Six Days: Book One in the SIX Series (10 page)

           
“Well, the majority of the business has to do with the
hospitality industry of course. All those hotels and restaurants downtown, my
dad has some type of involvement in almost all of those. That’s what this town
is really about, other than the nature aspect of what surrounds it with the
lake and all. But that’s why all the tourists really come here, the glitter and
lights. Sadly it’s more for that than for the
lake,
or
all the hiking and boating around here. Anyway, as far as what I do, I am
supposed to supervise all of these departments within the company. But like I
said, the decisions are already made by people who are actually qualified to
make them. Basically they just get my blessing as if I am the genius behind it
all. I know, it sounds ridiculous. That is exactly why I have been trying to
get away from it. That is not who I am. It’s so hard to go through my day to
day like that. Every time there is an important board meeting, I must be
present, as if I am really the second in command behind my father. The honest
truth is that I hardly know what my father is doing half the time and I’m
already told what my position on everything is.
So I nod, I
shake hands, and I sign papers all day.
It’s really awful,” Griffin said
shaking his head.

           
“I guess I can see why you don’t talk about it much
then,” I said sincerely, feeling a little bad for bringing it up.

           
“I’ve really had fun with you these past few days,
Addie,” Griffin said, turning his body slightly towards mine in the seat. He
stared into me.

           
“So have I. Thanks for taking it easy on me so far with
the adventures. I was a little nervous at first,” I replied, trying to lighten
up the conversation. I was happy we were no longer talking about the one thing
Griffin hated the most. I could tell he was relieved with the subject change as
well.
 

           
“Well, we’re just getting started,” Griffin said, cocking
his head to one side. “Life’s short, you know? I know that is so cliché,
especially with this whole ‘
yolo
’ craze going on and
all, but it’s true. It just seems crazy to me when people really aren’t
living
it. That’s why I am trying to figure out how to separate from this thing with
my dad. It’s just against everything I really want. I mean, I know we all have
to get through our day to day, I get that. But when you really think about just
how much time we have to actually
live
, it doesn’t really seem like that
much time in the grand scheme of things. So then the day to day, what’s the
point of it all, you know what I mean? I just… I want to feel…” Griffin’s voice
trailed off and the ride came to a sudden stop.
What were the odds our cart
was the first one to have to exit?

           
Griffin
reluctantly stood up, grabbing my hand to lead me off the ride. “Are you cold?”
he asked, changing the subject. He put his other hand on the zipper of his
sweatshirt, ready to unzip it and take it off.

           
I smiled up at him. “Not with you,” I uttered shyly,
quickly mortified for saying that out loud.
  

Within
seconds, our space filled with noise as the rest of the group poured off the
ride and gathered around us. Mallory threw her arm around my shoulder and
steered me towards the parking lot.

           
“We’ll go grab the stuff from the car for the fireworks
show if you guys want to go find a spot,” Mallory said to the others. Griffin
and Steve ended up walking with us to help carry the load while Johnny and
Megan left to find some open space on the lawn. The grassy field had already
started to fill up with families and couples laying down blankets for the show.

           
We set up a couple blankets and Mallory unloaded a cooler
of plastic cups with a box of wine, along with a large container of chocolate
covered strawberries. Mallory and Megan gathered on either side of me,
stretching out for the show.

           
A few minutes before it was about to start, Griffin
crawled up behind me and tapped my shoulder.

           
“Hey, will you come with me for a second? I want to show
you something,” Griffin said in a quiet voice. I nodded. A surge of excitement
ran through my body, even though I had no idea what he wanted.

           
“Hey guys,” Griffin said to the group, “we’re going to
run and grab something real quick. We’ll be right back.”

           
Griffin helped pull me up and led me away from the lawn
towards a large arena-type building.

           
“Where are we going?” I asked
,
confused as to why we were walking away from the fireworks show.

           
“To the best seat in the house, trust me,” he replied
with a mischievous smile. We walked around to the back of the arena where there
were some stairs, presumably a fire escape or some maintenance steps of some
kind.

           
“Follow me,” Griffin said, holding out his hand to lead
me up the narrow metal steps.

           
“Where are we going? Are we allowed to do this? Oh no,
you really are going to get us arrested, is that what this is about?” I
replied, hoping he really knew what he was doing.

           
“I think there technically has to be a sign telling us we
can’t climb the maintenance stairs before they can actually handcuff us for
this,” Griffin said, grinning. “Come on, Addie, it will be fine. Trust me.”

           
Griffin and I continued up the steps. Once we reached the
top, Griffin explained we were standing on top of the arena where they kept all
of the 4-H animals. Within ten seconds there was a loud boom overhead, with
crackling sounds falling down around us. As I looked up at the sky, I realized
they were lighting off the fireworks from the roof of one of the hotels right
next to us, about five or six stories up.

           
The fireworks covered us overhead. It was the closest I
had ever been to such a thing. Burnt pieces of cardboard were falling down
around us like confetti as one giant firework after another filled the entire
sky above us. It looked as if handfuls of glitter would fall to the Earth and
cover us at any moment. We sat down on the concrete roof, gazing up at the sky.
It was magnificent.

           
Without asking, Griffin unzipped his sweatshirt and
wrapped it around me, which I was thankful for. The fireworks show was
spectacular, though at times I felt compelled to stare at Griffin instead, but
my nerves didn’t want to find out whether or not he would do the same. We were
inches apart, but yet it felt as if his skin was right up against my body.

As
the fireworks show ended, a security guard had climbed up the stairs. He called
over to us, motioning at us to come down off the building, so we obliged. The
security guard held his hands up at Griffin as if to suggest he should have
known better, but Griffin just nodded at the guard, smiling. I tried to stifle
my laughter, knowing that this wouldn’t be the most appropriate time to be
giggling about the situation while being facially reprimanded by security.
Griffin led me back down the metal stairs and we walked back to the lawn to
find our friends.

           
“Where did you go?” Megan asked, swallowing down the last
of her plastic cup of boxed wine. She raised an eyebrow, and I wondered what
she was thinking in that moment.

           
“I was hungry so we just went to grab some food,” Griffin
lied, squeezing my shoulder. “We still saw the fireworks though. We didn’t miss
anything.” I loved the smirk on Griffin’s face as he spoke. It was like he had
a boyish secret, even though everything that had just happened was completely
innocent and wasn’t much of a story to the rest of them.

           
We all helped pack up the cooler and we wrapped up the
blankets. Everyone walked sluggishly back to the parking lot, full of cheap
wine, greasy food, and overturned stomachs.

           
Griffin drove Mallory and me back to my apartment, and I
was happy to have the front seat for the ride home. As we drove, I reluctantly
took off his grey sweatshirt and laid it on the console next to me. I wished
instead I could keep it. I loved the smell of him, along with the warmth and
softness of the material. It felt so comforting to me, but I felt too
embarrassed to ask if I could leave it on, or worse, to try and get out of the
car with it still on. We pulled into my apartment complex minutes later, and I
gathered my bag from the floor. As I opened the car door to step out, Griffin
grasped my arm. “Wait, here. This is for tomorrow,” he said, handing me a small
grey box. He grinned and I couldn’t help but smile back.

           
I nodded and mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to him,
assuming he would understand that I meant it not just for the box, but for the
night in general.

           
Mallory and I didn’t have much work to do at the bakery
the following morning, so she elected to stay over at my place since we didn’t
have to wake up too early. We stayed up late watching
The Notebook
and
eating rice cakes, the only thing that sounded good after the night of food we
had just had.

When
the movie finished, Mallory and I spent an hour talking about all of her past
soul mates. It turned out she was engaged once when she was twenty-two, a story
she said she didn’t talk about often, which was why she hadn’t mentioned it
before. It was a quick romance. They got engaged just four months after they
met. Apparently he had cheated on her with an old flame just a couple months
before their wedding. She said she was so embarrassed and distraught about it
at the time, she didn’t even tell anyone the truth about what had
happened.
 
She simply explained that she
just didn’t think they had enough chemistry to make it last. She was too
mortified to tell everyone that he had cheated on her. She said it made her
feel as though she wasn’t good enough for him and that’s why he did what he
did. Mallory eventually told people the truth a year or so later, after she had
finally moved on from her hurt and her anger over it. She started dating again
and declared by now she was on soul mate number six or seven, she wasn’t quite
sure. She wanted to take a break from all that though, to focus on the bakery.
She was finally ready to figure out what she really wanted out of life. I
commiserated with her on that.

           
“So what about you, Addie?” she asked. “You’ve been
spending a lot of time with Griffin lately. What’s in the box?”

           
I tried not to blush at her mention of Griffin, but I
figured Mallory was starting to figure me out anyway. “I don’t know. Our plans
for tomorrow, I guess. I was going to wait until the morning to open it,” I
replied, grabbing the box off the end table.

           
Mallory shrugged and raised her eyebrows, insinuating she
was curious about how this whole thing worked.

           
“He just gives me a little message, like a little hint
about what we’re doing I guess, and then information about when we’re getting
together,” I stated, moving the box around in my hands. Mallory urged me to
open it, so I did.

           
Inside was a piece of folded paper. I grabbed it out and
unfolded it, laying it on the couch.

           
“Is that a treasure map?” Mallory asked, hovering over
the piece of paper.

           
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I replied with amusement. A huge
smile spread across my face.

           
Day 4: Hiking the hidden water trails. See you at 9:30
a.m.

           
“
What on earth
does that mean? How athletic does this guy think I am?” I said, laughing with
Mallory. “Shit, what do I wear for that,” I added, exasperated by the thought.
I always tried not to curse, but panic brought it out in me. “Do you know what
this is?” I asked, hoping Mallory would have an answer.

           
“I don’t know, maybe Nevada City? The guys used to go up
there all the time, but it’s been ages. I think there are some trails and a
bunch of swimming holes, like big rocks to jump off of, that kind of thing. I
think I went there as a kid once or twice, but it’s been forever. I can’t wait
to hear about this one,” Mallory said, stretching out on the couch. “Just make
sure you’re back by seven. We’re going out for some drinks tomorrow night.
Johnny wants us to hit up some new place with him. I told him we would be up
for it, if that’s okay.”

           
“Sure, I mean, I guess that sounds good if this is just a
day thing. I’ll call you if something comes up,” I replied, smiling back at
Mallory. She raised an eyebrow at me.

           
“So it seems that you like all this time you spend with
Griffin?” she asked inquisitively. “Are you finally ready to admit it?”