*𝒷𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝓫𝓪𝓫𝔂.

[ callie ]

michael gave her a wide happy smile when she took a bite of the chocolate pie. “told you it was good, and hey–we can share right now too,” he nudged the plate gently over to her side of the table. at her question, he found himself shrugging, “i told you callie, i’m a pretty boring person. i like hanging out with friends, doing mostly what they like to do.” he caught her staring and found himself grinning inspite of himself, there was something warm about her gaze, something that made him wonder just what was going through her head. “what about you? what do you like to do in your spare time?”

‘‘deal, you can have some of my cookie as well.’‘ she broke it in half, placing her half in front of her and passed the other to the male. ‘‘i don’t think you’re boring at all, actually. i’m not much different.’‘ she admitted with a warm smile, taking another long sip of her drink and sat it back down. ‘‘mostly surfing and spending time on and around the beach mostly. back home i own my own apartment just a few minutes from there so i’m constantly spending time over there by myself and with my mates, it’s my happy place.’‘ callie replied. ‘‘i’ve been trying to pick up snowboarding while i’m here since it seems a lot like it but i’m quickly learning that it’s not.’‘ she chuckled. 

[ callie ]

michael had known he’d find friends here in wintergreen, mainly because he’d never met someone that he couldn’t be friends with–but finding someone like callie, who actually made him feel hopeful for something else–he hadn’t expected. he smiled at her when she took her drink and shook his head. “please, you don’t have to thank me,” but he took a sip from his own drink first before looking down at his plate. “it’s the chocolate mud pie. because i mean–with chocolate, you go big or you go home, right?” he pushed the plate gently towards her. “did you want to try some? i think you’ll like it if you’re a fan of chocolate.”

‘‘ooh, yes please. i haven’t gotten to try it yet.’‘ the blonde sat her cookie down and picked up the fork sitting on her side of the table, scooping up a piece of the pie and putting it into her mouth. she chewed slowly, eyes widening. ‘‘that is so yummy! i’ll have to get it next time.’‘ callie said, taking a sip of her cider. it instantly warmed up her body. ‘‘what do you like to do when you’re not travelling?’‘ she asked, hazel orbs locked on the boy in front of her. she could stare at him for hours, the longer she looked at him the more breathtaking she found his features. she knew she had just met the male but she knew he was someone she wanted to keep around. 

[ callie ]

michael shook his head at her words before giving her a bright smile. “come on callie, i don’t think there’s a way i could get sick of you, you’re pretty much like the sweetest girl i’ve met.” he didn’t know if calling someone the sweetest was the right thing to say around here, but he hoped she wouldn’t mind. “okay perfect. i will be right back with that.” he slipped out of his seat and headed to the counter to order the drinks, reminding himself of her order over and over before ordering his own as well. he returned back with the drinks and her ginger spice cookie before giving her another grin. “your drink has arrived m’lady.”

michael’s comment sent a small blush to callie’s cheeks, her top teeth gently grazing across her bottom lip. ‘’says you,’’ she giggled, watching as he left the table and went over to order their goods. her hazel orbs moved around the little cafe as she waited for him to return, it was decorated in the same warm and homey manner that the rest of the lodge was. her eyes bounced back to the male when he returned, beaming as she took hers from him. ‘’ahh, thank you! can’t wait to devour both of these.’’ callie said, breaking off a little piece of her cookie. ‘’what did you get to eat?’’ she asked, popping the piece into her mouth.

he could tell that she was worried about him, so he tried putting on his best smile, “well, thank you for that, good to know someone would, though i have a feeling my siblings would just raise me from the dead to kill me again for dying on them.” he saw her face when she tasted the beer, and he smiled a little more genuinely now. “how’s american beer treating you?” he shrugged, “how about we get a few more drinks into us before we start talking about feelings and life problems?”

callie crinkled her nose up a little bit, placing her bottle back on the table. ‘’not the greatest at first, it takes a bit to get used to it but it’s pretty good. i’d be lying if i said i didn’t prefer aussie beer though.’’ she replied, moving a lock of honey blonde hair out of her face. ‘’no complaints here mate.’’ the female waved the bartender back over, quickly looking at eli before ordering. ‘’shots?’’ 

[ callie ]

“well this is definitely far from home for you!” he spoke with clasped hands in front of him. “the way you describe it though–makes me want to go back right now,” he grinned before his face fell when she mentioned him giving her a call whenever he goes back. “wait–are you already planning on going back? i mean, like–because we just met, and you’re probably my first friend on this resort,” he grinned before hearing her questions and laughing. “it’s cold and snowy, pretty much just like it is here,” he smiled before looking back up where the rest of the patrons were standing around for the drinks. “i should probably go order our drinks,” he sighed, surprised at how he hoped this little blip in the conversation wouldn’t change the ease he’d discovered with callie. 

‘’oh it definitely is, it’s been an interesting adjustment period. i think i’m doing pretty good though. not yet, i’ll be here all season so there’s plenty of time for you to get sick of me.’‘ callie teased with a laugh, her smile was always matching his. ‘‘it must be just as beautiful then.’‘ she commented. she was so caught up in their conversation she had almost forgotten about the drinks. ‘‘oh, right! almost forgot. apple cider and ginger spice cookie please and thank you.’‘ purred the blonde, eager to get the warm drink into her system and have the cute blonde boy back at her side. 

when callie approached him, he breathed a little sigh of relief. she was good conversation and someone that wasn’t made at him for one reason or another. he could handle this, for sure. she was in a good mood, it seemed. he could do his best to match that. “yeah, i think the novelty has worn off a bit, so it’s not as crazy. not to say that the after thanksgiving crowd won’t kick things back up, but this is a nice break from the crazy business rush.” he sighed at her question, “i’ve been much much better in the past, but i’m not dead, so i guess that’s something.”

  callie furrowed her eyebrows a little at the male’s words, she was a bit worried about him— it was in her nature to be. ‘’oh no, i’m sorry about that eli. if it helps i’m glad you’re not dead, i’d miss ya.’’ she said, giving the male a warm and hopefully resassuring smile. the blonde then waved over the bartender and ordered a beer for herself, taking it from him and took a sip. american beer was different than australian, she found it more bitter. it took her a few sips to get used to the drink but once she did she was really enjoying it. it felt good to let loose. ‘’do you feel like talking about what’s going on? i’m a pretty good listener if i do say so myself. but i totally get it if you’d rather just drink.’’ she chuckled.

[ callie ]

michael found himself staring at callie when she went silent, it made him curious but he didn’t ask her–he really didn’t think that type of question was appropriate in their first meeting at least. instead he found himself smiling when she spoke about what she wanted and made a mental note of it. he was going to get up and go but that’s when he heard her words and found himself grinning, a soft red hue taking over his cheeks. “you think it’s rad?” he was pleased and perhaps that was the first sign of his downfall, because he loved knowing she found him exciting. “i have!” he told her with a laugh, “i’ve only been on the gold coast though..but it was beautiful,” he grinned at her before laughing. “honestly, i was going to ask you which part of austrailia you were from, but didn’t want to assume anything…but now i will, your accent–sounds like it’s from melbourne? maybe?”

‘‘well of course i do, i think travel is really exciting. i have to get more into it, being here is the furthest i’ve been away from home.’‘ she said with a small shrug. her smile widened when he said he had been to australia. ‘‘oh, sweet! gosh i know, i really love living in australia. the sun, the ocean, the greenery, the people— it’s all so lovely. i’ve been missing it a lot lately. if you ever head back there you have got to give me a call. close, i’m from sydney.’‘ callie said, brushing a piece of her honey blonde hair behind her ear. ‘‘what’s it like where you’re originally from?’‘ she asked. she was so full of questions, she hoped it didn’t bother the male too much.

[ callie ]

michael chuckled out loud at her words; she was right after all–he hadn’t spoken enough to be regarded as boring. he watched her while she read over the menu, finding himself taking in her features, like her soft gaze, her button nose, those curved lips. it was only when she spoke that he shook his head, wishing to rid himself of those thoughts lest she see it on his face. “hot chocolate huh? i’ll just have to give that a try since you’re biased to it,” he told her before looking around at the sweets in the display. “hey now, it’s my treat–so you should have something sweet with your cider too, i insist.” he smiled at her. “hmm–well i come from boulder, colorado. and an interesting fact about me, is that i’ve traveled to 43 countries.” michael loved telling people that, he found it always made for more conversation and it helped him gauge how much the other person like travelling which happened to be a huge part of his life.

the more callie talked and spent time with michael the more she found herself taking a liking to the blonde, she was drawn to him. her eyes scanned over his features, finding something she liked in each one. his eyes were her favourite, they were a chocolatey brown that she swore she saw a few golden flecks in. she cleared her throat to snap herself out of her semi trance, responding to his words. ‘’that’s really sweet of you, thank you. um, i’ll take a ginger spice cookie– when you’re ready to order you just go over to the counter.’’ she said with another smile. she hoped she didn’t look like a smiling mess. her eyes widened when he told her the fact about himself, leaning forward towards him. ‘’whoa! and i thought you said you were boring,’’ she giggled. ‘’that is super rad and i’m pretty jealous, that must have been so much fun and quite the experience. have you ever been to australia? that’s where i’m from if you couldn’t already tell. do you have a favourite place you’ve been to?’’

“alright, alright, no punching strangers in the face. at least i offered. but seriously are you ok?”

‘’yeah for sure. i don’t let them get under my skin, i brush it off pretty quickly. how’re you holding up?’’

“do you want me to punch them in the face for you?”

‘‘definitely not, put those paws away mister.’‘ 

[ callie ]

michael nodded at her words, walking with her before she went off in a different direction. the truth was, there was a part of him that worried if perhaps she was only saying that to get away from him. because once she disappeared into the staff lounge, there was absolutely no way he could find her again. but he didn’t want to put a negative spin on this, not when she was so welcoming and friendly from the start. he went ahead to the cafe, asked for a table for two and took a seat, his eyes scanning over the menu before darting to the door every few seconds, waiting for her to join him. when he spotted her, he only smiled as she took the seat across. “i was worried that perhaps you wouldn’t..maybe got bored of me already,” he chuckled quietly before holding out the menu. “so–tell me what’s good here?”

callie shook her head at his words. ‘’no no, never. besides, i’ve hardly gotten to know you yet so how can i tell if you’re boring or not?’’ she teased with a smile, taking the menu from him. she briefly scanned it just to remind herself of what there was, thinking about his question. ‘’hm, definitely the hot chocolate but that might be a little bias because i love it so much. the latte’s are really good, especially the vanilla one. they also have yummy baked sweets if you feel like having one with your drink. i’m just gonna have an apple cider.’’ said the female, passing the menu back. her hands were a little cold so she moved them up to her mouth and blew into them to warm them up. ‘’so, michael.. why don’t you tell me about yourself?’’

[ callie ]

callie was beautiful and michael already found her smile rather endearing. “you are really lucky, but somewhere–i think i’m luckier since i got to meet you here,” he only smiled at her when she spoke about having a drink with her at the cafe. “that–would be great,” michael nodded before clearing his throat. “but only if you let it be my treat.”

‘‘hey, sounds good to me. just let me put my stuff away and get changed, i’ll meet you there in fifteen.’‘ she cooed, giving him a small wave before trotting off to the staff lodge. callie rushed in and threw her things on the bed, slipping on an oversized cream coloured sweater and some light wash jeans. she ditched the beanie and put her jacket and boots back on, walking back out into the snow and over to the cafe. it took her only a few minutes to get there, she pushed the cafe doors open and stepped inside. the blonde looked around for michael for a moment, spotting him sitting at one of the tables. ‘‘told ya i would be back,’‘ she smirked, sliding into the seat across from him. 

“i take it you’re a regular or a local then.” maddie laced up her skates. her breath catching in the wind.

‘‘neither actually, just an observant staff member. and you?’‘