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Chapter 15 - Ben
The entire way back to the cabin I tried to get myself to see what a mistake I’d made in pursuing Laurel. I knew it was a bad idea. I knew she was trouble. I also knew a fling was a bad idea. No matter what my kid brother Eli thought, sleeping around wasn’t working for him, and it definitely didn’t work for me. I shouldn’t have tried it, despite how tempting she was.
I knew I wanted more than a fling with Laurel, though. I knew it the moment our lips touched by the river. She made me happy for the first time in a year. I really thought I was feeling something more than pure, wild lust for her. Foolishly, I thought she’d felt more too, but I guess I was wrong.
Back at the cabin, I wandered the rooms like a ghost, unable to get her out of my mind. The magazines on the coffee table called out to me with recrimination at not cracking why they were failing, but I knew I couldn’t sit still. I tried scrolling mindlessly through my phone, but only felt more guilt at all the missed calls from my brothers I hadn’t returned and the ignored daily check-ins from Ruby. I had people who cared about me and here I was chasing after someone who didn’t want to be chased.
I found myself on Laurel’s social media profile, frowning when I saw the grainy, often out of focus shots of her. If the Neanderthal was her photographer, he could stand to take a few courses. Or get a better camera. From the odd angles, it looked like some of the shots were grabbed from the videos she took with her phone or perhaps set it up on a tripod while hoping for a good outcome. I shook my head, reframing her photos in my mind, figuring out placements to get shots that would better showcase her talents.
“She really is nuts,” I muttered, quickly scrolling past a few pictures of her hanging over a vast expanse, no helmet, no harness or any wires that I could see.
Wasn’t I nuts for wondering how to make her look better while doing all the dangerous things she did? It did seem a waste though, to go to all that trouble, actually risking her life, and not at least get a decent photo out of it.
A message from my older brother Will popped up. I could only read part of it.Last chance, Bro. We’re—
I swiped it away, not bothering to click on it to read his full threat.
I finally grabbed my camera and a few long range lenses and headed out on one of the trails. Hopefully, nature could soothe my wounded ego and if not, maybe I’d get some good shots. I had to do something other than obsess about Laurel, and it might as well be something I was good at.
It had been a while since I’d taken anything other than a halfhearted shot of the view outside my apartment window, but the further I hiked into the woods, the better I felt. I was pretty pleased with a few closeups of a mushroom explosion near the base of a moss-covered tree and decided to venture out of the woods and try to get some panoramic views.
I worked my way upward until I got to a break in the thick trees, turning slowly in a circle as I took in the vast expanse of blue sky and rough, craggy mountains on the other side of a ravine. This was exactly what I came here for. The scene almost made me forget about Laurel and I snapped off a few test shots, realizing I needed a bigger lens if I was going to get something really dramatic.
With my camera strap firmly around my neck, I crawled to the very edge of the cliff and peeked over. My stomach did a little flip at the distance to the bottom, but I knew I was perfectly safe and started clicking away, moving the camera slowly from left to right. I meant to stitch them together and get the entire scene. An eagle soared far off on the other side and I hissed with triumph as I captured it. When I zoomed in to see my good luck, I noticed the rock patterns on the other side of the ravine would make for some interesting closeups.
Zooming in further, I noticed some movement and frowned, zooming in even more. It couldn’t possibly be… She wouldn’t dare. Except it was and she would. That woman was going to be the end of me.
I scrambled back from the edge, shouting swear words.
