3. Liam
3
Liam
“See you later, Liam!” Rob, one of the instructors, calls as he walks out of the small building. Really, it’s more of a shack. I wave and finish looping my rope together. We run rock climbing and cliff diving excursions for tourists. I’ve been here for so long I got bored, and added more climbing on top of my surfing schedule. I started working with them because I thought it could be fun, and it’s a great way to meet the ladies. But this is my last excursion, so I can focus on preparing for the championship right around the corner. It will be a sad day when I leave because I love everything about Bali: the surf, the sun, the rocks, the women .
There’s a group coming in about five minutes, so I check through the gear, the fall pads, and everything else we will need. This climb isn’t super challenging and is belayed by me and the other leader, Trick, which will reduce most injuries, hopefully.
I hear Trick talking outside and go out to say hi to everyone so we can start the safety training. A few more people walk in and I smile at each of them. Trick opens us up and I hold up the rope to demonstrate the proper figure eight, then how to properly put the harness on. I hear more footsteps on the gravel and look up to greet the last additions. My throat tightens and my heart drops.
She’s here.
The Costa mafia princess is here, in Bali, and is apparently going on one of our expeditions. She looks at me and smiles. I stare at her for a little longer, looking for every minute sign of deception. But I get…nothing. She looks me in the eye and I don’t see a flicker of resentment, but most importantly, I don’t see any recognition. Adrenaline is zipping through my veins as she gives me a blinding smile and moves her eyes to Trick.
Is it possible she doesn’t know who I am? No, it can’t be. It just can’t. While I watch her from the corner of my eye. I pick back up with Trick as he continues the demonstration. We explain how we will go about belaying people and then instruct everyone to find the right loaner pair of climbing shoes.
Aelia Costa goes over to the shoe rack with everyone else and she doesn’t pay any attention to me, not a sly look over her shoulder or peek out of the corner of her eye.
“Hey, man, are you okay?” Trick asks. I nod and keep looking at her. He chuckles and elbows me. “I know you like to get with the ladies, but remember, it’s after the excursion.”
I force a smile. “Just checking out my options,” I quip back.
He laughs, shakes his head, and starts gathering our gear. This is way too coincidental. I almost pull my phone out of my pocket and text my brothers, but I’m over twenty hours by plane away from them. If something happened, there’s no way they could get to me in time. I’m on my own right now.
I look around the surrounding area for her bodyguards or the groupies she usually has. She had quite the entourage in Hawaii and Vegas. But I don’t see anyone acting like they belong to her. It’s just a bunch of tourists. Forcing a deep breath into my lungs, I make myself go with the group instead of cutting out now. If she’s here for something, I need to know and I need to warn my brothers. They might not be able to help me, but at least they would get a warning.
Trick has one pack on his back. When I finish stuffing mine, I sling it over my shoulders like a pack mule. We like to have the over-enthusiastic tourists carry one of the fall pads. They are light, but awkward and fun to watch them bump into things with.
We go through the checklist with the group. Everyone has what they need and Trick leads the way into the rainforest while I bring up the rear. Aelia glances back at me. I give her a blank stare and she smiles again. What is she up to?
We hike for about forty minutes to the rocks that we plan on climbing and then get set up. Each person gets their harness on and their shoes to wait their turn. The area around the rock face has been cleared with machetes so everyone can see around them. The rainforest is beautiful, but deadly. All kinds of things have bitten me—I almost died once because of a pit viper. I definitely didn’t tell Mom about that because she would have lost it and demanded I come back home. Grown man or not, I would have because she asked.
The places I travel to are home to some of the most dangerous animals on the planet. It’s kind of fun though, but the snake bite wasn’t.
Trick and I check the rocks for any friends in the cracks by free-climbing it, and he finds a harmless little rat snake and tosses it further into the jungle. Some women scream and we chuckle, finishing the climb before we repel down. Trick calls for the first two people to start and Aelia jumps at the opportunity. Usually, the moment we get here, everyone is too nervous to do it, even if it’s not that hard. And with the snake eviction, it always makes people more fearful of climbing the rocks. I guess Aelia likes a challenge.
She gives Trick a passing look and comes right for me. I force a smile, still trying to figure out what she’s doing here. She reaches for the carabiner and I hook her up to myself, tying us and checking our ropes.
“On belay?” she asks.
I check the ropes one more time and nod.
“Belay on,” I reply.
She looks up at the rock face, plotting her route to climb. The holds are pretty easy and there are lots of options to choose from. One of my favorite things about climbing is the way it makes my brain stop. Rock climbing is a puzzle, and when you free climb like me and don’t have a route picked, the potential to die is much higher. Free climbing includes a rope catching you if you fall, but anything can fail.
“Climbing,” she calls over her shoulder. Her hazel eyes pierce my veil of indifference and I focus on her.
“Climb on,” I tell her. She nods and takes the first hold. I watch her carefully, allowing more and more rope to be pulled up. If she were to fall, it would be my job to hold on to the rope. She’s a tiny thing, maybe a little over five feet, so she would be an easy catch for me. I’ve had to catch grown, two hundred-pound men, and that wasn’t easy.
Focusing on my job, I hold on to the rope so I don’t let the Costa mob princess fall and split her head open. Though maybe I should. There is no way you could cover that one up, Liam.
She keeps climbing, faltering a few times, but the determined look on her face says she’s going to finish this climb even if she takes all night. Aelia lifts her leg and her foot slips, making her hit part of the rock, face first.
“Are you okay?” I call up.
She catches herself, bracing her feet on the rock, almost like she’s walking up it parallel to the ground.
She takes a deep breath, wipes her mouth, and spits to the side.
“Are you okay?” I ask again, gripping the rope and bracing my weight against it.
“I’m fine,” she calls out and then begins climbing again. I don’t know much about this woman other than facts that I could find in roundabout ways. What I didn’t expect is that she is tougher than she looks. She finishes the climb, hits the top of the rock, and begins repelling down.
Her feet hit the ground and she’s smiling wide as blood thinly coats her teeth. “You really nailed yourself. Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask her, not sure where the sympathy is coming from, even though I have been there and done that.
“Yeah, I’m good,” she says and I nod, unhooking her from the harness. “I’m Aelia, by the way,” she blurts.
I flash her a smile and her cheeks go a little pink before I un-loop the last of her rope. I feel her eyes linger on me while I prep for the next person.
“I’m Liam.”
“Nice to meet you, Liam. Thanks for catching me,” she says and those beautiful lips purse at me.
“No problem.” My next climber stands ready to be hooked up and Aelia walks away to sit with the others. While I belay people up and down, I search for the solution to my odd problem. The way she smiled at me and the look in her eyes gave me no indication that she knew who I was. Either she is the best liar I have ever met, next to myself, of course, or she really doesn’t know who I am and this is all coincidence.
I untie the second to last person, then call for the last one. Trick is on his last and once the woman gets on the rock, she climbs like she’s done it before. She balances her weight, picking one of the harder treks up the stone face. While I belay her, I come up with an idea.
I’ll ask Aelia out, offer to show her Bali, maybe even throw in a surfing lesson if she doesn’t already know how to do that. She obviously has an adventurous spirit.
Trick and I pack everything up, but the hike back is always slower because everyone is tired. I keep up the rear while Trick leads and I stare at Aelia’s back, forming the plan in my mind.
I’m a nice guy, super charming when I want to be. I’m going to get her to trust me and then give her a reason to tell me what she’s doing here. She halts her steps and I almost run right into her back. Catching myself, I put my hand on her shoulder and she tenses. A monkey stands in front of her, unhappily staring at us as its little ones walk across the path. I don’t think and slide my hand around her waist, dragging her back slowly. If you let them pass and continue on their way, they will leave you alone, but Mama stares at us like she’s about to go ape.
Aelia glances up at me while I keep my eyes on the monkey. She watches her last little monkey go past and then stares at me for a while, like she knows what I have planned. It almost makes my heart stall in my chest. I see these kinds of monkeys hanging out around the temples, but they are around here, too, watching from the trees above.
She blinks and then lopes off after her babies. We stand still for a minute, waiting to see if there are any others or a Daddy monkey, but none come.
I let go of Aelia and she looks over her shoulder.
“Can we keep going?” she asks.
I clear my throat and nod. “Yeah, you’re good.”
She faces forward and continues down the small mountain. I fist my hands a couple of times and catch up with her. I need to get out on the waves or find another rock to climb because my mind is racing. But now is the perfect time to ask her out because I can’t get her phone number from the form she signed. That would come off as weird.
We get to the main shack and everyone gathers their things. A few tourists linger talking to Trick, and because the ocean is just a little further down the way, I can feel it calling to me. I scan my surroundings again. There is still no bodyguard or people that stick out, so I take my chance.
“Hey, Aelia!” I call. Her bag is hanging off her shoulder and sweat glistens on her chest. She’s beautiful—I gotta give her that.
“Hey, Liam,” she says.
“Would you like to go to dinner with me?” I ask her.
She bites her lower lip, trying to hide her smile, and nods.
“I would. Give me your phone,” she says. I fish it out of my pocket and she calls herself. Hers buzzes in her bag and then she hangs up.
“Text me the details.”
“Aelia, this is Bali. This is a go with the flow until the flow changes kind of place. The only detail is I’ll pick you up at seven tonight.”
“What should I wear?” she asks.
“I don’t know. Whatever you want to wear on a tropical island? If suits are your thing, then wear a suit.”
She giggles and I wink. “Got it. Wear something tropical. ”
I shrug and grin. “If that’s your thing.”
She shakes her head and smiles.
“I’ll see you at seven. Oh, I’m at the resort down the beach,” she says, pointing a little further down, which just happens to be the same resort where I’m living at the moment.
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.” She does a cute wave and walks away.
After I finish putting everything away, Trick and I lock up. We say our goodbyes and I go to my villa to get my board while keeping a close eye out for Aelia.
** *
The moment the warm water hits my skin, I sigh and paddle my board out past the break, duck diving under the wave breaking over me. I love this part. It’s like entering into another world as the ocean swells around you.
My board breaks through the water and I look behind me, watching the wave slam against the water below it as it pushes towards the shore. A swell comes towards me and instead of sitting there, I get to it and paddle hard. I place both hands on either side of my board and hop to my feet right as the wave crests, and I drop into the ten-foot swell. Spray splashes against me and my face splits into a smile as I squat further down, keeping my balance as my board increases in speed. The bigger the wave, the faster you can go. My hair whips back behind me and I dip my weight, coasting to the end of the wave.
The board sinks and I flip it around to go back out. Some waves are bigger than others as I practice a few things I know I missed in my last competition. I’m convinced I lost a few points because of it. Technique is everything in professional surfing.
Exhaustion and blessed calm finally fills me, and the sun is beginning to set as I swim back to shore.
It’s time for me to get ready for my date with the enemy.