AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Without further ado, I took a step forward to hug him. "Thank you. Honestly, I appreciate it."
His warm hand slid down my back, holding me against his chest. Then he released me and I made my way inside. Showering and lying down in my soft bed didn't sound so bad. And since the excitement of the wedding hadn't set in yet, I would have no problem falling asleep.
Lei
Ijerked the headphones on and turned up the music on my phone to full volume. It didn't seem nearly loud enough to silence the thoughts in my head. But for now, it was a start.
The sun had not yet risen, which made the path through the jungle all the more perilous. Normally, I wasn't a fan of unnecessary risks, but this morning, the path to the cliff seemed to be the only thing that would allow me to get a handle on my inner turmoil– before I had to be at a wedding in a few hours that I didn't really want to be at. Still, the last thing I wanted was to upset Matthew by not being there. Surely he would take it that way. After all, there had hardly been a family event in recent years that I had not attended.
And Audrey's wedding was the biggest damn event the island had seen that year. Officially, no member of the family would admit it, but secretly, that's exactly what it was. All eyes were on the happy couple.
I rolled my eyes and kept walking, quickly picking up the pace. Maybe I should have chosen the Haiku stairs as an alternative? A little adrenaline from looking down on the island from above? Adrenaline with every step I took over the blocked structure. But neither a broken neck nor a stay in jail was on my agenda, so I ignored the secret path past the guards and kept running into the jungle.
The trail was a few hundred feet long, and at the end of it was a huge cliff rising into the sky. It was said to be the remnant of a volcanic eruption, but if I was honest, I didn't care about its history. All I cared about was climbing it. With no gear, no double belay, and no chaperone waiting at the bottom to check my broken back in case I lost my footing for the first time in years and took a dive. Not that I would survive that from the appropriate height– but the idea of a chaperone who would only have to announce my untimely demise was nice.
Maybe I just picked the wrong day for this scenario. So I guess I had to do my best and make sure I had both feet on the ground later, instead of taking the shorter– and faster– way down.
In the future, I should pursue a career as a comedian. As soon as I said all my thoughts out loud, at least one person would fall off their chair with laughter.
The eloquence of my thoughts was surely also the reason why Matthew had asked me to do his speech for the wedding reception. Officially, he'd said he just didn't have time for it. But the truth was probably a little different.
He just didn't know what to say to his daughter– other than a big thank you for marrying the man who would follow in his footsteps.
The set-up behind all of this had become clear to me from the very beginning. Naomi's father had founded the company, and after Matthew married her, he had risen to the position of CEO, only to relegate his wife, who had been quite successful until then, to a secondary role. Still, there were strings attached– the company had to stay in the family, for example. But he had never seen Audrey as a successor, and the risk of relying on her taste in men had probably been too high for him. So Matthew had done what he did best and turned it into a business proposition.
He had meticulously chosen a man he could imagine as his successor, groomed him for the job, and ensured he was comfortable with him– before introducing the idiot to his daughter, who came with the job as the next CEO and was a bargaining chip.
Somehow, until this story, I had believed that we were past the time when a daughter was nothing more than a useful asset, but Matthew had proven me wrong. And Audrey had proven that one could go along with anything out of a false sense of obligation. Without a second thought as to why something was happening and whether you wouldn't be better off making your own choices in life.
None of this was the stuff of a wedding speech, of course, so he trusted me to come up with something that would both impress the guests and family friends and have some effect on Audrey. It couldn't be said that the two of them had a super close relationship, but for his own daughter's wedding, even a man like Matthew should be able to admit feelings and show some affection.
As for me, I would know exactly what to say in such a speech– but it had nothing to do with paternal feelings and tame restraint. So it was a balancing act for me to find the right words. A nice speech that showed Matthew's pride in his daughter. That showed he loved her and was happy to call a woman of her class his daughter. Maybe I should just download a template from the Internet and sell it as my own work with a few adjustments. Who would notice?
As I reached the steep face, the first pink streaks stretched across the sky. Not much longer and the temperatures would rise.
The rock was damp, but not enough to stop me from a short climb. I knew this wall inside and out. Every place I could push my fingers to find a foothold and every ledge capable of supporting my weight. I had done this hundreds of times before, and yet today some internal agitation seemed to be getting in the way.
A few feet away, a table and several benches had been set up. One of the other climbers had forgotten ropes and carabiners. For a moment, I toyed with the idea of doing it the old-fashioned way, but that meant giving up the thrill. I wanted the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up and feel the blood rushing through my veins.
No double protection for me.
I approached the wall with a grim expression on my face. I checked my phone, turned up the music again, and then stowed it so I would not lose it on the way up or down.
Determined, I pushed my fingers into the first crack, checked my grip, and felt the angular rock dig into my skin. Not enough to break it, but after I had conquered the wall and reached the bottom, I would certainly be richer by a few scrapes, bruises, and bloody knuckles.
With my other hand, I searched for a ledge to grab onto and pulled myself up. For a moment, I let my legs dangle in the air before finding a safe foothold. Then I looked up, made out the next steps ahead with my eyes and concentrated on them.
I pushed away every single thought that tried to haunt me and claim my attention. I forgot about the wedding and the knot I felt in my stomach just thinking about it. With every foot I climbed, I cleared my mind until I was halfway up and it was all about not looking down and anticipating the next safe step.
The hooks in the rock were meant for the climbers who came here with their gear– and yet they were also a good indicator of the direction in which I could orientate myself without having to worry about hitting a porous rock that would crumble to dust or break under my weight, so there was not much in the way of a direct descent.
Soon I reached a ledge with enough space to sit down and enjoy the view. I sat down, dangling my feet down and holding on to the edge. Not because I was afraid of falling, but because the height made my stomach tingle.
For a long time, I just stared into the dull morning and watched the fog slowly disappear. Suddenly I saw a large part of the island over the green roof. The sun was shimmering orange over the sea, bathing everything in a warm, pleasant light.
If I squinted, I could even make out the church outside Honolulu where the wedding ceremony would take place in a few hours. For the second time, I rolled my eyes at the thought, wondering if this was really what Audrey was going for. I wouldn't accuse her of anything, but after last night I found it hard to believe that she was actually looking forward to a future with Alexander. He might be a nice guy, but at the end of the day, that's what it came down to.
What did he have to offer her if it was only for the position he wanted so badly?
