Gas station snow retreat

Harold

Winter. A word often associated with playing children, icy snow, and Christmas cheer. All things that I hate. The children and Christmas cheer cause too much singing and screams of “Joy” but worst of all is the snow. Snow causes traffic, traffic causes me to be late to work. 

In preparation for the lovely snow I woke up at 5:30 AM and skipped my morning coffee to get out of the house early, but it seems the traffic will not cease. I Sit back in my seat, pulling out my phone. I dial my boss, he answers on the first ring.

“Hello?” He snaps, “Where are you?” 

“Sorry sir, I’m caught it traffic,” My boss sighs,

“Don’t bother coming, just make sure your paperwork is turned in on time,” I hang up, looking out over the sea of cars in front of me. The thought of turning back around fills me with dread. I might as well get a coffee first. Changing the route on my phone, I set it to take me to the nearest gas station. The “3 minutes” displayed on the screen is an obvious lie. 

My phone rings and my first thought is my boss again, changing his mind and deciding I do need to come into work today, but a quick glance at the screen shows “Irene” My crazy ex-girlfriend. I move to decline to call but hesitate, I might as well answer. Staring out at the cars doesn’t seem any better. I bring the phone up to my ear and immediately regret my decision to answer. 

“Hey Harold,” She says in her jersey accent. I can almost hear her batting her eyelashes. 

“Why are you calling me?” I ask unable to keep the bitterness from my voice.

“Come on now,” She coos “Don’t be like that, I just wanna see you,”

“We broke up,” I remind her. Irene makes an exasperated sound. 

“That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends,” Being friends with Irene sounds like a terrible idea but I can’t help but roll it over in my mind.

“One chance, I’ll send you the address,” 

“See ya then,” she says, happy with getting her way. I hang up the phone. Hopefully the gas station is still open.

Juliette

Winter. The best season for hot cocoa and cozying up by the fire. Not the best season for moving. Lucky for me, we’re at the last few things. 

“Help me get the vanity,” My boyfriend, Dave beckons me over. On a count of three we lift and carry it inside the house along with the plethora of boxes. Our golden retriever, Scout hurries up to the vanity as if he’s never seen it before.

“Looks like that's the last of it,” I look triumphantly at Dave who has already settled on the couch. I sit down next to him and look out the adjacent window. “It sure is snowing a lot,” I watch as the snow drifts down, blanketing on the lawn. 

“We should take Scout out there,” I suggest, “It’ll be his first snow!” Suddenly excited, I hop from the couch retrieving Scout’s leash. 

“But it’s so cold,” Dave complains.

“Then I’ll go out without you,” He groans, getting up from the couch reluctantly. 

“You get the leash on Scout I’m going to put on a coat,” 

Once we’re all bundled up and ready, Scout on his leash, we go out to the front yard. Scout leaps forward, plummeting into the snow, snout first. We watch with amusement as he struggles to move around the yard. I take a step after him, losing my balance in the calf-high snow. I squeak falling over and getting myself more buried. Dave chuckles.

“We should get a snow shovel,” He pulls me up and leads me and Scout back into the warm house.

“Yeah, we should,” 

Carl

Snow. It’s great, when I’m at home, watching TV and eating sweets. It is not great when I have a five hour shift at a gas station with a terrible heater, but this case is different. Snow is great when the most beautiful woman ever takes refuge in said gas station from the harsh cold. She’s so gorgeous it should be illegal. 

Her hair, a deep brown, falls at her shoulders in loose waves. 

“I’ll be sticking around a while,” she informs me, browsing the shelves. I can only hope “A while” is long enough for me to gather the courage to ask for her number.

I ask her for her name, Amelia she tells me. I invite her behind the counter, seeing as there is nobody there to catch me. We share a bag of chips, Doritos, to be specific. 

We don’t have a deep conversation or anything, it skims on awkward. She tells me about her cats and I listen, because being around her makes it hard to form words. I become distracted when the bell at the door rings. I hop up seeing an annoyed man, wearing a suit and tie.

Harold

I’m already starting to regret coming here. First off, the bottom half of my pants are wet from the snow, second, there are two people behind the counter, obviously flirting and third, gas station coffee is terrible, and for the cherry on top, Irene is on her way. It’s too late now, so I suck it up and drink my gross gas station coffee idly browsing the shelves, all full of cheap snacks and snow gear. I weigh the option of leaving but I'm interrupted by the ring or the door. Irene strolls it, fake eyelashes and all. 

“Harold! Doll, it’s so good to see you!” She squeals causing the two behind the counter to give me disbelieving looks. 

“Hello, Irene,” She strolls over, her heels clacking on the floor and hugs my arm.

“Stop glaring like that, you’re scaring the employee’s,” Her jersey accent is like grating in my ears. She begins talking my ear off about everything new in her life, when the door opens once more, letting in a cold gust of wind. 

Juliette

While outside is cold, inside isn’t much better. Dave and I walk into the gas station and are met by a  lot of...interesting faces. There is an angry looking businessman with a jersey girl glued to his sleeve, a geeky cashier sitting behind the counter with a brown-haired woman sitting next to him.

Dave also seems a bit confused as well, but we walk in anyways. He heads straight for where the snow gear is while I instead attempt to socialize.

“What are you guys here for?” I ask conversationally. 

“I’m here for Harold,” The Jersey girl hugs the man, who I assume is Harold’s arm tighter. He snarls at her, ignoring my question. The woman with brown hair perks up.

“I’m here to get out of the cold,” She says.

“I work here,” The geeky cashier answers after here, as if I couldn’t tell by the uniform. 

Suddenly, the doors blow open, assumably by the wind. I rush to push them closed, being the closest, but the doors won't stay closed, only blowing back open.

“Hold on,” The cashier says retrieving two squares of cardboard, “Happens all the time,” He jams the cardboard in the doors, which finally keeps them shut. I look back outside and I can barely see through the falling white snow. 

“Seems like none of us are leaving here any time soon,” Dave says, coming up to the counter with the snow shovel. The Jersey girl looks ecstatic. I sit cross legged on the floor. 

“Might as well get comfortable” I shrug.