**Dedication goes to KJColton for making me the AWESOME cover to my story!!!**
Escaping Trepidation
Chapter 2
The hikers reached the cottage before the sun began to lower in the sky, much to their relief. The cottage was large and was built of grey stone, blending into the environment. Smoke rose from the chimney making it look even more quaint and comfortable after a long, exhausting, day. Jenny and her husband, Alex, stood next to the house, waiting. They had arrived a day early to gain some time alone since they had a two year old daughter that kept them busy. Upon the arrival of her friend, Jenny opened her arms and stepped forward.
“Hey, how are you doing honey?” Jenny enveloped Alison in a hug.
“Hey,” Alison replied. Behind her, her companions exchanged their greetings. For the most part they all knew each other, but Ed being the exception; he knew of Jenny and Alex, but he never met them until that moment
“I’m Ed by the way.” He waved, feeling a bit awkward. Rob, Alison, and Emma had met Jenny a few years ago while at university, meeting Alex through Jenny. When the couple married, they had moved, making it hard for the friends to see one another.
“It’s nice to meet finally meet you,” Jenny said with a welcoming smile. “Emma talks a lot about you.”
“And I hear everything from my wife,” Alex piped in. Rob and Alison chuckled.
“All good things I hope,” Ed glanced at his girlfriend.
Emma sighed, “He’s never good.” Her boyfriend glanced at her with a surprised look, his eyebrows raised. With Ed, she loved to joke around, especially since he was a joker as well, but he was usually raunchier than her, so her statement caught him a little off guard.
“Anyways,” Jenny motioned towards the cottage, to change the subject, “we took the double room with the suite. Someone will have to sleep on the couch if they do not want to share a room, is that okay?”
“Emma, do you want to room with me?” Alison asked. They were roommates at university and have become accustomed to each other’s living standards.
She shook her head. “No, I would like to room with Ed.” Emma felt bad when her friend nodded, looking a little disappointed.
“I thought you said he’s never good?” Alex said, jokingly.
“Fuck off.” Emma said, suddenly peeved. She headed inside to claim a room and unpack.
Jenny gave her husband a scolding look before following Emma. “Ignore him; he is just being a jerk.” Emma nodded, saying nothing as she looked at the rooms. At long last, she had chosen a room that faced west overlooking the mountains. There was a queen sized bed and plenty of closet space for two people. The curtains were light blue, matching the off white walls that had three inches of mountain wallpaper as a top border.
Back at the entrance, Ed walked inside. Immediately he crinkled his nose in disgust. “It smells as if something has died in here.” Alison and Alex were quietly hanging up their coats. Rob was behind them and had to push his way around to get through as he headed towards a window.
“Let’s get some air in here.”
“Yes please before I pass out,” Ed said.
“Right, if we had a phone in here mate, you could call up the landlord and complain.”
“There’s no phone? Great.” Next to him, Alison crossed her arms. Taking notice Ed asked, “What?”
“Why do you need a phone?” When he did not respond, she added, “You have Emma, you do not need a phone.” After, she walked away to explore, finding a few alcoholic beverages inside a cabinet.
Ed grinned. “Wanker,” Rob said, laughing. Ed left towards the bedroom Emma picked out, still smiling. Focusing on the window again, Rob sighed. “And the window is bust.”
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The night was still young despite the black sky outside the cottage as Emma, Alison, Ed, and Rob took turns washing up. Jenny and Alex began to cook a delicious pasta dinner, the heat of the stove adding more warmth into house. As Jenny cooked the noodles, her demeanor began to change. Her husband embraced her from behind, whispering, “I am sure she is already tucked up and asleep by now.”
“Your parents are such a pushover. She runs rings around them; she’s such a little monkey.” She paused, and then said, “I miss her.”
“It’s only been two days Jen.” He missed his daughter as well, but he knew she was being taken care of. His wife, however, begged to differ; she felt that the only one who could properly care for Christine was herself and her husband.
Alex grudgingly let go of his wife to help finish the meal.
Over dinner, Jenny and Alex asked how their hike went. The group went silent, the memories flooding back. “What happened?” Alex asked.
“While climbing Mount Ennis, we had an incident.” Rob began.
“Oh no,” Jenny stopped eating to listen.
“The rope caught on my foot and I slipped and hung upside down for several minutes.” Ed picked at his green beans with his fork, never taking his eyes off the plate. Across from him, he heard Alex and Jenny catch their breath.
“Alison and I fell as well, but we were not upside down.”
“Jesus,” Jenny whispered under her breath.
“You are lucky you are all right,” Alex said as he rolled up some pasta onto his fork.
“We know.” Rob smiled to lighten the mood.
When they had finished eating, they cleared off the table to play poker, another pastime for them. During the game, Ed warmed up to Jenny and Alex, making him feel as if he had known them a lot longer. Emma was glad that they were getting along. At times there would be tension between the two men, but that was due to the fact that Alex and Ed were great poker players and they butted heads.
Watching them amused her. She was a decent player herself and had won a few rounds, gaining her enough bottle tops, pasta swirls, and match sticks (their version of poker chips).
“I will need to know how much these little fellows is worth?” Jenny asked as she held up a pasta swirl. She was the only one who did not know much about the game.
“Five matchsticks makes one pasta swirl.” Alex said, giving his wife a funny look.
She looked strangely back at him before she asked, “Right, and how much is a bottle top?”
“Two pasta swirls make a top”
“Ok, so ten match sticks makes one bottle top?” Alison clicked her tongue to confirm that she was right. Alex chuckled and Ed rolled his eyes, anxious to get on with the game. “It’s a bit confusing is all.” She said, noticing their reactions.
“It really isn’t,” Ed said, a little rude.
Emma nudged her boyfriend. “Be nice.”
“What are you going to do Jen?” Alex asked.
“Well ladies and gentlemen, I fold.” Ed and Alex scoffed.
“Right, what do you have that is so special?” Emma asked her boyfriend. She did her best to act like she had a good hand when she really didn’t, and she had a feeling that Ed could call her bluff.
“I have a pasta swirl and two tops to raise by,” he concluded.
Emma matched his offer and looked at Alex. He was looking at Ed, suspiciously. At long last he said, “I am going to keep him honest. All in.” Alison did not care, so she followed suite. It was Ed’s turn again. “You might as well jump on in,” he urged with a hint of sarcasm.
After a slight hesitation, Ed gave in and pushed all his “chips” towards the center of the table. Emma and Alison revealed their cards, both having nothing significant. With a sly smile, Alex threw down three kings. Ed sighed. “Damn it, I only got three tens.” Ed’s face contorted in frustration.
Alex whooped in joy and stood up to claim his prize. “Awww, look at that face.” Before he could shove it all to his side of the table, Ed changed his visage and threw down two more cards and said, “I have a pair of Queens as well.” Alex scowled, stopping in his tracks.
Emma stifled a giggle.
“A full house, let him take it.” Rob said.
Alex let go of the booty and sat down while Ed grabbed the pile. He chucked a lump of money at him as well, unhappy to lose it all. “Don’t spend it all in one pub.”
Ed unraveled one of the bills and frowned. “Alex, what is this, where’s the Queen?”
“That’s a Scottish Ten”
“This is worse than Monopoly money; I won’t able to buy anything with this,” he pouted.
“Well, I only have two words for you…”
“Do they involve sex and trouble?” Jen asked. Alex nodded.
“Very funny,” Emma said.
“Right, well I am off to bed, come on honey.” Jen stood up, her husband getting up as well.
“Another round?” Ed grabbed the cards and began shuffling the deck as the couple exited the room.
“Yeah, but after, I want to get to bed as well,” Emma winked at Ed.
“Sex and trouble.” The group laughed.
Alison looked around the room and noticed a picture of a white capped mountain. She stared at it and wondered how she could have missed the image after being in the room for several hours.
Rob followed her gaze. “Stick with me, Alice, and we can climb that this time next year.”
“Yager, yeah let’s do it, the north face.” As a climber, she recognized the mountain immediately. She studied the picture some more, scrutinizing every detail. “Killed seventy people; you know if you fall from the summit, it will take you thirty seconds to hit the ground. Thirty seconds to recall your life and say your goodbyes the whole way down.”
“That’s cheery,” Emma said, mainly to herself.
“Enough time to say the Lord’s Prayer.” Rob was a bit religious.
In a nonchalant tone, Ed retorted. “If you believe that’s going to save you.”
“Well, you need something.” Alison took her eyes off the picture and grabbed her cup, taking a sip. When she set it down, Ed asked if she wanted a refill, a bottle of whiskey in his hand. “Fill her up.”
He stopped when he saw the gin, saying, “No, you can’t mix gin and whiskey.”
“It’s called a ‘giskey’. I just invented it.”
“A giskey?” Emma raised her eyebrows.
“Do you want one?” She looked around the table, but no one acknowledged her offer.
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Ed yawned as he stood staring out the window of the bedroom he shared with his girlfriend. The wind had died down a little, but large raindrops began to pelt the cottage. “I hope this weather will clear up.”
Emma walked out of the bathroom after brushing her teeth and leaned against the door frame. “Me too,” she sighed.
Closing the curtains, he paced over to Emma. Cupping her face in his hands he whispered, “Hey, this trip will get better; I promise.” He gently kissed her lips.
“How can you promise such a thing? You have no control over the future.” She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. Ed was shirtless and smelled of cologne and his light brown hair was tousled making him look exceptionally sexy.
Ed raised his eyebrows. “I don’t?” He kissed her lips again. “In the near future, I see us making love.”
Unable to contain herself, Emma let loose a laugh. “You know what I meant.”
“Sure I did.” Ed slowly left her lips to kiss her neck.
“You know, my friends always ask me why we are together and they never believe me when I tell them how romantic you can be.”
“Oh, so I can be good?” Ed smirked.
“When you want to be. Most of the time you are an ass.” Her boyfriend chuckled and lifted her red T-shirt. Raising her arms, Emma allowed him to take it off, revealing her pink bra with small black polka dots and lace.
“Yes, but I am your pain in the ass, and I will always be there for you?”
“Cliché much?” She took a step back to study his face.
Looking deep into her blue eyes, her golden, wavy, hair flowing past her shoulders, he said, “I love you, Emma.” He was being serious.
Emma smiled. “I love you too.”
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Mr. Mcrae ignored the television that played in the background. They were in a small motel room in Inverness, Scotland, the smell of cheap beer and cigarettes from pervious tenants still clinging to the air. “Are we all set for tomorrow?” He was not a patient man; he stared at his partner with interest as he polished his handgun.
Mr. Kidd nodded in approval. “By this time tomorrow, the exchange will be over and we will have six million Euros.” He stood up from the chair he was sitting in to turn off the TV. “I recommend that you head to bed soon.”
“I will.” Mcrae continued polishing until he was satisfied that every single crevice of his gun was shining. After, he placed the weapon back in its case and climbed under the covers of his bed.
Early in the morning, they roused themselves and left the motel heading up towards the Highlands.
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I know that this chapter is not as thrilling as the fist, but I needed a chapter that would be the "calm before the storm." I hope you liked it nonetheless. I have provided a link of the moive under the 'External Link'.