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Stephanie had forgotten what real beauty looked like until she stepped through the trees and came face to face with the waterfall. It had to be hundreds of feet high and it cascades over boulders and smaller rocks until it landed in a pool covered with lily pads. The old song, It’s Not Easy Being Green, echoed in her mind and she almost expected to see a few frogs float on by. It was like being a kid again.
Outside things were simple and inside, not so much. Work and ambition distracted her from the simpler things she had once enjoyed.
A blue bird flew by and landed on a branch as it tweeted its little song. It sounded like a love song. A beautiful melody she could’ve listened to all day.
“I guess you really like it,” Bret said as he stepped up beside her.
“Yeah,” Stephanie’s answer came simple and she sounded shy. She was still enamored with the hidden beauty in nature. To think how close by she lived and she rarely went out and did things like hike. She rarely took the time to smell the roses, as it were. All she thought about was the next assignment, how to impress her boss, and the next raise on the horizon. Just thinking about it made it so she could barely breathe.
Stephanie felt so stifled by the life she created for herelf she wanted to scream, she wanted to sprint. She wanted to live better. She began to think maybe Bret was the luckiest man she had ever met.
“We can stay here a bit. Explore. Maybe grab a snack before we press on.” Bret glanced at his watch. “We have ten miles or so before we reach the camp spot for the night. Then I want to catch us dinner and make camp.”
“Sounds cozy,” Stephanie admitted as she slipped her backpack off. She sat down on a fallen log and unzipped her bag. Bret joined, sitting in front of her. They were both quiet as they dug out their bottles of water and a few granola bars each. Stephanie also brought apples and he offered on to her guide.
“Thank you,” he said as he took the shiny apple. His bite into it sounded like a echoing snap through the chamber of trees. “We should reapply our bug spray after this. The forest will grow thick soon, cutting out more sunlight and noise. It’ll be harder to keep to true north, but we’ll get there. Don’t worry.”
“Well, I wasn’t worried before.” Stephanie wondered if he was trying to scare her. Because if he was, it worked. “Have you ever been late meeting your pilot?”
“Your camera isn’t on,” Bret pointed out.
Stephanie thanked him and lifted her camera up. She repeated the question. “Have you ever been late? Is there an established protocol for what happens?”
“A few times I’ve been late. Once it hits the two hour mark, search and rescue is supposed to be notified incase me or the camera man get hurt. Luckily, we’ve never had to find out how the cogency plan works. I assume it’d be fine but I’ve never missed a deadline by more than a half hour. We’ll get out of here. Don’t you fear. It’s an adventure. Try to have a little fun.”
Stephanie lowered her camera. “I’m having fun,” she admitted. “At least a little of it.”
“I guess then I’m doing my job right. Or wrong. Depending what it is you’re looking for.”
Stephanie felt a wave of guilt come crashing down on her. “I just want the truth. Is that so bad?”
“No,” Bret shook his head as he peeled the wrapped away from his granola bar. “I guess I would’ve liked if you would’ve taken me at face value but then I guess we wouldn’t be here, would we?”
Stephanie laughed and felt herself blushing across the bridge of her nose. “Guess not and I’m glad we are. Care to address some rumors on camera? Or off.”
Bret shifted anxiously. “I don’t usually comment on rumors but I may make an exception for you.”
Stephanie lifted her camera back up. She finished chewing the fruit and nutty granola bar that was in her mouth. “There’s talk you’re a recluse when you’re not filming because of women. Or one specific woman who broke your heart. Since then people have said you hate leaving home? Do you suffer from PTSD? Or just a broken heart?”
Bret rubbed his hands together. “We should get going. Let’s move on before the sun begins to set.” He started packing up his bag and Stephanie had no choice but to put down the camera and begin to do the same.
So, he wouldn’t answer even one simple question.
She sipped her water before zipping her backpack up and swinging it onto her shoulders. Whatever Bret was trying to avoid, it must’ve been serious. Stephanie began to wonder if maybe there was a bigger story underneath his layers of bravado and survivalist image. If there was, there was no one that could dig it out like she could. He couldn’t leave or get away so Stephanie decided to make that her new priority.
Finding out what made the Wilderness Billionaire tick.
*****
They walked for a few hours and while it was only early spring, Stephanie’s hair clung to her face. She felt a level of exhaustion she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was embarrassed that she was so out of shape. Sitting on a rock, she sipped some of her water while Bret investigated the terrain near by.
“The suspension bridge is just over this ridge. Once we reach the other side, we’ll be half an hour to camp. I’ll get us settled and then we’ll eat and have a good rest.”
Stephanie held her bottle of water to her cheek. It felt cool and helped to lower her temperature. “What do you think we’ll eat?”
“Fish or rabbit if we’re unlucky. Tree bark and berries if we’re unlucky. Worms if we’re destined for death.” Bret smirked and gave her his usual wink. Stephanie had already pieced together that he winked like that to disarm her, yet it kept him safe from making a real connection. Stephanie decided it was time to broach the subject again.
She lifted up her camera. “How are you fairing, Mr. Mitchell? Do you feel fatigued?”
“I’m tired,” Bret admitted, “but I’m ready to charge ahead. I’m excited to reach our goal and see a few new things. The mountains here aren’t the same as discovering things in South America or Asia, but there’s a simple beauty here. We’re less than a day from Sweet Falls and it feels like we’re worlds away.”
“What is it about the isolation that inspires you? That you crave?”
Bret shrugged. “People are complicated, trees are easy. They don’t betray you. Hurt you. Cause complications. They just are.”
“So there was a pain? A loss?”
Bret plucked a blade of grass out of the ground and rolled it through his fingers. “Everyone has pain and loss. I’m no different than anyone else.”
“No, but I’m talking to you. We’re here together and I’m trying to find out more about the man, not his television title. If that makes you uncomfortable.”
“It does,” Bret said cooly. His chest rose and stayed there, as if he was holding onto his anger.
Stephanie turned the camera off and put it down. “I’m not trying to offend you with the personal questions.”
“Then what it is you’re trying to do? I’m not here to talk. I’m here to hike, take in the sights. There’s no real great mystery to me, Stephanie. You’re not going to discover my inner pain or what makes me tick. I just like the company of nature. Life isn’t all bad. It here in the stillness, I can feel that.”
He started away and Stephanie raced after him. Her face was slashed by the tree branches and she pushed them away, ducking down to keep up the pace with him. “Do you always run away when there’s nothing to run away from?” Stephanie asked.
“I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“If you’re not afraid, if you’re not running away from something, then why can’t you keep still? What is it about cities that makes you jump out of your skin? Why can’t you answer a simple question about your life?”
“You don’t ask simple questions. You ask questions to trap me.”
“You’re paranoid,” Stephanie said, even if he was partially right, but she didn’t want to trap him. “I just want to know what makes you tick. How someone who seems to dislike the company of others manages to turn himself into a rich brand like you did. The two don’t go together.”
Bret waved her of and started stomping through the forest again. “Just keep walking, okay? We’re almost there.”
Stephanie sighed but had no choice but to comply. She didn’t want to end up lost in the middle of nowhere. They climbed over some boulders and slid down to the other side. Stephanie came face to face with one of her deepest fears.
A deep chasm that spread across two mountain sides and a suspension bridge that hung between them. Her throat seized and her mouth dried up. Unable to move any closer, she became frozen to the ground. The bridge’s rope seemed secure enough but there were missing boards and a few were chipped. They were less than stable. Less than ideal.
Stephanie couldn’t do this.
Bret circled back. “To get across the bridge you have to get closer to the bridge.” He gave a sly smile Stephanie thought was intended to encourage her but nothing could. Her feet and legs rooted to the ground. She couldn’t move.
“I...I...can’t.” Stephanie glanced down, too embarrassed to say anything else.
“You...can’t?” Bret paused, clearly waiting for her to say something else, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. The thought of crossing that bridge was like a punch in the gut.
Stephanie shook her head. She didn’t say anything because she was afraid she’d cry. It was weak and unprofessional to cry. How melodramatic and emotional could she be crying over a little thing like a suspension bridge.
“We have to get across. You’ve done really well today, okay? I’m only asking for you to go a little bit further.” His voice had changed to a soft, comforting tone, like he really cared.
“I’m afraid of heights. I just can’t.” Stephanie squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten but her chin quivered. She was getting closer to the point of no return.
Bret gripped her arms. “You can do it. Tell yourself you can. And you will. I’ll be with you every step of the way. We’ll start slow.”
“Over a chasm?” Stephanie shook her head.
“It’s not that wide. It just looks it because you’re scared. Trust me, I get it. But you can conquer it. One step after another. You’ll feel so proud of yourself once we get to the other side. Okay?” Bret’s hands slid down her arms and her skin tingled beneath her jacket. He gripped her wrist in a encouraging way.
Stephanie took a deep breath and glanced at the bridge. “It looks dangerous.”
“It’s safe. It’ll have some swing, but it’ll be safe.”
“Tell that to Indiana Jones,” Stephanie mumbled to herself.
Bret raised his eyebrows and gave her an incredulous look. “You’re not really basing your feelings on an old movie, are you?”
Stephanie gave him an equal look of shock. “Did you just call Indiana Jones old?”
Bret laughed and inched toward the bridge. Stephanie didn’t want to follow him but since he had her wrist, she had little choice. It was illogical to be that scared of a bridge and they couldn’t just stay in one place. What a boring expose it would make.
“Maybe take out your camera. Get a shot of the bridge.” Bret said calmly.
Stephanie nodded, maybe too rapidly. She took her camera with shaking hands and zoomed in on the bridge. And then she got a wide angle shot, or at least as much as she could. “It’s uh, not as long as I thought. The bridge.”
Thirty steps maybe twenty. She could do that, right?
“We’ll do it together and you’ll see, it’s not as bad as you think. You go first and I’ll be right behind you.”
Stephanie licked her lips. With her camera back away inside her bag she grabbed hold of the rope and stepped timidly onto the first board. Gingerly, she moved her foot to the second. When the bridge moved, she screamed and backed up against Bret, who she forgot was there. She burst into tears and felt his arms tighten around her.
“Easy,” he whispered. “Easy. We got this, okay. Just keep moving and I’m moving with you. All right?”
Stephanie nodded but couldn’t speak. Her body trembled as she stepped forward and she tried to ignore how the bridge moved beneath her feet. Bret moved in time with her and it almost felt like a dance. She could hear his breath, feel it against her back. He smelled good, manly. Stephanie tried to focus on that as they made their way halfway across the bridge.
She felt braver, walking faster. The end was in sight. They were almost there and stepped in time as if anticipating each other’s moves before it happened. As Stephanie’s foot stepped again on solid ground, she let out a relieved sigh. She had done it. She made it.
She thought it to be impossible but here she was. Everything was going to be okay.
Bret nodded approvingly. “You made it. You did it. Knew you could.”
Stephanie wiped her face with a laugh. “I feel so stupid.”
“No, you’re not stupid. Your fear was valid but you did it anyway.”
“Because of you,” Stephanie admitted. “You kept me calm. Thank you.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and saw the shock roll over his face. Even more embarrassed then before, Stephanie didn’t say anything. She just stared at him.
“Let’s keep going. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry.” Bret turned and led her further away from the bridge—which was fine by her. Stephanie was surprised he didn’t emote more. A smile would be better than nothing. He was cool and low key but not unkind. She wondered if he really thought of anything under that rough exterior he had.
Stephanie didn’t know what she expected or why she was feeling, well a little shunned. It had been a tense moment for her and he helped her, couldn’t that be enough? Or was she beginning to want more from him. It wasn’t like they were on a date. It was a business relationship to help out her career.
She had to remember that. She had to stay on task and not get distracted by his attractive smell and killer smile.
Bret glanced back at her and gave her a wink. She wondered if he felt what she was feeling and how she could keep it hidden. How she could protect herself under his watchful eyes. And if it was even possible.