Derek waited as long as he could for Erin to arrive at his Manchester apartment. She was coming in from Boston, an easy forty-five minute drive north, since all the Memorial Holiday traffic had already ventured north on Friday the night before, and all remaining travelers were headed south through the city to the Cape. Derek grabbed his small knapsack and hiking maps, threw them onto his front seat of his car and headed north to Concord. There was a set of trails nearby off of Interstate 89 he wanted to try out first before the predicted rain blew through the Southern Hills and Merrimack Valley regions. He wanted to try them with Erin, but she never made it. He called her several times before leaving for the trail himself, knowing that he would wait all day for her if he didn’t leave now. Instead, he left her a note with the directions where she could meet up with him if she did happen to come by.

The drive up was short, half hour to forty minutes. The sun still shines brightly through the mountains and absorbed the spring air, keeping the high altitude warmer than expected. Derek drove still, unsure how he wanted to feel about Erin’s absence. Their plans were tentative; Erin had scheduled something in for the night before with some girl friends in the Metro West region. It was likely that she would be out all night. But Derek understood she also anticipated the hiking trip, a quiet afternoon with just the two of them. They were not officially dating; they were friends from college. In the first couple for years after graduation, they had not spoken due to loss of contact. An alumni weekend reunited them, but Erin remained as unreliable as ever. Derek scheduled plans with her dozens of times, only for her to end up being late or a no-show, like this morning. There always seemed to be feelings coming from both sides, though neither ever acted upon them, mostly due from lack of time and privacy between the two of them.

Derek stopped at a small coffee shop of the outskirts of the State Park where two big trails he wanted to tackle resided. The first was three and a third of a mile, the second just over four miles. The terrain was fairly easy, a far cry from the Mount Washington trips he had taken with the scouts as a kid. Memorial Day Weekend was a big hiking weekend, especially these trails. These two trails provided picturesque scenery without long travel either in a car or on foot. Also the weather was more cooperative being out of snow season and preceding the hot weather. It was never safe to hike alone, but there would be enough people around if something were to happen.

Derek removed his 35mm camera from the knapsack and cris-crossed the strap over his shoulders, then headed up the trail from the southeast side. Derek hiked his way through the trail steadily. Every so often, Derek stopped and took a few pictures of neighboring mountains that displayed along the trail. He kept a water bottle in his hand as well and otherwise didn’t stop unless he found a place to take pictures. People passed him occasionally, mostly couples at a time, though there were several park rangers in the area keeping tabs on hikers and warning them that the rain storm scheduled for the late afternoon was still in affect for most of the region.

By early afternoon, Derek finished the two trails as he wanted, and was heading back to the parking lot he left his car when the rain started. The dry breeze increased into dynamic humid mini-tundra, soaking everything completely. Derek, drenched more with perspiration than rain water, made his way back to Manchester to spend the remaining rainy day over cappuccino, the Sunday Globe and Diana Krall. At his apartment parking lot, he found no sign of Erin. His note remained taped to the front door as he had left it that morning.

Derek started through his newspaper after watching a little of MSNBC’s Crisis in the White House updates, as Jodi Applegate chronologically summarized the first one hundred twenty-days of the scandal involving the President and an unknown intern. Most of the events he knew, everyone did, and still the key figures were not talking. He started Stepping Out in the CD player, when the knock came at the door. He peered through the kitchen and saw Erin waving in the door window. Placing the newspaper aside, he answered the door, flooding in the sound of raindrops.

"Hi," Erin said, smiling.

"Hi, come on in," Derek replied, cautiously. Erin shook her coat off before coming through the doorway, then ran her hand through her hair, brushing out the raindrops. Derek closed the door behind her, then prepared to take her coat. "Here, let me take that," he said with a bit more positive affliction.

"Oh, thanks," she said, handing the coat to Derek. Derek grabbed a hanger from the front closet and brought both into the bathroom. "Did you go hiking before the storm?" Erin asked as Derek walked into the bathroom.

"Yeah," he replied while hanging the coat. "I finished up just before the rain came through the State Park." He paused a moment before asking in return, "What happened to you?"

Erin sifted through the paper and sniffed the heavy coffee-flavored air. "Oh, you wouldn’t believe the horrible morning I had."

"Try me." Derek returned into the kitchen, catching her going through the paper. "Want some coffee?"

"Sure, it smells good," she said, smiling. "I need to use your bathroom for a sec first." She went into the bathroom; Derek fixed some coffee for both of them. A few moments later, she exited the bathroom, finding Derek sifting through the Arts section. She smiled a little and sat down across the table from him where an unclaimed coffee cup set. Erin tucked her bopped hair back behind her ears, scrunching her shoulders innocently.

"So, how was the trail?" She asked.

"I did both of the ones I wanted to do," Derek said. "How bad was your morning?"

Erin sighed in frustration, dramatizing her morning’s shortcomings to extreme disaster. "Derek, I had the worst morning." She sipped her coffee. "First, I didn’t go home last night. We, all right, we went all over Boston. Like every bar you could imagine." Her story fluctuated into short dramas of battling bouncers and hordes of men looking for a late night date of sorts. She explained the beer thrown in her hair and near cat fights one of her friends got into over some guy with his jealous girlfriend. "We went everywhere," she said. "By the end of the night, it was like two o’clock and we had no idea where we were. We were just lost in the middle of no where in Boston. Finally, Amy, you know, my friend Amy saw the T station, which of course wasn’t running, but we knew where we were. Amy’s apartment wasn’t too far from there, but we were able to hail down a cab to get a ride back. I hardly got any sleep last night. I ended up sleeping on Amy’s floor, which is as hard as a rock."

"Sounds adventurous," Derek said, sipping his coffee and scanning through the paper.

Erin sipped her coffee. "Oh my God, you have no idea," she said. Both remained silent for a few moments. Derek stared through the paper and Erin looked around uncomfortably. Erin sighed a little and then asked, "So, what are you up for today?"

Derek remained focus on the page. "I don’t know, what did you have in mind?" He asked, dryly. He wasn’t sure whether he even wanted her around. The fact that she didn’t keep their date again, as nonchalant as the date was to be, annoys him.

"Um, I don’t know," she replied. Erin sipped her coffee again and sat unsettled. "Maybe we could go somewhere. Get some lunch. My treat."

Derek looked out from behind the paper, feeling better, warmer. "You’re buying?"

"Yeah, that and coffee at Barnes and Noble."

"Oh, so that’s it. You want to go shopping," Derek said, sarcastically.

"Yeah, come on. You love that place," she said, hoping to warm him up. She knew he was disappointed about the morning. "Besides, let me make it up to you for missing this morning. I really wanted to go. I’m sorry. Guess I messed up again, huh?"

"I’ve grown accustomed to it over the years," he said, cheerily.

"I know, I know. I’m just not good with keeping appointments," she admitted. "You know that. You know me better than most." Derek hid behind his paper, not saying a word, but swallowed hard. He had feelings for her, and was starting to look as if she did as well, only he couldn’t get the thought of her constantly missing dates like she did. The cons of the situation certainly laid gloom on the pros.

"So what do you say?" She asked. "Will you let me kiss up to your ego and forgive me once again? Please, I seek forgiveness for my wrongful actions." She smiled. "We can go to that place went to before if you like. It was right near the store."

Derek placed the paper down, smirking. Erin smiled sweetly from across the table, her eyes glowing like the floodlights in a baseball stadium. He could never resist her charm, and was suddenly tired of not acting upon his feelings. He stood up from the table and shuffled towards her.

"Ok, I forgive you," he said. She smiled brighter, relieved to have not done permanent damage. "But first I’d like to do something if you don’t mind."

Erin didn’t speak, her eyes shifting to playful curiosity. She continued to smile, waiting for Derek’s next move.

Derek leaned down, bringing his face closer to hers. He ran his hand across her cheek and lightly gripped her neck under her ear. She started to blush and stalled her breathing. Derek kissed Erin warmly. Erin fell still and tranquil, reaching her hands around the back of Derek’s neck and head, running her fingers through his hair. Neither backed off. Erin had no intention of letting him stop.

-end-