“Hey, cutie pie,” she said with a big grin. Despite her smile, she looked tired. Because of the work travel I’d done right before my move and Zoey’s road trip to meet her boyfriend’s family, I hadn’t had a chance to see my BFF in person in a couple of months. Thank god she’d agreed to come spend Christmas with me.
“Hey, Zo-Zo-Bug,” I said back. “Tell me everything. I feel like I haven’t seen civilization in years.”
“Dude, seriously? You’ve been gone three days. I’m pretty sure all you’ve missed is me trimming my toenails. And oh my god, your hair! It’s so…”
“I know,” I said as I fingered the short strands.
Zoey must have picked up on what I wasn’t saying because she leaned toward the camera and whispered, “I love it, Oz. It’s so… you.”
I sighed and nodded my head. I looked around the cabin and confessed, “It’s really quiet here. I think time moves more slowly. It’s weird. It’s darker too. I didn’t know dark was actually… dark. Like really dark. And you should see the stars at night.”
“Oz, be careful with Boo, you know? I’ve heard wolves and coyotes and shit eat little dogs like that out there.”
I glanced over to where Boo stood on the back of a chair growling out the window in the direction of Jake’s cabin. Her white hair shot up in spikes around her head like a tiny lion’s mane. The fur trembled with the vibration of her rumble. She really didn’t like that guy.
“For some reason, I feel like she could handle herself,” I said with a laugh. “She’s one tough bitch. If she had her way, she’d have my sexy next-door neighbor by the throat right now… or points farther south.”
“Ooooh! Sexy neighbor, do tell!”
I could see Zoey’s familiar blue walls in the background and caught sight of the frog lamp I’d given her for her birthday a couple of years ago.
“Total hottie but total straightie,” I said with an exaggerated frown. “Which is good because I’m here to work,” I added, though I was likely trying to convince myself more than her.
“Nothing wrong with working by day and fucking by night, Ozias,” she teased.
“Nope. Not this time. I only have a couple of months to create a debut clothing line from scratch. If I want to show in NY Fashion Week, I have to have this stuff done by the end of January at the latest. God, it’s freezing in here. I can’t figure out how to get the damned heat to work right,” I muttered, reaching for another blanket.
“I get that you need to work, but you should take a little time to have some fun too. Tell me about the town. What’s Haven like?”
I rolled my eyes. “Not really sure yet. I fucked up my car before I even had a chance to see it. Now I’m scared to drive to town. If I don’t man up soon, I’m going to run out of food. No place delivers this far out.” While I knew whining was unattractive, I also knew Zoey was used to it from me when I was out of my comfort zone. I put on a good show around strangers, but my confidence was always in jeopardy when I was forced to try something new. I’d learned early on to not let people see you sweat it, though. Because then they’d pounce.
I’d learned that the hard way.
She sat up straight and leaned in toward her webcam. “Okay. Here’s the deal. I’m going to help you set goals. Enough sitting around being helpless—”
I couldn’t help but interrupt her. “I’m not fucking helpless. Take that back.”
“I know you don’t want to be helpless, so that’s why we’re setting goals. You have three things you need to accomplish tomorrow before you call to check in. The first is figuring out how to heat the cabin properly so you don’t die. That shit’s no joke. Second, you’re going to drive that new car of yours to town and stock up the fridge and pantry. Third, you’re going to find a cute boy in town and smile at him with your drop-dead smile. The one that earns you gazillions of dollars.”
“But, Zo… if I pull out my Laird face, someone might recognize me.” I flinched even as I said the stupid stage name my agent had stuck me with way back when. God, how the hell had I ever thought the name was mysterious and sexy? “I’m flying under the radar here, remember? No photos making their way to social media so no one comes bugging me to get back in front of the camera.”
Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. “No one will recognize you with that hair, Oz. Trust me. But, fine. We’ll change that last goal to making one new friend. Find someone who won’t know you’re a famous supermodel. Surely there are some old folks there who don’t read Vogue or drool over Armani ads. Strike up a conversation and remind yourself that just because you live by yourself in the woods doesn’t mean you can’t still interact with friendly people. You’re a people person, Oz. If you don’t find some people to chat with when you go into town, you’re going to get super down and depressed. Trust me. I’ve known you for years.”