The Beautiful People

2. Angie

     It took him about ten minutes to find a place where we could inquire about our current location. Josh was never one to ask for help, even when it was evident how badly it was needed. I sat there in the passenger seat and waited impatiently for him to return and tell us how lost we are. When he returned to the car, Josh had a smile that indicated it might not be the case.

     "We'll be alright," Josh informed me as he got back into the car. "The exit is just a few miles up, so we haven't passed it yet."

     "Okay," I replied, trying desperately to hide my disappointment. I was looking forward to give him a small, cold helping of I told you so, but it was delayed until further notice.

     Once back on the road, it didn't take long to find the exit and get back on the right path to make it to the cabin. The instructions my boss had left were accurate as long as we knew where we were on it. Josh is a good driver, but he's more of a city boy. He's not the kind of guy you want away from city lines. His idea of roughing it is room service. If my father was still alive, Josh is the kind of guy he'd rather spit on than give a blessing to. I don't know why I'm with someone as spineless as him, maybe I had too much exposure to the macho type when I was a kid. I'm not sure, but he makes me laugh too.

     Things were rather quiet riding up to the cabin, but to be honest I didn't want him to be here. If I had a choice I'd rather come here alone, but that wasn't an option. Only couples were welcome at the cabin, and if my Boss hadn't met Josh at an event just before the holidays then chances are I wouldn't' have been invited. I was told that only employees with significant others were invited, and singles were given the cold shoulder. So for a chance it was going to be to my advantage that Josh was here.

     "You're not going to embarrass me, are you?" I asked him. It's a question that came up more often than I'd like to admit.

     "I don't embarrass you," Josh disagreed, "I'm a nice guy."

     "Like I said," I retorted, "Embarrassing."

     "You have no idea what that word means," Josh chided, "You've never lived a degrading moment in  your entire life."

     "And what makes you say that?" I asked.

     "Because you're pretty!" Josh replied, "Men wouldn't dare embarrass you out of some deep fear that you would lose interest and kill any chance of getting in your pants."

     "With an attitude like that," I said, looking back at him, "Your odds of getting any where near my pants in dwindling by the moment."

     "They were never in my favor to begin with," Josh said, shrugging. "For men, most of us are used to being the underdogs when it comes to the battle of the sexes."

     "Who doesn't have to worry about it?" I asked, curious to what most meant.

     "Nevermind," Josh said, suddenly clamming up.

     "Coward," I said to him, looking back out the window.

     "I call it a strategic retreat," Josh corrected.

     "Whatever," I said, as I honestly didn't give a damn. "Just get us to the fucking cabin."

     "I think I see it," Josh said, pointing at something. "That's it right there."

     "About time," I replied, my patience wearing thing.

     "Give it a break," Josh said, "We made great time. You'll have plenty of time to kiss your boss' ass before anyone else arrives."

     "Fuck you." I coldly scolded.

     "Don't make promises you can't keep," Josh replied, "Your boss might get jealous."

     "No, seriously." I added, "Go fuck yourself."

     "You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Josh asked.

     "No," I answered. "Do you?"

     "Don't tempt me," Josh said, clearly egging me on. "Your Mom is pretty hot for her age."

     Without warning, I punched him in the arm. He didn't say anything, but hissed which let me know how much it hurt. He realized he crossed a line and said nothing else. We said nothing else for the last two miles, and I took a deep breath and put a hand through my hair as the cabin slowly came closer and closer. There was a man standing in front of the cabin, waving as we pulled up. I was only happy to wave back as I was excited to see that my boss, Mr. Parsons, looked happy to see us.