C H A P T E R 6 5
"So what's my score for last night's date?" I asked the moment he opened his door.
"Huh..." he said, glancing around confusedly. "Ah...the date."
"Well...?"
"I just woke up. Be a little patient, Juliet."
"But I waited for nine hours since our date ended!"
"Then wait for a few more."
"Okay."
We both headed downstairs for breakfast.
"So I know what I have to do for our next date." I said as soon as we were done and Ethan was about to go get ready for work.
"Juliet, you don't have to rush things. Take your time planning them."
"I know but I also know that our next date is going to be so much fun. I can't think of anything better than it."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. Why? Did you not like last night's date?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. It was sweet of you to make me experience something I didn't during college. I really don't know."
"So what about the scores?"
"I think I'll just tell the scores after we are done with all the three dates."
"Okay. So about our next date, will you be free this Saturday and Sunday?"
"Both days?"
I nodded. "Both days." It was surely a big thing for him. I didn't think he ever took two days off simultaneously.
"What are we going to do?"
"That's for me to plan and for you to find out when it's Saturday." I said, booping his nose. "Just be free on that day!"
"Sure will be."
Then I left him in front of his room to let him get ready for the day ahead.
I had a lot to do. My plan for the next date was to go hiking on a mountain. There was a lake nearby as well. I heard there were cabins located at the top and I had to book one in advance. I also had to arrange for things we'd need there.
If he was disappointed with last night's date, this was going to make it up for it.
"Mom, dad. Ethan and I are planning to go hiking this Saturday and Sunday." I announced.
"Hiking? Why the sudden plans?" My dad asked.
"I just felt like we both needed a little fun. You know how Ethan's been working so hard these past months. It will good for him."
"Who else is going?" My mom asked.
"Just us two."
They did not seem comfortable with that. "Are you sure it'll be safe?"
"Of course. The place where we're going hiking is well populated.
It's safe. I haven't heard of any wild animals there.
It's just about three to four hours of hiking.
I've booked a cabin there. They provide breakfast, lunch and dinner.
If we need help with anything, I'm sure there will be people to help. "
"Honey, we don't have any doubt about that. What I'm asking is, will you and Ethan be okay with each other?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean are you sure I won't get news of how you two ended up killing each other because you just can't stand each other?" She asked and dad burst out laughing.
"Mom! If we couldn't stand each other, why would I even go with him? We're fine now. I know we fought like kids before but now we're okay with each other. We're...we're friends." I wasn't sure if I should tell them that we had feelings for each other so I told them we were just friends.
"Alistair, what do you think?" My mom turned towards him.
"I think they'll be fine."
"So can we go?" I asked, unable to hide my happiness.
"Sure thing. But if you face any problem, you're to immediately call me or the driver if you want to get home early."
I nodded. "Of course. Thank you!"
I went and pecked them both on the cheeks because I felt like I wasn't displaying much affection towards them as their daughter.
They looked surprised so I didn't know if it was a good thing or not.
Juliet probably wasnt big on being touchy with her parents.
She might not have shown them affection openly when she got something from them or if they made her happy.
It made me feel bad for her parents because if I had parents like her, I'd never lose a chance to tell then how precious they were to me.
I was about to exit their bedroom but Alistair spoke. "Juliet."
I turned to face him. He wasn't looking at me. He was putting a watch on his wrist. "Is something going on between you and Ethan?"
My tongue went flaccid. How was I supposed to answer this?
"We're friends." I repeated. It didn't sound believable.
"I can understand if you don't want to tell me. I just wanted to tell you that...if perhaps...there's something between you two, I wouldn't mind. I mean he is a good kid, hardworking and honest, a gentleman. So as long as this isn't just a fling for you two, I'm okay with it."
"O-okay, got it." I nodded at them and almost ran out of the room.
I was overly excited but had to remind myself that they had approved Ethan for Juliet and I wasn't her. They didn't even know me.
I stretched a little as we exited the car. We were at the base of the mountain. I got our bag full of snacks, a few water bottles and a first aid kit. The driver was going back with the car and was supposed to come back the next day around noon to pick us up.
It was Saturday, our date day.
"We're hiking? Have we got what we need for hikes?" He asked, looking down at his shoes.
"Of course."
"I thought you were taking me to the gym because you told me to wear something sporty."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Our first date wasn't that bad that you'd imagine something so worse for our next."
"It's not about that! I enjoyed that party. It was different and I didn't think it was bad. I just thought we were going for a run or at the gym because of what you told me to dress up like."
"My apologies, Highness, for getting the wrong idea."
"You better not assume something like that again." He said, continuing quietly with, "I liked our first date."
I gave him a genuine smile. "Shall we enjoy an even better second date?"
He nodded and I took his hand. We found the trail to scale up the mountain. It wasn't a wide trail which meant this mountain wasn't well traveled on.
We only had one bag and I fought to carry it. Ethan eventually gave up and told me to hand it over to him when I get tired which wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
We had started early morning so that we could reach there around noon and have time in the evening to go fishing at the lake nearby.
Then we were going to stay at a cabin for the night, have breakfast there the next day and will be on our way back by noon.
It was a great plan and Ethan was definitely not going to get bored.
The trail was covered on both sides with thick trees offering scenic beauty, fresh air and a variety of different birds and small animals every now and then.
Ethan was going to love this small trip and when he got back to work on Monday, he was going to feel relaxed and rejuvenated.
This was a much needed trip for him because whenever he has visited places, it had always been to crowded cities.
He hadn't visited a place close to nature for a long time.
The path was rocky and we were stumbling here and there.
The air was a little cold but we were dressed warmly.
We stopped a little to take photos on our phones.
Ethan was helping me keep my footing by guiding me through slippery rocks and loose soil with his hand constantly on my elbow to prevent me from falling.
We were walking for a long time and I knew we were getting near to the cabin. It was afternoon and we were in no hurry to get there. We were walking quite slow and had stopped a few times for snacks.
When we reached a particularly hard steep slope, Ethan as usual began to navigate me through it.
Suddenly he lost balance and came toppling down a big rock. He had his grip on my elbow so I almost fell down too but at the last moment I balanced myself. He wasn't so lucky.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I looked down at Ethan who was holding his leg.
"My foot's stuck." He hissed. "It's hurting a lot."
"Wait." I carefully made my way toward him and saw that his foot was stuck between two rocks. "I'll move the rock."
I bent over the two closely placed rocks blocking his foot and pulled away the smaller one.
Ethan's foot was freed but he was in pain.
"I think it's sprained." He said. I placed his foot on a rock and took off his shoe and socks. A small lump was starting to form on his ankle and the area looked tender to touch.
"Try to move it little."
He did as I told. "Ah, fuck."
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"Yeah. I can't move it much."
"I'm sorry for not catching you."
"It's not your fault. I was a little careless, thinking you might be the one to fall."
"What're we going to do? There's still thirty minutes of hiking remaining."
"I can try walking. But it'll be really slow."
"Wait, I think I have bandages and some pain relief spray."
I dug into my bag for the first aid kit and sure enough there were bandages and the spray. I sprayed it all over his ankle. I took a roll of bandage out and began wrapping it around his ankle. I didn't have clippings so I just tied its ends together.
"Try to put on your shoe."
I helped him put on his sock but it was difficult with his shoe so I just told him to get his foot in it and to not tie his laces.
Wrapping a strong arm around his waist, I helped him up until he was standing on one foot. He tried stepping on the injured foot but just as his foot slightly touched the ground, he held his leg up.
"Put weight on it slowly." I said.
His placed his foot on the ground again and slowly started putting weight on it. When he was standing on both his feet, he attempted to take a step forward but his leg crumpled underneath him but before he could reach the ground again, I held him up protectively.
"I don't think I can walk."
I sat him on a rock. "What should we do?"
"I think you should go ahead and when you reach the cabin, get some help."
I shook my head. "I can't leave you here."
"Why not, just leave me a water bottle and some snacks and I can have a little picnic here by myself." He chuckled.
"Are you crazy? No way. There might be wild animals here. We never know. And with you in this condition, I'm not leaving to here alone."
"Juliet, we don't have a choice. Just get there fast and have someone come and help me. I won't be waiting long if you manage to reach there fast."
"Ethan, leaving you here is dangerous."
"It's afternoon. I'm safe. It might've been dangerous if it was nighttime."
"I'm not taking risks."
"Well then what's your plan?"
"I'll piggyback you there."
"I'm heavier than you, Juliet."
"Doesn't matter. I'll just pretend I'm a weightlifter."
"I might break your back after this."
"Cool. Then we'll both go home with injuries."
"No, I'm not getting on your back." He stated firmly.
"And I'm not going anywhere if you don't."
"This is not the time to be stubborn!"
"Exactly, so stop it and get on my back. You hold on to this bag." I turned around and squatted.
He sighed and grudgingly threw the bag over his shoulder. He awkwardly put his hands on my shoulders and I hitched my hands under his knees and stood up. He wasn't as heavy as I thought he would be. I thought I wouldn't even be able to stand up but I did and that was a good start.
"Don't overdo it. If you get tired, we stop right away."
I nodded. "You're not that heavy."
I started walking. We were a lot slower than before and it would take us longer than half an hour but this was better than nothing.
Ethan kept quiet so that I wouldn't have to talk which would take a lot of energy with him on my back.
Ten minutes later, I broke out into a sweat.
Ethan fished out a handkerchief and wiped away my sweat and kept dabbing at the next beads of perspiration that would appear on my forehead and the sides of my face.
He also started fanning me softly with his hands to keep me cool which made it easy.
He would also tuck strands of my hair which would blow in my face because of the wind.
We took a five minute break after every eight to ten minute walk. I was impressed with my ability to carry him over this terrain. During our breaks, Ethan would massage my back and neck and my hands to prevent them from going numb.
As we neared the cabin he kept insisting that I leave him there but I wasn't having any of it and stopped responding to him after some time. I was going to ensure that we reached there safely together and in one piece.
Thankfully the land was mostly flat when we reached the top and by the time we reached the cabin it was around four in the afternoon. We were hungry and we had already finished our snacks. I was proud of myself for getting us there.
We were given the key to our cabin and one of the guys working there helped me get Ethan into our room.
Once he was propped on the bed, he was given the necessary care and I just collapsed on the bed.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
I nodded, finding no energy to assure him through words.
"Freshen up. We have to go for lunch. I'm starving."
"Why are you starving? You got a piggyback ride. You didn't have to do anything."
"Sometimes my stomach is sort of a black hole." He said, patting his stomach. "Now come on, I know you're tired but you need to eat lunch. You'll feel better."
When we had both showered and changed out of our sweaty clothes into something comfortable, it was time for lunch. The place had a small dining hall for the hikers who stayed at their cabin. It was not much crowded today and we didn't have to wait for long in the line.
I was so tired after lunch that I told Ethan I was going to sleep for an hour or two. But even after waking up I was still feeling tired and my body was aching all over.
But we had plans. We had to go down to the lake which was a few minutes from here and do some fishing for dinner. So I had no choice.
The lake was huge and beautiful. We were given a small boat and fishing rods and bait for the fish by the local people who were generous enough to lend us those things for some time.
We set out on our boat and when we were almost in the middle, we decided this was a good fishing spot. We dipped our rods with bait on it and waited.
We didn't get anything for about fifteen minutes and I was about to give up because my already aching arms were aching even more.
I tried to hold on for long and at last I got something.
It wasn't much. Mostly we were busy talking and when we did get something it were small, cute fishes that I felt bad for catching.
Ethan told me how when he was little he absolutely loved fishing but his dad was always busy so they couldn't go for fishing often.
I thought Ethan spraining his ankle would spoil our entire trip but he didn't seem to mind it much.
"I really am sorry. I wanted everything to go perfectly."
"Hey, it's not your fault. Honestly, what is a hiking trip without getting a few bruises here and there? And it's not that bad, it's just a sprain, nothing serious."
I smiled at him and we concentrated on our fishing rods again.
When it started to get dark, we thought it was time to go back. We didn't do too bad. Ethan had caught more fish than I did but it was only because my arms were tired and his were perfectly fine.
When we got back, we returned the fishing rods to the family who owned it and the boat.
We gave them half of our catch because they didn't want to accept money.
They were nice, kind people. They didn't want to charge people for lending their boats to them.
It made it look like a business and they didn't want that.
They genuinely just wanted the people who came here to have a good time.
Once we returned back to the cabin, we used the kitchen for the dining hall to cook our fish after obtaining a special permission for it from the owner.
We looked up various recipes for dinner. When we were finally done, it was way past dinner time for the other people which meant we had the dining hall to ourselves. I was grateful for the privacy we'd get.
Ethan's fish was tasty. I liked it more than what I had cooked. He was definitely my second favorite cook after Keith. Yes, Keith was at the top and nothing was going to change that.
Ethan teased me about how his fish was clearly more delicious and although I mentally agreed, I wasn't going to admit that out loud.