Authors: Carmella Jones
Chapter 2
“Do you know what you want?” Nik asked.
“What?” I replied, confused.
“Do you know what you want?” he repeated.
He looked from his menu to me and could see I was still in my own thoughts. He waved with a little chuckle.
“Are you still with me, Vanessa?” he asked.
This was as good an opportunity as any.
“Are you still with me?” I asked in return.
He raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked at me from across the table. I was upset and he hadn’t even done anything, yet. I wanted to take charge of my feelings now if things were going to follow his pattern. I wasn’t going to be a sad spring headline, and I wasn’t going to pine for him another winter.
“Can we get our food to go? I want to talk privately,” I said.
Still confused, he nodded and offered a few preemptive apologies. Our food came and we decided to have an evening picnic at our favorite camping spot. When we arrived it was fairly secluded.
We sat at one of the picnic tables in the area and decided to talk before we ate.
“So, this seems serious. Did I do or say something wrong that I don’t remember?” he asked.
He genuinely looked concerned. Perhaps I was being unfair raising red flags because his past showed a certain pattern in timeline. Still, after two years, I think it was fair to ask a few questions.
“I never see you in the winter,” I said.
I was never good at beating around the bush. Once something was on my mind I had to talk about it. By the time I worked up the courage to talk about it, I could never be tactful. My nerves always got the better of my and I came across as just blurting random things that only kind of made sense.
“Really? Are you sure we just don’t see each other a little less? We both get so busy. I know you have all the zoo’s seasonal events, decorations, and tourists,” he said, taking my hands.
I pulled my hands back and fiddled with the food as I continued.
“Yes, but you become completely unavailable in winter. I work a few additional hours here and there,” I said.
He nodded and continued looking at me. He knew this was the beginning. My feet were wet, so I dove in.
“We have been dating for two years and this is about to be our third winter together. You are a celebrity, albeit a reasonably private one. Ever few years photos leak of you ending one romance and starting another,” I said.
“I never read tabloids or watch entertainment news,” he said honestly.
“I know, but it’s true,” I said.
He only paused a moment, then he gave a nod.
“You admit it,” I said with surprise. “It is worse if you are aware. That means you know the women you date have a shelf life. That means you know mine is ending.”
I had said it out loud and felt like crying a little, even though I had prepared myself.
“That is not what that means at all,” he said.
He slid the food over and held my hands across the picnic table.
“It just means that I have dated women. I don’t sleep around or rush through them like something to be discarded. However, the women so far have not been the one. How long it took one or both of us to realize that, and how those relationships ended, has no bearing on you and me,” he said.
I looked at him. He kissed my hands as he held them in his. We looked into each other’s eyes.
“Please don’t leave this winter,” I asked.
Chapter 3
Nik walked me to my door. I had to be at work early the next morning. He promised this winter would be different and that all my worries would become a memory.
That night I dreamed that I sat at a waterfall in the mountains with a beautiful woman. She cupped water from the fall in her hands over my head. As it ran down, I transformed into a beautiful European Brown Bear very similar to Acidalia, only smaller.
When I woke the next morning, I had slept through my alarm and two snooze cycles. I was going to be extremely late for work. My carpool would be here any minute to pick me up.
I rushed to get ready and heard Herman honk the horn from my driveway. Herman was my ride to work each morning and oversaw the zoo as a whole. He scheduled animal stays and exhibits. He was kind to me and my department, but seemed to most enjoy the turtles and snakes.
“Well, you came dashing out today,” he said as I got in his car. “You look nice, though.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I overslept, so I had to throw together what I could quickly,” I admitted honestly.
We backed out of the driveway and started for work.
“I saw your friend pick you up from work again yesterday. You know, I’m more than happy to bring you home in the evenings,” Herman said.
“Thanks, I appreciate it, but I will stick with our current arrangement,” I said.
He gave a nod and we made small talk about our previous evenings. He worked a little late scheduling holiday attractions and then went to bed almost as soon as he got home. He had errands to run for the zoo today. I told him about my evening with Nik.
“If you have these concerns, maybe he’s not the right guy for you,” Herman said.
We arrived at employee parking and he rushed around to get the door and assist me getting out of the car.
“Perhaps,” I said, giving it some real thought.
I thought I noticed a smile flash across his face. Was he hoping for something? I shook my head.
“Something about him feels right,” I replied.
We entered the zoo and went our separate ways.
Chapter 4
The day went smoothly. Visitors were low right now. School was in session and it was football season, so we mainly had parents with small children avoiding crowds and college kids avoiding class with few to no weekend visitors.
That afternoon as I prepared to meet Nik after work, my staff brought me the last of their recordings from the day’s feedings and health assessments. I reviewed the reports from the morning seeing that everyone appeared to be doing well, except one bear.
Acidalia was not acclimating to her new environment well and was showing signs of depression and aggression. I sent word to the main office and began making my way to her staff viewing area.
She seemed fine when I greeted her, but I proceeded to engage her in a bit of communication anyway. She gestured and grumbled as politely as a bear can. With physical inspection I saw no cause for worry.
As I turned to go back to my office and reread her report, I saw Herman joining me in the exhibit.
“Is everything all right, Vanessa? I was forwarded a report about concerns with one of the new bears,” he said, coming further into the area.
“Yes,” I said.
Acidalia seated herself across from me and examined our new companion, disapproving more the closer he came.
“This is Acidalia,” I said. “She is the Greek Brown Bear that joined our animals recently.
“She’s the one the reports are about, I assume,” he said.
He raised his voice at the end like a question, but as he approached her to inspect more closely I knew he had formed his own answer.
I was surprised how close she let him come to her. I was even more shocked when they both leaned forward, ever so slightly, and stared each other in the eyes. As quickly as he turned, Acidalia moved around him and was headed toward me and the door. I turned to leave and I realized Herman had left the door open when he entered.
Acidalia was on my heels so close that I did not have time to close the door behind myself. Just as I got through the door and jumped out of the way she was out the door behind me. Herman helped me up by the arm and asked if I was okay.
I assured him I was and we both went after our escaping bear. He radioed security, and as we reached the main walk two guards with tranquilizers came from different directions. We all followed as Acidalia made her way to a short fence, then barreled into it with her full body until she burst through to the public woods behind the zoo.
Chapter 5
“I’m sorry I was so careless,” Herman said as we started back toward my things.
“Well, you don’t have to come down to the animal areas as much, so you aren’t used to having to be so careful,” I replied.
He was my boss, so I couldn’t really chastise him the way he would have done anyone else in the situation. Really, over an initial assessment of a possibly sick bear, I wasn’t sure why he had come down. Normally it would take a few days of an animal showing signs of distress before he would intervene.
“Why were you here?” I asked aloud.
I hadn’t intended to. My wondering simply took control of my mouth.
“Oh, the bear. There was something wrong with the bear and I wanted to check it out. I know you and your animals are close, so I wanted to be supportive,” he said awkwardly.
We were nearly back to the bear area and I could see Nik waiting for me. Once he saw me with Herman, he left the bears and came to meet me.
“Hey, Vanessa,” he said, kissing my forehead and putting his arm around me.
“Hi, Nik. You remember Herman,” I said gesturing toward my boss.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” he replied.
Herman’s face soured a bit. He nodded and they shook hands with a tense smile. Herman joined me as I went to gather my things.
“Should I prepare a statement for the media just in case?” I asked once we were in the staff only area.
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Herman said.
His voice and body language were more confident now.
He leaned against my desk and looked at me coolly.
“You’re a nice girl. That’s sweet,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said grabbing my purse and jacket.
“How did such a nice girl come to have such interest in bears?” he asked, moving toward me and the door.
“I don’t know. Something about them has always spoke to me,” I replied. “You’re being weird.”
“Did that bear say anything to you,” he asked.
He started circling around the desk toward me. I started inching around the desk toward the door. He made a large quick step toward me and I startled and made several steps toward the door.
“What are you talking about?” I said.
I glanced behind me to see him almost floating above the ground as he took strides to meet me. I bolted into the patron area and Nik was at the door to catch me as I stumbled into his arms.
“What is the matter?” he asked, suddenly feeling my panic.
“Herman is acting out of it. I think he is trying to attack me. We just had a bear escape and he’s saying weird things,” I said.
Just as I was finishing, a young, taut, glowing version of Herman calmly stepped through the door and into the patron viewing area.
“I am Hermes, and you are going to help me capture that bear,” he said as he grasped for my arm.
Nik pulled me in closer in time to be out of reach, then let out a guttural growl causing Herman/Hermes to reel back in surprise. The bears in the remaining exhibits growled in agreement. As Herman/Hermes looked around to all the bears Nik grabbed my arm and ran until we reached his car.
Nik drove above the speed limit and through the mountains. I was not sure where he was taking me. None of the scenery looked familiar.
“What happened back there?” I asked.
“I was wondering when you were going to say something,” he said calmly.
“I had to decide what best to say. I could also ask where are we going and how did you make that sound,” I said, “but I think the bigger question is just wanting to know overall, ‘What happened back there?’”
“What happened back there is you have just become a part of an ancient dispute,” he said.
Then he pressed the gas; we drove even faster.
Chapter 6
After a few hours driving, we arrived at a large home surrounded by trees. It appeared to be made of stone, built into the mountain.
“Whose house is this?” I asked. “There doesn’t seem to be anyone home.”
Nik came around the car, opened my door, and took my hand. He walked me to the door. I was glad he had my hand to guide me, because I was looking at the house and view around me instead of where I was walking.
When we reached the front door, Nik pulled out his keys.
“Nik,” I said.
He didn’t say anything. I let go of his hand that held mine and took a step back.
“Nik,” I said again.
“I promise will explain everything inside. I don’t want to be heard,” he said.
“Who is around to hear us?” I asked.
He stood aside and gestured for me to enter. I paused and he looked at me. I trusted him. I stepped inside the door and waited as he closed and locked it behind us. I allowed him to take my hand again when he reached for it.
He held my hand and guided me into the house. After a few yards there were a few rounded entryways giving the appearance of a modified cave interior. He didn’t speak as he led the way through halls and up and down stairs.
Everything seemed wider and taller than a normal home. I attributed the vastness to the design and build capabilities of having a home recessed in a mountain. Still, it had a certain charm.
Finally, we were in den that was decorated in a way that exuded masculinity. The walls were carved from the mountain and finished by smoothing the red and grey stone. The furnishings were all black leather and dark finish woods, all heavy and oversized and spread far apart.
He stood in the center of the room and looked back at me. I scarcely came in past the doorway.
“This is my home,” he said.
I could tell this was a pause to take in the effect of his words on me.
“It’s lovely,” I said aloud. “It is remote, secluded, spacious, and well decorated.”
“It is a cave. This is my den,” he said taking a step toward me and locking in on my face. He was trying to read my eyes for something.
“A man cave. I get it,” I said.
I still did not understand what this had to do with my boss meta-morphing into a young hard body, the bear confusion, or anything else that had happened.
Nik took my hands again and led me to a couch. He took a few steps and was back in the center of the room. He looked at me.
“You are very important to me,” he said. “This is where I come each winter. This is where I come every night when I leave you and where I am each day before you and I meet at the zoo.”
“Okay,” I said. “So you are a homebody.”
“More than that,” he said.
He shook himself a little and took a deep breath to relax. As he let it out the hair on his arms thickened and grew. His clean shaven face sprouted a beard, his eyebrows became bushy, and soon his face was consumed in fur. His eyes seemed to become black beads. His nose and lips became a snout.
Where only moments before Nik stood before me, a handsome, large-bodied man, there now stood a twelve-foot-tall bear. The bear was calm and came to stand immediately before me as I sat.
It offered me a paw.
“Nik,” I breathed.