Life Is But A Brief Spring For Mortals

During our honeymoon, the car stopped at a rest area in the freezing Rockies. I headed straight for the restroom. When I came out, the SUV was gone.

I stood frozen, then called Elias. It took seven tries before he answered. Chloes got severe altitude sickness and wont stop vomiting. Theres no clinic here. I have to take her down the mountain now. Wait there or grab a cab into town.

I looked around. Twelve thousand feet up, surrounded by snow peaks. No cabs, just a few freight trucks stopping for water. Elias, you left me here alone?

Silence. Then his voice, sharp. Chloe introduced us. Shouldnt we treat her well? Basic decency. Besides, shes your best friend.

Youre overreacting. No wonder your parents divorced and neither wanted you.

I didnt argue. Ever since Chloe introduced us, Id had no privacy. Movies? She came. Anniversary dinners? She sat nearby. Now, on our honeymoon, she showed up, too weak to stay, demanding to be taken down.

I hung up. My frozen finger scrolled through my contacts to a number I hadnt dialed in two years. Julian.

Sienna? He sounded surprised.

Julian, are you still leading mountain expeditions?

Im at the high-pass rest stop. Can you pick me up?

No hesitation. Send your location. Thirty minutes.

I hung up the phone and leaned against the freezing concrete wall of the restroom building.

The icy wind sliced through my collar, chilling me to the bone.

Slowly, I lost all feeling in my arms and legs.

My phone screen lit up.

A text from Elias.

"Call me when you get to town. Stop throwing a tantrum."

Immediately after, another message popped up.

"Chloe feels really guilty because of what you said on the phone earlier. Make sure you comfort her when you get here."

I stared at those two lines of text for a long time.

I didn't reply.

With a few taps of my frozen finger, I muted his notifications.

Half an hour later, a massive Ford Raptor aggressively pulled into the lot, stopping right in front of me.

The door swung open, and Julian stepped out in a heavy stride.

He was wearing a tactical winter jacket. His brow furrowed deeply as he looked at my lips, which had turned a violent shade of purple from the cold.

"Get in." He yanked the passenger door open.

I climbed into the massive truck.

The blasting heat instantly enveloped my shivering body.

Slowly, feeling began to return to my frozen fingers.

Julian handed me a steaming thermos of hot water and tossed a portable oxygen canister onto my lap.

"Why are you out here alone? Where's Elias?"

I wrapped both hands around the metal thermos, soaking in the heat.

"He had an emergency. He left first."

Julian let out a cold, sharp laugh but didn't press the issue.

"Where to?" He slammed his foot on the gas.

"Town," I said. "My luggage is still in his car."

The heavy truck tore down the winding mountain road.

I leaned back against the leather seat, watching the snow-covered pines blur past the window.

Soft indie folk music played from the speakers.

My phone rested quietly in my pocket.

No calls. Not a single new message.

It was peaceful.

Elias didn't care if I could actually find a ride.

He was absolutely certain I would obediently follow him.

Just like the countless times before. All he had to do was wave his hand, and I would stay exactly where he left me, waiting.

But this time, he miscalculated.

I wasn't waiting anymore.

By the time the truck pulled up to the hotel in town, the sky was pitch black.

"My team is camping about three miles up the road." Julian rolled down his window.

"I'll come pick you up first thing in the morning."

I nodded, pushed the door open, and stepped out.

The hotel lobby was brightly lit.

I walked up to the front desk and gave them Elias's name.

The receptionist clicked away at her keyboard, then slid a room key across the marble counter.

"Mr. Griffin canceled the king suite and booked two standard rooms instead."

I took the key without a word.

The elevator stopped on the third floor.

I walked down the carpeted hallway, found the room, and swiped the card. The heavy door clicked open.

The heater was blasting inside.

Chloe was sitting on the sofa by the window.

She was wearing my expensive silk pajamas.

In her hand was my luxury face cream, and she was generously applying it to her cheeks.

Hearing the door open, she snapped her head around. A flash of guilt crossed her face.

"Sienna! You made it!"

She stood up, awkwardly tugging at the hem of the silk pajamas.

Right at that moment, the bathroom door swung open.

Elias walked out, aggressively towel-drying his hair.

Seeing me, his hands froze.

"What took you so long?" His tone was thick with accusation.

I didn't answer. My eyes remained fixed on Chloe.

I had bought those pajamas just last month.

I had purchased that face cream specifically for the harsh mountain weather on this trip.

Elias followed my gaze and frowned irritably.

"Chloe's suitcase is jammed all the way in the back of the trunk. I didn't feel like digging it out."

"Her skin is really sensitive, and she can't use the cheap hotel lotion, so I told her she could use yours."

He stepped toward me, reaching out to grab my hand.

"It's just a piece of clothing. You're not going to throw a fit over this too, are you?"

I sidestepped his hand, walking straight toward the sofa.

I picked up the jar of face cream from the coffee table, grabbed the half-used facial cleanser sitting next to it, and dropped them both straight into the trash can.

"Sienna!" Elias's voice instantly spiked in anger.

Chloe looked terrified. Her eyes immediately welled with tears as she took two steps backward.

"Elias, don't yell at Sienna. It's all my fault."

"I'll take the clothes off and give them back to her right now."

She reached for the buttons of the silk top, massive tears rolling down her cheeks.

Elias aggressively pulled her behind him, shielding her.

"Are you done throwing this tantrum?!" He glared at me with absolute fury.

"I know I shouldn't have left you at the rest stop, but there was an emergency!"

"Why do you have to come in here and act like a bitch?!"

I looked at his furious, twisted face, and realized he looked entirely like a stranger.

In the past, if I even got a paper cut, he would panic and run out in the middle of the night to find a pharmacy.

Now, my lips had literally turned purple from hypothermia, but all he cared about was whether Chloe was crying.

"Take them off." I looked directly at Chloe, my voice incredibly soft.

Chloe flinched, digging her fingers into Elias's arm.

"Sienna, you are taking this way too far!" Elias gritted his teeth.

"I'm going to say it one more time. Take them off." I didn't raise my voice by a single decibel.

Chloe sobbed, turned around, and ran into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, she walked out wearing her own oversized sweater.

The silk pajamas were left neatly folded at the foot of the bed.

I walked over, pinched the fabric between two fingers, and dropped it into the trash can.

"You are completely unreasonable." Elias let out a harsh, bitter laugh.

He grabbed Chloe's hand and pulled her toward the door.

"We're going to my room. We won't stay here and ruin your night."

The heavy door slammed shut.

The room fell into absolute, deafening silence.

I walked into the bathroom and splashed freezing water on my face.

Looking up, the woman in the mirror was pale and exhausted.

It was almost funny. In the five years I had been with Elias, this face had rarely looked genuinely happy.

I dried my face, pulled out my phone, and opened my email.

I scrolled until I found the email that had been sitting in my inbox for a week.

It was an official transfer order from the corporate headquarters in London. They wanted me to lead a massive new project.

A week ago, because I had promised Elias I would take this road trip with him, I had drafted an email declining the offer.

Now, I clicked "Reply."

"I accept the transfer. I can report to the London office in three days."

The soft whoosh of the email sending echoed loudly in the quiet room.

After doing that, I crawled under the heavy duvet.

The headache from the altitude was still pounding relentlessly against my skull.

But mentally, I felt lighter than I had in years.

From the next room over, I could hear Elias and Chloe's muffled laughter through the wall.

They probably assumed that by tomorrow morning, I would come crawling back and apologize, just like I always did.

What a shame. There wasn't going to be a tomorrow.

A massive blizzard hit during the night.

The mountain pass iced over entirely, and the highway patrol completely shut down the main road out of town.

We were stranded.

I dragged my suitcase down to the hotel restaurant. Elias was sitting at a table, carefully peeling a hard-boiled egg for Chloe.

Seeing my suitcase, his eyes instantly turned cold.

"What kind of stunt are you pulling now?" He dropped the peeled egg onto Chloe's plate.

"I'm going back to the city." My tone was completely flat.

"The roads are closed. Where exactly do you think you're going?" Elias sneered.

"Sienna, enough is enough. I already decided I wasn't going to hold last night against you."

He pointed to the empty chair across from him.

"Sit down and eat. We'll leave when the roads open."

I ignored him entirely, turning around and walking straight toward the hotel's front doors.

But before I could take three steps, a violent wave of dizziness hit me.

The altitude sickness had finally crashed over me in full force.

I grabbed the nearest marble pillar, gasping desperately for air.

Seeing me collapse against the pillar, the young guy working the front desk panicked, ran into the back room, and rushed out holding a portable oxygen canister.

"Ma'am, take some oxygen, you need to breathe!"

I reached out to take it.

But a hand shot out from beside me, snatching the canister right out of the air.

Elias held the oxygen, glaring at me with deep irritation.

"Why are you faking this?"

"Chloe was throwing up all night. She's actually sick. She needs this."

I slowly lifted my head, staring directly into his eyes.

My vision was swimming with black spots from the lack of oxygen.

"I... am very sick." I forced the words out, syllable by agonizing syllable.

Elias scoffed.

"You spend half your life at the gym. You run half-marathons without breaking a sweat."

"Chloe has been fragile since she was a kid. You seriously have to fight her for this?"

Chloe walked over, gently tugging at the edge of Elias's jacket.

"Elias, let it go. I can push through the pain. It's okay."

"Sienna looks like she's really suffering."

Despite her saintly words, her fingers remained tightly clamped onto Elias's sleeve, not letting go.

Elias patted her hand gently, then turned back to the front desk.

"Do you have any more oxygen? I'll pay double."

The receptionist shook his head awkwardly.

"The blizzard hit last night, so the supply truck couldn't make it up the mountain. That's the very last one we have."

Without a second of hesitation, Elias shoved the oxygen canister into Chloe's arms.

"Then she gets it. If something happens, I'll take full responsibility."

The other guests eating breakfast were openly staring now.

I could hear the hushed whispers and judgment.

Standing in the center of the lobby, surrounded by staring strangers, my face burned with humiliation.

Three years ago, when we got stuck in a snowstorm, he took off his only winter coat, wrapped it tightly around me, and stood in the freezing wind, violently shivering.

Now, he was literally snatching the oxygen I needed to breathe out of my hands, just to give it to another woman.

A dull, agonizing ache ripped through my chest.

It hurt far more than the suffocating altitude sickness.

I let go of the marble pillar, forcing myself to stand up straight.

Gripping the handle of my suitcase, I turned around and walked back toward the elevators.

Elias's mocking voice drifted after me.

"Look at her pretend. Let's see how long she can keep this act up."

Back in the room, I collapsed onto the mattress.

My head felt like it was going to split open. Every breath I took felt like swallowing broken glass.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted Julian.

"The roads are closed. Are you still in town?"

Julian replied almost immediately. "I'm here, but two trucks from my convoy got stuck in the pass. I have to go pull them out."

"I might be late tomorrow. Once I pick you up, I'll take you straight to the airport."

I typed a single word: "Okay."

I closed my eyes, desperately fighting down the nausea churning in my stomach.

A sharp knock hit the door.

Elias's voice came through the heavy wood.

"Sienna, Chloe feels much better after the oxygen."

"I brought the rest of the canister for you. Stop playing dead in there."

I didn't move an inch.

I didn't even have the energy to open my eyes.

"Suit yourself. Take it or leave it."

The sound of his heavy footsteps slowly faded down the hall.

I forced a bitter, broken smile onto my lips.

He was offering me the leftovers another woman had put her mouth on.

That night dragged on for an eternity.

Drifting in and out of a feverish sleep, I listened to the blizzard howling against the window glass.

Tomorrow. If I can just survive until tomorrow, this will all be over.