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He studied the dark-haired young man across from him. One of his best employees—a quiet, studious young man named Darius Payne. In the three years since Darius had come to work at iClimb, Terry had come to consider him the most diligent and responsible employee at the center.
An alarming thought struck him with such force he leaned forward. “You’re not thinking of quitting, are you?”
Darius grinned bashfully. “Oh no, sir. Nothing like that. It’s actually not about work at all, but you’ve told us before we can talk to you about anything.” He glanced questioningly at Terry.
“Absolutely! I’m always available to you guys.” All the same, Darius had never taken advantage of the offer before, and Terry couldn’t imagine what had driven him to do so today.
“You see—there’s this girl—” Darius fumbled but pushed through the embarrassment. “I wanted to take her somewhere kind of special, but not with a group.” He gulped a deep breath.
Ah, a girl. Terry smiled encouragingly. His heart went out to the kid, whose face was now the color of a Mother’s Day carnation.
“I was wondering—” Darius forced his next words out seemingly in one breath. “Could I bring her here tomorrow afternoon when the center’s closed and take her up Whistler? I’d be super careful and if I need to pay for her to come, I—”
“Whoa, hold on.” Terry smiled and winked at the young man. “I think that can be arranged. And don’t worry about paying for her to come! I’d say you’re entitled to a special date with a girl after all you’ve done for this company.”
“Oh, thank you, sir!” Darius seemed unbelievably relieved.
“Of course.” Terry held up a finger. “Just one thing—be careful! Since this won’t be during business hours, it will be your job to make sure everything goes safely.”
“Right.” Darius nodded vigorously. “We’ll be really careful, and I’ll take good care of the equipment, I promise.”
Long after Darius thanked him again and left the office, Terry kept thinking about the young man.
Darius was an utterly dependable worker, thorough and careful with the safety of the iClimb participants. Yet he had always seemed sad—as though something painful lurked under his calm exterior. Terry wasn’t prone to psychoanalyzing his employees, but Darius’s reserve and strength had caught his attention early in the young man’s career.
Darius had certainly never mentioned a girl either. Terry thoughtfully glanced at the ceiling and smiled. Whoever the young lady was, she must be pretty special to have struck Darius’s fancy. And Terry could only hope that she would carry the power to erase some of Darius’s gloom and open a brighter future for him.
IT HAD BEENmonths—years—since Darius had felt this good.
He rolled his windows down on the drive home and basked in the summer sunshine. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face.
He was going to actually take a girl out! And not just any girl. The prettiest girl this side of the Arctic Circle.
If she said yes, of course. But Darius was somehow sure she would. She had to, right? It was like a book. The girl always said yes...eventually.
Sure, there hadn’t been much fairytale in his life the last few years. But today...today he could almost see his way around the pain and guilt, the guilt that pressed on him like a heavy two-ton load of bricks. Today it almost felt as if the darkness was lifting, as if there might be a way to go on and to be okay. Finally.
It had to be Addisyn. The girl made him feel more alive than he’d ever been. On the ice or off it. No thrill of competition, no tang of victory, had ever been more meaningful than her smile. Somehow, when he was with her, he was healing. It was that simple.
Feeling generous, he paused on Main Street, letting three cars pull out of a driveway ahead of him. Well, why not? His eyes fell on the radio. Time for music. He twisted the dial.
He allowed his Uber passengers to select their preferred station, so he never knew what might come out of the speakers. Today he laughed when he heard it. It was so perfect—a cheesy oldies station playing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
He wasn’t much of a singer, but on this afternoon, he belted out the chorus.
