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I opened my mouth to speak, but instead squeaked. I could not stop smiling.
“Eeeeeeeeeeee!” came the sound from Nikki as she came to a stop. Her hands were gripping the lanyard tightly and her eyes were closed. She’d been spinning the whole way. If she could have wrapped herself into the fetal position, I’m sure she would have.
“You okay?” Jason asked.
She chanced opening one eye. “What? Oh, yeah. I’m great,” she covered, wobbling a little as she stepped down. “That was fun.”
“Are you sure? You’re not supposed to do this if you’re afraid of heights.”
“I’m not afraid of heights,” she countered. She looked at me, my face still wild with excitement. “What’s with grinny?”
“I think she rather enjoyed her trip. You know, there are seven more ziplines on this course,” he cautioned.
“I’m fine,” she sniped. “Let’s get going to the next one.”
On each line that followed, I felt more and more courageous. I let myself spin. I pointed my toes out in front of me and let go of the lines altogether, and finally, I sprawled my limbs out and leaned back, soaring through the air on my back. I howled, I whooped, and I roared.
I was flying.
Six
Unlimited
The three of us sat around a table just after two, enjoying a couple drinks and jabbering about gliding through the trees. I still couldn’t get over the experience. A fresh thunderstorm pounded outside as we took shelter from the rain.
“That was incredible,” I cooed. “I’ve never felt more alive, more free. I mean, it was freaking amazing!”
“I know, right?” said Jason, taking a sip from his local micro-brew. “I told you it would be worth it.”
“Yeah, it was so cool,” said Nikki.
“Once you opened your eyes,” I added.
“And stopped crying in fear,” laughed Jason.
“Shut up! I wasn’t crying!”
“Whatever,” I groaned. “You know, I feel fantastic right now. Like, I’m not even upset about Fred anymore.”
“You’re not?” asked Nikki in disbelief.
“No. Fuck him. You know, we haven’t had sex in over six months?”
Jason coughed into his bottle, a spray of foam splashing down his shirt.
“Six months? Oh, honey,” said Nikki, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“No, over six months. I mean that I stopped keeping track after I’d been celibate for six months. But it doesn’t matter anymore. I mean, really. I’ve been with this man for five years—five years!—and he doesn’t even pay attention to me. Did I tell you how I surprised him with this trip? Hm? I dressed in my brand new bikini and cooked salmon for his dinner. Salmon!” I emphasized.
Still fighting the beer lingering in his throat, Jason coughed, “Bikini?” but Nikki shot him a warning glare.
“And what does he do? Says he can’t go and takes his nasty old fish into the den to work for the rest of the night! He didn’t even have the decency to tell me I looked hot!”
Nikki had taken her hand back and was exchanging confused glances with Jason as I babbled on.
“Seriously, I’m always the one who initiates with him. I practically beg to get his attention now, and it never works. He forgot our anniversary, for Christ’s sake! Do you know when the last time was that he commented on one of my books, or how I looked, or even said he loved me without me saying it first?” The pair of them stared back at me, not daring to answer. “I’m seriously asking, because I don’t even remember!”
“Gemma, maybe he’s just stressed over work,” Nikki started.
