In the Heat of the Spotlight

She glanced at him, her gaze taking in his stern profile, the hard line of his mouth, the latent strength of his body. What was he trying to prove?

He’d put several lanzones into a straw basket he’d bought from another vendor, and they added mango, spring rolls and some local sausage and cold noodles to their purchases. The sun was hot overhead even though the air felt swampy, and Luke bought two bottles of water and some sun hats as well.

‘Now to the falls,’ he said, and Aurelie followed him to a tin-roofed garage where he conferred with a young man who couldn’t be more than sixteen before leading her around to the back where a battered-looking Jeep awaited.

‘Your carriage, madam.’

She eyed it dubiously. ‘I don’t particularly relish breaking down in the middle of the jungle.’

‘Don’t worry, we’re not taking this into the jungle.’

‘Where, then?’

‘A car park about five kilometres from here. Then we walk.’

‘Walk? In the jungle?’

‘It’s worth it.’

‘It’d better be.’

Luke stowed their provisions in the bag, handed her a sun hat, and then swung into the driver’s seat. Aurelie could not keep her gaze from resting on his strong, browned forearms, the confident way he manoeuvred the rusty vehicle through the crowded streets of Mambajao and then out onto the open road, no more than a bumpy, rutted track.

The breeze was a balmy caress on her skin, the sun a benediction. In the distance the lush mountains—active volcanoes, Luke had told her—were dark, verdant humps against a hazy sky. Aurelie leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

When had she last felt this relaxed, this happy?

It was too long ago to remember. Smiling, she let her thoughts drift as the sunlight washed over her.

‘We’re here.’

She opened her eyes and saw that Luke had pulled into a rectangle of gravel and dirt that was, apparently, a car park. Their Jeep was the only car.

She rubbed her eyes. ‘I must have dozed.’

‘Just a little.’ There was something intimate about the way he said it, and Aurelie imagined him watching her sleep. Had she rested her head on his shoulder? Had she drooled? More blushing.

‘So where is here exactly?’

‘Well, nowhere, really.’ Luke slid out of the Jeep and reached for their basket. ‘But we can follow a path through the jungle to the Tuwasan Falls. It’s about a mile.’

‘A mile in the jungle?’ She glanced down at her leather sandals dubiously. ‘You should have told me we were enacting Survivor.’

He made a face. ‘Sorry. But it’s mostly wooden walkways, so I think you’ll be okay.’

‘If you say so.’

She followed him away from the car park and onto exactly what he’d said—a wooden walkway on stilts over the dense jungle floor. Within just a few metres of going down the walkway she felt the air close around her, hot, humid and dense. Birds chirped and cicadas chirrupped—at least she thought they were cicadas—and she could feel the jungle like a living, breathing entity all around her. A bright green lizard scampered across the walkway, and in the distance some animal—Aurelie had no idea what—gave a lonely, mournful cry.

‘Wow.’ She stopped, her hands resting on the cane railings, her heart thumping. ‘This is...intense.’

Luke glanced back at her. ‘You okay?’

‘Yes, I guess I just thought, you know, first date, maybe a movie?’

He smiled wryly. ‘I know you think I’m boring, but Jeez. A movie? I think I can do better than that.’

‘I don’t think you’re boring.’

‘You think I’m the human equivalent of vanilla ice cream.’

She gazed at him, the railings slick under her palms. Her heart was still thumping. ‘I do,’ she admitted quietly, and it felt like the most honest thing she’d ever said. ‘Completely trustworthy.’

Luke’s eyes darkened and the moment spun out between them, a thread of silence that bound them together, and tighter still. ‘Don’t speak too soon,’ he finally said, and turned away from her to walk further down the path.

‘You mean you’re not?’