Scully shook her head as if to knock the thought away. Calm down, Dana, she told herself. This is Mulder you're thinking about. He doesn't do romance, he only cares about monsters and aliens.
She jumped up from the couch and put down the letters. Time to get ready for bed. She entered the bathroom and drew a bath. She turned on the CD player, which had her favourite relaxation CD already in it. Slipping into the hot water, she thought about the possibility of going alone on the trip.
I don't have to bring anybody. . . I usually do everything alone anyway. . . But this is a trip for two. It would be weird if I went alone. . . I supposed I don't have to go at all. . . No way, I really want to go on this trip. It'll be amazing. I could bring a female friend? No. Mom? Definitely not. You're supposed to bring a lover to these things.
With those words, the image came back. Mulder's naked chest rising out of the Jacuzzi water and his eyes fixed on her, leaning in close, his hand stroking her hair...
Stop it, Dana! He's not your lover!
A little voice entered her mind, and she didn't let it speak out loud, but it grazed against her consciousness with an observation:"If he's not your lover, then why are you picturing him naked?"
She decided to stop thinking about it until morning. She finished her bath and went to bed, trying hard not to think at all.
December 13, Washington, D.C.
Scully arrived at work the next morning determined not to think about skiing, hotels, or Vermont. She entered the basement office and sat down with her laptop.
"Morning," she said stiffly, barely looking at her partner.
"Morning, sunshine. What's got you in such a good mood?" Mulder answered.
She thought for a minute and couldn't think of anything to say other than "I couldn't sleep well because I was desperately trying not to picture you naked," so she answered "Nothing."
"Ok," he answered, but he didn't sound convinced. Instead of pressing the issue, he changed the subject. "Well, you know that guy Santos who murdered those three flight attendants? I think I found a similar casefile from 1966. I think there might be a connection between Santos and this guy Belmonte. I'm wondering if they're related. Could you help me look through this database?"
"Yeah, can you email me the link?"
"Sure."
A few minutes later, both agents were working in silence, trying to find the family background of one Eduardo Santos. Scully tried to work, knowing Mulder might have a point about this connection, but she couldn't concentrate. Her legs were restless. She kept tapping a foot, and Mulder would look up because of the noise, and she'd apologize, and then she'd start tapping her pen against the desk. This continued on for nearly an hour.
"Hey, Scully, is there something on your mind?"
"No!" she said so quickly and angrily that it gave away the "yes" underneath. Scully signed, knowing she had given it away. There was something.
"Yeah, there is something on my mind."
"Well, why don't you tell me what it is?"
Those gorgeous, caring eyes. Scully thought she would melt.
"It's stupid, Mulder, it's just this trip, I won this trip, and I really want to go but it's a trip for two and I'm not sure who to bring."
Mulder feigned shock. "A trip for two! Well, you'll bring me, of course!" he said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
"I didn't know if you'd want to go," she admitted. "It's not a monster-chasing trip, Mulder. It's a ski trip. It's just for fun. You have to go skiiing and enjoy beautiful scenery and eat nice food. No lurking around in the dark trying to catch paranormal murderers from outer space."
"Oh, come on, Scully, I know how to have fun!"
"When was the last time you had fun, Mulder?" she raised one eyebrow.
He leaned back in his chair, thinking. "Well, last month, I played basketball."
Scully's eyebrow stayed up.
"Alright, alright, maybe I don't have enough fun. But why do you seem so nervous about this? You're not yourself this morning."
In Scully's mind, the 'Jacuzzi Photo' flashed across her consciousness. "Well, we don't usually do anything together "just for fun", so I wasn't sure if I should ask you."
"Are you asking me?"
She smiled for the first time that morning. "Yes, I'm asking you. Want to go on a ski trip with me?"
"Sure, Scully, sounds fun. But I should warn you, I haven't skied since 1988."
"No problem. I'm not too good either."
The rest of the afternoon was much easier. In fact, Scully thought she had more energy than she'd had in a long time.
That evening she sat down to fill out the registration form.
She checked off Friday, December 27th to Sunday, December 29th, then number of people: 2, then filled out both of their names and her phone number. Then the form said "One room with king sized bed, two continental breakfasts, dinner available at the Mountain Trails Bar and Grill, ski lessons beginner, intermediate, advanced..."
Oh my gosh, Scully thought, I've got to tell him there's just the one room. I can't just have him find out when he gets there. We've always had our own rooms before.
She picked up her phone to call him, and then stopped.
What's it going to sound like? 'Hi Mulder, just so you know, we're sharing a room. A room with one bed. And a hot tub. And by the way, I keep fantasizing about you naked.'
She put the phone down on the couch beside her. I have to call to tell him something else, and then just happen to mention the room.
She thought for a minute and then dialed.
"Mulder," he answered.
"Hi, Mulder, it's me. I'm booking this trip and I thought I'd give you the dates. It's two weeks from now."
"Ok, let me get a pen... go ahead."
"Ok it's December 27th, that's a Friday, we'll get there at night, and then we leave Sunday, that's December 29th."
"Ok. Got it."
"Oh, and I only won the one room, so we'll share. I hope that's ok."
"Why, Scully!" he said in a rather silly voice, "I hope you know that goes against the rules of two FBI agents staying in the same hotel room while on a vacation!"
"Goodnight, Mulder," she said, eager to get off the phone.
"'Night Scully," he answered.
Scully sat still on the couch and slowly lowered the arm that was holding the phone. I didn't tell him there is only one bed. I didn't tell him there was only one bed. I didn't tell him there was only one bed.
She didn't know how she was going to survive the next two weeks.
