Chapter 3: Nikki - Truly Happy at Last

Scott was drunk. He'd had a terrible day, and he just wanted to lose himself in a haze of alcohol. He was sick at heart, and felt he just couldn't take any more.

He knew he was one of the most successful businessmen in the world, but sometimes feelings of pessimism seemed to overwhelm him and he just had to go away and steep himself in alcohol for a day or two. It never made him feel better, but he had to do it. He supposed it was his most serious character flaw.

Meanwhile, Nikki had been trying to get Scott Williams on the phone for almost a day and a half. She felt terrible about having put him off the other day. He'd wanted to take her on a picnic and she'd been pretty cavalier with him - telling him that she had shoots to do, and that he knew this, and wasn't he supposed to be doing something in San Francisco?

She'd even mocked what she called his childish behavior. She regretted it now, but he'd taken off and no one seemed to know where he'd gone.

Finally she called Ben Buccannon, who was like a grand- father to the young woman. He said that Scott sometimes needed to get way from the pressures of work, and that he had a rustic cabin, in upstate New York, to which he'd probably gone for the weekend.

Nikki could tell that Ben wanted her to look up his friend and colleague and make him feel better. Her guilt was such that she wanted to see him too; and if possible to make amends.

Scott was 39 years old to Nikki's 19, and there had so far been no romantic element in their relationship, at least on Nikki's side. She was happy with her new life, and her lover, Rachel, kept her well oiled as far as sex was concerned.

The thought had never entered her pretty head that this successful older man, her "boss," might have romantic feelings for her, though if she'd given it any thought she might have seen the signs.

She knew that she was sexy-looking; someone in her position heard that constantly. However, after doing a number of photo shoots, with people telling her all the time that she was beautiful, the compliment rather lost its meaning.

She didn't think she was that exceptional; she thought her roommate was more exotic-looking than she was, and she'd said it again and again. Her African heritage, combined with great genes, had made Rachel's one of the most pleasing bodies Nikki had ever seen.

The Russian stopped thinking about her voluptuous roommate and returned to the problem at hand. She couldn't understand why a man like Scott would go off the 'deep end' like that. However, she did know that she liked him, and that she owed him her present happiness, and she determined to get to the bottom of things.

Nikki had gotten her driver's license only two months before. There was a time in her life that she hadn't even considered driving a car, much less the sleek silver Jaguar coupe that purred under her as she drove out of Manhattan, heading for the mountains (or what passed for mountains in New York State), occasionally glancing at her map to keep orientated.

Mr. Buccannon had tried to insist that a company limousine drive her, but she felt the need to get away from the city and its trappings. She was, after all, a country girl herself. She'd grown up in a village in a remote part of Russia, isolated and insulated from the outside world, and even though she'd never regretted her move to America, she still missed the majesty and silence of the mountains and forests of her homeland.

She had started her trip with the top down, and the city temperature hovering around 88 degrees. She had been told that this was unusually hot for September, and she agreed. However, as she reached the foothills the temperature dropped noticeably.

She continued up the mountain road, and dusk began to fall, so she stopped and turned on the automatic mechanism for bringing the canvas roof up over her head, then latched it down.

Driving for another hour brought her to the little hamlet Benjamin Buccannon had mentioned. Nikki pulled into the parking lot of a 7-11 and walked inside. The girl at the counter looked up, then did a double-take.

Nikki asked: "Can you please tell me if Ravens Lake is on the road going right from here? I think it is, but I want to make sure I don't get lost in the dark."

The girl behind the counter stared, mouth agape, and mumbled: "Huh-huh, it's that way. Are you who I think you are?" She pointed down the road to the right, but she seemed to have something else on her mind.

Nikki was used to hero worship, and knew how to handle it. "If you mean, am I Nikki, then yes I am, but if you thought I might be your cousin, well... that's possible too, because my family also lives in the country." She smiled at the girl's awed expression.

After autographing her picture on the cover of the current Vogue, and verifying that the lake was where she thought it was, she hopped back into the Jaguar (the sales clerk following her every move through the window) and sped down the road.

It was dark when she arrived. The cabin was small, but well-positioned on the side of a hill overlooking the lake. Nikki couldn't make out much in the way of features in the dark, so she parked the car at the roadside and walked up the track.

It took about ten minutes to reach the cabin. During the climb she kept her eyes on the place, searching for some sign of life. When she finally reached the cabin door, and knocked several times without getting any reply, she walked around the structure, wondering where Scott might have gone.

Maybe he hadn't been there after all; perhaps Ben had been mistaken. She tried knocking at the door again, then decided that her friend and boss couldn't be there. Nikki decided to see if she could get into the cabin. She could stay the night, then head back to town the next day.

Trying the door, she found it unlocked. 'Strange to leave your home unlocked when you don't live there the year around, ' she thought.

She walked in and tried the light switch. It worked. The cabin lit up with a cheery soft light that instantly made her feel safe and, somehow, at home. She explored the four rooms and bath, made herself a sandwich, took a hot, relaxing bath and went to bed. She decided to use the master bedroom.

She was surprised to find that the bed had been slept in, and smelt Scott's after-shave on the sheets. She liked the idea of sleeping on his rumpled sheets; besides, she liked his smell.

It had been a long day and she drifted off to sleep in less time than it takes to say it, dreaming dreams of clear air, and pine-scented woods...

She was jolted into wakefulness when the bed she was sleeping on began to bounce. Someone had just thrown himself onto it. It was obviously a man, a very drunk man.

Nikki realized that it was Scott, and her fear fell away, to be replaced immediately by guilt and shame that she had hurt him, maybe even made him come here to lick his wounds. Tears welled as she reached for her friend. "Scott?"

She touched him and felt naked flesh. She ran her hand down his arm until she touched his stomach. He was naked! Oops! How embarrassing!

She was here uninvited, an intruder, and he was naked, expecting to crash out on his own bed and sleep off his drunk. What was she to do?

The answer wasn't left up to her. When Scott felt the hand on his stomach, his drunken state made him react without rational thought.