It’s amazing what a difference daylight makes.
When I open my eyes, Mari is still cuddled between John and me on the hard, cool ground. She looks peaceful, none of the fear she wore last night evident on her face.
The forest doesn’t seem as overwhelming now that the sun is high in the sky. In fact, it’s kind of peaceful itself.
To let Mari and John sleep a bit longer, I try not to move around too much. I don’t want to disturb them. After our fun last night, it had taken a while for all of us to fall asleep.
My back hurts a bit from the hard ground. I’m getting too old to sleep on the forest floor without so much as a sleeping bag. At least I’m not cold. With Mari tucked into my side, my entire body is warm.
John stirs on the other side of Mari. She manages to stay asleep despite his movement. He sits up slowly and looks around.
“Forgot where we were for a second,” he admits. “Wasn’t expecting to wake up under a bunch of trees.”
“I get that,” I respond in a whisper. “I was disoriented when I first woke up, too.”
John nods and stretches his arms up above his head. I watch as his shirt rides up just a little bit, revealing a sliver of skin. I long to lean forward and touch or kiss it, but I restrain myself.
“We should get going.”
I glance at Mari. “I don’t want to wake her,” I say.
“I know, but we have to.”
John is right, of course. Together, we gently shake Mari’s shoulders until her eyes flutter open.
She sits up quickly. “Where am I?”
“We’re in the forest, remember?”
Mari grabs her head. I’m sure it’s spinning from getting up so fast.
“Right, yeah. What time is it?”
I check my phone. I may not have service, but at least the time still works.
“A little after nine.”
“Oh, wow! We slept late.”
“I think we all needed it,” John says.
I agree. Not only did we have a long night – what with getting lost in the woods and everything – but we had also woken up early every day this past week. It felt good to sleep in for a change, even if it was just for a couple of hours. I’m a morning person, but I do enjoy extra sleep every once in a while.
“So, what now?” Mari asks. “We’re still lost.”
The statement is true, but it doesn’t carry the same weight as it did last night.
A smile sneaks across Mari’s face.
“What?” I ask her.
“Nothing.”
“Come on, tell me. You’re smiling for a reason.”
Mari blushes. “I was just thinking about last night. It felt so...right to make love in the woods like we did. We truly became one with nature.”
“You’re not worried about being lost anymore?”
She shakes her head. “Not even a little bit. I feel...I don’t know, like we’re where we belong. Don’t get me wrong, I want to get back to the hotel, but I’m not scared.”
“The daylight probably helps.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
We all laugh. It’s easy to feel free when the light is shining overhead. I’d rather not sleep out here again, though. My back can’t handle a second night on the ground.
I stand up and stretch my body out. My back cracks when I bend over.
Mari chuckles. “You’re so old!”
“Hey! You joke now, but you’ll get there eventually.”
“Never! I may get older, but my body will always be nineteen.”
John kisses her cheek. “Yeah, you keep that optimistic point of view. It’s adorable.”
“I will. Plus, maybe by the time I’m your age, there will be some kind of technology to keep me young.”
“At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
We gather up our meager supplies and put them back in John’s backpack. We’re out of water, so we do need to get out of here.
I spin around to take in the scene. Maybe I’ll see something that we couldn’t in the dwindling sunlight last night.
I squint into the distance. Just beyond the tree line, I see the sun reflecting off of something.
“Guys, look at that. Is that the hotel?”
John and Mari join me and look at where I’m pointing. John starts laughing hysterically.
“Yes, it is,” he chuckles, wiping away tears from laughing so hard. “Can you believe it? We were so close this entire time.”
“How could we not see it?”
“It was dark. I think we’re only seeing it now because the sun is shining on the roof. There must be solar panels or something up there causing the reflection.”
“Well, whatever, I don’t care the reason. Let’s get going.”
We walk through the trees toward the hotel. We reach the stream and cross it easily, finding the trail we should have stayed on. It takes us less than ten minutes to get back to the hotel.
The entire time we walk, we joke about how silly it all was. We were so close. We could’ve easily made it back last night if we’d seen the hotel.
Maybe, subconsciously, we didn’t want to make it back. If we had, we would’ve had to catch our flight and leave, and none of us are ready for that yet.
Mari cheers when we exit the trail and end up in the hotel parking lot.
“We survived!”
I laugh. “We did. I’m glad we made it out.”
“Me, too. Now what?” Mari asks. “Are we going to get a flight out tonight?”
John and I share a look. Technically, we should be getting back to New York. It’s already Saturday, and we’re supposed to be back at the university for classes on Monday.
But none of us seem to be in a hurry to go back. This place has been amazing to us. It’s hard to leave when we’re so happy. Life won’t be as easy and free when we get back to New York.
“We should go back,” I say.
“But?” Mari asks, her eyes wide and hopeful.
“Well, maybe we could stay for a while longer.”
“Really?” Mari claps her hands together excitedly. “How much longer?”
“A few days, I guess,” John says. “You have class, and I need to teach...”
“A few days would be great! Could we could stay until Wednesday? I have stuff to do in my classes on Thursday and Friday. An exam and a quiz.”
“Mark? What do you think?”
I mentally go through my schedule. I’m ahead on my dissertation work. The only class I TA for is John’s, so if he’s making alternate arrangements, I’ll be fine there.
“I can do that,” I agree. “If you can make it happen.”
John grins. “Of course I can make it happen. I’ll talk to the university.”
I cringe. “They’re not going to be happy. This isn’t a conference anymore.”
“I’ll spin it. Maybe I’ll tell them I’m working on a paper with some professors here. They never follow up on that shit.”
“What about us? Mari and I wouldn’t have a reason to stay.”
“Well, they don’t know Mari is here. For you, I’ll say you’re helping with the paper. It’ll be fine, Mark. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of everything.”
I trust John completely. He would never put my career or standing at the university at risk. If he thinks we’re safe, then we’re safe.
“So, we’re doing this? We’re staying until Wednesday?”
John nods. “I’ll book our new flight as soon as we’re back in the room.”
“Yay! I’m so happy!”
Mari hugs John, and I get behind her for a nice group hug. We stay together for a full minute. I would be happy staying here forever. Not in Alaska, necessarily, but in a huddle with Mari and John. Although I wouldn’t mind staying in Alaska, too.
“We should get inside. I need to find out if this hotel has a laundry room. I didn’t bring enough clothes for an extra five days.”
I grin. “Who says you’ll need clothes?”
Mari flushes. “Well, I like how that sounds, but we’ll have to leave the room every once in a while.”
“I wouldn’t mind staying inside for five days,” John says.
“I would! We’re in this beautiful state. We barely got to see any of it when we were inside for the conference. Imagine what we can do when we have full days to hike and explore!”
“Fine, you have a point. We’ll wash our clothes and venture outside every once in a while.”
Mari nods, satisfied. “Perfect.”
When we enter the hotel, the same concierge as yesterday is working. He does a double take when he sees us.
“What are you doing here? I thought you checked out yesterday!”
“We had a little mishap in the woods.”
He gasps dramatically. “Oh my goodness, are you okay?”
“Yes, yes, we’re fine,” John assures him. “We got a little turned around and couldn’t find our way back when the sun went down. This morning, we woke up to find that we were close to the hotel the entire time.”
“That’s terrible! I’m glad you made it back okay.”
“Thank you. It was certainly an interesting adventure. Now, we wanted to ask about availability at the hotel. We’d like to extend our stay until Wednesday.”
The man’s eyes light up. “That is fantastic! We’d love to have you for a few extra days. I’ll book you in the same room you have already. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“We need to do laundry. We didn’t plan on staying this long.”
“Don’t worry about that. Here, take these bags and fill them up with everything you need washed. Make sure you write out any special instructions. I’ll send a maid up in an hour to take them. They’ll get you your laundry before you fall asleep tonight.”
“That would be great. Thank you so much.”
I’m not exactly keen on a stranger doing my laundry, but I also don’t want to spend the rest of the day waiting by a washer.
With that taken care of, the three of us head up to our room. Our luggage is still where we left it. The maids must not have come in to clean the room yet. I know that John arranged for a super late checkout last night since our flight was so late. If we hadn’t found our own way, I’m not sure how long it would’ve taken before someone came looking for us. Only the concierge knew where we were going after all. Hopefully, the maids would have alerted him, and he would’ve come to find us or sent help. I’m glad we don’t need to find out if that’s what would have happened.
Once in the room, Mari immediately flops down on the couch.
“I slept okay last night, but I still feel exhausted.”
“Well, thinking you’re lost in the woods can drain you emotionally and physically. Plus, we walked a lot.”
“That’s true. I really want to be active again and do things, but maybe we can have a low-key day today? Just hang out here and watch movies all day?”
“I’d be very open to that idea,” I say. “It’s been a while since I did nothing all day.”
Lately, when I start to do nothing, I realize there’s so much else I could be doing. I work on my dissertation, or I correct papers, or I play cards online. I’ve never been good at lounging, but I’m going to force myself to do it today. The three of us could use a day of no excitement after everything that happened yesterday.
“First, we need to take care of our laundry.”
Mari groans. “I don’t want to.”
“You’re the one who was worried about dirty clothes. Come on, fill up the bag so they can take care of it for us.”
“Fine,” she grumbles, getting up off the couch. She digs through her suitcase and tosses various articles of clothing into the laundry bag. Once she’s done, she seals it up and sets it by the door. John and I do the same. It takes us less than ten minutes, and then we’re free to settle in for a day of movies.
John picks first. He buys a slow, dramatic movie on pay-per-view. That type of movie is always his go-to. This particular one is about an author’s life. I don’t mind movies like this most days, but right now, I’m too tired for it. I find myself dozing off as we watch. In one of my waking moments, I look over at Mari and find she’s got her eyes closed, too.
I wake up for the last time when the credits start to roll.
“Alright, guys, it’s Mari’s turn. Hopefully, you’ll both be able to stay awake this time.”
I take his hand. “I’m sorry, John.”
“It’s fine. I hope you enjoyed your rest. We won’t be getting much tonight.”
I lean forward and kiss him. “Why do we have to wait until tonight?”
“Because we’re watching my movie now!” Mari says, laughing. “We can’t have sex twenty-four/seven.”
“Why not?” I ask.
“Because we’d die of dehydration. Now, let’s watch my movie.”
I’m surprised to find that Mari has chosen a superhero movie.
“Interesting choice,” I note. “I figured you’d go for a comedy since that’s what you pick when we have movie nights in New York.”
“I thought about it, but this will keep me awake better. Besides, who doesn’t love Chris Evans?”
She has a point. Chris Evans is fantastic. And I’m not just talking about his acting.
“I’m very okay with this movie choice,” John says.
We hit play, and this time we all manage to stay awake. Drooling over Chris Evans helps. His costume is very tight. It leaves little up to the imagination, and I have no problem filling in those blanks.
It’s early afternoon when Mari’s movie choice ends.
“We should get some food. We haven’t eaten all day,” John suggests.
Mari’s stomach rumbles in response. We don’t have any food left in the kitchen since we assumed we were leaving yesterday. John drives us in the rental car, which he also extended, to a diner not far from the hotel.
“I wish we could do this in New York,” Mari says. “Not have to worry about what restaurants we’re choosing. That would be nice.”
“I know. Just a couple more months, and we’ll be able to.”
“Thank goodness.”
Mari’s words worry me. I hope our clandestine relationship isn’t taking a toll on her. I don’t want anything to pull us apart. I’m happier with John and Mari than I’ve ever been.
I don’t bring up my fear, though. If she isn’t stressed about it, then my talking about it could cause her to get stressed out. I’d rather let her bring it up if she needs to.
We eat our lunch slowly, chatting as we chow down. Conversation has been easy since the three of us first entered into our relationship, but it has been flowing extra well during this trip.
Coming here was a great idea.
After we finish eating our entrees, Mark starts to call over the waitress.
“I want pie,” Mari stops Mark from asking for the check. “I’ve had a craving for it all week.”
“What kind of pie?”
“Any kind.”
There are three flavors on the diner counter. When the waitress comes over, I order one slice of each. I could go for a piece of pie, too.
She brings them over, and Mari eyes the dessert hungrily.
“Which do you want?”
“Can I have some of each? They all look so good!”
I laugh and hand her a fork. “Help yourself.”
She takes a big forkful of the blueberry pie first. I expected her to go for the apple, but maybe she’s saving the best for last.
“So good,” Mari moans. “Try it!”
She holds out a forkful for me to taste. It really is good. Maybe not good enough to moan over, but it’s delicious.
Mari eats half of each slice of pie, plus all of the blueberry one. She isn’t a big fan of the apple, to my surprise. It’s my favorite flavor. John ends up with lemon meringue, which is also really good.
After we finish the pie, John pays the bill, and we head out.
“We should stop at the store for more provisions,” Mari suggests. “Like popcorn and candy for the movies!”
“Good plan.”
John drives us down the road to the small grocery store. Mari loads up the cart with junk food while John and I take care of the actual meals. It doesn’t take us long, and we make it back to the hotel before the sun starts to set.
Our laundry is waiting, folded, just inside the door when we get back. John and I put away the groceries while Mari makes popcorn and throws a bunch of candy in the bowl. I’ve never seen anyone mix together popcorn and movie candy before, but that’s one of Mari’s traditions. Since it’s delicious, I’m not going to complain.
It’s my turn to choose a movie. I pick a comedy since I know it’ll be a crowd pleaser. When my movie is over, it’s John’s turn again to choose. We manage to get through five total movies before we decide it’s time for bed.
We retire to the bedroom and climb onto the mattress, but we don’t go to sleep.
We only have a few more days of freedom before our time together is policed and limited, so we’re going to make the most of it. Mari may be right about not having sex twenty-four/seven, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have it often.
Tonight, we prove that. Three times.