Claire Dillon is spending two weeks in the French Alps with her charge, six year old Emilie, whose father, Frenchman Bernard Marchand, owns a chalet in Courchevel. Bernard has asked Claire to take his daughter there to recover from a serious illness, explaining to Claire that the chalet party will also include some of his business associates. One of them turns out to be Lucy, her childhood friend with whom she fell out ten years earlier after a bitter row.
Lucy, who has made a brilliant career in advertising, was expecting the holiday of a lifetime with her boss, New York business man Al Freeman and his wife Penny. She is as shocked as Claire when they meet again. The presence of Patrick Delacy, Al’s lawyer, with whom she has had a brief affair, ads to Lucy’s discomfort.
A luxury chalet in the French Alps. Six people thrown together by accident. And then it begins to snow..
‘Look,’ Emilie said, as she and Claire climbed the last steep incline to the chalet, ‘it’s starting to snow.’
She was right. Huge snowflakes twirled in the air, first just a few, then more and more, until it was difficult to see where they were going.
‘They look like feathers,’ Claire said. ‘It’s as if a huge pillow burst in heaven and all the feathers are falling down to Earth.’
‘The angels are having a pillow fight.’ Emilie laughed and tilted her face up. She stuck out her tongue. ‘They don’t taste of anything.’
‘What did you expect, silly?’
‘Wouldn’t it be fun if they tasted of vanilla? Or strawberry? Then we could put them in a box and keep them in the freezer like ice cream.’
‘And they would have no calories,’ Claire said wistfully.
*
‘This is really a bit mad,’ Penny complained as they waited in the lift queue. ‘It’s still snowing like crazy. Why are we going up there only to have to feel our way down?’
‘But aren’t your new goggles any good?’ Patrick asked.
‘Haven’t really put them to the test yet,’ Penny replied. ‘I’ll tell you later. Oh, no, this is only a two seat lift. One of us will have to go up alone.’
‘Madame,’ the man in front of her said, ‘would you like to come with me?’
Penny looked at the handsome stranger and smiled broadly. ‘Why not,’ she said and sat down beside him as the chair lift arrived. ‘See you up there,’ she called over her shoulder to Patrick and Lucy as the chair lift disappeared up into the heavy snowfall.
‘Isn’t Penny such a daredevil these days?’ Lucy remarked as she sat down on the next lift with Patrick. ‘It’s as if she wants take every opportunity to have fun.’
‘And what’s wrong with that?’ Patrick enquired. ‘Look out, your ski poles are in the way.’ He grabbed her poles and lifted them out of the way of the wires. ‘There. Now you’re OK.’
‘Am I?’ Lucy looked at him intently. He looked away. Their shoulders touched as they sat together on the narrow seat. It was curious how intimate you feel sharing a ski lift with someone, Lucy thought.
‘These old fashioned lifts are a bit cramped,’ Patrick said, as if he was reading her thoughts. He shifted his shoulders, trying to get more comfortable. ‘I suppose French people are smaller than the average American.’
‘The new lifts are much more efficient. And they can take up to six people at the same time. That’s a lot quicker, of course.’
‘And they’re safer,’ Patrick agreed. ‘But they seem to have kept some of the older lifts on this side of the resort.’
‘That’s because the slopes over here are not as popular. Probably because the sun hits them very early and the snow is not normally very good.’
‘Mmm. Probably.’
They were quiet, the whirring of the ski lift the only sound. Suddenly, the lifts stopped, and they were left dangling in the milky whiteness.
‘This is also the kind of thing that happens with these old lifts,’ Patrick said.
‘I know.’
Neither of them spoke for a long time as they hung there, suspended in mid air. The snow kept falling, and soon, they both had a layer of snow on their shoulders. Lucy felt awkward and tongue tied as she tried to think of something to say. Claire would have said something funny now, she thought, something that would make us both feel more at ease. She glanced at him, sitting there staring ahead. What was going on in his mind? How could he just sit there so close, without feeling anything? Oh God.. Lucy gripped the bar in front as hard as she could, trying to stop the tears from welling up. She looked down at the slope below. It looks quite close, she thought. Maybe I could jump? She looked ahead, trying to spot Penny and the stranger in the lift ahead, but it was impossible. Everything was lost in the falling snow. ‘I hope Penny’s all right,’ she finally managed to say.
‘She’s about as all right as we are, I suppose.’
Suddenly, laughter rang out from above. Then they could hear someone sing and then more laughter. ‘I think Penny’s making the best of the situation,’ Patrick said with a little smile.
‘I suppose.’ Lucy shivered. ‘It’s getting very cold.’
‘Yeah.’ Patrick suddenly put his arm around her. ‘We might as well try to keep warm,’ he grunted.
‘Yeah, sure.’ It was strange to feel his arm around her like this. Comforting, somehow. She wanted to put her head on his shoulder, but didn’t dare. He was only holding her to keep warm, after all.
Patrick squeezed her. ‘Jesus it’s cold,’ he said.
‘I know,’ Lucy replied.
‘About…,’ Patrick’s voice trailed off.
‘Yes?’
‘Your job. You’re very good at it you know.’
‘And that was a big surprise?’
‘Yes, No.. Those things Al told you. That’s not what I said that day, really.’
‘You mean what you really said was that you thought I was a bimbo but would be a good lay?’
‘No.. I.. OK. If that’s what you want to believe. Yes. Something like that.’ Patrick stared straight ahead, into the falling snow. He cleared his throat. ‘And that time…’
‘What?’
‘Oh, you know. In Al’s office.’
‘Oh that,’ Lucy replied, trying to shake off his arm without success.
‘It wasn’t such a big deal, was it? We just got a bit sloshed. A bit carried away, you know. I mean, nobody died or anything.’
‘No. Nobody died,’ Lucy replied in a flat voice. She shivered again, but not from the cold.
There was suddenly a whirring sound and the lift started to move. Patrick removed his arm. ‘We’re going up,’ he said.
‘Good.’
And the chair lift slowly brought them up to the top of the mountain.
*
Penny was really enjoying herself. The man who had invited her to share his chair lift, a good looking Dutchman, was great fun. When the lift stopped, she had been really scared. But then he kept her laughing by telling jokes and singing dirty songs in Dutch, which he obligingly translated into faultless and idiomatic English. Penny was nearly sorry the lift started again. She could have stayed there all day.
‘Look out, we’re coming in to land,’ the Dutchman exclaimed. He lifted up the bar in front of them. ‘Nice to meet you. Maybe we’ll meet again?’
‘I hope so,’ she said as she stood up and slowly slid down the small slope.
‘Tot later,’ he called as he took off down the piste and disappeared into the curtain of falling snow.
‘Who was that?’ Lucy asked as she skied down to join Penny.
‘Oh, just a Dutchman. Very nice.’
‘More than nice,’ Lucy remarked. ‘He was a bit of a hunk, I have to say.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Penny said with feeling. Then she laughed. ‘He thinks I’m an artist.’
‘Why?’
‘Because that’s what I told him.’ Penny giggled mischievously. ‘I said I live in a loft and I sell my nude paintings on the Internet. He was so cute. I wanted him to find me interesting.’
‘I’m sure he did.’ Lucy smiled. ‘He probably thought you were one those people who set up porn sites.’
‘Shit, I never thought of that. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll never meet him again. He’s going home tomorrow. Where’s Patrick?’
‘Over there. Struggling with those state-of-the-art goggles of his. I think the string just broke.’
‘Don’t laugh at him, whatever you do. He hates that. OK Patrick?’ she shouted back at the blurry figure.
‘Fine,’ came the muffled reply.
‘Let’s go, then,’ Penny said and pulled her goggles over her eyes. ‘Last one down is a rotten egg.’
*
‘Oh God,’ Penny panted at the bottom of the last slope, ‘that was not fun.’
‘I know,’ Lucy said, ‘I had this awful feeling of déja vue. I already got lost once. I don’t want to go trough that again, thank you very much.’ She peered through the curtain of falling snow back up the piste, where a white figure was coming down very carefully. He doesn’t look so dashing now, she thought. Not the champion skier we have all been forced to admire.
‘Hi,’ Penny said when Patrick was finally down. ‘You looked a little awkward there. Those goggles not quite as good as you expected?’
Patrick pulled them off impatiently. ‘They were bloody useless,’ he grunted. ‘I paid a fortune for them. And they’re just shit.’
‘That’s advertising,’ Lucy said, trying not to smile. ‘Makes suckers even out of intellectuals like you.’
Patrick glared at her.
‘Well, I’ve had it for today,’ Penny said, taking off her skis. ‘And that break in the weather they promised this morning didn’t seem to happen at all.’
‘I’m going for a drink,’ Patrick muttered as he undid the bindings of his skis. Without another word, he put his skis on his shoulder and walked off in the direction of the village.
‘Gee, thanks for inviting us to join you,’ Penny said as she looked at his departing figure. ‘What’s biting him?’ she asked Lucy.
Lucy shrugged. ‘How should I know?’
Penny’s eyes narrowed. ‘What’s going on between you two? Why are you always sniping at each other like that?’
‘I really don’t know what you mean.’ Lucy picked up her skis and started to walk to the lift that would bring them up the hill to the chalet.
*
‘What’s going on between you and Lucy?’ Penny said to her husband Al that night. ‘Are you beginning to look at younger women, is that it?’
‘But all men look at younger women,’ Al said. ‘It doesn’t mean anything. It’s like window shopping. We look but we don’t go into the shop to buy anything. Men love looking at women, you know. Especially women like Lucy. She’s very cute, don’t you think?’ He started to take off his trousers.
‘No, I don’t,’ Penny snapped, folding her arms across her chest and glaring at Al. ‘I don’t think she’s a bit cute!’
‘Oh, give me a break,’ Al said. ‘You don’t think I fancy Lucy, do you? I think of her as a daughter, you must know that.’
‘You already have a daughter, remember?’
‘Yeah, but she’s fat and looks like my mother,’ Al replied, realising instantly that it was the wrong answer. ‘I mean… Ah honey, I’m tired and a bit drunk; the wrong words just seem to come out of my mouth.’
‘You mean you wish Jennifer looked more like Lucy? Would you love her more then?’
‘No, of course not. I love Jennifer. And I’m very proud of her and the fact that she has a PHD and is a professor at Harvard.’
‘The youngest professor there,’ Penny said proudly. ‘So she’s a little heavy. That’s just puppy fat.’
‘Puppy fat at 28? Isn’t it time she lost it?’
‘She will. She’s a very attractive woman.’
‘Yes, she’s very, very beautiful. A lot more beautiful than Lucy or Claire or any of the younger women around here. Or anywhere. So are you. Can I go to bed now?’
‘No. I want the truth right now.’
‘The truth about what? I’ll tell you anything you want to know if I can go to bed.’
‘OK. I want to know what that word you put on the board was all about. And what you said to Lucy and the look on Patrick’s face. What are you two up to?’
‘Who?’ Al stared at Penny. ‘Lucy and me? Nothing, absolutely nothing, I swear.’
‘No,’ Penny snapped impatiently, ‘you and Patrick.’
‘Me and …what the hell are you raving about now? And why do we always have to have our rows at bedtime?’
‘For God’s sake try to listen.’ Penny stopped. ‘Oh, what’s the use?’ She got up and continued to undress. She looked at Al, standing there in his underpants with that worried look in his eyes. Like a little boy, she thought, just like when we were young and I was pregnant and he didn’t understand all my mood swings and cravings. He was so sweet then, so understanding. He even rushed to the drugstore in the middle of the night to get me a strawberry milkshake or some pickled gherkins, whatever I wanted. And now he’s a bit drunk and tired and just wants to go to bed. ‘Why did I think I could get any sense out of you?’ she sighed. ‘And why did I think that I could stop you admiring younger women?’ She pulled her shirt out of the waistband of her slacks, took it off and threw it on the bed. ‘I’m pretty tired myself,’ she mumbled. ‘Tired of this whole place, this holiday, them out there, you and the weather.’
‘Well,’ Al said, looking relieved and climbed drunkenly into his pyjamas. He got into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. ‘There’s only one thing to do,’ he said, ‘and that is to go to sleep. You’ll feel better tomorrow. Let’s leave it for now.’ He sighed and closed his eyes.
‘Yeah; let’s leave it.’ Penny picked up her clothes and started to tidy them away. ‘Just go to sleep.’
Al opened one sleepy eye.
‘What are you looking at?’ Penny demanded.
‘You,’ he murmured softly and closed his eyes again.
*
Lucy couldn’t sleep. She had gone to bed, put out the light and closed her eyes, but sleep would not come. The weird game of scrabble and the rest of the evening were still so vivid in her mind. Drinking dry martinis and then that arguing with Claire, while Patrick had watched them through half-closed eyes, laughing to himself as Claire told Lucy her job was ridiculous. ‘Selling cat food,’ she had mocked, ‘how stupid is that?’ Lucy had tried not to retaliate with remarks of what a dead-end job teaching was. She didn’t want to go near the can of worms she knew would explode if they started to tear strips off each other and bring up the inevitable subject of their break up. Fed up with Claire’s sniping, she had walked out, leaving Claire and Patrick alone in the living room. They’ll probably end up screwing anyway, Lucy had thought nastily, and good luck to them. They deserve each other. I can’t wait for this awful holiday to be over and I’m back at the office again. She thought longingly of her desk, the view of Manhattan from her window, the sound of sirens far below, the buzz and excitement of starting a new campaign. She even missed the grey skies and the cold wind, the traffic and noise, the crush in the subway and the rudeness of New York cabdrivers. It just makes you feel so alive, she thought.
After an hour of twisting around in her bed, getting up to open the window, then closing it, reading a chapter of ‘Advertising, The Way Forward’, putting out the light again, turning her pillow around, throwing it on the floor and finally counting sheep, she gave up. She put on the light, sat up in bed and started to do her nails, a job she had neglected for the last few days. Her manicurist would not be impressed. Then she remembered all the other beauty routines she had forgotten to do ever since she had arrived, and went into the bathroom. Her legs were decidedly furry, her hair was flat, there was just a hint of a moustache re-growth on her upper lip and her skin looked dull and yellow in the merciless glare of the spotlights. I might as well do a total overhaul, she said to herself. And then I’ll have a bath. I’m sure to go to sleep after all that grooming. Lucy went back into the bedroom, put some relaxing, slow jazz music into the CD player and got out her bag of toiletries.
Half an hour later, as she was sitting on her bed, curlers in her hair, a glob of hair remover on her upper lip, painting her toenails and softly singing ‘Cry Me a River’, the door slowly opened. Lucy looked up, her hand with the nail polish brush frozen in mid-air. She stared at him. He was dressed in only a pair of light blue pyjama bottoms and his hair was messy. She wanted to say something cutting but she was so shocked nothing came out of her mouth.
‘Hi,’ he said. ‘You look…lovely.’
‘Get lost,’ she croaked, putting the brush back in the bottle, snatching a tissue from her bedside table and wiping her mouth. She ripped the curlers from her hair and tugged her nightgown over her knees.
‘Is that really necessary? Patrick asked. ‘I’ve already had a good look at your tush, remember?’ He walked forward and sat on her bed.
Lucy moved further away, until her back was against the headboard. ‘That’s what I’ve been trying my best to forget,’ she said, noticing against her will his lean chest covered in thick blond hair and his long dark eyelashes.
‘You have a little…’ he gestured with his finger to his upper lip.
‘Oh, shit.’ Lucy took another tissue and wiped her face again.
He put his hand on her knee. ‘Lucy,’ he started.
‘No, go away.’
‘I will, but just listen to me for a moment.’
‘Take your hand off my knee.’
‘OK,’ he said and moved it onto her thigh. ‘How’s that? Better?’
‘No.’
‘It works for me.’ He kept his hand there, just above her knee. ‘Just wanted to talk to you for a while.’
‘About what?’
‘I don’t know,’ he shrugged in an exaggerated way. ‘The weather?’
‘It’s snowing. Now leave.’
‘Oh, no.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m not going to go away this time. What’s that music?’
‘Just some jazz.’
‘It’s lovely. Putting me in the mood.’
‘For what?’ she asked, even though she knew the answer.
‘Don’t pretend you don’t know,’ he chided. ‘Don’t pretend you don’t have feelings for me.’
‘Oh yes. I hate you.’
‘Oh, no you don’t.’ He took both her hands in his and looked into her eyes. Then he pulled her forward until their lips were nearly touching. She could feel his hot breath on her face, smelling faintly of toothpaste. ‘We have been really silly,’ he murmured. ‘And I’m sorry. But..’ He kissed her gently, barely touching her lips. ‘It was your fault too.’
‘Why?’ she breathed.
He didn’t answer, but leaned back on his elbow and studied her for a moment. ‘I’ve been trying to figure you out,’ he said, the conceit in his voice replaced by earnestness. ‘Who are you, really?’
Lucy looked back at him without replying, suddenly at a loss for words.
‘I mean,’ he continued, ‘you’re so different from that girl I met in the lift. You have become so grown up, so confident and…’ he paused.
‘And?’ Lucy whispered.
‘And scary.’ Patrick ran his hand over his face. ‘Oh, God, I don’t know why I’m saying all these things.’
‘Nor do I,’ Lucy snapped. ‘And I think you should get out of here right now.’
‘I like you,’ Patrick said suddenly. ‘I really like you, Lucy Mulcahy. I like your sharp brain, I like your courage and your determination. In fact, you’re a hell of an attractive package. But…’
‘Go on.’
‘But you see, I can’t… I can’t go through all that again.’
‘All what again?’
‘All the hurt and arguing and hate.’
‘What are you going on about now?’ Lucy demanded, surprised by the sudden flash of pain in his eyes, gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a sleepy, insolent smile.
‘It’s too late to fight, darling,’ he murmured, drawing her closer again. ‘Let’s be friends. Let bygones be bygones. OK?’
His arms around her were oddly comforting. She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. It was so nice to be held like this, not to be alone, but together, and she suddenly didn’t care what he meant or what would happen next. ‘I don’t want to fight with you,’ she mumbled. ‘I didn’t mean to…’
‘Never mind. I forgive you.’
‘For what?’ Lucy pulled back and stared at him. ‘I don’t think I have done anything that requires forgiveness.’
‘What?’ he looked at her with confusion in his eyes. Then he shook his head and pulled her close to him again. ‘You’re right. I should ask you to forgive me. Do you? Please say you do.’
‘Of course,’ she mumbled into his shoulder, feeling she’d agree to anything just to stay like this in his arms.
‘Good.’ He reached out his hand and put out the light. ‘The elevator is going up,’ he whispered, ‘all the way to the top floor..’
*
Penny looked around the bedroom for her nightgown. Had she left it in the bathroom that morning when she had a shower? She padded across the carpet and quietly slipped into the bathroom. She switched on the light and looked around. The nightgown was draped over the chair, where she had left it. As she reached out to pick it up, she caught sight of her naked body in the big mirror. She could see herself, head to toe, illuminated by the many lights in the huge bathroom. ‘You’re still attractive, she said to herself. ‘Oh yes you are.’ She nodded at herself and smiled as she remembered how Al had looked at her just now. Normally, he would say ‘I just love that ass’, or something equally vulgar. But tonight, all he had said was ‘you’, with such tenderness in his voice and such love in his sleepy eyes that it made her feel warm all over. He had looked at her like that when they first fell in love. Did he still feel like that, she wondered. Was it possible that he still found her beautiful? She turned to look at herself sideways. My bottom is still up there, she thought, my stomach is fairly flat and the boobs are quite firm. In fact, she said to herself, you’re not such a bad looking old thing after all. She picked up her nightgown and started to put it on, but changed her mind and let it fall to the floor. She walked out of the bathroom, across the bedroom and slipped into bed beside Al. She put her arms around his waist and snuggled closer to his big form. ‘Darling,’ she whispered.
‘Yeah?’ he grunted.
‘Nothing. Just darling, darling…’
*
Lucy woke up smiling into the darkness. Her whole body felt relaxed and warm. It had been so wonderful, making love like that, softly whispering to each other, touching, kissing and then… It had felt such a natural thing to do, and they seemed so in tune, as if made for each other. Finally, she thought, we’re together. He’ll never leave me again, not after all the things he whispered and all the things we…She slid a hand along the sheet, wanting to feel his smooth skin under her hand, to touch his hair. But her fingers only felt the empty pillow. Lucy sat up and put on the light. He was gone.
She threw off the bedclothes, walked to the window and peered out. It was nearly dawn and she could see a strip of daylight over the mountains. In the early morning light she saw it was still snowing and that the snowdrifts nearly came up to the windowsill. We’re trapped, she thought, Oh my God, we’re all trapped together here in this house….
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