[Storiesmaniac]

The light flurry that had begun around three A.M. the previous night was still going strong as Becka, Ash, Alex, and Robin all unloaded their gear out of the back of the car. The mountain resort had decided to run the lifts for the next six hours only and wouldn't be functioning until after New Years. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have been closed from the twenty-fourth until the second, but by some miraculous grace of God, the resort had decided to run the slopes for resort employees only. And with Ash having a miraculous job in management, it was an all-access pass.

As the group trudged across the parking lot and up towards the loading dock for the gondola, the winds increased, and the snowfall began to increase in velocity. Alex laughed happily as he stepped on to the platform.

"This is sick."

"You're very welcome," Ash laughed. "God, I love the perks of working here."

"How did you get this job?" Becka asked as they waited for the gondola to come back down from the snowy mountain peaks. "I mean, I've been around the resort for years, manager's a close family friend, and never once do they speak of such grand positions."

"It's a funny story actually." Ash rubbed under her nose with her mitted hand. The harsh bite of winter air was already getting to her, and her nose was glowing a bright cherry red.

"I love funny stories," Robin tossed his head back. "However, most of mine end up with broken snowboards, someone taking a golf ball to the groin, or waking up naked at a bar in a town ten miles away."

"I remember that!" Alex shook his head a smirk across his face.

"I really do hope he's talking about the golf ball to the groin." Ash shook her head and looked at Becka.

"Ash," Becka laughed. "No one remembers the story behind waking up naked in bars ten miles away. They just recall begging the bartender to give them back their pants."

The gondola slowly lowered back down and the crowd of resort employees, all eager to shred what little fresh snow there was, crammed into the shaft. Unsteady, the rickety thing slowly began to make its way back up the mountain.

"Imagine what would happen if this cable broke." Robin looked up ahead. The support cable was blowing harshly in the wind. There was no chance of it breaking, but it certainly was fun to consider the horrible catastrophe that could have happened.

"Why do you dwell on such bad thoughts?" Becka's nervous gaze followed Robin's up to the supports. "You don't realize how unnerving things like that are, do you?"

"No, but that just gives me all the more reason to say them," Robin shrugged with a fool-hearted laugh. "I mean, if you didn't die on the impact of the cart hitting the ground, you'd probably freeze to death in the cold bitter mountain air."

"Is it too much to ask for you to be in the slightest optimistic?"

"Who say's I'm not being optimistic?"

"If you don't die in the crash, you'll freeze in the snow."

"How's this for optimistic? I hope I'm one of those who die in the crash instead of one who dies in the snow?" Robin opted.

"You're an asshole." Becka slugged him in the stomach.

"I try."

"So." Alex changed the subject. "Ash, you had begun a funny story about how you got your job out here?"

"Ha, yes, very funny."

"Didn't you used to live here before?" Robin tried to remember his childhood years. "You moved in grade two or something?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded.

"I don't recall much about grade two." Alex shook his head. "All I recall is that some girl used to steal my cookies when I wasn't looking." Ash let out a laugh and then covered her mouth, pretending it hadn't happened. Alex glared at her. "You stole my cookies!"

"I have done no such thing," Ash denied shaking her head. "Not in eighteen years anyways."

"Okay," Becka laughed trying to stop the combat. "Again, how exactly did you come across working in our small forsaken Colorado town?"

"I got my resort up in Canada out of a rut you could say," Ash shrugged. "We had a severe issue with tourists leaving unhappy. Something just wasn't up to par."

"Something being?"

"Elevator service. The shafts weren't functioning. People ended up waiting for half an hour for these things to come down," Ash continued.

"Well that's ridiculous." Alex rolled his eyes. "Take the gosh darn stairs."

"Oh they did," Ash nodded. "But you have to remember, these our tourists on vacation, they can't be bothered with such absurdities as walking up flights of stairs."

"Oh." Alex bit his lip. "Right."

"Not to mention most of them are carrying luggage and returning from long days on the slopes. It's only expected that the goddamn elevators should work, no?" Ash pointed out.

"Point taken. Move on."

"Ha. So after three tourists of separate parties had broken limbs after tragic stair accidents, I swear the custodial staff there was daft, they didn't comprehend that stairs, when used, get wet from snow clad boots going up and down them-"

"Ash!" Robin cut in. "Point!"

"I posted pictures of the bellman in the elevators doing less than, how do you say, decent, activities in the elevator compartments, on the notice board for the staff."

The three stared at her, mouths agape.

"That's disgusting." Becka shuddered.

"That's..." Robin started and then stopped. "I mean, how indecent?"

"Let's just say the two bellhops and four different maids caught in said pictures were fired promptly, and when that happened, elevator service became oh so much more productive."

"How did they manage to not get caught in the first place?' Alex questioned.

"One of the bellmen was an electronics major at the local university. Wired the security cams to play the same tape from a few days prior every time he and his fellow bellman decided they wanted to get a few kicks," Ash explained.

"So after they were fired, you got a promotion, one that set you up to be recognized by this place when they were searching for new personnel?" Becka prompted trying to fill in the blanks.

"Naturally," Ash shrugged with a smile. "Plus who wouldn't love working here? I used to miss this town so much."

"Ash," Robin cut in, "were you hired here because of your exemplary skills at being awesome in your work or for the sheer fact that half the staff at your other job wanted to kill you for ruining what could have been a potentially good thing for everyone?"

Ash slugged Robin hard in the stomach just as the gondola reached the peak of the mountain. Through his layers and layers of coats and sweaters he couldn't feel a thing, but just for sheer effect he doubled over.

"Why does everyone enjoy doing that to me?" he asked as they began to load off the tram and onto the mountain's face. The clouds that were dropping snow on the sleepy Colorado town were below them now, and it was a long way down.

"Quit your whining," Ash said as she snapped her goggles securely over her eyes. "Or I'll be forced to kick your ass in a race down this hill so hard that even the wannabe tourists will laugh at you."

"Is that a challenge?" Robin raised his eyebrows and pulled his pink beanie tightly over his ears.

"I don't know," Ash laughed, as she set off towards the closest run. It was a small one, nothing special, not even high enough to use the lift, but it was the only thing she could readily access and cheat on. "Could have been."