I Didn't Sign Up for This: A Moonlighters Short: Moonlighters, #3.5

By Anita Kelly

Sometimes, your girlfriend dumps you in Switzerland.

 

If you're lucky, it'll be right before Christmas.

 

To be specific, it just might be the day before you were set to go skiing in the Swiss Alps. As a Christmas present from said girlfriend.

 

And maybe Nicole didn't expect me to still go skiing in the Swiss Alps without her, but you know what? You only live once. I will never in my life be able to afford a day like this again.

 

And sure, it's possible I've never touched a pair of skis before, but I'm an adaptable person.

 

I'll figure it out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anita Kelly
• Release date: Apr 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215422700

Anita Kelly

Originally from a small town in the Poconos, Anita Kelly now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her wife, son, cat, and three-legged dog. A librarian by day, she drinks too much tea and reads all the romance novels she can find by night. She hopes you get to pet a dog today.

Book preview

Sometimes, your girlfriend dumps you in Switzerland.

If you’re lucky, it’ll be right before Christmas.

To be specific, it just might be the day before you were set to go skiing in the Swiss Alps. As a Christmas present from said girlfriend.

And maybe Nicole didn’t expect me to still go skiing in the Swiss Alps without her, but you know what? Fuck it. You only live once. I will never in my life be able to afford a day like this again. And sure, it’s possible I’ve never touched a pair of skis before, but I’m an adaptable person. I’ll figure it out.

Exhibit A: I’ve already successfully navigated the train to the right station, where I then boarded this cable car that lifted us right into the fucking sky. It swings back and forth above all these craggy mountains and fields of white, while rich white people hug their skis to their fit bodies and laugh with each other like it’s normal. They are all carrying so much equipment and wearing so much bright, insulated clothing and acting like they are not hindered by it at all.

Which, fine, might all be a tiny bit disconcerting, as this swinging cable car is not at all normal, and I am wearing long underwear, jeans, Doc Martens, and one supremely puffy coat Nicole bought me on our first day in Thun. Apparently, my decade-old Columbia jacket wasn’t up to snuff for winter in Thun, even though I had wanted to protest that my jacket was one of the highest quality garments I owned. I’d braved the Columbia Employee Store to get it, back when I lived with Jinwoo and they got free passes to it all the time through their work.

I wish I could text Jinwoo right now. Look where I am, dude! I’d text with a photo of the blue, blue sky through the window of this flying death trap, if I could afford international texting. At the top of the world! It’s like I’m a god!

To Nicole’s credit, the supremely puffy coat is also supremely warm and comfy. It has a big hood fringed with what is probably legitimate fur, which I should maybe feel bad about, but it is so soft against my face, so efficiently hides my mess of dark hair I haven’t brushed in two days, and helps me feel protected from all these strangers around me who have so clearly done this before. It made me feel protected when Nicole bought it for me, the way Nicole’s gifts often made me feel: unexpected, out of the ordinary, a bit Too Much, but when I gave myself up to it—luxurious and safe.

The cable car shudders to an abrupt stop.

I watch everyone else depart before I move, to avoid getting whacked in the face by their fancy skis or poked by their skinny poles in the tiny space. When I step out onto the walkway, I breathe in deep. Let it out slowly through my nose.

I’m in a tiny village at the top of the world. The buildings are made of warm, worn wood, but other than their sturdy presence, everything is glittering white and blue. Like Frozen for adults. Just inhaling the crisp, thin air makes me feel like a healthier person instantaneously, someone who eats organic vegetables and exercises on a regular basis.

As opposed to someone who spends their days mainlining