"Yes, I work tomorrow at 6 AM to do a full restock so I'll get out by 1 PM. What time did you say we are leaving?" I ask Ross, my phone pressed against my ear.
He is staying at his parent's tonight because his mom wanted to have a family movie night. "We are leaving at 2:30, okay? Does that leave you enough time?"
Tomorrow is our ski weekend. A couple of days ago he revealed his gift to me. It was ski boots and other ski accessories that Rydel helped him pick out which included necessities like gloves.
"Yes, I'll be home from work by 1:15 so it's more than enough time."
I hear shuffling around in his background. "Okay baby. I can't wait. I miss you. I haven't seen you."
"I'm sorry. I work into overtime tomorrow because I worked 12 hours for the last three days. So, I'm going in tomorrow with 36 hours. I'll get three hours of overtime which is good." I rant. "But I really miss you too."
He responds. "You work too much. But my mom wants to start the other movie so I might call you if I need to escape. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Sounds good. Bye babe," he responds with a goodbye then we hang up.
I finally get to packing since I worked from 8 AM to 8 PM the last three days so my whole body hates me. I pack all of the warmest clothes I have. I need to be prepared to fall more times than not, so I pack extra clothes.
"Hayley, what are you doing? Are you alright?" Kayla's voice goes throughout the room. I lean up and look around.
I rub my eyes, "What time is it?"
"3:30 in the morning," she responds. "Did you fall asleep packing?" She laughs.
I groan, my head falling back down onto the small suitcase in front of me. "Fuck. Yes. I have work in 4.5 hours. I didn't even shower."
"Leave everything out of your suitcase that you need to pack. You go shower and I'll finish putting this away for you," my roommate smiles and waits for me to move out of her way.
I hug her quickly. "You're the best, I love you!"
"Yeah, yeah," she smiles and pushes me out of her way. I rush into the bathroom and take the quickest shower of my life so my hair can dry while I sleep. Once I'm out, she has the suitcase zipped and next to the door.
I brush through my wet hair. "Why are you awake?" I glance at the time. 3:59 AM.
"Chance's roommates were being loud and I wanted to actually sleep so I came home. Have fun tomorrow! Please send pictures. Be safe!" she says as she walks toward her room.
Why did I think working this many hours in a four-day span was a good idea? My eyes burned. My feet hurt. I was cranky. But I knew I needed the money more than anything.
I had to Uber in the mornings to work which only cost around $10 since it was so early and there was no traffic. My roommates typically picked me up since they would be coming home around that time. Today, I finally get my car back and I couldn't be more excited.
My manager Mike watches me as I go to clock out. "Can you stay an extra hour? We are low on employees."
"I can't. My boyfriend's waiting outside and we have the ski trip. I'm sorry," I apologize.
He begs. "Please Hayley."
"I'm sorry, Mike. I truly can't spare any time. Have a good rest of the shift," I smile at him as I walk out of the employee exit.
Hell no I was not staying an extra hour.
I haven't seen Ross in over three days so when I spot him leaning against the outside of his car, a smile immediately takes over my face. I rush over to him and wrap my arms around his neck as soon as I could.
"Hi baby," he says into my neck.
I lean back. "Hi, I missed you so much." With that, he leans down and pushes his lips on mine. Ross grabs at the back of my cheeks, his mouth moving feverishly with mine.
I pull away all too fast. "Fuck, why did four days feel like forever?" He asks.
"I know," I whisper and push a piece of his blonde hair out of his face.
He kisses me again. "So, your car is ready. We will head there first, pick it up then I'll follow you to your apartment. You can get your bag then we can head out. All of my stuff is already in my car."
"Did they tell you how much it'll cost?" I ask Ross while we were driving to the autobody shop.
He shakes his head. "No. Don't worry about it."
"Nope. Not playing this game again. I am paying for it." I sternly reply.
"Hayley, I said not to worry about it from the second I couldn't jump it when we were outside in the parking lot. I am paying for it, I don't care what you say," his voice laced with aggravation.
I huff. "How much is it?"
"Do you really want to know?"
I nod. "Yes please. I want to pay for it," he glares at me. "Or at least help pay for it."
"$1,500."
My eyes widen immediately. "What the hell? Why?"
I have $735 in my bank account right now. My heart is racing just thinking about that much money.
"You needed a whole new engine, babe." He replies. My 2005 car is starting to fully give out on me and I don't know what to do.
Ross pulls into the autobody shop and parks in a spot. "I... I can't. I can help split half now. Then I can pay the rest off when I get this week's paycheck. I'm sorry. Fuck I didn't expect-"
"Hayl, I am paying for the full thing and not taking any of your money. Please stop arguing with me. We have to hurry and get out of here so we can miss rush hour traffic. Stay here in the heat and I will be right out with your keys." His voice sounding slightly aggravated still. I glance over at him, my eyes portraying my overwhelming emotions. "Please," he adds softly.
I nod, my eyes now fixated on my legs. He breathes out in relief before getting out of the car and disappearing into the shop. I allow my thoughts to run through my head as I stare at the black leggings I'm wearing.
I hear the shop door close moments later. Ross comes out with keys and paperwork in his hand and he is shoving his wallet back into his jeans. He opens the driver door and sits down, breathing into his hands to warm them up. He passes me my key.
"Thank you. I appreciate it a lot. I grew up having to only rely on myself, so I'm not used to anyone paying for anything of mine... it's a weird feeling. I don't even know how to react because I am accustomed to having to do everything myself. I'm sorry if I annoyed you. And thank you, again." I rant.
Ross leans over and pushes his mouth on mine. "You're welcome, baby. And you didn't annoy me. You know how much you mean to me. I want to make things easier for you, not harder." He says as his thumb makes small motions on my cheek. "Now let's get going! I want to spend this whole weekend away from this town and alone with you." He smiles at me.
I kiss him again before hopping out of the car and heading to my own. I get inside and try to turn it on. Thankfully, it starts perfectly. I drive back to my apartment and as soon as we both park, Ross begins teasing me about my driving to lighten the mood.
"Am I forgetting anything?" I ask him, my hands on my hips.
He lifts his head from my mattress. "No."
"Come on. We are going to hit rush hour if you don't get up," I wink.
Seconds later, he jumps off the bed and has me pinned against the wall. I laugh as his hands grip my hips tightly. "What'd you just say to me?" He breathes.
"You're going to make us late," I further tease.
I lean my head against the wall behind me, my eyes looking into his. He leans down to kiss me but seconds later, he grabs the back of my legs and literally tosses me over his shoulder.
I squeal and kick my legs. His arm holds me tighter as he leans down and picks up the handle of the small suitcase I was bringing. "Ross! Let me down!" I yell, laughing as I do so.
"Nope. You kept teasing me saying I was going to make us late. This is your punishment."
I try to catch my breath from laughing so hard. "Ross, I can't breathe," I laugh.
"Do you need anything else?" He asks as he opens my bedroom door.
I shake my head. "No, just that."
Liv, Kayla and the two boys are all sitting on the couch. Once Ross walks out of the room, all heads turn to stare at us.
"Oh," Liv says quietly.
"See you on Monday!" I say as Ross continues to walk to the door.
Kayla gets up and walks past us, slapping my ass as she does so. "Have fun!"
I squeal again as Ross waves goodbye then walks into the hallway. "Let me down," I beg. "Please babe."
"Only because you called me babe," he responds and places me back onto my feet. I grip onto his arm to stabilize myself as the blood continues to go back to its normal routine before it was rushing to my head.
I roll my eyes and walk to the elevator as Ross wheels my suitcase behind me and humming a song. "How far of a drive is it?" I ask once the elevator begins to descend.
"Three hours," he answers.
I nod as we walk toward his car. He turns on the car and blasts the heat before putting my suitcase into the trunk. Once we are inside and warming up, he turns on his Spotify and the directions.
"I'm excited," I murmur softly.
He glances over at me and smiles. "Me too, babe."
Ross leans over and kisses me before beginning the three hour drive. Most of the drive was spent blasting music and his hand gripping my thigh. "Tell me a secret of yours," he casually says.
"Like what?" I ask. I try to think of any. "I don't really have any."
He hums. "It doesn't have to be a secret from the world. Tell me something about you I don't know."
I turn my body toward him. "I have a tattoo on my side by my ribcage."
"What of?" Ross quickly glances at me.
"A semicolon."
Ross looks confused so I'm not shocked at his follow up question. "Why a semicolon?"
"It's part of Project Semicolon. A semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence but chose not to. The meaning behind it is that the author is me and the sentence is my life." I proudly say. "I was suicidal at many times in my life, but as close as I was to ending it, I always thought of optimistic reasons. Thankfully I wasn't at the point where I couldn't think of better outcomes."
His hand reaches out and intertwines our fingers together. "I love your tattoo and the meaning behind it."
"Thank you," I say as he squeezes my hand. We pull into a huge ski resort and stop at the end of the line. We need to go through security and give our names so they can confirm our reservation. There about six cars ahead of us.
Ross pulls my arm. "Come here," he murmurs, his hand releasing mine and leaning over to rest against the back of my neck. He pulls me in closer and kisses me gently. "I'm so glad you're here." He says in between kisses. "Here as in alive. And here as in spending this weekend with me."