Holiday in Green Hollow - 6. Careful Dancing

Careful Dancing

Sam and Fred checked into the town's one small hotel, later that morning. They got the only small cramped room available and were grateful for it. The hotel was full of skiers and snowboarders all of who were waiting for a storm that was on its way. It was a freak event that even the weatherman had not seen coming until late the previous night. Now the forecast said that it would come in two days. To Sam it felt like it was bearing down on him ready to bury him in frigid snow.

The rest of the hotel's patrons seemed not to notice the gloom. Their eye's gleamed with anticipation, as did Fred's. Eventually the excitement wore of and was replaced with anxiety. Fred looked through the cloths he had brought and began to complain that he had nothing to wear.

"Well, I guess you're going to have to go shopping," said Sam with an exaggerated lisp.

He was still unhappy and glad to take it out on Fred. Fred did not seem to notice.

"Guess so. You want to come with me?"

"Hell no," answered Sam.

"OK then," said an absentminded Fred as he went out the door leaving Sam alone.

Sam sat for a few minutes looking at the uninspiring little room. Then he decided to go out for a walk. He put on his scarf and coat and made his way past a group of excited college kids in the hallway.

Outside it had gotten noticeably colder than it had been when they checked in. In the morning it had seemed like it might clear up but now a dark cloud hung over the horizon and only slightly lighter ones passed overhead. As Sam walked, snow began to fall again. It came down in big flakes. They leisurely sailed through the air and danced on the almost imperceptible breeze. Sam could not help smiling as he stopped for a moment to watch.

Then he continued his walk passing smiling snowboarders. In the distance he could see Sally's store and Mark's gym. They looked tiny with people scurrying past them like ants making their last preparations before winter set in. Sam took some satisfaction in the sight of people passing by the gym without giving it a second look while the perfume shop was somewhat busy. Sally knew how to pleas her customers. She had put out a rack of knitted scarves and sweaters just as the weather turned cold.

After a while Sam could not ignore the cold. His nose was getting numb. He looked back towards the hotel and realized that he had walked a long way. He was about to walk back when he saw a coffee shop just ahead. He went inside to warm up and inhaled the aroma of fresh coffee and baked goods. His stomach growled at the thought of food. He had skipped breakfast and it was already two thirty in the afternoon. He ordered a large cup of coffee and two slices of freshly baked banana bread. As he sat by one of the small spindly tables, the door opened. He looked up and saw Tom coming in. Sam smiled involuntarily.

"Hi Sam," said Tom smiling back.

"Hi," answered Sam and invited Tom to join him.

As they sipped their coffee Sam's mood improved. "So, what's this thing Fred and Sally are going to?" he asked.

"It's a party one of Sally's friends throws every year. It's become a tradition."

"That's all? The way Fred was acting you'd think the president was coming."

Tom laughed, "Where is Fred?"

"He's out shopping for cloths," answered Sam with a smirk, "He'll probably show up in a tuxedo."

"I don't know if he'll find one in Green Hollow. We're usually pretty casual. A suit is nice for New Year's or Christmas but you don't need anything that special for Isabel's after Christmas party."

"I hope someone takes pictures," laughed Sam, "are you going?"

"No I'm stuck in the store till seven. You'll have to let me know how it went."

"I'm not going either."

"Why not? Didn't Sally ask you to come?"

"No, she didn't get a chance. Besides, I'm not much of a dancer."

For the next few minutes Tom tried to convince Sam to go with Fred and Sally but Sam refused. Tom offered to set him up with one of the local women but that only made him more depressed. It had taken him a long time to admit even to himself that he liked men. Tom had somehow given him the strength to do it. Sam had let himself believe that they were made for each other. He had never considered that Tom would find a new boyfriend. He now knew how silly he had been but it did nothing to dissolve the bitter resentment that was eating away at him.

"You don't have to go," said Tom with a sigh, "but what are you going to do all night?" He knew that something was bothering Sam.

Sam wanted to tell Tom that he would spend the night dreaming of him but instead he answered, "Just relaxing in the hotel."

Tom wrinkled his nose at that. He was about to ask Sam what was the mater when the door opened letting in a gust of biting cold winter air. An irritated Sally came in with it.

"Tom, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be helping me!"

Tom jumped out of his chair startled and speechless.

"I'm sorry, Sam," said Sally, "but we've been having more customers lately and the store is a mess. We need to put out more merchandise too."

"I can help out," volunteered Sam looking out the window at the snow, "I've got nothing to do and I don't really want to hike back to the hotel in the wind."

"Thank you, Sam," said Sally as she led the two men back to the store.

The snow was falling more heavily and the town seemed alive with frantic energy. There were people trying to make it to the resort before dark and people coming in from more urban areas looking for food or a place to stay the night. They seemed to sense something. They could tell that a change was coming. Some of the ill prepared city dwellers were looking for scarves and gloves. They swarmed around Sally's shop. Inside Mark was helping them. He gave Sally a smile, happy to hand the chaos back over to her.

"Thanks Mark. I'll take over now," she said.

"I need to start selling sporting goods," commented Mark looking at his own business as he made his way to the door.

Sam helped Tom hang and stack merchandise while the customers did their best to return the shop to its disordered state.

"This stuff is going like hotcakes," said Tom with a smile, "That ski resort is really saving us."

"I thought you guys were doing really well," said Sam surprised at the comment, "I mean what about the fairy dust and the other perfume."

"That stuff does well in the summer but it slows down in the winter."

"What about Christmas?"

"We get a lot of local business. We get much more for Valentines day."

They went to the storage area for more scarves. Tom nearly knocked over a bottle of perfume but Sam managed to catch it. Tom gasped.

"Oh my gosh! Thank you. Sally would have killed me!"

Sam looked at the bottle with the little fairy printed on it and smiled. He would have never guessed that such a little bottle could hold so much trouble and adventure. He looked up and saw Tom look away with a strange smile on his face. Sam wondered what he was thinking but did not ask. Instead he grabbed a pile of scarves and took them to a table near the front of the shop.

Slowly the flow of customers subsided. When the store was finally in an acceptable state the sky was prematurely dark and the snow was falling as heavily as before. Sally was organizing a few things by the register while Sam and Tom were flattening some cardboard boxes. Then with a burst of cold air Fred made his grand entrance. Dressed in a new navy blue suit and a purple tie he approached the register. Sam and Tom looked at Fred and then at each other and started laughing. Fred gave Sally a confused look. She smiled, complemented him on his appearance, and followed him to the car.

It took Sam a while to stop giggling. After regaining his composer he looked over at Tom and said, "I don't know I'm laughing. He has the car and I'm stuck walking in the snow."

That sent them into another fit of laughter before Tom offered to help. "I could close down for a few minutes and give you a ride...unless you want to hang around for a few hours." He tried not to sound to hopeful but he wanted some company.

"I can wait. That's fine," said Sam as Mark walked in.

"Hey Tom, is Sally gone already?"

"Yeah. She just left. Why?"

"I'm about to leave, just wanted to say bye to you guys."

"You're gonna leave me all alone?" asked Tom in mock despair.

"Can't I trust a fairy to sell fairy dust?" asked Mark with a smile.

Tom put his hands on his hips and was about to say something but Mark was already outside. "He'll never let me live that down," he said mostly to himself.

"Live down what?" asked Sam.

"You remember when I told you who the fairy on the bottle was modeled on?"

"Yeah, Sally."

"Sally was out of town the day they did the sketches. Guess who they made pose for them."

Sam smiled at Tom's blushing face. "It's a nice fairy," he said trying to sound casual even though he was a little red in the face too.