22

22
The next Friday rolled around quicker than I would have liked and the thought of being locked in the same place with my co-workers for another night was exhausting. The only good thing was that this time, we were asked to dress casual. The bad news was that we were not told anything about where we were going. We were simply given directions and a time.
I arrived five minutes before six and found that there were only two other people there. The person in charge of the event was one of the nicer workers. I had never spoken to him before but he never gave me shit for being my father’s daughter. If I was being honest, I didn’t even know his name.
When I arrived, he just gave me a blue tag and asked me to stand in one corner. The only other people there were Jenna and another paralegal but they had different colored tags. It wasn’t until six thirty that everyone else arrived and I soon realized that we were being split up into three groups. I cursed when I realized that both Charles and Greg were on my team.
“Thank you all for coming, I would just like to explain the rules of the game,” I heard Charles and Greg snickering behind me and I wanted nothing more than to shove a sock in their mouths. “The first person with the tag is team leader and this is going to be a treasure hunt.”
“Treasure has been hidden in a part of this maze and you are to look for clue that will lead you to it. Whichever team finds it first wins. When the game is over, there will be a large horn and lights will come on to direct you back here. Does that make sense?”
Everyone nodded and mumbled incoherently. It was good to see that I wasn’t the only person peeved with the team choices. Most of us didn’t even get along. This was a recipe for disaster if I had ever seen one.
“Can we change teams?” Charles asked. “I’m not sure if I’m comfortable being on a team with certain people.”
He gave me a sly look as he spoke and I rolled my eyes before turning to him. “If you want to be a fucking crybaby then you can walk away.”
“Says the girl who went crying to HR over some stupid kiss, that’s probably why you’re still single and lonely.”
“That isn’t the insult that you think it is. I wasn’t the one who asked you to keep incriminating shit on your laptop. You’re training to be a lawyer. If you do stupid things like that I can only feel bad for your clients. You’re five seconds away from a permanent losing streak in your career.”
“Okay, I think that’s enough,” the man on the stage cleared his throat looking between Charles and I. “No, you can’t switch teams and I think this will be good for you. You can clear out your grievances and maybe see that working together is not all that bad.”
“Whatever,” Charles mumbled before going over to stand by Greg.
The man looked awkward and I could tell that he wanted nothing more than to run away. “You will each be given flashlights and a bag with essentials, this includes water, snacks and some wilderness supplies. The game starts now.”
He rushed off as soon as he had said that and the items were distributed. As the team leader, I was put in charge of the bag. I made sure to check through everything we had been given. There was rope, a lighter and snacks as he had said. I wondered what use it would be but kept silent about it. As I took in the terrain in front of us, I couldn’t help but mutter a sigh of relief that I had chosen to wear sneakers instead of boots like I originally wanted.
“Alright, we can take this road. There’s a blue ribbon on that tree so I think it is meant for us,” I said aloud and everyone seemed to agree except for Greg and Charles who muttered a few choice words under their breaths.
I chose to ignore them because the honest truth was that the last thing I needed was for anyone to be a bitch to me. I wasn’t in the mood for it. We walked in silence for the first few minutes down the marked trail. Everyone was searching for the first clue that would lead us to the treasure when I heard one of the team members exclaim.
She was a younger paralegal and she was pointing to something up in a tree. “There, it is a blue container. It might be for us.”
“No, it isn’t,” Greg shot her down and I saw her frown. “It was probably left there by some bird. The clues will not be so obvious.”
“You’re right, I-”
“Actually,” I cut her off. “I think that is exactly the kind of clue we are looking for. Would one of the men be so kind as to help us climb the tree? After all, you need to be useful. We already have the women being the brains and the pretty faces. You might as well be the brawn, right?”
Greg flushed a horrible shade of red and he opened his mouth to spew an array of insults when Charles placed his hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He rolled up his sleeves and started the climb but he was failing badly. It was amusing to watch at first but it became very obvious that he was doing a shitty job.
“Does anyone actually know how to climb?” I called out and the female paralegal raised her hand. “Give it a shot then.”
I saw Charles roll his eyes at me and give her a mocking bow as he stepped away. I hadn’t actually expected her to be good at it but she climbed like an expert. Within seconds, she was at the top holding the container. She sat on a branch as she pulled it open and pulled out a piece of paper.
“Well would you look at that, Greg, it seems like that is the kind of clue that we need,” I drawled as she made her way down. I clapped her on the shoulder she made her way over to me. “Good job, sweetheart. Would you do the honors of reading it?”
She nodded and I could see the pride filling her features as she cleared her throat. “Where two lovers meet, forced to touch but never be together, one a raging storm the other a calming force. What does that mean?”
I hesitated before answering. “I don’t know. Let’s just stay on the track and we might find something.”
We kept going and I noticed that Greg and Charles lingered behind. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that but I kept a close eye on them. We walked for a minute before I heard it, it was the sound of rushing water and the note came back to me. I let out a gasp as awareness settled on me.
“Come with me, I think I know what it meant.”
There was bustling excitement as everyone rushed over to follow me. Despite how it started and the two who were obviously trying to make it terrible, it was a fun game. I never thought it was possible to have this much fun with people I barely knew. We got to the river and I gestured to the bank.
“Two lovers, destined to touch but never be together,” I explained and there was a collective sound of awareness. “Let’s look around, we might find something here. Stay close to the bank please, I don’t want anyone falling in tonight.”
Everyone started looking and things were going smoothly until I heard a scream followed by a splash. I looked over to see one of the paralegals struggling against the waves.
“I can’t swim,” she screamed before going under.
I cursed and threw everything in my hands down as I rushed towards her but someone else got there first and jumped in. I watched with baited breath as he pulled her out. She was spluttering and freezing. Her clothes were soaked completely.
“Can you take off your shirt?” I asked and she nodded. Everyone looked away as she did so and I quickly pulled off my jumper and pulled it over her head. She was still shivering but she looked better. “I’m sorry that I don’t have an extra pair of pants.”
“I do,” another girl exclaimed. “They’re shorts though, do you mind?”
I shook my head and she quickly handed them over from her bag. Within seconds, she was in dry clothes but she was still shivering.
“What happened?” I asked once she had calmed down a little.
“Someone pushed me in. I don’t know who did it. I was so scared.”
She threw her arms around me and I stilled. I wasn’t used to people embracing me but I could tell that she needed it and I let her. I wasn’t sure how long she stayed with me until I heard a shout.
“Where are Charles and Greg and where is the bag?”