Just The Lift I Needed
When a ski trip gone wrong, goes right... Enjoy this delightful bit of romcom by Nicholas Marconi
“Get out of town,” they said. “Try something new,” they said. “If you don’t, you’ll wind up stuck,” they said.
Well, I did everything they told me and I still wound up stuck, only instead of being stuck in a rut, I’m stuck on a broken chairlift waiting for someone to get me down.
It figures, doesn’t it? I’ve never been remotely interested in skiing and the moment I try it out, something goes wildly wrong.
“Hey there, Twinkle Toes!”
Or maybe it goes wildly right.
Calling to me from the opposing chairlift is the gorgeous woman I bumped into at the ski rental. Literally, I mean I fumbled around putting on my skis and nearly knocked her over. She laughed it off and helped me to my feet, but before I could think of anything clever to say she was gone. I was hoping I’d run into her again.
Except I still haven’t thought of anything clever to say. That’s not good.
I wave back and blurt out the first thing that pops into my head. “So…come here often?”
Oh boy, that was dumb. Maybe she didn’t think it was dumb?
“What, you mean the chairlift or Aspen in general?”
Oof. Might as well throw myself off the side of the mountain.
She’s still smiling though. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But really, I actually do like coming up here. Sometimes I just ride the chairlifts to take in the view. Live the high life, you know?”
Whew, I’m not dead after all. “I've never been out here before. How is the high life? When the chairlifts aren’t broken, I mean?”
“Well…” She leans toward me dramatically. “It has its ups and downs.”
I walked right into that one. But she hasn’t stopped talking to me, so I’ll take it.
“So what’s a boy like you doing in a place like this? You don’t strike me as the outdoorsy type.”
Guilty as charged. “What gave it away?”
“You mean besides the fact you put your skis on backwards?”
I catch myself as I look down to check, but not before she cracks up over her joke.
“Oh man, you’re too easy! Who let you out of the city unsupervised?”
I’m starting to wonder about that myself. “What can I say? I’m not usually this inept, but you got me out of my element.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Only when I mean it.”
She’s blushing now. At least I think she is. It’s hard to tell through the hat and scarf. “You still haven’t answered my question. What brings you out here?”
What, indeed. “I was having a bit of a rough patch with pretty much everything. My job’s going nowhere, my girlfriend left me, and every day felt like I was just going through the motions, you know? My friends said I should get out of town for a bit and try something new, see if I can’t light a few sparks. Might be hard to do while I’m stuck up here, though.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” She brushes her scarf to the side, revealing more of her face. “Most guys don’t mention their exes right away if I don’t ask, and even then they won’t admit they’re the ones who got dumped. Some might see that as a red flag.”
Is she testing me? Oh God, I’ve never been good at tests.
I shrug. “I guess that’s the main reason I came out here. If I want someone in my life, I have to make it a life worth the effort.”
There’s no witty reply to that. Was it too heavy? If I don’t die of embarrassment I’ll really need to work on the oversharing.
She tilts her head like she’s thinking, then looks back at me. “I can appreciate that. I like your honesty. Really, it’s refreshing.”
And just like that, the air is back in my lungs. “That’s good to hear. Usually when I start to open up to someone it pushes them away—”
The chairlift lurches.
“What was that?”
Ahead of me at the top of the slope, a mechanic primes an emergency generator.
“No, no, no!”
I turn to ask her to wait for me at the bottom, but the cables have already pulled us too far apart. No big deal. Of course she’ll wait. Right?
Right?
At the top the mechanic makes me get out. “Last stop while we fix it. You’ll have to ski down.”
I can’t waste any more time or she might leave. Here goes nothing.
So far, so good. This isn’t so hard.
And I’ve fallen. At least tumbling downhill is faster.
But not less painful. I’m going to be sore in the morning.
At the bottom now. Can’t get up though. Too dizzy. Is she still here?
Can’t see her. Figures. I blew it. Time to bury my face in the snow.
“Nice one, Twinkle Toes!”
I’ve never felt more grateful for a hand up. “I thought you might have left already.”
“And miss the show? That was the best spill I’ve seen in a long time.”
“Fair enough.”
“Tell you what: Let’s get you out of that getup, go back into town, and grab some dinner. I’ve got a feeling you’re less clumsy with silverware than you are with skis.”
That’s true. Probably. “No promises.”
They have a lot of chemistry! I thoroughly enjoyed this 😂