Stormwatch - A Date Which Will Live

"Nica! Nica wake up!" Josh shook Veronica's shoulder gently.

"Mmm what?" she mumbled. "Don't you ever get enough?" she groaned happily; they had just drifted off to a well-deserved sleep after some marvelous love making on their boss's futon couch.

"Nica, listen!"

Veronica heard it, the sound of motors, trucks by the sound of it. Trucks accompanied by scraping sounds, like the sound of a snowplow scraping on frozen pavement. She jumped up and peeked out between the slats of the venetian blinds. "They're here!" she squealed. She fumbled for her cell phone, but it had slipped under the couch, so she dashed to her boss's desk and called Anthony Friedman, founder and CEO of Andalon.com. "Sir!" she said as "Ant" answered the phone. "The plows are finally here; we'll be able to open for business in maybe an hour." A flash of light told her that Josh had taken a picture of her seated at Anthony's desk completely nude, but she was in the zone right now, she'll take care of Josh later. Another flash... she looked up and saw that he took the picture with her phone.

Anthony blearily looked at his watch, it was a little past midnight, what was his executive assistant doing up at this hour? Never mind, he laughed to himself. When Veronica told him that she was trapped in the building by the storm along with Josh he was overjoyed for the two. Despite their outward differences Josh and Veronica were considered a perfect match by Anthony and his wife Marjorie. "Calm down little one," said Anthony. Even though she was nearly his same age and was three inches taller than him, Anthony always considered Veronica his daughter and would often call her 'little one.' "Send out a text to all employees and contractors, let everyone know that we'll be starting up day shift ninety minutes late, and when those guys are done with the parking lot, you guys head home."

"Ninety minutes, got it!" After signing off Veronica opened her laptop, logged into their phone server, and sent out the text message telling all employees that the Andalon data center would reopen after being closed by the storm at midday on Monday. Actually, it never closed. With so many people working from home and she and Josh here in person running around the building doing all needed direct work, the data center's service to their customers never flagged. Closing her laptop, she looked around and saw that the futon couch that she and Josh have been sleeping on for the past four nights was folded back up, the blankets and pillows gone, and the only evidence of their past few days was her clothing neatly folded and waiting for her to wear. And sadly, there was no evidence of Josh other than his Storm Watch badge laying on Anthony's desk.

Veronica van Köster, executive assistant to CEO Anthony Friedman and his wife Marjorie Friedman in her own business dealings suddenly felt horribly alone. She dressed and then went looking for Efraim Joshua Gravely. Since he was hired a year ago, she always had a thing for Josh, and when the storm hit and they were trapped in the building they became inseparable lovers, but now he was gone. She looked in the break room where they ate most of their meals and found it spotless, in fact the trash cans were emptied. She walked over to his work area and found that it was neat and clean, but he wasn't there. She peeked out the window and his Jeep was still parked out back. Heading back toward her office she saw through a window that the snow was recently knocked off the dumpster lid showing that he took their trash outside.

She finally found him standing in the main entryway watching the plows madly race around the parking lot scraping it clear of the yard of snow accumulated in the storm. Of course, the walk to the main entry was clear Josh had made sure that the walk was spotless in case of fire, and they had to get out. It was lined with a dozen snowmen that they made over the week. She noticed that he looked very sad as the plows cleared the snow away from her Lincoln SUV. They guessed that the crew would take two hours to clear the parking lot, but these guys were fast, they'll be done much sooner than that. Then she noticed that Josh wasn't watching the plows as they raced through their job, he was looking at the snowmen that they built.

That evening they made the snowmen was such a joy! By the light of the parking lot lights they created their army, laughing and hugging, they worked together, they competed against each other, they sabotaged each other, and they helped each other. In the end they had two ranks of frozen figures guarding the entrance. An army of joy created just for the sheer delight of being silly together.

She leaned against Josh and asked "What's wrong? Why are you so sad?"

Josh didn't notice that she was standing there, he was reminiscing over the events of the past week and dreading what life would bring from now on. In a short time, he's going to go home to an empty apartment and water his houseplant. And then what? Probably what he's done for years; stare at the walls. Alone. He suddenly realized that Veronica didn't have her coat on, so he took off his down jacket and put it around her shoulders. Before he realized it the words just came out, "I'm just not happy about going back to sleeping alone."

"I... uh..." How do you say the same thing and not sound needy? They never really spoke about what was going to happen to them when the plows arrived. Anthony gave them until Wednesday to figure it out. An idea came to mind that will probably protect the pride of both of them. "I will need help clearing my driveway. Do you think you can help?"

"I'll probably have to swing by my apartment and get a change of clothes."

"Grab a couple of changes, you still owe me a toboggan ride and a fish fry."

Four days ago, Josh had found Veronica in her car, she was just staring at the frozen steering wheel slowly freezing to death. He brought her back in the building and warmed her up, they asked each other what they would like on a date. She told him she wanted to have a picnic near a stream or a lake. He said that they could do that this summer, but for now he promised to take her tobogganing at Chestnut Ridge Park and a fish fry at the Ellicott Manor when they get freed.

When she reminded him of his promise a sense of profound relief washed over Josh. He was so terrified that this relationship was just a dream that ended here as the plows cleared the parking lot, but now he has a future for at least a few more days.

~~*~~

Josh stopped at his apartment and watered his houseplant, a philodendron named Phil, then changed his clothes, packed a backpack full of clothes, socks, underwear, a toothbrush, razor, and shampoo then headed out. As he drove up to Springville where Veronica lives, he made a quick call on his cell phone which woke up a sleeping friend and his pregnant wife, but both were ecstatic when he said, "Hey, I have a date tonight, can you help a fellow out?"

Once upon a time Springville was a tiny village in the heart of the snow belt south of Buffalo. Named for the high-quality spring steel that was produced there in the late 1800's, it's location in the hill country is what nearly caused its demise when the spring steel factories moved to Lackawanna. It was a hard location to get to, and nearly impossible during the winter, but when the 219 Expressway was completed, it was now easy to reach Springville, a flood of people moved to the beautiful hamlet and bought up the exquisite old mansions and Victorian houses.

Josh's buddy Paul was one of them, he also bought a farm just outside of the village where he raised chickens and hid from the world until he rescued a young single mom who went off the road nearby and they ended up getting married shortly later. Josh spent a lot of time at Paul's cabin because two years before Paul bought that farm, Josh had purchased a plot of land very close to that farm which used to be an actual scout camp. They eventually became hunting and fishing buddies and called themselves "Hill Williams," Hill Billys with jobs, and measured their self-worth by the amount of split and stacked cord wood they had ready for winter.

Veronica is another "yuppie" who moved to Springville when she bought a beautiful old Victorian house just across the street from a tree lined park. As Josh made his way through the sleeping village, he found that Veronica lived just two blocks away from his buddy Paul and his wife Andi. Though still weeks away from the holiday, the village was gaily decorated, and the houses were glowing with Christmas lights and lawn ornaments that were mostly buried in the snow. It was well past two AM by the time that he pulled up behind Veronica's Lincoln Navigator which was parked in the street. There was a seven-foot-tall mountain of snow left by the snowplow when it cleared the street blocking her driveway. Josh got out, pulled on his backpack, clipped on his snowshoes and went mountain climbing in downtown Springville NY.

From what he could see, Veronica's house is a beautiful Victorian house recently painted in a style known as the Painted Lady, once a drab gray now a rich turquoise with peach, white, and auburn trim. He noticed as he walked across the snow-covered lawn that Veronica had a tough time getting to the house, it looks like the snow is four foot deep in areas and her footprints showed that she struggled here and there getting to the house. Josh stepped onto the front porch and took off the snowshoes and as he went to ring the doorbell the front door opened. There she was wearing a beautiful white silk robe adorned with tree branches covered with cherry blossoms, her blond tresses brushed out, makeup touched up, her smile was warm and genuine. Then she said the most beautiful words he's ever heard.

"Welcome home Effy."

~~*~~

They slept peacefully, this was their first night together in an actual bed and they slept soundly. Veronica slept better than she has in years, happy that the man that has been in her dreams for a year is now in her bed. Josh woke occasionally with an anxious feeling that this was all a dream, that he was sucked out of a shattered AC-130 and falling to his death over some god forsaken shithole and this was a dying dream soon to be interrupted by a sudden high-speed contact with the planet Earth. Each time he would reach out to touch the woman he cared for so deeply and he went back to sleep.

As the late morning sunrise lit up the room Josh woke and spent long patient moments looking at her, drinking in her beauty, basking in her smile. He opened his mouth and almost said it, he wanted to shout it, but it's only been a couple of days... or has it been longer? All those months, looking for excuses to walk past her office just to see her, feeling like a lovesick teenager, sometimes feeling like a stalker. But many times, she'd look up from her work and smile and say, "Effy!" and if she wasn't busy, she'd invite him in. If she did invite him in, he would find an excuse to shyly turn down her invitation until one day when she said "I won't bite." He grinned and responded, "Maybe that's why I'm not in there." That's when their relationship started to get interesting.

Then her eyes fluttered open, and she saw his eyes studying her face. "Mmm... good morning!" she said as they pulled each other close for a morning kiss.

"Morning Nica."

She snuggled up close and used his chest for a pillow. She listened to his heartbeat for a full minute, marveling on how satisfying it was to do this, and how sad it was that she had to wait so long to discover it. "What do you want for breakfast?" she asked.

"What do you say we clear your driveway, get your land yacht off the street and go start our date over at Sally Ann's and get breakfast there?" He kissed her head and marveled at how nice her hair smelled.

"If you can get my snow blower started, I'll get coffee started and we'll do just that."

"Deal!"

Starting the snow blower was fairly easy once Josh figured out all the different safety settings. He was a southern boy, so he's never had to play with these things but looking at it he decided they're like a chain saw that was designed for the criminally stupid. His problem was with all the dumbass safety gizmos, they kept you from getting your leg chewed off by making it impossible to start the motor. When he figured out the right combination of abusive threats on the lives of the designers and prayers to be divinely held back from conducting those threats, the motor coughed to life on seventh try. As the snowblower purred warming up, Josh cleared the back steps with a shovel and finished as Veronica came out with two insulated coffee cups. He could tell by the smell that Veronica had added a dash of Irish whiskey to the coffee, a little something to ward off the cold.

The driveway itself wasn't that hard of a project, Veronica is a wizard with her snowblower, she used it with the skill that comes from living alone for years and having to dig out from dozens of snowstorms. The real effort was the mountain at the end of the driveway left by the snowplow that cleared the street. Luckily it was piled up recently, and it hasn't frozen solid, so while Veronica cleared the driveway with the machine, Josh attacked Mount van Köster with a snow shovel. He started by cutting a path in the center of the driveway and began working from the street side of the pile.

After about an hour Veronica was done with the driveway and sidewalks and began to claw at the portions of Mount van Köster that Josh hasn't shoveled away yet. Soon they finished the entire job and ended up with two huge mountains of snow guarding the entrance to the driveway. Josh took a selfie of them standing in front of their new mountain, cheeks red from the cold, huge smiles from having completed their first task together at her house.

With Veronica's SUV tucked away in the garage, they climbed into Josh's Jeep, and they headed off to their first date which started with Sally Ann's, a little restaurant/flea market in the old B&O Railroad freight station up on Main Street. "Well, what do you think?" asked Josh as he led her down the old freight platform decorated with inexpertly made wooden crates and an actual railroad baggage handling wagon.

"It's so... kitschy!" she said in excitement as they entered and looked around the former B&O freight warehouse. Sally Ann's is a combination of an eatery and a garage sale, and the locals love it. Items of all sorts and makes filled the old freight station that was built a hundred years ago. The silverware, dishware, and drink ware used for food service was all mismatched "orphans" which blended in with the atmosphere.

"This doesn't look like your kind of place at all," said Josh a bit surprised. "What I've seen so far, your house is beautifully decorated. This place is kind of like the opposite." Which was true, this place had everything from washboards to surfboards but on the other hand Veronica's house is beautiful, thoughtfully decorated, what little he has seen of it.

Veronica just looked at him and shook her head. "A diamond mine isn't a basket full of diamonds, you must dig for them. At first glance I can see three pieces that I would just love. Like that lamp over there, with a proper shade it would look beautiful on my sun porch."

"I can't wait to see your sun porch," said Josh.

"Oh gosh! I haven't shown you the house yet!" Veronica suddenly realized how bad of a hostess she was. "I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, calm down," Josh laughed. "We just got sprung, let's concentrate on today and enjoy a meal we didn't have to scrounge from other people's lunches."

"Ok," laughed Veronica, "let's not talk about any future plans for the next twenty-four hours."

"Agreed," smiled Josh. He wasn't sure where that came from, but it was a good idea, "let's concentrate on now."

In addition to regular restaurant fare, Sally Ann's was also a bakery offering various breads, buns, bagels, and muffins. After a delicious breakfast of waffles and a leisurely shopping tour of Sally Ann's nick-nacks and sundries, Josh bought the lamp that Veronica pointed out and a half dozen assorted muffins. Although they banned talk on future plans for the next twenty-four hours, the muffins were evidence that there would be a breakfast together tomorrow.

Tobogganing at Chestnut Ridge Park is a winter activity that has been part of Erie County for ninety years. Two buildings stand on twenty-foot-tall stilts, each building has two toboggan ramps coming down at a 45-degree angle emptying out onto a hill. It looked like an Olympic ski jump facility to Josh. He's been around the world and been in a lot of crazy situations, but this attraction to snow and ice that these northerners have is beyond him. Veronica had never seen such a thing, but being a bit of a snow bunny, this looked like fun to her.

Josh carried their toboggan up the stairs to the "launch control facility" where the toboggan was placed on a metal rack that was lined up with that ramp that appeared to be a vertical drop to him now. "Has either one of you ever been here before?" the operator asked. Getting a negative response he asked, "Has either one of you ever been tobogganing or sledding before?"

"I have," answered Veronica. She hugged Josh's arm and said, "He's from South Georgia, he doesn't know what fun is."

"Oh? Where abouts?"

"Saint Mary's," said Josh who was still studying that drop looming under them.

"Small world! I'm from Nahunta," said the operator extending a clenched fist, and when they fist bumped, they both said, "Go Dawgs!"

"Yay Buckeyes," Veronica said in a small voice.

"Did you go to Ohio State?" asked Josh.

"Uh huh, I was a cheerleader."

"Go Buckeyes!" cried Josh and the Operator who then placed the toboggan on the launch chute and instructed Josh and Veronica on how to sit on a toboggan and gave them the required safety briefing. Since Veronica had experienced tobogganing in the past, she sat up front, which didn't make much sense to Josh, but he did get to hold her as they settled on the toboggan. It felt good to have his arms and legs wrapped around her. Soon, with a bang and a whoosh they were hurtling down the two-story tall ramp gaining speed as they hurdled downward. With a bump they came off the ramp and were now shooting down the hill kept in a straight line by a metal rail in the snow to either side of them as they hurdled down the hill.

They were still moving at quite a clip when they left the groomed snow of the toboggan runs and hit the softer snow at the base of the hill. There was a cloud of white as they hit that light snow and began to slow down. Eventually they rolled over on to their side mostly because Josh was tickling Veronica and she leaned over to escape the tickles causing them to tip over. "That was awesome!" cried Veronica as they untangled. "Gosh how I miss that!" she sighed as she clung to Josh. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"I know it's only our first date," he said, "but I'm trying to get lucky tonight."

"Me too," smiled Veronica as their lips met.

On their second run Josh sat up front, but when the ramp tipped up and the toboggan started down the hill Josh started to panic. The sight of the ground rushing up at him sent him back years, all he could remember from that run was Veronica nudging him saying "Hey, we're done. Come on, get up."

Finally, he got up off the toboggan and was shaking, covered in sweat. As they walked to the side Veronica remained quiet until Josh said, "I'm ok, let's do it again, but you sit up front, ok?"

"Sure," she said and by the time they got to the "launch control facility" Josh was feeling better knowing that she was up front. On their third run he brought out the telescoping selfie stick and took several great shots of them roaring down the ramp from the front and from the side.