Lodged Away

Chapter Two

The last of the auditions were long and tedious, only scoring but fourteen singers to advance to the next round. Simon sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache painfully approach. “Horrid...” He muttered, slouching in his chair.

He glanced over at Paula who was doodling on the notepad in front of her, while the last singer droned on, off key and off beat. He held up his hand, signalling for the boy to stop. “Please ...”

“Was it okay?” The boy asked nervously.

Simon sat there, his mouth slightly ajar. “You sounded like a spawn of Satan - I was expecting fire to explode behind you.”

“Can I sing another song?” The boy almost pleaded, his knees unconsciously bending into a mimicked ‘begging’ action.

“No, I honestly believe that you can’t.” He watched the boy sulk out of the audition room and threw his pen down on the table. “Bloody hell, that was annoying.” He sighed, fishing in his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. “Can’t wait to get home, get in me bed and sleep until we start filming next week.” He muttered, cigarette already resting between his lips.

“Simon, aren’t you forgetting?” Paula asked, glancing over at him.

“What ... oh yeah, plenty of room in bed with me, luv.” He winked at her, searching for his matches.

“Dawg ... we’re leaving in about two hours ... the camping - the Ski resort?” Randy piped in.

The cigarette tipped out of his open mouth, but Paula managed to catch it before it fell on the floor. She handed it back to Simon, placing it between his lips and giving him an amicable pat on the cheek. “Of course Simey hasn’t forgotten - he’s looking forward to this as much as we are.”

He raised an eyebrow, glancing at her with a mock glare. “Right well ... I’m going home.” He got up, already lighting up his cigarette.

“To pack?” Paula called after him, humour calling out to him.

“Yeah...to pack.” He mumbled, followed by a string of curse words before the door slammed shut behind him.

“Stranded in nature with Simon - think we’ll survive?” Paula jested, picking up her handbag and giving Randy a pat on the back before she exited towards the parking lot.

Randy sat alone, pondering their current situation. “Hmm ... this might be rather entertaining.” He thought to himself with a sly smile, before he himself directed his steps towards his car.

***

It was three o’clock when they were dropped off at the starting point for their nature walk. Ryan took the lead, filling the journey’s silence with stories of his childhood and how camping was an essential part of growing up.

Simon found himself dead last; in line and in enthusiasm. He watched and took in all their comments, his eyes silently appreciating nature’s beauty, as well as the one hiking in front of him. A small smile curled as his eyes took in her curves, even through her bulky ski jacket and snow pants. His mind’s eye had already permanently fused her beauty in his thoughts, rendering it easy for him to merely close his eyes and her image would appear.

“How’s the view back there, Cowell?” Ryan called out.

“Views beautiful, courtesy of Paula’s arse, Ryan.” Simon hollered, adoring the amused-but-irksome look that the petite woman threw over her shoulder.

“Dawg, is that why you’re lagging behind?” Randy joked, stumbling forward as Paula gave him a playful body check.

After hours of hiking, they finally settled down with the hopes of catching some shut-eye and recharging their battery. Ryan and Randy worked on the fire while Simon and Paula attempted to erect their five person tent.

“Okay, hold it up, and I’ll go tie this end.” She instructed the cheeky Brit, eyeing him with mock suspicion. “I’m watching you, Cowell...”

“I know - and it turns me on.” He dead panned, offering her a serious look that she ultimately saw right through.

She giggled, rolling her eyes at him. She lifted one leg over the extended piece of string, and just as she was about to lift her other leg over, Simon pulled at the piece of rope, causing her foot to hook it. He guffawed as she tumbled into a nearby snow bank.

“Have you been drinking, luv?” He mimicked her movements, adding a drunken exaggerated tinge to them.

“Simon, you - ”She lunged, tackling him down into the snow as the tent collapsed in a heap on the ground. They rolled around in the snow, pinching and tickling each other while Randy and Ryan finished setting up the tent.

“Guys, the fire’s started...” Randy’s voice echoed through the forest, as he took a seat on one of the four log-benches that were placed around in the fire.

“Boy has it ever...” Simon commented to himself, as Paula pushed herself off of him, and went to sit down in front of the fire. Still lying in the snow, he propped himself up on his elbows, watching her from afar. His body ached to be in contact with her, and he wondered if she’d ever figure out the deeper level as to why he teased her: for the plain and simple reason that she’d always physically ‘attack’ him in retort. Giving a slight chuckle, he lifted himself to the ground and made his way to the camp fire, taking a seat between Randy and Ryan, who had already occupied seats beside his desire. Sitting in front of her, he watched the lights from the flames play off her golden skin, his fingers tingling to touch.

Paula stuck a marshmallow on the stick, unable to contain her childish buoyancy. “This is fun!” She exclaimed, sticking the marshmallow in the flames, watching with deep concentration as it succumbed to the heat. Her eyes lifted slightly, and she caught Simon’s stare, feeling herself drown in his intense gaze.

“Pauls ... ”

She felt Randy move her hand away from the fire, and she glanced down, pouting at her now charred marshmallow.

“Someone’s been daydreaming.” Ryan joked, jabbing her in the side.

Simon stood up, making his way close to Paula. “Oh, well, get used to it - because every time I’m in the room ...” He left the sentence hanging, seeing the scowl that graced her face. He chuckled and held up a well-toasted marshmallow, holding it close to her lips. “C’mon luv, it’ll cool down and won’t be as pleasurable.”

Eyes never leaving his, she leaned in and gently took the melting marshmallow from his grasp, her lips lightly brushing against his fingers. Curbing the moan that erupted deep in her throat, she watched him lick the remnants off his fingers and then stand up abruptly, tossing a ‘goodnight’ over his shoulder.

Randy and Ryan stared at Paula, and then glanced uneasily at each other. “Yeah dawgs, I’m gonna hit the hay too.” He muttered, standing up and extinguishing the camp fire. Watching Paula give a slight nod, he watched her climb into the tent. “What do you think?” He whispered to Ryan who was still sitting, staring straight ahead.

“I think it’s going to be a very interesting night.” He shrugged, wagging his eyebrows at Randy.

Randy watched him step into the tent, and his eyes grew wide. “Aw dawg, yo! Now why’d you go and say that - I just got a mental image!”

–TBC–