BrokenCassette
Well-Known Member
~BHM, ~~WG, Romance -
(Author's Note: I really hope I did all this right, I haven't submitted anything to the literature section of Dims quite yet. I apologize if I messed something up.)
It must have been hours since anyone had said a single word. The only sound came from the awkward clatter of silverware against silverware, the kitchen lights tired and fading as the employees at the White Lake Lodge worked cautiously and quietly. Xavier had never gotten used to the strange silence of those late nights, when patrons at the inn had long since gone to sleep and there was little to do except clean. True, he couldn't imagine what they might talk about if anyone should happen to speak up, but it never stopped being awkward, even after having worked there for months. It almost seemed like the silence had intensified since the season turned, as though the snow outside had muffled their spirits along with the forest.
Still, there was something else about that evening which had made him uneasy. Somehow the year's end had snuck up on them, and within a few weeks it would be the holiday season, the lodge's most hectic and stressful period. Even though November hadn't quite ended yet, already the foyer was sprinkled with fake holly and legions of ornamental pine cones - Christmas Eve was quite the production at the Lodge. It felt an awful lot like a calm before the storm. Trying to keep this in mind, Xavier made an effort to appreciate the time he still had before all the chaos set in, realizing that silent kitchens would soon be the least of his worries.
It had gotten dark outside hours ago, as it typically did in the winter, and the skies above the outskirts of Kortedala blushed with wafts of clouds likely filled with snow. The White Lake Lodge had stood as a monument to the local lore for almost fifty years now, garnering attention and acclaim almost exclusively through word of mouth. Perhaps this was the reason that it had managed to retain so much of it's original charm, despite the fact that it was always full come Christmas time. Nestled in the middle of a large patch of woods that opened up into the eponymous lake, the lodge sat at the top of a lofty cliff overlooking the rocky beach below. Only a single road ran through the forest - a narrow, clumsy pathway barely big enough for two vehicles, and hardly paved at all. Though sunlight would flood the forest floor in the summer, come wintertime snow piled high on the pine trees, making the lodge feel more beautifully secluded than usual.
Suddenly remembering that this evening he had meant to get around to washing the lodge windows, Xavier cleaned the last of the dishes he had been nursing in the sink before drying his hands and moving on to the lodge's lavish dining room. Walking in heavily, Xavier took a thin rag from his back pocket and swiftly went to work polishing one of the windows that offered a wide view of the lake. Xavier always thought the room felt like a greenhouse, each wall being little more than a pane of glass that reached all the way to the ceiling. It was the next best thing to outdoor dining.
It had been almost a year since he had started working there, first as a dishwasher and now as a waiter, but it felt like much longer on nights like this one when he had time to reflect. His quiet disposition and general reclusiveness hadn't earned him many companions, but his indispensable work ethic had helped make him stand out as an employee, sometimes to the chagrin of his less-motivated coworkers. Perhaps this was another reason the other workers never seemed to warm to him.
There was, of course, also the matter of his size. Standing at just over 6'4" and weighing close to 350 pounds, there was little doubt of his presence when he entered a room. Try as he might to keep a low profile, there just wasn't getting around the fact that he towered over most people he came across; he was easily twice as big as the next-largest employee. It was hard not to be intimidated by him, as most of his coworkers had discovered early on, though those who persevered found that a much different kind of person than who they might have expected hid beneath his mountainous form.
Everyone who worked at the lodge knew all too well that Xavier was, for lack of a better word, a 'softie', in more ways than one. Watching him for more than a few minutes would quell any notion that his bigness was indication of a gruff, extroverted personality. If anything, you would be hard pressed to find a more kind, sensitive person nearby. Unfortunately for him, those normally admirable qualities weren't much appreciated by Xavier's coworkers, who would often enjoy shooting daggers at his head whenever his back was turned. In a strange way, there was a kind of mutual understanding between Xavier and the rest of the staff. Their frustrations, though very real, usually went over his head. For all of his kindness, Xavier also tended to be a bit naîve. Still, outside of their disapproving glances and exaggerated groaning, they left him alone. Perhaps they were afraid that there really WAS a fierce persona lurking beneath Xavier's tenderness, just waiting for the first stone to be cast.
Most of the workers lived on site during the winter months when demand was high and business was booming, and Xavier was no exception. Residing in one of the apartment suites that littered the tower on the far end of the lodge's longhouse, he spent a good majority of his time by himself, though it didn't seem to bother him much. Work began early in the morning and usually continued into the evening, depending on how high occupancy was at the time. The common quietness of the spacious lodge during the slow season made some workers a bit nervous, but Xavier had always found it to be rather comforting.
Tonight had been a night like any other, with only a few families staying at the lodge for the time being. Thanksgiving had passed rather uneventfully this year, and like clockwork, the rooms began filling up with reservations for the month of December. In a few days they would be entirely full, if the past was any indication. For many families staying at the lodge had become a sort of tradition, especially Christmas Eve dinner, the busiest night the kitchen would experience for the entire year.
Quietly wiping away a small parade of child's fingerprints, Xavier looked out the window he was standing in front of, watching the stars leisurely hang over the stillness of White Lake. The small string of mountains that curved around the other side of the water bit into the dark night sky like jagged teeth, the moon's reflection the only source of light now that the sun had set. Even in the winter, the beach was a popular location at the lodge. Xavier could spot a legion of withered summer canoes sitting idly on the shore. Even in the blackness Xavier thought the lake was rather hypnotic.
Xavier's infatuation with the lakeside was interrupted by someone coughing loudly beside him, surprising him. Looking down, he could see that it was January, the current dining room supervisor. Her hair pulled into it's usual too-tight ponytail and a scowl on her face, she crossed her arms, looking exasperated.
"Taking your sweet time, I see." she snapped.
She couldn't have been much taller than 5'5", yet Xavier felt his gaze quickly fall to the floor as it often did when he was chastised by her.
"I'm sorry." he responded quietly. "I was a little distracted."
Still sneering, January scoffed, dragging her index finger across the clean glass window and loudly creating a long smudge where the fingerprints had once been. Xavier grimaced.
"I think I see the real problem." she snarled. You just do lousy work."
A tiny, sinister grin blossomed on her face.
"You've got a lot of windows to wash, so see to it that you get it all done before you leave." she spat, tapping her foot irritated. Xavier, now wringing the limp cloth in his nervous hands, nodded.
"Of course." he agreed, still not looking January in the face.
He let out a tiny gasp when she loudly snapped her fingers less than an inch from his face.
"Look me in the eye when you speak to me." she growled, pointing an accusing finger.
Looking down into January's angry brown eyes, Xavier nodded again, this time with a bit more enthusiasm.
"Of course." he said again, tiny beads of sweat dotting his forehead. January's eyes narrowed, but she finally turned and stomped away. When Xavier turned back towards the window to resume washing, he noticed that it had begun to snow.
* * *
It was almost midnight by the time Xavier had finished washing the last pane of glass. It was snowing so hard by now that the windows had become freezing cold to the touch, the once clear view of the lake now obstructed by webs of frost. After returning to the kitchen and running his hands under warm water to thaw them out, Xavier gathered his things, closing the doors to the dining room quietly so as not to awaken any sleeping patrons.
Though feeling had returned to his fingers, Xavier's eyes now felt heavy with sleep, and the idea of his warm bed became almost intoxicating. Walking quietly out into the foyer, he could see that someone had erected a very tall pine tree that was frosted all the way to the top with baubles and silver bells. The fireplace crackled weakly, casting festive shadows onto the foyer walls that were glowing faintly in the wispy darkness. The thought of a night's rest kept him conscious as Xavier trudged carefully across the floor, looking forward to finally kicking off his shoes. Walking down the long corridor leading to the tower, he watched the snow slowly falling to the ground, the lake looking like it might turn to ice. The hallway leading down to the tower stairs were lined with rows of tall windows that Xavier never took much notice of. Although tonight, something seemed off.
The windows were narrow. Very narrow. From what Xavier could tell, they were a little too small for a person to fit though. But that didn't seem to be stopping someone from trying.
In the middle of the hallway, trying to push themselves through one of the tiny portals, was what appeared to be a young woman with long, brown hair that had fallen in her face as she squirmed helplessly. Tenseness began creeping into Xavier's chest. His first instinct was to confront what he guessed was some kind of awkward burglar, but as he cautiously approached the intruder, he could hear her ululate a faint, pained whimper. After a few more attempts at freeing herself, she eventually let her hands drop to the ground, going limp as a rag doll in defeat. Doing his best to mask his somewhat thunderous footsteps, Xavier tried to recall what a strong, authoritative voice was supposed to sound like. When he was a few feet away from the suspended girl, she let out another pitiful sob.
"...Hello?" he called out, forgetting to sound stern and intimidating.
Her hair still covering her face, the girl suddenly became silent. Lifting her head slowly she looked at Xavier with worry in her eyes; Xavier was looking at her with an equal amount of confusion. A few moments of stoney silence followed, cold air and sleet from outside pouring in from the open space above the trapped girl.
"I can explain." she finally squeaked, looking rather miserable.
A long black scarf was slung around her thin neck, drooping down and skirting the carpet below. Shivering from the sudden cold, Xavier looked at her curiously, slowly realizing that if this was an attempted robbery, he was conversing with the most tactless burglar in existence.
"Do you need some help first?" he asked softly, beginning to feel his confidence slip as the girl continued looking at him intently, her own expression hard to read.
He also began wondering how long the poor girl had been wedged in the window frame: The girl's face looked very pale. Only the tip of her nose, which was bright red, seemed to have any color. She sighed helplessly as the cold wind started to sting Xavier's face.
"...Yes. Please." she finally confessed.
The girl stuck her hands out towards his, beckoning to Xavier silently. Cautiously, Xavier took both of her gloved hands and began pulling. First gently, then with a bit more force when the girl didn't seem to be moving.
"Does that hurt?" he grunted, tugging with more force than he thought would be necessary.
"I'm fine...you've almost got it..." she assured him, wriggling in the tight frame as vigorously as she could in an attempt to jar herself loose.
In one quick, fluid motion, the girl finally came tumbling in through the window, followed by a rush of snowy air that covered them both in powder. Newly freed from her window prison, the girl started falling head first onto Xavier, who could feel his shoes begin to slip under the now snow-filled hallway.
In an equally fast moment, Xavier began stumbling backwards frantically, letting go of the girl's hands as he felt both of his feet leave the ground. With an impressive quake as his considerable backside slammed onto the floor and what sounded like a muffled crunch, the two of them hit the ground, Xavier sprawled on his back and the frozen girl falling neatly on top of his soft, squishy stomach. Within a few seconds the girl realized where she had landed, the red of her nose quickly spreading to the rest of her shocked face.
"Ah, oops-" she lamented quickly, doing her best to sliding off of Xavier's belly and rolling down on to the floor beside him, letting out a relieved groan. For a few moments the both of them lay there still, out of breath but at least intact.
"That was crazy..." The girl breathed, slowly wobbling to her feet, knees knocking.
Xavier, still on his back and feeling a little like an oversized tortoise, also did his best to get to his feet, though it proved to be a difficult task after such an energy-sucking day. Seeing him struggle, the girl immediately grasped one of his massive hands in her gloved ones.
"I'm so sorry...here, let me help you." she offered, pulling rather impossibly at his largeness.
"Oh...thank you." Xavier muttered, knowing full well that such a small person probably wouldn't be able to pull him up, though it seemed kind of her to try. Once they both were on their feet and had a chance to catch their breath, they looked at each other for a few seconds, unsure of who was supposed to say what now.
"Um..." the girl started, breaking the silence before tucking her snow-frosted hair behind her ears, "I wasn't just saying that so you would help me, you know. I really CAN explain." she insisted, rather convincingly.
Xavier was so relieved that he hadn't had to confront a serial killer that he had forgotten that he still had no idea who the girl standing in front of him was.
"Oh, right..." he remembered, peering down at the girl who looked like she was about a third of his size.
"This is like, the sixth time I got locked out..." She explained, brushing the snow from her coat and pants. "Usually I can get someone to open the door for me but it's so late, and everyone's gone to sleep..." she trailed off, looking as if she just now realized how cold she really was.
Noticing her start to shake, Xavier quickly pushed the offending window shut, sighing in relief as the air began to warm once again. Turning back to the girl, Xavier finally got a good look at her after having allowed his eyes to adjust to the dimness. She was noticeably slender with small, delicate hands and a quiet kind of calmness that seemed to put him at ease.
"So then...do you...work here?" Xavier asked, feeling more confused than ever.
It didn't help that, as the girl in front of him continued to speak, he continued to feel his confidence fade away and his face begin to sting with a strange kind of heat.
"Kind of." she said, looking a bit distracted after touching her hand to her face. "Damn...my glasses...did they fall out of my pocket?" she asked out loud, now crawling on the floor with her face pressed close to the ground. "Ugh...not again..." she lamented, grinding clods of snow into the carpet as she continued to scan.
It was around this time that Xavier remembered something from their little tumble: the crunch. Looking behind him where he had landed after unhinging the girl, he could see even in the dark hallway that a pair of flimsy glasses sat lifelessly, looking as if someone had put them down a garbage disposal. His heart sank.
"I think I found them." Xavier said grimly, carefully picking up the destroyed spectacles.
He held the glasses out to the girl, who looked at them curiously.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to break them." he started, feeling his voice start to crack with guilt.
It wasn't the first time he had destroyed something by accidentally falling on it. The girl took the glasses from Xavier's trembling hands, her expression turning soft after seeing how troubled he had become. She quietly tucked the remains back into her coat before smiling up at him, surprising Xavier quite a bit.
"It's alright. These ol' things were old as dirt. Good riddance,I say."
The girl laughed lightly, but her laughter quickly degenerated into a fierce cough that left her reeling. She had begun to shiver again, wrapping her scarf around her neck several times.
"I guess I was out there for longer than I thought." she sniffed, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm up.
"Can you see alright?" Xavier asked, his voice still sounding a bit regretful.
Though he was little more than an orange and pink blur at this point, the girl looked up at Xavier with what he now saw were fatigued, bloodshot eyes.
"Well, sorta, everything's pretty blurry...do you know which way number 403 would be? I have another pair in my room, so if I can just get there I'll be fine." she told him, starting to stumble a bit.
"I'm going that way, I can show you." Xavier said brightly, a bit surprised at his forwardness. The girl took his hand once again, still smiling weakly.
"Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it." she remarked, her puffy eyes becoming softer.
Xavier held the girl's hand carefully, guiding the would-be burglar down the corridor towards the tower while trying his best to remember to breathe.
The halls grew a bit lighter as they went on, the soft hum of vending machines offering them a break from the night's quiet stillness. Feeling not unlike he was in the midst of some kind of misty dreamscape, Xavier guided the girl cautiously up several flights of stairs leading up to the fourth floor, which Xavier remembered was one of several floors that had recently been renovated. He moved across the wooden floors towards the girl's room, hearing her tiny footsteps following his clamorous ones. Perhaps he really had actually made it up to his room and was in the middle of some sort of strange wintertime delusion. Perhaps it was the late hour or the overwhelming dinginess of his path, but Xavier could feel his entire face beginning to ignite with an intense excitement and a strange, unplaced nervousness.
"Here we go." he said finally, feeling the girl's hand fall out of his own almost reluctantly when they finally reached their destination.
Seeming to catch a second wind, she reached into her pocket, extracting a green card that she held up triumphantly.
"Ah, at last..." she sighed. Quickly she unlocked the door, which creaked open lazily.
Turning back towards Xavier, her expression was now one of sincere gratitude.
"Thanks again for helping me out...and sorry if I gave you a scare. I promise I'll never try something like that again." she assured him. Xavier nodded, hardly able to believe how bizarre the last thirty minutes had been.
"It's alright, don't worry about it..." Xavier could barely bring himself to look the girl in the eye at this point, almost as though the light had made his remaining grain of confidence shrivel like a raisin. Pushing the door open a bit, the girl turned back towards Xavier again. She was grinning now.
"Do you mind if I ask your name, my good sir?"
At first no words came out, even after Xavier opened his mouth and was pretty sure he knew the right answer. At first it seemed like perhaps the cold had sapped his ability to think, or maybe his severe exhaustion was what accounted for his muteness. In reality, and as he would realize later, it was that despite her frazzled demeanor and obvious fatigue, in the peaceful light of the Pepsi machine, Xavier couldn't help but think the girl was fascinatingly beautiful.
Thankfully his composure returned in a few seconds, and Xavier looked back at her, looking sheepish as ever.
"Xavier. I'm Xavier." he said, his voice starting to quiver with a tired bashfulness. The girl looked pleased by his answer.
"I like that. I've never met a Xavier before." The girl put her hand out, which was looking even tinier without it's mitten.
"I'm Ilene."
Shaking her hand delicately, Xavier could feel that even his palms were starting to glisten with nervous sweat, though Ilene didn't seem to notice or mind.
"Nice to meet you." he said meekly before clamming up again.
"Thank you again, you really saved me." she said, grinning up at him with worn but grateful eyes. Xavier shoved his hands in his pockets as he shifted weight from foot to foot. "Oh, no problem at all." he mumbled, forgetting his own tiredness for the moment.
"Well...good night, Xavier." Ilene whispered gingerly, flashing a tiny smile before closing the door gently.
Finding himself alone in the vastness of the empty lodge once again, Xavier started down the hall towards his own room, feeling his shoulders begin to relax and his heartbeat return to it's normal, comfortable state.
"Good night", he thought.
In spite of everything, it certainly had been.
The Lodge
by BrokenCassette
by BrokenCassette
(Author's Note: I really hope I did all this right, I haven't submitted anything to the literature section of Dims quite yet. I apologize if I messed something up.)
It must have been hours since anyone had said a single word. The only sound came from the awkward clatter of silverware against silverware, the kitchen lights tired and fading as the employees at the White Lake Lodge worked cautiously and quietly. Xavier had never gotten used to the strange silence of those late nights, when patrons at the inn had long since gone to sleep and there was little to do except clean. True, he couldn't imagine what they might talk about if anyone should happen to speak up, but it never stopped being awkward, even after having worked there for months. It almost seemed like the silence had intensified since the season turned, as though the snow outside had muffled their spirits along with the forest.
Still, there was something else about that evening which had made him uneasy. Somehow the year's end had snuck up on them, and within a few weeks it would be the holiday season, the lodge's most hectic and stressful period. Even though November hadn't quite ended yet, already the foyer was sprinkled with fake holly and legions of ornamental pine cones - Christmas Eve was quite the production at the Lodge. It felt an awful lot like a calm before the storm. Trying to keep this in mind, Xavier made an effort to appreciate the time he still had before all the chaos set in, realizing that silent kitchens would soon be the least of his worries.
It had gotten dark outside hours ago, as it typically did in the winter, and the skies above the outskirts of Kortedala blushed with wafts of clouds likely filled with snow. The White Lake Lodge had stood as a monument to the local lore for almost fifty years now, garnering attention and acclaim almost exclusively through word of mouth. Perhaps this was the reason that it had managed to retain so much of it's original charm, despite the fact that it was always full come Christmas time. Nestled in the middle of a large patch of woods that opened up into the eponymous lake, the lodge sat at the top of a lofty cliff overlooking the rocky beach below. Only a single road ran through the forest - a narrow, clumsy pathway barely big enough for two vehicles, and hardly paved at all. Though sunlight would flood the forest floor in the summer, come wintertime snow piled high on the pine trees, making the lodge feel more beautifully secluded than usual.
Suddenly remembering that this evening he had meant to get around to washing the lodge windows, Xavier cleaned the last of the dishes he had been nursing in the sink before drying his hands and moving on to the lodge's lavish dining room. Walking in heavily, Xavier took a thin rag from his back pocket and swiftly went to work polishing one of the windows that offered a wide view of the lake. Xavier always thought the room felt like a greenhouse, each wall being little more than a pane of glass that reached all the way to the ceiling. It was the next best thing to outdoor dining.
It had been almost a year since he had started working there, first as a dishwasher and now as a waiter, but it felt like much longer on nights like this one when he had time to reflect. His quiet disposition and general reclusiveness hadn't earned him many companions, but his indispensable work ethic had helped make him stand out as an employee, sometimes to the chagrin of his less-motivated coworkers. Perhaps this was another reason the other workers never seemed to warm to him.
There was, of course, also the matter of his size. Standing at just over 6'4" and weighing close to 350 pounds, there was little doubt of his presence when he entered a room. Try as he might to keep a low profile, there just wasn't getting around the fact that he towered over most people he came across; he was easily twice as big as the next-largest employee. It was hard not to be intimidated by him, as most of his coworkers had discovered early on, though those who persevered found that a much different kind of person than who they might have expected hid beneath his mountainous form.
Everyone who worked at the lodge knew all too well that Xavier was, for lack of a better word, a 'softie', in more ways than one. Watching him for more than a few minutes would quell any notion that his bigness was indication of a gruff, extroverted personality. If anything, you would be hard pressed to find a more kind, sensitive person nearby. Unfortunately for him, those normally admirable qualities weren't much appreciated by Xavier's coworkers, who would often enjoy shooting daggers at his head whenever his back was turned. In a strange way, there was a kind of mutual understanding between Xavier and the rest of the staff. Their frustrations, though very real, usually went over his head. For all of his kindness, Xavier also tended to be a bit naîve. Still, outside of their disapproving glances and exaggerated groaning, they left him alone. Perhaps they were afraid that there really WAS a fierce persona lurking beneath Xavier's tenderness, just waiting for the first stone to be cast.
Most of the workers lived on site during the winter months when demand was high and business was booming, and Xavier was no exception. Residing in one of the apartment suites that littered the tower on the far end of the lodge's longhouse, he spent a good majority of his time by himself, though it didn't seem to bother him much. Work began early in the morning and usually continued into the evening, depending on how high occupancy was at the time. The common quietness of the spacious lodge during the slow season made some workers a bit nervous, but Xavier had always found it to be rather comforting.
Tonight had been a night like any other, with only a few families staying at the lodge for the time being. Thanksgiving had passed rather uneventfully this year, and like clockwork, the rooms began filling up with reservations for the month of December. In a few days they would be entirely full, if the past was any indication. For many families staying at the lodge had become a sort of tradition, especially Christmas Eve dinner, the busiest night the kitchen would experience for the entire year.
Quietly wiping away a small parade of child's fingerprints, Xavier looked out the window he was standing in front of, watching the stars leisurely hang over the stillness of White Lake. The small string of mountains that curved around the other side of the water bit into the dark night sky like jagged teeth, the moon's reflection the only source of light now that the sun had set. Even in the winter, the beach was a popular location at the lodge. Xavier could spot a legion of withered summer canoes sitting idly on the shore. Even in the blackness Xavier thought the lake was rather hypnotic.
Xavier's infatuation with the lakeside was interrupted by someone coughing loudly beside him, surprising him. Looking down, he could see that it was January, the current dining room supervisor. Her hair pulled into it's usual too-tight ponytail and a scowl on her face, she crossed her arms, looking exasperated.
"Taking your sweet time, I see." she snapped.
She couldn't have been much taller than 5'5", yet Xavier felt his gaze quickly fall to the floor as it often did when he was chastised by her.
"I'm sorry." he responded quietly. "I was a little distracted."
Still sneering, January scoffed, dragging her index finger across the clean glass window and loudly creating a long smudge where the fingerprints had once been. Xavier grimaced.
"I think I see the real problem." she snarled. You just do lousy work."
A tiny, sinister grin blossomed on her face.
"You've got a lot of windows to wash, so see to it that you get it all done before you leave." she spat, tapping her foot irritated. Xavier, now wringing the limp cloth in his nervous hands, nodded.
"Of course." he agreed, still not looking January in the face.
He let out a tiny gasp when she loudly snapped her fingers less than an inch from his face.
"Look me in the eye when you speak to me." she growled, pointing an accusing finger.
Looking down into January's angry brown eyes, Xavier nodded again, this time with a bit more enthusiasm.
"Of course." he said again, tiny beads of sweat dotting his forehead. January's eyes narrowed, but she finally turned and stomped away. When Xavier turned back towards the window to resume washing, he noticed that it had begun to snow.
* * *
It was almost midnight by the time Xavier had finished washing the last pane of glass. It was snowing so hard by now that the windows had become freezing cold to the touch, the once clear view of the lake now obstructed by webs of frost. After returning to the kitchen and running his hands under warm water to thaw them out, Xavier gathered his things, closing the doors to the dining room quietly so as not to awaken any sleeping patrons.
Though feeling had returned to his fingers, Xavier's eyes now felt heavy with sleep, and the idea of his warm bed became almost intoxicating. Walking quietly out into the foyer, he could see that someone had erected a very tall pine tree that was frosted all the way to the top with baubles and silver bells. The fireplace crackled weakly, casting festive shadows onto the foyer walls that were glowing faintly in the wispy darkness. The thought of a night's rest kept him conscious as Xavier trudged carefully across the floor, looking forward to finally kicking off his shoes. Walking down the long corridor leading to the tower, he watched the snow slowly falling to the ground, the lake looking like it might turn to ice. The hallway leading down to the tower stairs were lined with rows of tall windows that Xavier never took much notice of. Although tonight, something seemed off.
The windows were narrow. Very narrow. From what Xavier could tell, they were a little too small for a person to fit though. But that didn't seem to be stopping someone from trying.
In the middle of the hallway, trying to push themselves through one of the tiny portals, was what appeared to be a young woman with long, brown hair that had fallen in her face as she squirmed helplessly. Tenseness began creeping into Xavier's chest. His first instinct was to confront what he guessed was some kind of awkward burglar, but as he cautiously approached the intruder, he could hear her ululate a faint, pained whimper. After a few more attempts at freeing herself, she eventually let her hands drop to the ground, going limp as a rag doll in defeat. Doing his best to mask his somewhat thunderous footsteps, Xavier tried to recall what a strong, authoritative voice was supposed to sound like. When he was a few feet away from the suspended girl, she let out another pitiful sob.
"...Hello?" he called out, forgetting to sound stern and intimidating.
Her hair still covering her face, the girl suddenly became silent. Lifting her head slowly she looked at Xavier with worry in her eyes; Xavier was looking at her with an equal amount of confusion. A few moments of stoney silence followed, cold air and sleet from outside pouring in from the open space above the trapped girl.
"I can explain." she finally squeaked, looking rather miserable.
A long black scarf was slung around her thin neck, drooping down and skirting the carpet below. Shivering from the sudden cold, Xavier looked at her curiously, slowly realizing that if this was an attempted robbery, he was conversing with the most tactless burglar in existence.
"Do you need some help first?" he asked softly, beginning to feel his confidence slip as the girl continued looking at him intently, her own expression hard to read.
He also began wondering how long the poor girl had been wedged in the window frame: The girl's face looked very pale. Only the tip of her nose, which was bright red, seemed to have any color. She sighed helplessly as the cold wind started to sting Xavier's face.
"...Yes. Please." she finally confessed.
The girl stuck her hands out towards his, beckoning to Xavier silently. Cautiously, Xavier took both of her gloved hands and began pulling. First gently, then with a bit more force when the girl didn't seem to be moving.
"Does that hurt?" he grunted, tugging with more force than he thought would be necessary.
"I'm fine...you've almost got it..." she assured him, wriggling in the tight frame as vigorously as she could in an attempt to jar herself loose.
In one quick, fluid motion, the girl finally came tumbling in through the window, followed by a rush of snowy air that covered them both in powder. Newly freed from her window prison, the girl started falling head first onto Xavier, who could feel his shoes begin to slip under the now snow-filled hallway.
In an equally fast moment, Xavier began stumbling backwards frantically, letting go of the girl's hands as he felt both of his feet leave the ground. With an impressive quake as his considerable backside slammed onto the floor and what sounded like a muffled crunch, the two of them hit the ground, Xavier sprawled on his back and the frozen girl falling neatly on top of his soft, squishy stomach. Within a few seconds the girl realized where she had landed, the red of her nose quickly spreading to the rest of her shocked face.
"Ah, oops-" she lamented quickly, doing her best to sliding off of Xavier's belly and rolling down on to the floor beside him, letting out a relieved groan. For a few moments the both of them lay there still, out of breath but at least intact.
"That was crazy..." The girl breathed, slowly wobbling to her feet, knees knocking.
Xavier, still on his back and feeling a little like an oversized tortoise, also did his best to get to his feet, though it proved to be a difficult task after such an energy-sucking day. Seeing him struggle, the girl immediately grasped one of his massive hands in her gloved ones.
"I'm so sorry...here, let me help you." she offered, pulling rather impossibly at his largeness.
"Oh...thank you." Xavier muttered, knowing full well that such a small person probably wouldn't be able to pull him up, though it seemed kind of her to try. Once they both were on their feet and had a chance to catch their breath, they looked at each other for a few seconds, unsure of who was supposed to say what now.
"Um..." the girl started, breaking the silence before tucking her snow-frosted hair behind her ears, "I wasn't just saying that so you would help me, you know. I really CAN explain." she insisted, rather convincingly.
Xavier was so relieved that he hadn't had to confront a serial killer that he had forgotten that he still had no idea who the girl standing in front of him was.
"Oh, right..." he remembered, peering down at the girl who looked like she was about a third of his size.
"This is like, the sixth time I got locked out..." She explained, brushing the snow from her coat and pants. "Usually I can get someone to open the door for me but it's so late, and everyone's gone to sleep..." she trailed off, looking as if she just now realized how cold she really was.
Noticing her start to shake, Xavier quickly pushed the offending window shut, sighing in relief as the air began to warm once again. Turning back to the girl, Xavier finally got a good look at her after having allowed his eyes to adjust to the dimness. She was noticeably slender with small, delicate hands and a quiet kind of calmness that seemed to put him at ease.
"So then...do you...work here?" Xavier asked, feeling more confused than ever.
It didn't help that, as the girl in front of him continued to speak, he continued to feel his confidence fade away and his face begin to sting with a strange kind of heat.
"Kind of." she said, looking a bit distracted after touching her hand to her face. "Damn...my glasses...did they fall out of my pocket?" she asked out loud, now crawling on the floor with her face pressed close to the ground. "Ugh...not again..." she lamented, grinding clods of snow into the carpet as she continued to scan.
It was around this time that Xavier remembered something from their little tumble: the crunch. Looking behind him where he had landed after unhinging the girl, he could see even in the dark hallway that a pair of flimsy glasses sat lifelessly, looking as if someone had put them down a garbage disposal. His heart sank.
"I think I found them." Xavier said grimly, carefully picking up the destroyed spectacles.
He held the glasses out to the girl, who looked at them curiously.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to break them." he started, feeling his voice start to crack with guilt.
It wasn't the first time he had destroyed something by accidentally falling on it. The girl took the glasses from Xavier's trembling hands, her expression turning soft after seeing how troubled he had become. She quietly tucked the remains back into her coat before smiling up at him, surprising Xavier quite a bit.
"It's alright. These ol' things were old as dirt. Good riddance,I say."
The girl laughed lightly, but her laughter quickly degenerated into a fierce cough that left her reeling. She had begun to shiver again, wrapping her scarf around her neck several times.
"I guess I was out there for longer than I thought." she sniffed, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm up.
"Can you see alright?" Xavier asked, his voice still sounding a bit regretful.
Though he was little more than an orange and pink blur at this point, the girl looked up at Xavier with what he now saw were fatigued, bloodshot eyes.
"Well, sorta, everything's pretty blurry...do you know which way number 403 would be? I have another pair in my room, so if I can just get there I'll be fine." she told him, starting to stumble a bit.
"I'm going that way, I can show you." Xavier said brightly, a bit surprised at his forwardness. The girl took his hand once again, still smiling weakly.
"Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it." she remarked, her puffy eyes becoming softer.
Xavier held the girl's hand carefully, guiding the would-be burglar down the corridor towards the tower while trying his best to remember to breathe.
The halls grew a bit lighter as they went on, the soft hum of vending machines offering them a break from the night's quiet stillness. Feeling not unlike he was in the midst of some kind of misty dreamscape, Xavier guided the girl cautiously up several flights of stairs leading up to the fourth floor, which Xavier remembered was one of several floors that had recently been renovated. He moved across the wooden floors towards the girl's room, hearing her tiny footsteps following his clamorous ones. Perhaps he really had actually made it up to his room and was in the middle of some sort of strange wintertime delusion. Perhaps it was the late hour or the overwhelming dinginess of his path, but Xavier could feel his entire face beginning to ignite with an intense excitement and a strange, unplaced nervousness.
"Here we go." he said finally, feeling the girl's hand fall out of his own almost reluctantly when they finally reached their destination.
Seeming to catch a second wind, she reached into her pocket, extracting a green card that she held up triumphantly.
"Ah, at last..." she sighed. Quickly she unlocked the door, which creaked open lazily.
Turning back towards Xavier, her expression was now one of sincere gratitude.
"Thanks again for helping me out...and sorry if I gave you a scare. I promise I'll never try something like that again." she assured him. Xavier nodded, hardly able to believe how bizarre the last thirty minutes had been.
"It's alright, don't worry about it..." Xavier could barely bring himself to look the girl in the eye at this point, almost as though the light had made his remaining grain of confidence shrivel like a raisin. Pushing the door open a bit, the girl turned back towards Xavier again. She was grinning now.
"Do you mind if I ask your name, my good sir?"
At first no words came out, even after Xavier opened his mouth and was pretty sure he knew the right answer. At first it seemed like perhaps the cold had sapped his ability to think, or maybe his severe exhaustion was what accounted for his muteness. In reality, and as he would realize later, it was that despite her frazzled demeanor and obvious fatigue, in the peaceful light of the Pepsi machine, Xavier couldn't help but think the girl was fascinatingly beautiful.
Thankfully his composure returned in a few seconds, and Xavier looked back at her, looking sheepish as ever.
"Xavier. I'm Xavier." he said, his voice starting to quiver with a tired bashfulness. The girl looked pleased by his answer.
"I like that. I've never met a Xavier before." The girl put her hand out, which was looking even tinier without it's mitten.
"I'm Ilene."
Shaking her hand delicately, Xavier could feel that even his palms were starting to glisten with nervous sweat, though Ilene didn't seem to notice or mind.
"Nice to meet you." he said meekly before clamming up again.
"Thank you again, you really saved me." she said, grinning up at him with worn but grateful eyes. Xavier shoved his hands in his pockets as he shifted weight from foot to foot. "Oh, no problem at all." he mumbled, forgetting his own tiredness for the moment.
"Well...good night, Xavier." Ilene whispered gingerly, flashing a tiny smile before closing the door gently.
Finding himself alone in the vastness of the empty lodge once again, Xavier started down the hall towards his own room, feeling his shoulders begin to relax and his heartbeat return to it's normal, comfortable state.
"Good night", he thought.
In spite of everything, it certainly had been.
