded like Kelsea's. "What's taking so long!? The two of you making out in there?"

Zoey flashed me a brief grin and shouted back with a feigned huff, "Not yet!"

Without another word to me, Zoey spun around headed back to her friends. I watched her go and enjoyed gazing at her backside with her elegant slender legs. I was pretty sure she was taking her time about getting back to the table. Letting me see the graceful movements of her hips and the sway of her perfectly shaped ass covered by that thin black fabric. Kelsea did not seem to notice Zoey's teasing walk, but then I caught Nicole's face. It was one that expressed a good deal of unhappiness.

I felt like I was navigating a very complicated maze. Zoey was very obviously flirting with me. And I got the feeling Kelsea was interested as well. It was harder to read Nicole, even though I knew her best. As much as I was enjoying reconnecting with my old classmate, I didn't want to offend her or drive her away if I returned Zoey's advances. But then, on the other hand, getting together with the leggy french blonde was rapidly becoming a desired fantasy in my mind. I wondered just what it would be like to have Zoey's long legs wrapped around me.

Zoey sat down at the table, and with an effort, I pulled myself back to the present. I showed my two discovered bottles to Kelsea and Nicole. This got me celebratory whoop form the Kelsea, but a renewed pained expression from Nicole. I braced myself for getting unpleasant news.

"Josh," she began with a gloomy groan, "I hate to put a stop to this. I really mean it. And I also hate to ask, but is there any way you can give us a ride back to my house? We can figure out how to get my car out tomorrow. I know this storm is awful. And I swear I'll make it up to you."

I was not really surprised at Nicole's request. She had not planned to come here. Only dumb luck had the three of them ending up here. At the same time, I was relieved that Nicole was genuinely upset about wanting to leave. She wasn't mad with Zoey and me flirting. But unfortunately, I was not in a position to grant her request. Now I was the one with unhappy news.

"I'm sorry, Nicole, but my old Jeep's transmission is shot. I couldn't even get it down the driveway. The only other car here is my mom's convertible..." I made a slow shake of my head, "...and that Mazda wouldn't be able to make it a mile in this mess."

Nicole's face fell deeper into despair. "Damn, that means I have to do something I don't want to."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Call my parents," answered Nicole with another sigh. Her gaze fell on the twin bottles of alcohol. "Give me some of that."

I headed back to the kitchen counter to prepare the drinks. Finding the Schnapps and Vodka had given me the idea of making some Icebergs. A quick and simple cocktail, it was just Vodka, Peppermint Schnapps, some ice, and thoroughly mixed. It also made something that carried a serious kick. Lisa had taught it to me when she first started going out to parties as a sophomore in high school. I gathered the remaining required items and returned with four full glass tumblers.

Nicole gave me a questioning glance as she saw the prepared drinks. I explained what it was, and she took a sip. Her face immediately wrinkled up and she made a "Blaauck..." sound as she placed her glass back on the table.

"Stings my noze..." complained Zoey as she tried some.

"The Vodka is supposed to hide the stronger taste of the Schnapps. So it's not like you're chugging mouth wash."

Kelsea was much more enthusiastic as she took a second gulp, "I think it's great!"

"Needs something to balance et out," offered Zoey. "Perhaps some Creme de Vanille?"

"Don't have anything like that." I thought for a moment. "Maybe some vanilla ice cream?"

"We can play mixology in a bit," announced Nicole as she gave the phone receiver a resigned scowl. She took another swallow from her cup and added, "But I have to call my father... and it's not going to be fun. He didn't want me going out tonight. And now I'm going to hear about this for months."

Giving her friend as a sympathetic hug, Kelsea said, "Sorry, Niks." Looking over to me, she asked, "Mind if we take our little party into the other room?"

Seeing that Kelsea wanted to give Nicole some privacy for getting chewed out by her dad, I nodded, and I scooped up my drink as we headed out of the kitchen. Zoey left hers behind, but Kelsea held on to her glass. She seemed to be enjoying my impromptu cocktail. With my two guests, I offered to give a quick tour of the house, and they readily agreed.

As Zoey had shown interest in my mother's photography work, I ushered us down the hallway towards her studio. Nudging open the french doors, I led the way into where my mom kept her cameras, lens, workstation, as well as examples of her best photos. My mom's work had always been balanced between a hobby and a profession. She had done her share of weddings, proms, and other family events, but she had also gotten some of her work published in a few magazines.