Erik
“Come on, slow poke,” I yelled at Cassidy as she climbed up the rocks to the peak with me.
We had gotten to the top before everyone else. Mostly because I kept pushing her to keep going harder and harder, but it never would have happened if she hadn’t been so willing. Cassidy didn’t stop once and had a new determination in her eyes that I hadn’t seen ever before.
“My tiny little arms don’t help me as much as your buff ones do.”
“You mean these guns?” I joked as I flexed my muscles.
I jumped down to where she struggled to climb up and grabbed her ass to push her up the rocks. And boy, did I enjoy having my hands on her plump, round bottom.
“Erik, what are you doing?” Melanie said from behind me.
“Um, helping this beautiful woman up the mountain,” I replied without turning around.
“It’s okay, I’m almost there,” Cassidy said through laughter as she climbed up.
I quickly jumped up with her so we could both have a few minutes alone on top of the mountain before everyone else finished their climb.
Our hike that day had been as close to perfect as I could have imagined. A whole two hours of time with just the two of us to hang out. Everyone was well outside of ear shot, so we flirted and joked and got along like we were on a little hiking date, with only the occasional glance behind us to see who was there.
Spending time with Cassidy was a great joy, and I certainly would miss it when I had to go home. I wanted to invite her out to see me and maybe take her on a date, but I wasn’t sure that would be interesting to her. She had her own plans for the future and they certainly didn’t involve moving to California.
It was entirely possible that the two of us would just end up long-distance friends and nothing more. Although I could also see a possibility where we ended up as much more than friends. Sometimes, I even imagined she was on my arm as I went to a movie premiere with my new studio deal. Cassidy was certainly beautiful enough to walk a red carpet, and everyone would think she was an actress.
“Are you getting excited to leave?” Her question interrupted my thoughts.
“I am, but then I’m not. It’s overwhelming to think about going back to my old life, but being sober while I do it. I don’t even know what I’ll do on my weekends. I use to have a party almost every single one.”
“What about working out? How about using that to fill the time?”
“I can do that, but then what? I don’t exactly have hobbies.”
“Trust me – it’s going to be tough. At least back at home, you’ll have dozens of options for meetings. Test a few out until you find one you like. You can get a good core group of friends who will be there to help support you.”
“The closer I get, the more afraid I get.”
“Totally normal.”
“What would you say to the possibility of coming out to California and letting me take you on a date?”
She paused as she looked around to see if anyone was there or within ear shot of us. I knew it was a normal precaution, but it still made me worry she would say no to my offer. I had to see her outside treatment, but I understood if it wasn’t something she would be interested in.
“Can I think about it?”
“Sure,” I replied as I tried to hide my utter devastation.
She couldn’t even admit to wanting to go on a real date with me. It overwhelmed my soul. I knew she had her life in Aspen and I had my life in San Francisco, but somehow, I had thought she would have jumped at the idea and said yes right away. I thought it was just somatic to even ask her, but I had sorely been mistaken.
“All this talk about me leaving is a big downer. How about we race to the bottom?” I asked Cassidy.
“Sure, go!” she yelled without giving me a chance.
Cassidy slid down the rocks quickly and right past Melanie. She was moving too fast to hear Melanie call after her, but I was right there when she yelled.
“Slow down, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Melanie yelled.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on her. The worst that could happen is she’ll turn into a snowball.” I laughed as I started to run after Cassidy.