Chapter 7 Between girls.

The staff quarters remind me of a summer camp, with small rectangular cabins lined up in rows and narrow paths winding between them. There are at least fifteen, from what I can see. I head toward cabin seven, where a faint glow of light fills the windows. Laughter breaks out the moment I open the door.

"Hey!" The nearest woman steps forward with a smile. She reaches for my handbag with her free hand. Her other is clutching a silver flask. "Someone's late for the party!"

I feel my face turning red, never one for open attention.

"My plane was delayed.

She smiles widely, showing me a beautiful set of white teeth. She is extremely pretty, her pixie cut hair framing her delicate features nicely.

"No worries. I'm autumn. You and I are bunkmates. I hope you don't mind being on the bottom".

"You're welcome. I'm Prue".

"They're going to get to know us all very well, very quickly".

"I see that". I do a quick scan of the cabin. Three sets of twin bunks, one on each wall, and a tiny vanity in front of me. I'm not sure how six women are going to handle being in here together, but I guess we'll manage. Autumn waves a hand around the space.

"Prue, all of them. All of them, Prue.

I nervously make the rounds as the others take turns introducing themselves to me. They all look to be in their mid-twenties. In the kitty corner with bunk beds to ourselves are Rachel and Katie, two giggly blondes from Tampa. Across from us, a brunette named Lorraine from Oregon is lying on top with a magazine in her hand. A stunning redhead from Atlanta named Tillie sits in the back. Her hair is a deep, vibrant orange-red instead of my flat, boring shade; a color I've wanted since I was twelve. And her voice... I could listen to her accent all day.

"We have to share a dresser. We each have two drawers and we can split the middle one with our unmentionables. I took the top one because I'm really tall. I hope you don't mind, _ Autumn says with a shy smile. She's sweet. And she's tall. She must have at least five inches on me.

"I don't care at all._ I throw my backpack on the floor, glad to have finally reached my bed. "What's this?" I ask, reaching for the thick black material hanging against the wall.

"Privacy Curtains" Autumn gives a tug and the curtain flies across the track, around the bunk, isolating us from the others.

"Like a hospital".

I guess a little privacy is better than none.

"Yeah. Kind of like a hospital". She laughs, tucking strands of cinnamon-colored hair behind her ear. She pulls the curtain back, until we're part of the group again. "The bathroom is there, and the showers are three buildings over, to the left. Thank goodness, because at five in the morning it's a cold walk". _She shudders.

"At least they gave us robes".

"Any idea what Autumn was hired for?" asks Lorena.

"Nature guide?" I guess, and everyone laughs.

"Close. Janitor. Trust me, you don't want me as a guide in the wild. You'd all get eaten.

"Well, I for one am not leaving the confines of this beautiful property, so no one is going to eat this southern girl" Tillie purrs.

"Except maybe the big bad Wolf" Autumn scoffs, and everyone bursts out laughing. It must be an inside joke. Excellent. A few hours late and I'm already an outsider. Autumn reaches out to grab my arm. "Have you seen him yet?" I frown, confused.

"Who? The big bad Wolf?" She laughs.

"Diego Star, the owner" Wow. I laugh and shake my head. His eyes widen knowingly.

"Just you wait. There isn't a hot-blooded woman here who wouldn't spread her legs for that man's tongue. "My cheeks flush. It's not that I haven't wondered what it would feel like to have a man, Abraham, fuck me. I don't understand how I'll ever get myself in the right mindset to allow it. I can't even touch myself without knowing that I'll feel sinful once my climax has come and gone. I clear my throat.

"So the owner is here?" I never bothered to read about the Star family, more interested in Alaska and the hotel itself.

"I saw him get out of his helicopter yesterday morning.

"You think you saw it, Rachel corrects.

"Oh, believe me, there's no doubt about that man" Autumn takes a swig from her flask. "He spoke at my graduation ceremony two years ago. I guarantee you that every woman's panties were soaked by the end of it. Maybe a few men to" Another round of laughter. I can feel my face turning red at the rudeness of their conversation. It's not that I don't think these things, or feel these things. I've just been taught to never talk about them openly like this. And my circle of friends at school doesn't talk like this either. But if I'm going to be living and working with these ladies for the next few months, I should probably start getting used to this now. I keep my hands busy and my eyes down as I unpack my backpack, filling the bottom two drawers with clothes for both warm and cold weather while the girls talk about the owner.

"The Forbes exposé on him says he made his first million when he was sixteen, from a stock investment.

"That's nonsense. He was born a millionaire. His grandparents owned a gold mine in Alaska.

"Yes, but he didn't earn that. He gave it to her.

"I heard that this property was given to him.

"And his brother.

"No, it seems everything was arranged for him! Can you imagine the family dispute over that?

"It's not that your brother hasn't had enough. Well, maybe not yet. Your father is still alive, so technically he still owns this hotel.

"Do you know who he's dating? That Victoria's Secret model. What's her name? The one on the cover of the Christmas issue.

"No. They broke up. She caught him in bed with two of her friends.

"So that means it's fair game.

"I heard he's super strict and law-abiding, like his father. Honorable to a fault.

"No way. Star is said to be an arrogant, controlling jerk who fucks women and then abandons them.

"A guy like that must pass for women like underwear.

"I'll gladly be your underwear.

I listen to the back-and-forth chatter as I line up my few basic toiletries on top of the dresser. I unwrap the picture I brought of Mom and Dad and place it on the dresser as well. It's my favorite of them, when they were in high school, and she was slender enough that Dad could easily wrap his arms around her waist. They got married as soon as she finished high school, my mom graduating two years after my dad. I arrive almost nine months after their wedding. I leave the picture of Abraham and me at the bottom of my duffel bag. The one I've thrown in the trash and then pulled out at least a dozen times, the pathetic, emotional part of me unable to let go. We're sitting back to back on a bale of hay during the parade at the festival last summer, both of us smiling at the camera, happy as can be. The only things left for me to put away are my bras, panties, and socks. They'll have to go in our shared drawer. I hope Autumn doesn't mind. I open the drawer and stifle a gasp.