Are you sure Sophie? You know you can spend Christmas with me and Marquis. I don’t even plan on seeing mom except for the community center event on Christmas Eve. She usually just stops by to drop off bibles for the kids and canned foods, then leaves. You won’t even see her.” Jordan Moore pleaded with her big sister.
“I just need some time alone Jordan; this will be good for me. A fresh start to a new year.”
Jordan sighed, understanding her sister’s reasoning. “Fine but call me every day. You know there’s no black people up there.”
Sophie just laughed and hugged her sister tightly, kissing her on the top of her braided hair head as she had done since they were little.
Sophie finished packing her bags before locking up her condo and heading to her car. Hoping that the 7-hour drive would clear her mind. She should have taken the train, but she wanted the comfort of having her own car in case the weather got too bad while she was up there.
Sophie broke up with her longtime girlfriend, Kate, a little over three months ago. They were together on and off for most of the last 5 years. She should have ended it sooner, but there was something about Kate that always pulled her back in. Luckily, when she moved in with Kate a year ago, she chose to keep her condo, knowing how often they were off, she knew she needed to keep it.
She normally spent the holidays with her mother and her sister or with Kate’s family. While her mother wasn’t supportive of her ‘lifestyle choice’ to live as an out lesbian, she accepted her relationship with Kate because she was from the famous Kane family. One of the richest families in Gotham. Even though she didn’t approve, she saw her family mingling with the elites of Gotham as a good thing and was able to overlook it for social status. When she told her mother that they broke up for good this time, her mother called her stupid and selfish. Telling her to take that rich woman back or go back to dating men. Until she did that, she was no daughter of hers and promptly hung up the phone. While Sophie wasn’t necessarily surprised by her mother’s quick change of heart, she was still hurt.
While deciding what to do for the holidays, looking for a fresh start, she read about these cabins in Vermont that would supply a ‘personal retreat’ as it said on the website. She booked almost immediately. She was disappointed to find that due to her late booking she would not get a single cabin, but the cabin she found only had a shared kitchen and sitting/dining room. Everything else was separate. Her room was essentially its own little apartment, boasting a fireplace in both the living room and bedroom. The rental company asked that they send in food and beverage requests with a promise to stock the fridge with all essentials for the length of stay. Sophie’s reservation was for 10 days, through the new year. But Sophie, ever the planner, also stocked a cooler full of her required foods and snacks, along with a concerning amount of alcohol. She just couldn’t see how a shared fridge could have enough food for two reservations for that amount of time.
“Sis, this is insane. Just spend the holidays with us. We’ll go to mom’s for dinner Christmas night and that’s the only time you’ll have to see her, I promise.” Marquis Jet said over the phone to his little sister.
“I’m not ready Marquis. Please stop asking. I’ll deal with her when I’m ready to.”
“Alright. Did you pack that bear mace that I sent over to your place?”
Ryan laughed, her brother was ridiculous, but sometimes practical. “Yes, I packed it. Now let me hang up so I can drive safely, okay? I’ll call you when I get there. I’m about two hours out.”
“Alright, love you sis.”
“Love you too, big head.”
Ryan Wilder and Marquis Jet only met a few years ago, but you would’ve thought they knew each other their whole lives with the way they cared about each other. Ryan was adopted at age 14 by her Mama Cora, living her years before then as an orphan in the Gotham foster care system. She was happy in her life, finally feeling the love of a mother that she had given up on long before. One day in her early 20s a woman showed up on their doorstep claiming to be her mother. The woman was Gotham billionaire Jada Jet. She called her a liar and quickly slammed the door in her face. Mama Cora came around the corner from the kitchen at the noise and chastised Ryan for being so rude. Her Mama Cora was the type to invite the Jehovah’s witnesses in for tea and put out a tray of finger foods for them. As she walked to the door, she promptly let the other woman in, not at all surprised that the Jada Jet was on her doorstep. Mama Cora asked her to explain while Ryan just lingered in the background listening to and taking in every word of how this woman who is supposed to be dead is her birth mother. With the suggestion of Mama Cora, she had Jada and her son Marquis over for Sunday dinner. While Marquis and Ryan built a quick sibling relationship, it was not that simple for her and Jada. She felt betrayed by the woman, and she didn’t need another mother, she already had one.
When her Mama Cora died suddenly after a bad fall 6 months ago, Jada tried repeatedly to become part of Ryan’s life. Ryan felt that she was being opportunistic and didn’t trust her intentions. When she realized the holidays were coming up and this would be her first without her Mama, she knew she had to get away to be alone in her feelings.
Ryan arrived a little over 2 hours later. Stopping in the nearest town to visit a farmer’s market she read about before she left Gotham. She picked up a few items to cook for her Christmas Eve dinner. Even though her mama was no longer there to have Christmas Eve dinner with her, she still wanted to cook what they would have cooked and eaten together.
When she got to the cabin, she checked her reservation confirmation for the code to the electronic key lock. After letting herself in, she placed her bags down in the room marked ‘Cabin A’. She gave herself a quick tour of her living space for the next two weeks and was happy with her choice. There was a spacious living room with a 6-seater eating table, two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. The living room and each bedroom had a fireplace. They were gas, which she was happy about, as she had no idea how to kindle a fire. She moved back out of her cabin room, heading out to her car to get the items she picked up from the farmer’s market. She went back inside and placed her items in the refrigerator marked ‘Cabin A’. Happy to see that while sharing space with another tenant, the owners thought to give them separate refrigerators. She took stock of the pots and pans, making sure they had what she would need. She checked all the cabinets and drawers to learn her way around the kitchen. After feeling satisfied, she looked around the property some. She noticed a room off the kitchen that was not labeled and assumed that it was a shared space as well. She found a large den style living room with a dining room connected to it. The table in the dining room could had 10 place settings. She thought it was odd but assumed that maybe whole families rented this style cabin so they could be close but have their own living quarters. She kept walking towards the sliding back doors. There was a small back patio space with 4 wooden rocking chairs and a swinging bench. She looked past that and saw a fire pit with 6 chairs around it. She knew that she would try her best to make use of that. Stars were so difficult to see in Gotham, this could be nice despite the cold weather.
When she went back in, she texted her brother to let her know she made it safely, then moved to unpack her bags and sanitize the space to her needs. When she finished, she found the instructions for the fireplace before grabbing her throw blanket that she brought with her and setting herself up on the couch with her laptop.
Ryan isn’t sure how much time passed before she heard the main door open with a loud huff and the telltale sounds of someone dropping all their bags at once. Her cabinmate had arrived. While she wanted to go help whomever it was, she decided to give them their space. They would run into each other eventually.
Sophie was starting to regret her decision. She was halfway through her drive when she got pulled over. Sophie didn’t get pulled over. She knew all the rules, so she had no reason to get pulled over. She was pissed. Apparently, the state she was driving through had tinting laws. When she explained that it was a work vehicle and showed the paperwork to prove that the tints were in fact legal, they let her go. But that took an hour out of her time as the incompetent state trooper decided to verify all her information three times. She tried not to be mad because they were just doing their job, but she was allowed to be annoyed. Then she had to stop for gas about an hour later. She left her car on while the trooper looked up her information due to the cold. When the trooper asked her to turn off the car, she politely told him that it was too cold and a safety concern for him to ask her to do so. That burned more gas than she planned. Her large SUV took a lot of gas, and she planned to stop for gas 45 miles from her destination. Sophie never allowed her car to get below half a tank. Once again, for safety reasons.
By the time she arrived at the cabin, she was annoyed. Her plans were all off track. Trying to save time, she brought all her luggage and her food cooler in at the same time. After fumbling with the electronic keypad due to her gloves, she finally made it inside and dropped all her bags with a huff. She hoped that whoever was staying in the other cabin room wasn’t there so they wouldn’t hear her embarrassing fumble.
The only bright spot was when she noticed the two refrigerators. She unpacked her food cooler, then washed it out before giving herself a tour. She noticed the living room and dining room off the back of the kitchen. Then she took a few moments admiring the view from the back porch, centering herself. As much as she loved Gotham and would probably never leave, she enjoyed nature and beautiful views. She couldn’t wait to watch the sunrise out there with a steaming cup of coffee. She went back inside and unpacked her bags. Sanitizing her space as she went. She took a long hot shower to relieve her tension before calling her sister to let her know that she arrived safely. After her sister playfully chastised her for taking so long to call her, she wished her a good trip and to make sure that she checks in daily. Sophie promised that she would. She decided to see how the TV above the fireplace worked. She quickly found the HDMI port in the back of the TV and connected it to her laptop. She could work and watch all her comfort TV.
As the hours passed, she realized that she had yet to eat since she arrived. She went out of her cabin to the kitchen to grab one of the prepared meals that she packed in her cooler. Sophie wasn’t the best cook, but she knew how to make her staple meals. Not knowing what cookware would be provided, her organized brain told her to prep a few meals just in case. As she was waiting for the microwave to finish, the other cabin door opened. A short dark-skinned woman, wearing leggings, a crop top and flannel with house shoes stepped out of the room. They politely said hello to each other as Sophie pulled her food from the microwave and made her way back to her room. As she set herself up on the couch placing her food on the coffee table, she couldn’t help but feel like she had seen that woman before.
Ryan moved around the kitchen. stuck on the brief encounter that she just had with the other woman she was sharing a space with. She felt like she had seen her before. She also felt like she saw a certain sadness in her eyes that she felt too,
She shook it off and went about her task. Her mama always told her to clean her greens the night before cooking to save on cooking time. So that was what she set out to do. She didn't know how sound proof the cabin was, so she opted to put her headphones in as she began to clean the greens. She didn’t know how long she was working for when the other woman stepped back into the kitchen to wash her dish, as she was washing her last bundle. Embarrassed to be caught, she pointed to her ears to note that she couldn't hear the other woman. When she finished, she dried her hands and took out her earphones.
“Sorry to hog the sink like that,” Ryan said with a shy chuckle.
“It’s no problem. Your task is clearly larger than my little dish.” Sophie said as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Stuttering, she continued. “I - I haven’t seen anyone wash greens in years... Do you – do you need any help?”
Ryan looked at her in shock. “No thank you. I’m all done. I just need to cut them down now. I’m not sure how good these knives are here, so I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
Sophie visibly straightened up at the comment. Feeling how she did as a child in her mother’s house. She hoped Ryan didn’t notice before she checked herself and cooled off. “Okay, I’ll come back later to wash my dish then.”
Ryan cursed in her head. “No don’t.” She said too quickly. “Um, if you can wait a few minutes, maybe I can show you?”
When Sophie’s lips twitched, she knew she had her answer..
Ryan moved the greens around to make space for Sophie, then took her dish from her and washed it with a soft smile to let her know it was okay.
Ryan pulled out a cutting board from somewhere in the kitchen Sophie hadn’t yet explored, her eyes were wide. But she gave the other woman her full attention as she explained how to cut the stems without cutting the greens. Sophie felt she was doing well enough that she decided to ask the question that was bothering her. “Have we met before?”
Ryan paused mid slice, “I think I would remember meeting you.” Then she got right back to stripping the stems.
“Right, so just keep using the knife like that.” At Sophie’s frown she chuckled. “You’re doing fine.”
They kept on for a few minutes, working in silence, when Ryan’s phone rang. She let out a gentle laugh and sigh. “I have to answer this or else he’ll think I’ve been kidnapped or died, hope you don’t mind.” Ryan said as she looked to her left to where Sophie was working. Sophie shook her head no.
Ryan answered the Facetime call on speaker. “Hey big head, why are you bothering me?”
“Just wanted to check on my little sis, make sure she didn’t get captured by the Yeti or something like that.”
Ryan let out a hearty laugh at his antics. “I’m good, just finished the first step of Mama Cora’s greens recipe. How are you and Jordan doing?”
Sophie’s ears perked up at that. Marquis and Jordan. This couldn’t be a coincidence. She did her best to stay in the background acting like she wasn’t listening, even though she was.
“Mmmm. I know you’ll do it justice sis,” he said with his signature smile in the camera. “Have you met the person you’re sharing this cabin with yet, or it is still an anonymous thing.” He said with a wink.
Ryan rolled her eyes before she looked towards the other woman in the kitchen with her. When they locked eyes, she noticed her staring back. Ryan cleared her throat quickly to gather herself before continuing. “Um actually, she helped me with the greens, hold on.” Ryan panned the camera towards her; Sophie gave an awkward wave.
“SOPHIE?!” Marquis yelled.
“Can you not yell, bright boy?!” Ryan said at his outburst. Then she gathered herself. “Wait how do you know each other? Speak quickly but softly.”
“Jordan!! Come here!! Please,” he finished at a softer tone.
Ryan looked between the screen and her cabin mate who was very shyly avoiding both the camera and her eye contact.
Ryan spoke first, “someone fill me in please...”
Jordan made it to the camera. “Oh, that’s my sister. My bad.”
Ryan rolled her eyes as she looked at the other woman. Waiting for her to say something, anything.
Everything was quiet for several moments, Jordan and Marquis in the camera with wide eyes waiting as well.
Sophie put the knife down and turned to Ryan, “Hi, my name is Sophie Moore, it appears that our sibling are dating and I look forward to sharing this space with you for the next week until the new year.”
Ryan could only smile at the other woman, forgetting that both of their siblings were still on the line. “I look forward to sharing this space with you as well.”
“Bye Marquis.”
Ryan hung up the phone and decided to find out how to enjoy this short time with this mystery woman.