23

23
It took us a minute to realize that Greg and Charles had used the distraction to grab the stuff and run. I didn’t know whether to be pissed or impressed. I could have also bet my kidney that one of them was responsible for pushing the innocent girl into the water. Speaking of her, she was shaken but fine and thankfully, her phone wasn’t on her when she fell.
“I just called them,” the other female paralegal said. “Apparently they found the next container and took off with it. We are stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way to go. Fuck them.”
There was a grumble of discontent between the people and I couldn’t help but feel the same way. They had screwed us over and now we had nowhere to go. I ran my hands through my hair in frustration when I saw something glistening in the water. It was close to the bank and it had a blue sheen to it. I carefully reached out for it only to find another blue container similar to the first one we found.
“Guys,” I called out and everyone turned to me. I raised it up and there was pure silence. I opened it and sure enough, there was a small note inside. “I am the highest point of the world. Is this another clue?”
“It would seem so,” I heard someone behind me say. “But then what do they have?”
“Could it be possible that there is more than one clue? One might lead to the treasure and the other to a wild goose chase.”
“How do we know which one is ours?”
“We don’t, we just have to guess.”
There were five flashlights between us seeing as mine was taken by Charles and Greg. We walked until we came to a portion of rocks and sitting at the top of it was another blue container. We followed the clues praying that we weren’t just going in circles for half an hour. The last clue we saw led us to a cave and we lingered at the entrance.
“Please tell me that this isn’t an animal’s cave,” I heard someone whisper behind me. “I don’t think I want to go in.”
“We have to, if not for anything, just to-”
I was cut off by a loud horn. I felt disappointment settle over us like a weight. The lights came on almost immediately and I wanted to scream. I hated to lose more than anything. I hated this loss because it was caused by two stupid misogynistic pricks. Just as we were preparing to leave, I saw someone emerge from the cave. It was Charles and Greg. It gave me sick satisfaction to know that they hadn’t won either.
“Hey guys, what are you doing here?” Charles began with a blinding smile in an attempt to make conversation but we all ignored him. It was his fault and I doubted anyone was going to forget about it anytime soon.
We made our way back to the clearing where Jenna and her team was hoisting up a treasure box. She had a wide smile on her face and I couldn’t help but feel proud of her. They seemed happy and that was enough for me in that moment.
The organizer gave us a speech about team work and how there were cameras tracking our every move. He added that last part while looking at our group. Once he was done, he shared out flyers to use as advertisement and it was over. The sky was dark and I wanted nothing more than to get home and sink into my bed.
I had just gotten to my car when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned and noticed the paralegal who had fallen into the lake. She loomed awkward as she stood in front of me.
“Can I help you?” I asked and she gave me a small smile.
“I was wondering if maybe you could drop me off by the road. I don’t have a car yet and I don’t quite feel like making the walk. Charles offered but I really don’t want to talk to him right now and-”
“Get in,” I cut her off and she let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank you, I thought for sure you would say no.”
I turned on the heater more for her benefit than for mine and I saw her let out a heavy sigh of relief. Her shoulders were still rigid but she didn’t look like she was on the verge of having a flu and I considered that a win. We drove in silence for a while before she spoke.
“I’ll get this dry cleaned,” she promised but I waved her off. “No, I swear, this is cashmere, it has to be expensive.”
“Don’t worry about it, honestly, it’s yours now,” her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. I saw moisture beginning to gather at the back of her eyes. “Please, don’t start crying right now or I will throw you out of my car.”
“It’s just, this-”
“Listen- what’s your name again?”
“Sienna.”
“Sienna, listen, it is just a sweater, you could have died today. Why don’t you just take the sweater in good will and get out of my car? We are at the bus stop.”
She blinked rapidly before realizing that I was right. “Of course, thank you once again, Hayley. For the record, I think you’re an amazing person and not just because you gave me what could be a thousand dollar cashmere sweater.”
“It’s actually three grand but who is counting,” I shrugged and her eyes went even wider. Before she could start with the tears, I opened the door for her. Thankfully, she took the hint and got out.
“I’ll see you on Monday,” she called out and all I could do was give her a curt nod in response. I waited until she had gotten on the bus before I started my car and drove home.
I was so exhausted when I arrived that I didn’t notice the extra car in the driveway. I dragged my feet up the front steps and was pleasantly surprised when I opened the door to see my father and Jake in the living room. Dad was nursing a glass of whiskey as usual but Jake was empty handed. They were laughing over something but went quiet the moment they sighted me.
“I didn’t know you were coming,” I said not taking my eyes off Jake. “Is this supposed to be a surprise? My birthday isn’t for a few more months.”
Dad laughed loudly. “How nice of you to ignore your old man, it seems like you’ve forgotten about me.”
I made my way over to dad and placed a kiss in the center of his head after which I slipped the glass out of his hand. He tried to reach out for it but I held it out of his grip and swiped the bottle off the table in front of him as well.
“You need to cut down. The dad bod is cute and all but you’re kind of pushing it,” I drawled as I placed them on the table behind me. Dad raised a brow in my direction and I crossed my arms over my chest.
“What are you, my doctor?”
“Close enough.”
“Your grandfather drank a bottle of whiskey every day and he is very healthy.”
“My grandfather is a senile old man that everyone hates in the business world. Is that the look you’re going for?”
“I’ll tell him you said that.”
“He’ll agree with me,” I shot back unable to keep the smile off my face. “Go to sleep dad, and call off these bonding exercises for fucks sake.”
“Was it bad?” he asked and I shot him a bland look. “I want to kid, but, I can’t. I have to be a man of my word and you all need to get along.”
“Someone was pushed into a lake. She could have drowned.”
“Is she fine?” he asked and I nodded. “Good, no harm done. I’ll give her a bonus or something. The exercises stay. I’m not budging on that one.” He stood to his feet and placed a kiss on my temple. “Goodnight, sweetheart, Jake, I’m sure you know your way around by now.”
I watched my father disappear up the stairs and the door to his room clicked shut. I became increasingly aware of Jake’s presence in the room. He was seated behind me but I could see him out of the corner of my eye. He was relaxed in the chair with his legs spread open in front of him.
“Are you going to look at me?” he teased and the challenge in his voice had me turning to face him. “There we are, come on.”
“My dad-”
“Is asleep,” he cut me off before tapping his lap and like a dog, I found myself following his commands. Once I was close enough, he wrapped his hand around my waist and pulled me into him. “Now, why don’t you tell me all about this team building exercise?”