Abandon (7 page)

Annalise pulled her hand back almost immediately and gave him a weak smile.  “Don’t thank me just yet, I’m going to make you bring in all the stuff from my car.”

Cort laughed from his gut, “I think that’s fair.”

“You won’t when you see what’s in it,” she said, a genuine smile spreading across her face.   “I got a couple things from a quick-stop.”

There was something in her voice, a hesitation that made him think there was more to the story, but he let it slide.  He considered pressuring her to find out what she was hiding, but he figured she’d tell him in her own time.  “I’ll grab my shoes, and start unloading it.”  

“Don’t you want to put on boxers at least?” she said, nodding towards the knot above his belt.  

Cort looked down and could see that parts of his thigh were exposed, as well as the tip of his semi-erect cock.  Goddamn morning wood.  If it had been anyone else, he would have been extremely embarrassed, but it wasn’t something Annalise hadn’t seen before, so instead he flexed the muscle.   “That’s my third arm,” he said wiggling his eyebrow at her.

She rolled her eyes with a laugh that was music to his ears.  “Third arm? I thought they called it a third leg?”

He started walking back to the front door where his sneakers were.  “I mean, I would never be so presumptive, but if you wanted to describe it as such...”

She playfully slapped his arm and walked into her room.  “At least put some boxers on.  I’ll meet you out by the car.”

Cort was still smiling when he walked into the bedroom and saw Katy sitting, wide awake on the bed.  He froze in the doorway, tightening his robe against him.  Why was he suddenly so shy about his naked body around Katy?  It wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen before either - but something about the way he felt around her when he was so at ease with Annalise... the differences were so stark when they were right there together.  “Good morning,” he said, reaching into his bag to get out some boxers.

“Who were you talking to?”

There was something about Katy’s tone that made Cort choose his next words very carefully.  “Annalise, did you meet her last night?”

“Was she the one who didn’t know her way around a kitchen?”

The idea that Annalise didn’t know her way around any kitchen made Cort laugh out loud.  Annalise was one of the best cooks he had ever known besides himself.  She could take a hamburger helper box and add things to make it taste like it came from a five star restaurant and her lasagna was to die for.  “Yeah, she’s the one you ran into.”

“How do you know her?” Katy asked moving towards the bathroom connected to their bathroom.  

“Old friend of mine,” he lied easily.  It would be better until he figured out a way to handle both of them being there that Katy just thought they were friends.  Slipping his boxers on, he made his way towards the door.  “I’m going to help her unload the car.”

He didn’t wait for her to respond, instead, slipped out the door and out the front door.  Annalise was unloading things from the hatch of her car in sweats and a hoodie.  “The stuff for you to unload is in the back seat,” she said, grabbing another bag and heading for the front door.  

Cort walked towards the back seats and peered in.  Propane tanks.  Five propane tanks.  And more cigarettes than he had ever seen besides at a quick-stop.  How the hell had Annalise gotten this stuff?  The cigarettes alone were a small fortune - the propane tanks were probably $50 a pop.  She would definitely have to tell him this story sometime.  Grabbing the first two propane tanks out of the car he grinned.  

Annalise was standing at the door, and she winked at him seeing his smile.  This was the reason she was his survival partner, this was the reason why he brought her.

Chapter 9:  Annalise

Deep Creek Lake, Western Maryland
December 13, 2012

Cort made quick work of moving everything out of Annalise’s car and she took to getting her room set up in a way that made sense to her.  If she was going to stay here for an indefinite amount of time, she might as well unpack her clothes.  The closet in her room was huge, providing plenty of room for all of the things she had brought with her.  While she unpacked her snowboarding gear she wondered if Katy had anything similar to that.  The clothes she had been wearing the night before would not be conducive to this area without power for long.  Mentally she shuddered at the idea that Katy might have to borrow some of her clothes.  That would be the ultimate insult to her, having Cort’s new girlfriend, or whatever she was, running around looking exactly like her.  

Finishing up putting away her clothes, she looked at her phone for the fifth time that morning and she sighed.  She still didn’t have any service which was unusual for this area.  She’d spent almost the entire winter last year here with no problems while snowboarding.   Combining that knowledge with the fact that they still didn’t have power she assumed there were large blackouts based on the current situation in DC.  She supposed it was good that she had decided to stay, because without her phone she was unable to reach Meredith, and that meant she had nowhere to go.

If she spent a little more time analyzing herself, and her motives, she knew that Cort was the major reason she was staying.  Even after their conversation, when she had stood at the front door gazing upon his boyishly charming smile as he unloaded her car she had felt the butterflies in her stomach.  This was partially her fault.  Regardless of everything else that had happened she had always assumed in a survival situation that she would be with him.  It just never really occurred to her that he would already have a girlfriend with him.  Sure, she had mentioned it to Meredith before she left that it might be the case, but she never thought it would actually be true.  Running her hands through her tangled mess of  hair she considered the situation.  Now that she had him back in her life, she wasn’t willing to let him go as easily as the first time, girlfriend or not.  Somehow, she would find a way to make this work.  

Half an hour later she was unpacked to a level of her satisfaction and she found herself moving towards the kitchen.  Yesterday the only thing she had to eat was the cupcakes and champagne at Meredith’s and today she was famished.  Jenna and Kevin were gathered in the kitchen looking at the various types of food before them, and Jake was sitting at the table doing what appeared to be a crossword puzzle.  If someone had been looking in on the scene from an outsiders view you’d almost think they were just on a vacation instead of on the run from a crisis situation in their hometowns.  The only ones missing were Cort and Katy, and she somehow managed to suppress a surge of jealousy at the thought they might be currently enjoying each other in a sexual sense.          

“There’s nothing that is really breakfast food,” Jenna complained moving some cans around.  

“Anything can be breakfast food,” Annalise said coming up behind Jenna.  “You just have to find a way to cook it right.”  The amount of food before them was staggering, although it did seem to be lacking the breakfast staples of eggs, bacon, and orange juice.   Picking up a can of mushrooms she twirled it around in her hands.  “Do you trust me?” she asked Jenna nudging her with her elbow.

Kevin was the one to respond, “I’ve had your cooking Annalsie. Jenna, make room, it’s Annalise’s turn to make breakfast.”  Kevin grabbed Jenna around the waist and pulled her to the sliding glass doors.  “Let’s go check out what’s outside.”

Annalise chuckled at them and started opening various cans, pulling out pots and pans and turning on the stove.  “Jake, you want some breakfast?”

Jake grunted over his crossword.  The grunt was probably the closest thing to an affirmative response she would be getting at this point, so she took it as a yes and pulled out a plate for him, as well as Cort and Katy.  A childlike part of her wanted to exclude Katy from the meal she was making based on their only interaction last night, but that kind of overt action would be noticed by the group.  She had to be on her best behavior and let them make a decision on her and Katy of their own accord.  

She poured all the cans she had opened into the pot on the stove and began stirring it as she watched Jenna and Kevin through the window.  Jenna and Kevin had always been the perfect couple; even now as they walked hand in hand around the edge of the lake with everything so uncertain they seemed completely at peace with each other.  It was almost as if everything else in the world could fade away leaving them and they would be content.  She wasn’t envious of their relationship, she was in awe of it.  The kind of trust and love it took for them to be like that was something that she didn’t know if she would experience.  

Jake groaned from the table, breaking her out of her thoughts.  “Nine letter word for chew,” he said out loud to no one in particular.

“Masticate,” Cort responded as he walked into the kitchen leaning over her pot to inspect it.  “Smells great... but what is it?”

“Grits,” Katy responded before Annalise had the chance, looking over his shoulder into the pot.  She smiled at Annalise and held out her hand in an apparent truce.  “My mom used to make them all the time for me.  I’m Katy, it’s nice to meet you.”

Annalise couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t apologize for her behavior the night before, but she took her hand and gave it a firm shake.  “Annalise.”

Cort was eying them both, waiting to see what happened next.  She wondered if Cort had told her the history of them, although from the way that Katy was looking at her she doubted it.  If she did know, there would probably be some reservation or judging that Katy would be doing.  The look on her face was friendly, but blank.  Like Annalise wasn’t a threat and never would be.  That bothered Annalise more than she was willing to admit to even herself.  What if she did know, and was just that sure in her relationship with Cort?  Shaking the thought of her head, she continued to stir the grits.

“I know you don’t like grits Cort, so I made sure to load them with tons of things you actually do like,” she said laughing.  It was a low blow, to show off her knowledge of Cort’s eatings habits, but she couldn’t help herself.

Cort moved to the table where Jake was sitting, still doing his cross word oblivious to the people around him.  “We’ll see how it tastes.  Have any of you managed to get reception on your phones yet?”  A choruses of no came from the members of the room and Cort began rapidly tapping his fingers on the table.  “No cell service, no power.  We have to assume something happened and we’re not getting it back.”

Katy took the seat next to him and began rubbing her fingers through his hair as Annalise leaned against the counter looking at them.  That used to be her job, and her spot.  A feeling was coming over her that this was going to be more difficult than she anticipated.  “One of us could try to go to Cumberland and see what’s going on there,” she suggested.

Cort nodded.  “We should have a group meeting over breakfast.  We need to set some ground rules and discuss what the overall plan is.  When is it going to be ready?”

“Right now,” Annalise began to pour the grits out onto a plate for everyone, topping them with bacon bits.  “Grab Jenna and Kevin, they’re outside by the lake, and we can get started.”   She put a plate down for everyone at the table and went back towards the kitchen to get silverware.   By the time she reached the table, everyone had already picked their seats leaving her the only seat left.  Right next to Katy.  She scowled at Jenna as she sat down for leaving her next to Katy and began eating her food.  

Cort immediately began explaining to the group various plans and details.  They would be scouting around the nearby areas for resources, always in groups of two.  There were various guns by the door, but only people who knew how to use them would be able to take them to avoid self injury.  Every scouting group had to have at least one person who was familiar with guns.  Annalise already knew all these plans since they had fleshed them out together so she let herself zone out and reminisce on the time they had spent together.   She had always known if this situation came that she wanted to be with him.  He had a kind of charisma and ability to relay and process that information that made him a natural leader.  Even now, in a group of friends that consisted of some fairly strong personalities, not a single person questioned him.  Everyone was just nodding along and taking mental notes.

Even his voice was soothing.  He had a deep voice that sounded like rich velvet over your soul.  It was an overly poetic way of thinking about it, but she didn’t realize how much she missed hearing that voice next to her until he was speaking continuously.  She had missed hearing him hypothesize about life, and politics.  She had missed hearing his soft laughter, and even the way he coughed after every laugh.  She knew it was a fact of life that confronted with traits of those you loved and lost you felt like you missed them more, she just didn’t think confronted with Cort she would feel the pain of the past couple months without him so acutely.